Tai Chi in Eugene, Oregon

Resting-In establishes the ground path

2012-02-11T10:42:00.000-08:00

Point 1.
Rest into structure. This creates the path to the ground and establishes 'grain of motion'. The interesting thing is that you can't tell from looking whether there is a ground path adherence.

The point of origin can come from any place, not just the tan tian.

Big point from last winter session Dec 10
Release any bracing points, areas down into the contact points. For example, into the yung chuan when standing. Into the sitz bones, when sitting.

Equal Density - spread out the load equally. Do not use the muscles. Exercise when putting a load into the hands from a kneeling position or getting up or falling down or doing push ups.

Personal note:
Become/listen to the correspondence between the arm pits and the kua.

Knee and Lower Back
Relax the knees when carrying weight. Let the load through down to the relaxed feet. Holding the load at the knees creates holding at the small of the back. Release both by relaxing the knee load downwards

Playing with Doug

2012-02-11T10:36:00.000-08:00

We're playing with generating a wave from the root to create a reaction. Interesting thing is that if you are totally resting-into the partner's structure, the wave bounces back into the originators body and out his weakest points. If not, there's a really nice bounce out.
When playing with a partner of some skill, the gaps are well covered. There's the notion of creating an opening thru putting a double feed into your partner's system. As simple as a double push to open the door. More difficult to go from a moving and resting place to detect the opening or gap.
There needs to be a fixed place from which to rotate the partner's structure. That fixed place needs a na (frozen point) to revolve his structure around from a diagonal plane. Key being diagonal as from above left down towards the head like a covering motion to spiral him out of structure.
You need to load your partner's structure before releasing. This is significant because you are, as it were, filling him so that he cannot neutralize your action. As in single whip, load him by tapping in, rolling the forearm and then when he is full, stir forward and in from the contact point.
Explore smaller internal circles with large energetic circles.

Notes from the Summer Sessions

2011-09-30T10:43:00.000-07:00

From class 8/13
Allow movement (folding) from the side indents of the breastbone (sternum) opening the back and release, open the sacrum. Both places balance one another. It is the line of the bai hui through the hui yin that is still when moving.
Note: Small movements work out stagnation. Large movements just carry them. Discern the grain of motion playing out. Don't interfere with how anything wants to play out. It may feel as if the line extends outside of the body. That's when the internal parts begin to play with the air.
Transfer - moves the load of the contact point from one area to another on your partner's body. Different contact point on your partner's body.
Exchange - moves the load from one part of your body (i.e. right forearm to left forearm). Same contact point on your partner's body.
While practicing the hip track, note that the receiving leg does nothing. It just fills. And the hip track is a track that stays on the same level. There's no bobbing up or down. The hip track shifts on a line as on a track. Leave the knees at the same height balancing one another. Use the kua paying respect to the balancing action of the knees.

From class 7/16 - 16 part Xing Yi Nei Gong
When the knees are bent, pay attention to the ankes and hip crease.
Adhere/Rest-in
Stick/Support
2 sides of the same coin.

2/9/11
Relax Faster and soften the front part of the groin and inguinal ligament to sink/fill the bottom of the pelvis.

A push is activated without lag in connection by releasing though the grain of motion.
In the Eight Brocades number 1, find space in the triple burners by following the grain of motion. When a bind is released in the body by finding that thread, the energy returns to it's natural path. It's something you can feel.
Muscular strength cannot overcome the fascial strength of 2500 pounds of structure.

Casey Lou

2011-05-29T16:13:00.000-07:00

Our beloved Casey Lou passed away today. 13 years old. Best dog ever! A true protector. Loyal and the softest fur. His ears were spotted like a Dalmatian's. His last days were a heroic struggle to continue living normally. Casey struggled with coordination and occasionally would fall while on the evening walk. When he passed, I was struck by the absence of movement in his body. A couple of seconds and he was gone. Lifting him to take him to the car, his head bobbed over. How heavy he was. Absence. Something he never was while alive. Sometimes when I close my eyes, I see him at those moments, on his pillow as if asleep, but gone. My wife, J, said that he took a long breath and let go. He was ready.
Lately, read about body mapping. Our sense of connection is biological, deep and permeates all the soft tissues through the brain into the recesses of the fascia, the little nooks in the joints. Our body maps extend well beyond our bodies. We form connections invisible in space and then respond, resting inward and outward. I can feel Casey through my sinews and liquid fascia; extending outwards in space to find him.. Easy to muster the illusion, the sense of patting his head. Sense memory. I'll never get that same sense of feeling as I shared with Casey. He was truly one with our little family. We were a pack. Rest in Peace, Best Boy.

Moving Relative to the Connection Point

2011-01-21T11:24:00.000-08:00

The ability to move all the joints relaxed and aligned relative to the connection point while retaining peng is key to sensing hands skill. This is the way that Erica says Julie is able to take one out of balance and to create a bind in one's system before utilizing it. Remember what works in form, breaks if insufficient in connection.
For example:
A push against peng that creates a bind in the posterior hip joint, not allowing it to go into the ground ... Your partner simply loads into the gap in the hip joint and you're toast.

The length and width of one's stance
The stance should be based on one's ability to weight totally into one leg and extending the weightless leg to find the length and width of a natural stance. All this is done without vaulting, but sunken and without breaks, gaps or insufficiency. Julie says I should pretend that I'm really big and full like Yang Chen Fu.

