KUNAQUA IS A revolutionary water-based fitness system that combines the therapeutic power of water with mindful movement to enhance mobility, poise, and strength. Inspired by the principles of alignment and deep stabilising muscles, KunAqua focuses on the multifidus muscle—a key player in spinal stability and core strength—while incorporating the alignment principles from JUMPGA, such as the psoas major. This manual provides a comprehensive guide to KunAqua exercises, alignment principles, and the science behind water-based training.
KUNAQUA FOUNDATIONS
Mind and Body Integration
- The meditative quality of water-based exercise.
- How water encourages mindfulness and intentional movement.
Water’s Therapeutic Benefits
- Buoyancy reduces joint stress.
- 360-degree resistance engages multiple muscle groups simultaneously.
- Water’s calming properties reduce stress and enhance focus.
Focus and Mental Discipline
- The importance of breath awareness in KunAqua.
- How water’s resistance fosters mental resilience and concentration.
Movement and Fitness
- KunAqua improves strength, cardiovascular health, flexibility, and mobility.
- The low-impact nature of water exercise makes it safe for all fitness levels.
KUNAQUA ALIGNMENT PRINCIPLES
Shoulder Alignment
- Engage chest integration by broadening and inflating the chest 360° around.
- Relax overlying tissues, allowing the skin to soften over the bones.
- Keep armpits hollow and arms relaxed.
- Broaden the collarbones and square the shoulders.
- Draw shoulder blades medially toward the spine.
Pelvic Alignment
- Use the ‘equal-standing’ technique to stand evenly on all four corners of your feet.
- Draw muscular energy from the periphery to the body’s central core.
- Roll the inner groin inward, retract, and spread out.
- Lower the sacrum vertically and scoop the tailbone forward.
- Keep the sternum descending vertically as the lower ribs widen.
Feet and Leg Alignment
- Balance hips over knees and ankles.
- Distribute weight: 80% on the heels, 20% on the big toe.
- Engage arches, lengthen toes, and press toe pads.
- Keep the Achilles tendon wrinkle-free and straight.
The Psoas Major
- The psoas major connects the lumbar spine to the legs and pelvis, maintaining lumbar curvature.
- Weakness in the psoas can result from prolonged sitting or forward-bending activities.
- KunAqua exercises like lunge steps and hip rotation steps help activate and strengthen the psoas.
The Multifidus Muscle
- The multifidus is a deep spinal muscle crucial for spinal stability, posture, and movement control.
- Weakness in the multifidus can lead to poor posture, lower back pain, and reduced mobility.
- KunAqua exercises like hook punches, uppercuts, and windmill movements engage the multifidus, enhancing spinal alignment and core strength.
KUNAQUA EXERCISES
Meditative Walking
- Improves flexibility, mobility, and muscle strength.
- Key elements: Breath control, intentional steps, and flow state.
- Exercises: Western Walk, Namba Walk, Noble Walk.
HIIT and Fat Metabolism
- KunAqua HIIT routine: Spot run, high knee run, lunge jumps, and star jumps.
- Perform in 30-40 second bursts with 10-20 second rests.
Strength Training in Water
- Water provides 12 times more resistance than air, engaging muscles more efficiently.
Full Range Multifidus Activation
- Focus on exercises that engage the multifidus muscle for spinal stability and mobility.
- Examples: KunAqua uppercut, KunAqua hook punch.
KUNAQUA WALKING PRINCIPLES
Meditative Water Walking
- Uses water’s resistance to symbolise life’s challenges.
- Encourages a shift from thinking to “being” through mindful breathing and movement.
THE TRAINING
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Meditative Walking Sequence
Western Walk
A forward walk focusing on proper posture and fluid motion. Walking backwards enhances stability and engages additional core muscles.
Benefits: improves posture, gait efficiency, and balance in multiple directions.71
Namba Walk
An ancient Japanese technique where the arm and leg on the same side move forward simultaneously. Walking backwards following this method activates stabilising muscles.
