Dennis, your post is very interesting!
What you've noted kind of ties in with some things I've been noticing and thinking about, so bear with me whilst I 'groove' on your topic...
While I've never spent the time practicing martial arts (with the exception of Marine Corps bootcamp, where we got Tae Kwan Do for Dummies, the Trailer,) I've had friends and acquaintances who have practiced various types and styles. One acquaintance mentioned that a key aspect of their martial art was to become an efficient 'floor interface' -- in other words, to figure out how best to use your body to interface the floor to whatever 'business end' you're using, be it a hand or fist, a foot, a forehead, or a hip. And every body is unique, so 'you' have to figure out what works best and most efficiently for 'you'.
On Sundays I go to a 6-story parking structure at the university campus to do stairs. The staircase is on the outside and goes up straight with no knee-wrenching turns (and no F#<%in' TeeVees, either!). Anyway, on the way back down the stairs, I can see the campus tennis courts. Last summer there were two young ladies there every Sunday, one coaching the other in tennis. The thing that I noticed about the coachee was that she concentrated more on appearing female/feminine in her movements than she did on efficiently whacking the ball accurately back into the other court (NB; I was still denying my transsexuality at this time.) Consequently, her returns went every which way with little power, and they spent a lot of time retrieving balls that had sailed over the fence or into other courts. The coach's form, on the other hand was more focused on delivering/returning the ball. She still appeared female/feminine but she had figured out how to use her body to effieciently conduct the court floor through her body to the intersection of the racket's sweet-spot and the tennis ball. And unlike the coachee, she didn't seem self-concious about her body posture -- she was there to whack the ball hard and accurately, not to look feminine.
My point is you've got to be in tune with YOUR body NOW (whatever gender/configuration it may be), and not with what you think is 'supposed to' or 'ought' to be. Dennis, I think you'll enjoy exploring your new interfacing with the mountain (double-diamond, eh?) As for me, I'll co-exist with snowboarders (as long as they're considerate of me,) but I need two long thin sticks at least 5 cm taller than me
. I wonder (with the weight distribution changes & such,) how I'll be skiing three years from now?...
Haz
(P.S., I tried to make some sort of joke about wearing a fashionable/expensive Bogner after transition, as those ski suits were a standing joke at the ski resort I once worked at -- rank beginners renting skis for their very first ski experience whilst wearing a $500 ski suit... )