The cubes (carpals) in my hands

2011-01-20T12:51:00.000-08:00

BONES OF HAND
Proximal: A=Scaphoid, B=Lunate, C=Triquetrum, D=Pisiform
Distal: E=Trapezium, F=Trapezoid, G=Capitate, H=Hamate

Feel how the carpal bones articulate.

Triple Warmer

2011-01-20T12:42:00.000-08:00

Think more of each section as function. The burners relate to the process of taking and refining substance into qi.
The burners describe the soft functional organs apart from the muscles, fascia, etc;
The upper - Lungs, Heart, etc;
The middle - Liver, Stomach, diaphragm area, etc;
The lower - Large and small intestine, bowels, etc;

Separate with the arms above the head the 3 burners. Stretch the upper feeling it's effect on the middle, and then to the lower.

While slowly turning the head ... gaze to left, look to the right, notice the effect on the triple warmer.
Turning the head as you rest the hands, elbows back, onto the kidney area. This helps to isolate the middle warmer.
Turning the head as you raise the arms in double peng. This helps to bring the internal load onto the lower warmer.

____ From the site 'Acupuncture Is Easy'__________
The Triple Heater is also called the Triple Warmer, the Triple Burner, or sometimes even, the Three Burning Spaces. It is also sometimes known by its Chinese name Sanjiao. It has no equivalent in modern western medicine.
The Triple Heater is part of the fire element in the human body. The fire element is unique – it has two manifestations each of yin and yang – the other elements only have one manifestation each of yin and yang. The Triple heater is part of the yang of the fire element in our bodies (the other is the Small Intestine). The yin of the fire element in the human body is the Heart and Pericardium.
The Triple Heater is also different to the other organs and channels. It is also used as a way to refer to different parts of the body.
The Triple Heater as Body Divisions.
The Upper Heater is above the diaphragm and so includes the heart and lungs. The Middle Heater is from the diaphragm to the umbilicus (belly button) and so includes the stomach, spleen and liver. The Lower Heater is from the umbilicus to bottom of the torso and so includes kidneys, bladder and intestines. This division refers to the three processes of energy processing in our bodies – inspiration and exhalation (upper heater), digestion (middle heater) and elimination (lower heater). In acupuncture you will see breathing difficulties sometimes called an “upper heater disorder” or a digestive upset called a “middle heater problem”. (This will depend on the root cause of the problem referred to.)
Channel
The Triple Heater channel begins on the ring finger (the one closest to our little finger) near the outer boundary of lower part of the nail. It then travels up the middle of the yang side of the arm (the outside with more hair on it) across the shoulder, up the neck around the ear and ends at the outside edge of the eyebrow.
The Organ
There is no physical structure that corresponds to the Triple Heater as there is with all the other organs. It is a collection of functions.
The Functions
The Triple Heater distributes energy throughout the body. One traditional description of the Triple Heater is “The Official in Charge of irrigation (or the waterways)”. It sends the energy that is taken from the air, food and water we take in and sends it to the different parts of the body.

Eating Bitter is like trying to speak french

2011-01-20T12:41:00.000-08:00

How do you get your mouth to form those sounds? Lately, the frustration of trying to seed the neutralization in releasing the ribs in the single hand push is driving me crazy. Luckily, we don't drill the exercise often ..., But each time it's revisited, I am amazed at how I avoid this simple and essential skill. Must be like trying to learn french at 60. It's embarrassing, ain't it?
Hip Track til you feel the filling of the hips.
Separate the ribs from the hips. In the single hand push drill, the release from the ribs is small (just enough to take the forward push off center). Do not seed the neutralization anywhere in the arms. This makes it inefficient and weak.
Don't let any gap or deficiency escape.

When doing the set, remember the 3 alignments of nose, navel, knee (the un sounds). These stay on the same line pointing to the same direction.

When doing the spear drills, remember the extended arm folds into the soft shoulder crease.
When practicing circling the sword tip from one point, the movement's origins are from the hips and waist. To relax the hips, find the bottom of the pelvis. Releasing movement to the pelvis brings up lots of emotional uncertainty. Erica says that "you'll live."

The feet pound out the square. The body, the circle.

Begging the Question

2010-11-27T11:26:00.000-08:00

The question that begs to be asked is How to incorporate Tai Chi into my daily movements?
When I think about what distinguishes Tai Chi principles from other styles, it's sticking. Being alive, in some sense, you are always playing with self-sticking ...

Everything is easier if you put a slight load into the system. The self-sticking exercise of forearm to forearm works for this. One energy leads to the other. In listening, thru resting-in and supporting, a feeling of settling in becomes sticking. From this sticking comes a sense of grain of motion (for the moment only). The connection is deeply sensed and without intent. Akin to a feeling of finding equilibrium. And it happens quickly, in the flash of an eye and is lost as quickly in the gap of recognition leaving the moment. Our reflex is to jump ahead. The moment is to be rested into and supported. Gaps to be filled. Crevices to be utilized. Something will happen. Don't worry.

Choose to move from opening and the closing will occur naturally.

In daily motion, we don't need to brace as if we were climbing a rock wall. When my Father studied in China in the early 30's, he said, when his gung fu sifu walked, "it looked like he was flying".