Benefits: develops coordination, balance, and core strength
Noble Walk
A mindful walk performed with your hands placed behind your back. Walking backward deepens focus and strengthens coordination.
Benefits: enhances mindfulness, improves stability, and strengthens the core.
Lateral Step
An effortless and effective move for joint-friendly strength and balance!
Benefits: strengthens legs, core, and improves lateral mobility.
Hurdler’s Step
A dynamic movement to improve balance and engage core and leg muscles. Backward hurdler’s steps increase hip flexibility and control.
Benefits: enhances leg strength, hip mobility, and dynamic balance.
Hip Rotation Step
Improves hip mobility and overall coordination. Backward rotations add complexity and activate additional muscle groups.
Benefits: enhances hip flexibility, core engagement, and dynamic balance.
Forward Kick
Engages the lower body and is ideal for rehabilitation and posture correction.
Benefits: strengthens your hips and the front of your legs (your quadriceps), stretches hamstring.
Going Backward Reverse Kick
Targets the glutes, hamstrings, and lower back. Improves lower body strength, balance, and posture.
Benefits: promotes mindfulness, strengthens the core and lower body, enhances balance, and improves overall coordination.
Lunge Step
A classic movement to build strength and balance in the lower body. Practising it backwards targets additional stabilising muscles.
Benefits: strengthens the legs and core and improves balance in dynamic movements.
HIIT ROUTINE
A high-intensity routine to boost cardiovascular fitness and build endurance. Perform each exercise for 20-40 seconds with a 10-20 second rest.
Sprint on the Spot
A high-intensity, low-impact exercise that improves cardiovascular fitness, strengthens the lower body, and enhances core stability through the resistance of water.
Benefits: improves cardiovascular health and leg strength.
High Knee Run
Boosts endurance, strengthens the lower body, and improves balance by driving the knees upwards against water resistance.
Benefits: strengthens core muscles and increases endurance.
Lunge Jumps
A dynamic, low-impact exercise that strengthens the legs, improves balance, and enhances coordination by performing explosive lunges with added water resistance.
Benefits: builds explosive strength and improves coordination.
Star Jumps
A full-body exercise that boosts cardiovascular fitness, tones muscles, and improves coordination by performing jumping jacks against the resistance of water.
Benefits: strengthens the lower body and increases agility.
UPPER BODY FITNESS
These exercises focus on building strength, flexibility, and coordination in the upper body. You can choose which exercises to do—as few or as many as in one session. Do each exercise for between 30 seconds to 1 minute at a time.
Water Hand Claps
An exercise to strengthen the chest, shoulders, back, and core while improving posture and stability.
Benefits: This builds chest, shoulder, and back muscles, engages the core for improved stability, and enhances posture and endurance.
Upright Fly
A chest, shoulder, and upper-back strengthening exercise.
Benefits: strengthens chest and back muscles
Windmill Exercise
A functional movement that targets multiple muscle groups, focusing on strength, stability, and flexibility.
Benefits: this engages and strengthens the obliques (sides of the abdomen), rectus abdominis (front of the abdomen), and transverse abdominis. It also improves mobility, posture, balance, and mindfulness.
Hook Punch
The hook punch is a full-body movement where power is generated from the ground up (starting with the legs and hips) and transmitted through the core to the upper body for a powerful, well-executed strike.
Benefits: activates the full range of the multifidus muscle, improves core strength, and increases spinal flexibility.
Uppercut
A coordinated movement where power begins in the legs, flows through the rotational motion of the hips and core, and is transferred upward through the arm for a dynamic and explosive strike.
Benefits: activates the full range of the multifidus muscle, improves core strength, and increases spinal flexibility.
FULL RANGE MULTIFIDUS ACTIVATION
These two exercises below are adapted from the hook and uppercut, focusing on multifidus activation to enhance spinal stability and mobility. Hips locked forward in both movements.
KunAqua Uppercut
Inspired by the traditional uppercut punch, this exercise enhances the multifidus, spinal rotation, core engagement, and strength.
Benefits: this strengthens spinal stability and enhances rotational power and coordination.
