Fabris: the first guard, and posture

We practiced the postures of the first guard. Fabris' postures are unusual; the head and the shoulders are forward, while the trunk of the body is tucked back. Balance is maintained partially because the posterior is stuck back. My first problem, honestly, stemmed from being fat. My balance is thrown off, and its difficult to put myself into the appropriate posture. I don't want to modify my stance too much, because I'm afraid of loosing the core of the style.

Does that make sense?

If I modify things from the beginning, then I'm not really doing the style properly. On the other hand, I have to modify things just slightly so I can compensate for my weight/balance.

We were told that most of your weight should be distributed to the back foot. So every time I'd take a step, I have to make sure that my weight is properly distributed. The trouble was that I ended up shifting my weight before settling. This would throw off my timing, and of course would throw off my balance.

So my practice now involves getting my stance correct, adjusting for balance and proper distribution of my weight.