Self Sticking

2010-10-27T19:52:00.000-07:00

"The shortest distance between two points is to already be there" - Sam Masich

Ok. What's supposed to happen when you practice arm rolling with your own forearms?
Rest-in, Support.
Rolling, pivoting, transferring and exchanging. You can play with all 5 of the connection energies, but really, the last 4 happen from the first which is resting-in and supporting. The elbows/forearms weight from whatever is the underside at the time. Allow the pivot to be a pivot and do not intend it by making it a roll. Note the gaps, insufficiency, hollows, resistance and separation. The energetics of "My Turn. Your Turn" are revealed and defined after a gap or separation. The feel of this self-sticking is kind of like water finding it's own level. Less and less effort. Less and less intent. Foremost in this exercise is being comfortable and waiting for it (the it, for me, is waiting for the tissue at the connection point to adhere/stick). When wondering how Julie can detect the grain of motion taking you out of your balance, it's this kind of sensing skill in the timing of my turn that makes it possible. Note that the notion of self sticking, however you interpret it, will make the your proprioceptive feel split out like a thomas' muffin complete with nooks and crannies. For good measure, find the perimeter of the strong range of each joint because it's that important for partner practice to know/feel when that joint is about to be compromised.

Re-Calibrate the Banners

2010-10-05T22:18:00.000-07:00

As in old Chinese military tactics, banners were used to control the movement of troops in the field. The idea here is to re-sensitize by way of conscious movement and ting jin (listening) through the tools of resting-in, supporting, pivoting, rolling, transferring and exchanging.
"As in skiing, if you don't want to hit the tree, don't look at it." - Jim Eisenman as related by J. Madras

"You can weed your garden meticulously or just plant what you want" - S. Masich as related by J. Madras

Exercise: To re-calibrate the internal connection or feeling.
Move the neck in such a way as to stretch the middle of the sternomastoid, a paired muscle in the superficial layers of the anterior portion of the neck. You have to setup the conditions to sensitize all the influences that come into play to perform this action. The throat is the joint between the upper and middle dan tian.
In the same way, you change what fires as you rest-in, support, pivot, roll, transfer and exchange when in connection or solo. As you rest-into a structure, note it's shifting change into support. It is a re-calibration of changing influences. It's like you have two dials which you regulate the amount of resting-in and the amount of support when playing with a structure. What sets up the optimal conditions is an adherence that attunes to the grain of motion and the level of connection whether skin, muscle, fascia or bone. This can be interpreted, in feeling, as less effort or non-resistance.

Relating to the heart - to rest the heartbeat, bring your awareness to the lungs. Water cooling the Fire.

There's a notion of when doing the set that you play with the load that is put into the system. Not losing it, but through resting-in and supporting, seeing how it plays out throughout the system as you intend the shapes of the postures and their transitions. How about taking this notion through the different levels? As seeing how it plays out at the skin level? Then fascia. Through muscles. Through bones. Through marrow. Each as a separate process of connecting to.

Tan Tui and Pi Chuan for Children

2010-10-04T14:55:00.000-07:00

Last friday taught a couple of classes at Ridgeline Montessori for children ages 6-9. Was pretty fun even though I haven't done so many lines of 1st road Tan Tui for decades. Interestingly enough, I found Xing Yi Pi Ch'uan more appropriate for the younger children and easier to grasp movement-wise than the Hua-derived Tan Tui. Funniest thing is how these young children are stiff and when doing the preparation stretches would yell, "Ooo. It Hurts". It's a fun kind of chaos.

3 Bows

2010-09-04T22:43:00.000-07:00

Rules for the 3 bows (arm bow, leg bow and back bow) from the Tai Chi Boxing Chronicle.
The top of the head turns. This makes the upper end of the body verticle like a scale
The back must rotate. This gives the body bow great flexibility. The spine is the bow's back.
The waist must be tight. Use this to test the method of the body bow being straight up and down. If the waist is slanted or crooked then it can't be tight and connected.
The lower belly rises. It makes the front section of the body bow empty - similar to the tightness of the waist.

One interesting thing here is 'the lower belly rises.' This centers the wheel and makes it more stable.

Sen Lines

2010-09-04T22:30:00.000-07:00

This is borrowed from Thai massage theory.
Sen lines generally follow the grooves in between muscles, running along the insertion points. By resting-in lightly with the fingers, the lines will reveal themselves.
Exercise:
Lightly resting-in with the fingers, trace feel for the lines on your arms and legs. Note that by using too much pressure the lines become blurred. By the light touch it's easier to follow the channels.

A Note on Collecting/Rolling

2010-08-28T13:33:00.000-07:00

In the Tai Chi Chronicles, there's a section on Collecting through Rolling. So is this a way to define the process of connecting the 9 joints? Collect. Roll. Keep what you acquire. The path out is the same as the path in. It seems to me that all these ideas are related. Leave the arms/hands alone and watch the path through the feet, knees, hips, hui yin, diaphragm, throat, neck and bai wei. Do these principles follow the grain of motion? If opening has collecting and closing has connecting, how does this change the way you move? One thing I notice is that you gain a lot of internal time. And what if striking was a way to collect information on density at a point?

Tying

2010-08-26T12:16:00.000-07:00

Below is an excerpt from the old "Internal Strength magazine. Good Stuff.

Connection: The Other Side of Peng Strength by Mike Sigman

_____ Tying ______________________________________

Can peng, the concealed core strength, not function without its obverse, connection. Peng is the motive power of Opening. Connection is the controlling power of Closing and is the slight extensive connection which allows the waist to actually control the hands.

Once peng is understood and practiced within this framework, it doesn't take long before you can "will" a ground path to any point on the body (from the ground) for striking or receiving. Connection usually takes much longer to acquire as a honed skill because it can't rely heavily on the skeletal structure as a reference point, as does peng.