KunAqua Hook Punch
Adapted from the boxing hook punch, this water-based variation focuses on the multifidus, core strength, and shoulder mobility.
Benefits: strengthens the core and improves coordination.
Bicep Triceps
This exercise tones and strengthens your arm muscles by working them in unison.
Benefits: builds arm strength and improves coordination.
Rotator Cuff
Strengthening the rotator cuff improves shoulder stability and prevents injury.
Benefits: enhances shoulder mobility and stability.
Arm Swings
Targets the serratus muscles to stabilise the scapula and improve shoulder mobility.
Benefits: strengthens the shoulder stabilizers and core muscles.
Hand Flapping
This forearm exercise uses water resistance to improve wrist and hand strength.
Benefits: builds forearm strength and improves wrist stability.
Open Hand
An exercise to increase grip strength and dexterity while toning hand and finger muscles.
Benefits: enhances grip strength and finger flexibility.
Silk Reeling
Derived from Tai Chi, this movement promotes fluidity and strength through spiralling motions.
Benefits: improves arm strength and enhances coordination.
LOWER BODY FITNESS
These exercises focus on improving strength, balance, and mobility in the lower body. You can choose which exercises to do and do as few or as many as you like or can manage in one session. Do each exercise for between 30 seconds to 1 minute.
Swimmer’s Kick
This exercise mimics a vertical kick and strengthens the posterior chain by engaging the hamstrings, glutes, and lower back.
Benefits: builds strength in the hamstrings and glutes, enhances lower back stability, and improves coordination and endurance.
Swimmer’s Scissor Kick
A dynamic movement that targets lower body strength and flexibility by mimicking wide, scissor-like motions in the water.
Benefits: this strengthens the hamstrings, glutes, and lower back. It improves flexibility and lower body coordination and engages the core for balance.
Swimmer’s Flutter Kick
A rapid-kicking exercise builds endurance and mobility while engaging the hamstrings, quadriceps, and core muscles.
Benefits: this builds strength in the hamstrings, quadriceps, and glutes. It enhances core stability and endurance and improves lower body fluidity and coordination.
Swimmer’s Donkey Kicks
A lower-body exercise that strengthens the glutes and improves hip mobility, making it ideal for enhancing balance and posture.
Benefits: this builds strength in the glutes and lower back. It improves hip flexibility and balance and enhances core engagement for better stability.
Leg Swing (Hip Flexion/Extension)
Improves hip mobility and strengthens the lower body.
Benefits: enhances hip flexibility and strengthens leg muscles.
Hip Abduction
Strengthens the outer thighs and improves hip stability.
Benefits: builds lateral hip strength and balance.
Around the World
Engages the hips and core through controlled leg arcs.
Benefits: improves hip mobility and strengthens stabilising muscles.
Front and Back Step
Builds lower body strength and improves coordination.
Benefits: strengthens the legs and enhances balance.
Front and Back Kick
Improves hip mobility and core stability with forward and backward kicks.
Benefits: increases balance flexibility and strengthens the hips and thighs.
Straight Leg Kickbacks
Targets the glutes and hamstrings while improving core stability.
Benefits: strengthens balance the glutes and hamstrings while improving posture.
Single Leg Balance
Improves balance and strengthens stabilising muscles.
Benefits: enhances balance, coordination, and core strength.
Tree Pose (Vrksasana)
A yoga-inspired pose to improve balance and focus.
Benefits: improves balance, focus,
KUNAQUA COOL-DOWN AND RELAXATION
Savasana in Water
- Lie back in the water, with noodles under both knees and another under your arms and upper back focus on deep breathing and relax the body and mind.
CONCLUSION
KunAqua is more than a fitness programme—it’s a movement that redefines ageing, strength, and vitality. By combining the therapeutic power of water with mindful movement, KunAqua offers a sustainable, low-impact approach to fitness that enhances mobility, poise, and strength at every stage of life.
Meta-Age Online Talks provide a deeper understanding of KunAqua, and personalised one-on-one training sessions are also available to help you achieve your goals. Register your interest, and we will notify you when sessions become available.
