There is a test, which is very simple.
From a standing position, without using your hands to support yourself, sit down on the floor. Then stand up again, still without using your hands.
It sounds basic. But if you try it now, you might find it's not as easy as you think.
This test yielded a remarkable finding: in a study that tracked over two thousand middle-aged individuals, the ability to "sit down and stand up again" was directly correlated with mortality rates over the next ten years.
It's not because the movement itself has any magical power, but because the movement reflects the state of the body's overall functional capabilities—muscle strength, balance, flexibility, coordination, and the integration ability of the nervous system are all measured simultaneously.
Modern people are systematically losing this ability.
What do you need to stand up from the floor?
This action, which seems simple, actually requires a large number of systems to operate simultaneously.
Full range of motion in the hip joint—allowing you to squat down, bend your knees to a sufficient angle, and control your center of gravity throughout the movement. Multidirectional spinal mobility—allowing the torso to maintain efficient alignment throughout squatting and standing. Dynamic support from the deep core—providing a stable internal foundation for the pelvis and spine at every stage of movement. Coordination of the nervous system—allowing all these systems to integrate instantly and automatically.
A baby is born with this ability. They stand up from the floor using full-body integration, a natural shift of their center of gravity, and a smooth movement of their spine, all without conscious thought.
A person in their forties or fifties who sits for long periods of time and lacks multi-directional movement may need to use their hands to support themselves on something in order to stand up.
What happened in between?
Sitting for long periods makes it difficult to get up.
Sitting for long periods of time does more than just make your butt sore.
When the hip flexors stay in a flexed position for too long, they gradually shorten. When you try to squat down or stand up from the floor, the shortened hip flexors pull the pelvis forward, making the movement inefficient and causing the lumbar spine to compensate.
When the gluteal muscles are not used for a long time, they gradually lose their proper tension—and the gluteal muscles are the most crucial propulsive force for the action of standing up from the floor.
When the spine is fixed in a flexed position for a long time, it loses its ability to flow in multiple directions. Standing up from the floor requires the spine to undulate and integrate, but a rigid spine cannot provide this dynamic support.
The deep core system remains silent, while the surface muscles attempt to compensate—but this compensation by the surface muscles makes movement strenuous, unstable, and puts unnecessary stress on the joints.
The result of all this is that what was once a very natural action has gradually become difficult.
We have replaced physical abilities with furniture.
This is a phenomenon that is rarely discussed.
Humans have spent millions of years living on the floor—sitting on the floor, sleeping on the floor, getting up from the floor, and sitting back down. This continuous, multidirectional, and holistic movement pattern allows the body's functional capabilities to be constantly used and maintained.
Then, the chair appeared.
The chair is a very convenient invention, but what it does is make certain bodily abilities unnecessary. You don't need to control the movements of squatting and standing up; the chair helps you maintain a neutral position. You don't need to use the full range of motion of your hip joint because your range of motion is limited by the height of the chair.
Over the decades, the body loses those abilities that are no longer needed.
It's not aging that takes it away, but rather the lack of use.
What does "the ability to get up" represent?
This action is a very comprehensive functional indicator.
It measures your body’s ability as an integrated system—not whether a particular muscle is strong enough, or whether a joint has a wide enough range of motion, but whether all these systems can work efficiently at the same time in a dynamic movement that requires full-body coordination.
This ability directly corresponds to the quality of life.
Being able to stand up easily from the floor means you can play on the floor, pick things up from low places, move on uneven ground, and get up on your own when you fall.
Losing this ability shrinks the scope of one's life—where one can go, where one dares not go, what actions one can take, and what actions one begins to need help with.
This shrinkage is slow and almost imperceptible—until one day, it becomes very obvious.
Chanrou is training precisely this ability.
Chanrou's movement design targets almost every system required for "getting up" and trains it simultaneously.
The multidirectional movement of the hip joint allows the hip flexors and extensors to maintain their length and tension simultaneously—the full range of motion of the hip joint required to squat and stand up is continuously maintained in the graceful leg family.
The seven-directional undulation of the spine allows the entire spine to maintain its fluidity—the spinal integration required to stand up from the floor is continuously trained in the spinal undulations of each Chanrou class.
Pelvic narrowing and deep core activation provide a stable foundation for movement that grows from within—the core dynamic support needed for getting up is built in every movement of Chanrou.
Three-dimensional coordination training of the nervous system allows all these systems to integrate instantly in dynamic situations—which is precisely the neural integration capability required for the action of getting up.
Chanrou isn't training a "getting up" movement, but everything it trains maintains and strengthens the abilities required for that movement.
A test you can do now
Stand up and find an open space.
Try sitting down slowly from a standing position to the floor without using your hands, and then stand up again.
Try to feel the process – where does it feel difficult? Where does it feel stuck? Where do you need to compensate?
This feeling is your body telling you where it needs to be cared for.
It's not meant to make you feel frustrated, but to show you which skills are worth maintaining.
Standing up from the floor is one of the most basic human actions.
It used to be something that didn't require thinking.
Keeping it going is a no-brainer—this is one of Chanrou's most concrete goals.