"Tying" Procedures and Down-Force

Driving a peng-path up through the body, from the legs, to waist, to back, to arms, etc., is using the ground's strength to initiate movement and power. The route of force is the shortest distance through these paths.
Similarly, application of force in a downward direction uses the shortest pulling path from the point of application (e.g., the hand) to the middle of the body (the Dan Tien), and thence to the ground. Developing this "tying" of the application point to the Dan Tien, while not stepping into the use of localized tension, is one of the hard parts of the internal martial arts.
There are essentially two ways to correctly apply a down-force from the arms, depending on where the point of application is in relation to the Dan Tien. Relatively close applications allow us to partially use peng-strength at least from the shoulders down to the hands. Further applications require the development of real whole-body tying strength from the arms to the center.
When using this connection, or "tying" skill, sudden power releases come from the middle; primary storage is, again, from the back, augmented by the torso musculature. Proper training of the down power will result in markedly increased torso and thoracic musculature because the initiating power comes from those areas.
In our example of a downward pull on a partner's shoulder, there should first be a connection made from the hand to the middle by a slight extension of the area in between. Relax downward and allow some of the body's weight to relaxedly increase the weight of the hand on the shoulder. The elbow will come down naturally ("heavy side down").
Breathe in then breathe out, dropping the body slightly and allowing the arm-hand connection to convey the body drop onto the partner's shoulder through the extended arm. The stomach area distends on exhalation, which is through the nose, the intercostal rib muscles contracting simultaneously, but not with too much tension.
At first, this doesn't convey a lot of power to the shoulder-target. High-repetition practice is necessary… more importantly, softness and concentration are also needed to insure that the major muscles involved are those of the torso and thorax, not the arm. Learn to pull down from the middle.
Practice changing the weight from the back leg onto the front leg as the exercise is performed, in order to enhance the transfer of momentum. The movement now will markedly resemble the application of "pi-chuan" from Xingyiquan.
Within the internal martial arts this motion, and many others, is trained by willing the weight, peng, and the application to the hand. Practice very slowly, breathing out through the palm and fingers of the hand, while the motion originates from the ground, is manipulated by the powerful torso, and is expressed through the hand. The body acts as a single connected unit, like an amoeba.
Almost zero force is used in the beginning internal practice of this exercise… the mind directs the peng, the extended connection, the weight to the hand, and the breathing-out of qi through the hand. To train with force is a mistake which only leads to "li," the external force.
The rest of the body "ties" also. For instance, suspending from the crown of the head sets up a very mild tension with which to manipulate force, also.
Moving with the body core powered by peng and the external connected by the extended "sheathing of connected muscles" (anciently referred to as the fascia) is the quintessence of the internal martial arts. Oddly, some movements of this type elicit an almost palpable sensation known as the "external Qi." This phenomenon is a part of the movements of the internal, and we will try to focus more exclusively on this qi as our series progresses.

Transitions

2010-08-20T13:00:00.000-07:00

Call me stupid, but it just occurred to me while practicing the spear drills that the transitions between moves are probably some of the most important elements in Tai Chi. It's about the 8 energies transforming into each other. As each of the 8 can be represented by a trigram, so too can it's transition.

For example,
___                             ___
___      peng into an     _ _
___                             ___

Which is a movement from palms facing to palms rolling down. The transition idea is akin to Jim's idea of moving within a container/sleeve where the tissue becomes more articulate/supple and changes it's internal distribution to become another energy. It's the changing that makes sense to become attuned to.

The Point

2010-08-19T09:47:00.000-07:00

"When we move and revolve using drawing of silk, the Ch’i circulates through the nine joints of the body from the feet to the hands and from the hands to the feet. The Ch’i is the point of active energy circulating through the perfectly aligned joints, aided with even breath control, and smooth regular blood circulation. Allow me to offer this example from the basic posture of push hands: When pushing hands the two hands touch and the point of contact is the point of active energy. As the opponent pushes, one uses Peng Ching to intercept the opponents strike. The Peng energy is transferred downward to the arm, spine, waist, leg, and down to the solid foot. This energy circulation occurs during the revolving motion of the waist and spine. This is called Evading. And this is the Ch’i moving downward in order to draw the three body bows at one time. This is the creation of potential energy in the arms, waist and spine, and the legs. Then when the opponent’s force has reached its maximum, the body has reserved the potential energy to strike. Then the Ch’i circulates upward through the perfectly aligned joints and during the revolving travels back up the spine and the energy ends up at the hands. The active point of energy is at the hands yet it is still fully connected to the rest of the body. This is called Adhering. Evading is the defense and Adhering is the attack. And this energy can manifest itself in one hand as defense and in the other as attack at the same time as in the strike Lieh. This is why posture is of paramount importance. If the joints are not connected properly according to the classics, the Ch’i will be impeded or blocked. This is a very easy point to overlook because we may think our posture is correct but it may not be. The classics are our guide. Take seriously each sentence and contemplate the meaning of the word Ch'i and come to your own conclusions."
- A commentary by Gordon Guttman in reference to Kuo Lien Ying's explanation of Kung Hsin Chieh

Making the Spear Light

2010-08-17T23:43:00.000-07:00

Use the grain of movement to develop suppleness within the container.

Exercise - Putting on the Heavy Winter Coat
Pretend you have on a stiff heavy winter coat. Within the confines of the space of the coat and your body, move in such a way as to maximize your ability to articulate within the coat's envelope. Follow the grain of movement. This translates to a motion that is like an internal massage. The tissue changes becoming more supple, giving more freedom of motion as the lines unravel/lengthen/soften/unbind.
Exercise - Lifting the spear
Make the spear light by lengthening your feel thru it. Note the spiraling grain implicit in the spear's structure. Follow to and through the points where your body resists and stops going through. Redirect the path to one of less resistance following the grain of motion opening to another path.

Spear 3

2010-08-13T20:04:00.000-07:00

The support hand is the suspension point. The fixed point from which everything revolves. In all the exercises heretofore, when leaving the hand at one fixed place while moving around that point, the object was a preparatory for the spear.
There is almost a hinge idea between the 2 gua's of the shoulder and hip. Kind of like the two hinges of a door. The support arm is shaped like peng and the thrusting side/arm works a little like a rollback. To minimize localized tension in the arms, the thrust movement is similar to an offering gesture/motion. The support arm does not change levels in the basic thrust and when drawing back the spear, the spear point returns to the same height. It does not rise above the thrusting level. Remember the forward shoulder should fold inward (close) when thrusting and cooperating with the folding of the hip. And when drawing back, the forward shoulder will open with the hip. The end point with the thrust is level of the sternum, both guas of the shoulder closed and balanced, then opening with the return to guard.

Targets - 7
third eye
throat
diaphragm
xiphoid process
femoral artery
knee
foot (juncture hollows where the ankle meets the foot on the top)

No Big Bang?

2010-08-06T14:42:00.000-07:00

Here's a direct rip from Jianghu::2.0
Wow!
__________________Jianghu::2.0__________________________
Anyway, that leads me on to an extremely interesting article in Wired: There was no Big Bang, because mass and time convert to length and space. A Taiwanese physicist, Shu Wun Yi, has developed a new cosmological theory, which replaces the ‘Big Bang’ model. I’ll let you read the article for the details, but the essence is that the Big Bang model just wasn’t working; to make the numbers balance, physicists were depending on the existence of “dark matter” – more and more of it. Unfortunately, they haven’t been able to actually locate any. I’ve kept an eye on this kind of headline for years, so I do know that this hypothesis has been dragging on and on, and yet no-one ever finds any of this mysterious matter.
Shun’s theory does away with this completely, replacing it with a model in which the universe contracts and expands, contracts and expands, eternally. Energy is conserved, and Einstein’s theories work, without the ‘placebo’ of vast amounts of completely undetectable dark matter.
In short, there was no beginning. There is no end. There are just cycles.
From a Buddhist point of view, this isn’t news.

Holding the Spear

2010-08-05T15:45:00.000-07:00

Hollow the chest and raise the back. This allows you to take the strain off the arms, shoulders and distribute it to the back and legs. Makes holding the spear/staff in the end thrusting position with the least amount of strain. Using the posture idea in this way opens the mingmen and frees the hips letting the motions go more through. 'Raise the back' is akin to rise as in a loaf of bread meaning round.
Do not neglect the feel intentions to stack/align all the centers of the points, joints and gates. An interesting exercise that Erica led us through was to locate and connect all the points we've been working with for the last year. One locates the points thru the breath and expand the area intending a thread/pathway to connect the points from the feet upwards. What was cool about that was that I finally got and idea of Jim's transparency. When the body points are centered, and connected, everything sort of disappears.

Spear

2010-07-30T12:48:00.000-07:00

As in the sword, there are 3 sections to the Tai Chi spear based on usage.
The area around the tip (spear head, diamond shaped, double cutting edge for cutting forward, cutting backwards), the middle area for sticking, adhering and the area close to the hands. Learn the unique character of your spear's surface bumps, indents, nooks and crannies. These inch nestling places can be used to seal, entice your partner's spear when playing.
The basic thrust is powered by the hips and legs. Seek depth in the hip gua rather than depth in the stance. Develop the thrust action smoothly so that the pressure of the thrust doesn't sear the tendons and tissues of the knee, but rather works smoothly thru the gua/hips. The arms are almost straight when holding the spear in the ready/rest stance. This gives the space for moving the spear and one is not impeded by holding it too close to the body. Keep the wrist relaxed and straight. In the thrusting action allow the wrist to screw slightly upwards lined to the sternum straight ahead. Let the wrist unravel naturally without effort forwards and downwards.
In the 88 play with the sense of the spear when connecting.

Pre-intention 2

2010-07-20T23:56:00.000-07:00

Exercise -
Study the impulse to move. First sitting, prepare to take pressure from all directions. Choose a movement preparing the pathway first with intention and letting the grain of motion unravel. Pay attention to the blockages in the motion. You can tell where the movement won't succeed. You can use this to re-pattern habitual movement. The most important thing is to follow the directions of
Listening and Comprehending
In setting up the body to take force from all directions, you can troubleshoot the structure by using the weight of your hand to test it. Note wherever you tense to take the load and self-adjust. There is the grain of motion both from the resting-in and the supporting structures.

The strength of resting-in and supporting (sticking energy) is primary. Listening and comprehending are secondary in that they are not absolutely necessary. When someone makes connection and has an intention, the resting-in/support actions are usually enough to acquire their space.

Exercise - Thai massage 4 elements
Earth exercise - Learning 'the lay of the land'. Tangible sense stuff. It's all mine. It's all me. It's all the same. Your feet are mine. Why shouldn't I stretch your arm? It's substance is the same as mine.

Exercise - Shape/No Shape
Inhabit/build the shape entirely from the Yi (intent).

Tip on the 1st punch in the 88 - Using 'Walk with Me' energy. The 1st punch translates as 'Thump'.

Pre-intention

2010-07-07T00:41:00.000-07:00

Exercise -
Resting in, holding the right hand onto the left forearm. Feel the direction of the grain both with the holding hand and the held forearm. Without changing the shape of the tissue, move the bones of the left hand.

Exercise -
Sitting in a chair doing nothing. From that state, intend to move up and around the chair, but don't do it. Find the state of pre-intention and how the intention to move creates changes in the system.
Remember to feel fullness in every part before moving.
Let the punch in. In practicing the 1st sections of the 88, let the punch come in and observe how your body instinctively reacts. In most cases, it seems that the response/counter is more authentically generated/seeded from the body's natural sensing ability. And it creates a state where the puncher wants to chase and overextend their body.
Practice the solo set as if you are training the adhere/stick energies. Relax the elbow.

Using all the joints in the 88

2010-06-11T18:09:00.000-07:00

These stills are plucked from the Jan Jim Jam Yang Style Taijiquan Push Hands Reference. This cd is an incredible resource for the Yang 2 person curriculum

http://janjimjam.com/

For side b. Don't need to seal against the shoulder stroke. Just rest in slightly towards the grain of movement before strike tiger. Once behind, choose, follow the grain of movement with the strike tiger toward the jade pillow.

After the shoulder stroke (side A) and B uses strike tiger - Side A should rest into the direction the strike takes you releasing thru the neck, upper back, ribs to setup the direction towards the left, weighting thru the left foot to release the right foot step backwards, creating space for the forward elbow stroke.

The Fascia Bell is Sam Masich's description of the interconnection of the connective tissue.

On an aside, when resting into the tissue in massage, you can entice the tissue out by gradually releasing pressure and matching the speed of the tissue as it distends.
When connecting in massage, differentiate the levels at which you rest into. skin, fascia, muscle, bone. First lightly, then connecting deeper. Departure follows the same path of depth. From bone, then muscle, then fascia, then skin. Never leave abruptly. You don't want to leave a vacuum creating a hole in the tissue unless the strategy is specific for the an exit plan in the tissue. Overall, the gestures of wiping down while resting into the nooks and crannies are as good as anything.

Suspension and weight

2010-06-03T23:20:00.000-07:00

Practicing today I was playing with really relaxing the arms, suspending from the wrists which seems to setup a reference point of letting the lines reveal themselves internally. A triangulation process of location. The resulting weight felt in the arms falls into the greater sensitivity, 'keeping what you acquire' mode. It feels like I can leave the hands more or less in place and just move around the suspension in the wrists. I started thinking about Jim's threading idea and took the feeling deeper through the shoulder girdle and Man, that was cool. I realized that it wasn't necessary to keep the suspension in the wrists, but that you could suspend from any place in the body. And there's that 'threading a pearl with 9 bends' potential. Aligning the joints and structure doesn't seem possible without this idea of suspension. It's almost as if the letting go quality does the aligning.

Keep the hand in one place

2010-05-28T20:10:00.000-07:00

I learned an interesting hint from Julie last class. When connecting, keep the hand in one place. Let it acquire your partner's internal space. Wait for it. Then begin to detect the line. In any action, "keep what you acquire." Helps to settle the wrist, depending on shape, into your partner's structure. What was cool and at the same time, frightening, was the experience of Julie's ability to listen and interpret the line in a second. As soon as I wanted to do something, she read where I was going and jammed the flow. I was a rag doll at her whim. She's crazy good at enticing and stops just short of emitting, issuing (lucky me). Here's how the insight plays out for me ...
When practicing the set, let the arms hang from the hand. Just let it rest into that space to give it presence. Move from that defined area and wait for the uncoiling and weight. When one hand has weight, you can feel the correspondance of the other hand and it's balancing action.
A great image is that the part of the body that is the connection point should rest in/suspend from like a framed picture hanging from a nail. Use the contact point to connect in and suspend/release the rest to the body to support the structure. Problem solve the binds/tight areas joint by joint from the contact point.
Erica's exercise of just raising the elbow as a breakdown of charles ...
Seat the elbow and raise the hand. It doesn't break structure and you feel more capable of connecting long. Note the the curve spiral from shoulder gua, elbow to wrist. Less intent. Let the movement find it's weight.

8 of theTaijiquan 24 Energies

2010-05-16T17:51:00.000-07:00

A list taken from Sam Masich's outline of the 24 energies. The first time I saw this at the Natural Arts Center, I thought, "Wow! I've never seen any compilation of this type." It was pretty intimidating. Still is, but I've seen Jim, Erica and Julie easily exhibit the 1st 20, so I know it's doable.

Energies (jin) which concern the point & the partner/opponent.
1 Listening - Ting jin
2. Comprehending - Dong jin
3. Receiving - Zou jin
4. Neutralizing - Hua jin
5. Enticing - Yin jin
6. Seizing - Na jin
7. Issuing - Fa jin
8. Borrowing - Jie jin

Chi Gung of the Waist

2010-04-28T22:01:00.000-07:00

'What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us.' - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Saw a tv show today with the above quote.

Rest your fists into the hollows of the lower back. Rest in to acquire the shape and lift, relieving gravity from holding the everything in place.

Place your thumbs on either side of the spine above the mingmen. As you shift thru the hip track ... weighted releases the erector spinae muscles above the hip bones. Use the thumbs on the weighted leg to press into the edge of those muscles. Alternate side to side. When weighted press inward.

From the side, find the crest of the hip bone and press inward with the thumbs.
Find the belly button. Spread out about an inch and a half and observing a matrix of 4 lines from that area, let the fingers lightly rest in to find the non-substantial spaces the fingers rest naturally into (the sine lines).

Using a chair with arms, push downwards on the arms, raising your body upwards. Relax, allowing the lengthening of the spine downwards. Another variation is, while suspending the body from the arms, to shift right and left through the shoulder gua.

Playing with the Stub Step and Cowcatcher Palm

2010-04-21T11:43:00.000-07:00

In the transitional phase between the punch and shoulder stroke there is the cowcatcher palm and stub step. The cowcatcher palm is vertical with the fingers pointing outward and the heel of the palm pointing downwards. It is catching the incoming punch with the whole palm dissipating the force through the catching left arm. It does not deflect the punch's direction and is not influenced by any action of the fingers. The left stub step takes you out of the path of the incoming punch.

What energetic principle does 'walk with me' express in the stub step (similar to the pa kua toe-in), cowcatcher palm combination?
From the cowcatcher palm, stub step combo, glide the hand and snuggle into just behind the elbow notch, continuing the punch in the same line. It is a join (distinct streams) and not a blend (as in mixing) colors). You extend the shoulder joint, then the shoulder blade as you step, then rest into the space by a similar action in your own shoulder joint/shoulder blade, taking your partner's extension through the punch line and out of balance.

The line of force throughout the body can be influenced by all or any joint. When you fall forward, you have the choice of how you want the force to play out. The force is neutral. It's a matter of if you want to break it through bracing and catching the force with the small bones of your wrist or letting it play out relaxed through all the joints.

Straightening the fingers, as in four hands, clarifies the feeling in the palms.

When looking at the another person's form/shape and trying to figure out how the lines of force are playing out, you also have to look at the energy/spirit/shen quality as this somehow determines how through and what direction it's going. You can't go by structural observation alone. A punch's origin coming from the shoulder joint looks structurally the same as coming from the legs.

Why Learn Jue Shou?

2010-04-19T13:13:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been questioning the purpose of learning Jue Shou apart from my quest for personal power. Ha! Ha! Actually the practicing at the Natural Arts Center has curbed that addiction somewhat, so already I'm better off. Much more interested in the energetic balances that occur when playing push hands. There is also something fascinating about what can happen with depth pressure loads, their kinetic outcomes and how they can change the system when in connection with someone else. And more than often, you feel great after class. So is Yang Tai Chi the best for self defense, health or ...? Maybe not, but it's a blast and your life partner will appreciate what you learn about touch, listening and massage.

bai hui bump or hollow

2010-04-15T21:37:00.000-07:00

The top knot sits on the bai hui point draping down into the hollow.
To suspend from the bump is to give the appearance of mastery and the total command of space. It's appearance is akin to BaGua or Chen Tai Chi. To suspend from the hollow is to relax into, delve into the internal spaces, to dig into. It's appearance looks like Yang Tai Chi deep into tui shou.

My turn. Your turn.
In the 88 side B after the second punch from side A, does not stop the line of the punch but allows it to continue comfortably after leading it to the side which still makes it your turn and my turn (B) has all the time to stub step, preparing for the step around into shoulder stroke. Jim says that the 88 is an interesting play on time. It suspends time in many instances playing with the my turn, your turn correspondences.

substantial and insubstantial

2010-03-26T10:33:00.000-07:00

First start with the index finger on the chin and support the direction it goes without interference from habit or tendency. You can play with this on any joint of the body by putting in a little load from the finger to discover the sine/lines going all the way through the body from one edge of a joint's movement into the edge of the next. The path in is the path out. Unravel the direction in the same path reversed.
Feel the earth property of the body. What is visible or felt. Feel the space line going thru the substantial. The empty lines going thru and follow, rest-in and support the sines/lines going through. Note the substantial, it's edge, but follow to the defined line going through. This relates to oneself and one's partner in the same time space. Do this in the 88.

The Irritant or how about a nice glass of peng?

2010-03-23T09:37:00.000-07:00

'The happiest man is the one who most believes he is improving himself' - Plato

Most pushes in Tai Chi are 'an and then tui (push)' .

100 % acquire and match - 110 % using the 10 % to control and jostle.
meet me - an action of finding equal pressure.
stretch using a wave of dynamic tension.
Training with the ball against a wall - equal pressure.

Setup the conditions for the shape to emerge. This engages full structure and minimizes gaps.

False, less false areas of origin.
The forms of Tai Chi have function when they arise naturally from the grain of movement in the intertwining of the physical pressures between two bodies.

By Receiving, your Partner provides all the structural power you need.
Instead of pushing against or tracking for an opening, receive your partner's pressure fully into every joint of the body. By putting a load into your body, your partner firms and fills your structure providing all the power for you to launch them.

Next class - Master Jou's expanding/contracting exercise.

Rising and sinking to move thru the hip track helps to eliminate the local tension in the hips from holding thru the hips.

The Hip Track provides the frame for the Wu Bu. Without the smooth definition of the hip track, there is no Wu Bu.

What powers the upper body actions? It's the sinking component. As the classics say ... If you want to rise upwards, first sink downwards.

The radius and ulna peng. Ultilize the soft meaty region between the 2 bones and play with the complementary radius articulation different from the ulna which ties into core structure. With the pressure dominant on the ulna ... this unravels the spiral peng.

Reveal the importance of the 'turn around' point which is present in the most minute intended movements.

The Hip Gua is Mother to the Shoulder Gua

2010-03-12T12:49:00.001-08:00

What this means is that the shoulder crease is subordinate to the inguinal crease. Look first to the hip gua and then let the shoulder find it's shape relative to and mirroring the depth feeling of the hip gua.

______________
The levels of touch in resting-in.
skin
fascia
muscle
bone
First go in lightly at the superficial level and then gradually go deeper. Always exit gradually level by level. Never abruptly.

A Tiny bit of swordplay description in fiction

2010-02-21T09:29:00.000-08:00

'Just remember always to come up on them from the left. That way the man you're chasing has a problem reaching you across his own horse and body from the right while you have him right under your saber.'

'Be sure to have a tight grip on your reins,' Pan Zagloba added. 'They've got their own tricks. It could happen that you're after one and he'll suddenly set his horse in place and you'll sweep past him at a gallop but he'll be able to reach out and get you. An experienced rider never lets his horse run wild beyond control but works him fast and slow as the situation calls for.'

'I'll keep close to her just in case,' the little knight assured the other two, then turned with a last bit of instruction to Basia. 'You see, my love, the hardest thing in a cavalry fight like this is to remember everything at once. You've got to watch your horse, the enemy, your reins, your saber, your downstrokes and your thrusts all at the same time! It all comes naturally once you've had a few skirmishes behind you, but even the best sword-fighter can get into trouble on his first time out. All it takes is an experienced horseman, no matter how inferior with a sword, and the best beginner can go down before him.'

from Fire in the Steppe - Henryk Sienkiewicz

Wu Bu and the Theory of Mutual Production

2009-08-06T22:04:00.000-07:00

The Five Phases

Metal - Advance Step (Jin Bu)
Water - Retreat Step (Tui Bu)
Wood - Gaze Left (Zhou Gu)
Fire - Look Right (You Pan)
Earth - Central Settling (Zhong Ding)

'Metal is able to generate Water, Water is able to grow Wood, Wood is able to generate Fire, Fire results in the production of ashes (Earth), and finally, Earth produces Metal.' - from XingYiQuan - Liang Shou-Yu & Dr. Yang Jwing-Ming

Erica's explanation of the Wu Bu (Five Phases) (Stance Behaviors)
_______________________________________________
The natural behavior moving through the hip track generates the Wu Bu.
From the Advance Step to Central Settling to Look Right.
Central Settling to Retreat Step to Central Settling to Gaze Left.

There is a difference between 'Gaze' and 'Look'. Gaze is a natural consequence of the body turning to the open side. It implies a neutral state. Watching as the situation unfolds. Look implies intention or expectation. There is an active component to looking. To look as you roll or lu to the open side, creates a bind energetically. Rather gaze is to be explored in regards to unfolding to the open side.

"Without studying and integrating the specific qualities of the Wu Bu, it is virtually impossible to develop accurate or functional sticking energy." - S Masich

Every action thru the hip track is revealed in one's ability to stick. If the movement thru the hips is bound or impeded, there is a jump or gap in one's sticking.

The feel of the hips should be as if one is dropping into the floor except your legs are catching you. The hips should be loose without holding even as if one is sitting on a chair. It is that deeply relaxed. Practice dropping into the floor with the legs wider than shoulder length. Rise slowly without bringing the back into play. The thighs bear the burden of the rise.
In taking pressure from another's push or peng, it is relaxing deeply into the lower back of the gua near the buttocks that aids in the connection.

Some other notes ____________
Ji is towards the center. Lu is away from center.
To seal is to use An.
Erica demo'd a cool sequence of ...
Seal (An), then Ji.

Peng - An audible force?

2009-07-19T09:37:00.000-07:00

_ Interesting pieces from the web _
A Wu-style book by Ma Yueh Liang and Zee Wen about peng:

"Peng. It is the concealed strength because it is created mainly by feeling and crafty and it can be barely discerned in the surface of the forms. It ranks first in the Thirteen Kinetic Movements, which indicates its importance. In tuishou practice, the learner is said to have crossed the threshold only when he has learned the meaning and method of warding. Beginners often take years to accomplish this..... While practicing, not only the hands and arms, but any part of the body get into contact with the other side should one makes use of the warding force."

It has been described as an audible force, because you can detect the fine motions of your opponent as if through the sense of hearing, and you can thus make a repid response for rapid attack and a slow response for slow offensive. It is also a force of support and attack." (from Wu Style Taichichuan Tuishou by Ma Y.L. and Zee Wen)

In the above quote, there is a mirroring of the common idea that peng jing is the core, without which one is not doing real (tm) Taiji. :^) However, there is also the comment about peng's use as an audible force for listening to the opponent's body and motions.

Listening and Sensitivity have been interpretted (as has just about everyother term related to the neijia) to mean whatever a particular teacher chooses to mean (all the while believing that his/her intuition is infallible, etc.). Almost everyone who has some experience in not only static, but moving jing has had the experience of feeling another person and being able to locate tensions, off-balance areas, beginnings of movements, etc.

On the other hand, there are many sensitivities that someone can develop that have nothing to do with peng jing. For instance, it doesn't take much practice to rest a wrist against another's arm and lightly maintain contact while the other person moves their arm about. Yet this is not Listening in the neijia sense.

The point I was slowly getting to was to express an opinion (i.e., I could be wrong and I'm interested in others' opinions) about listening. In my experience, I think that establishing a good peng path to your hands (or other body areas) allows a constant base from which to judge things. In other words, it is like a comparator circuit or any sensing device which has a known base to use as a comparison.

When I touch someone, I am trying to feel the ground through them. Anything that hinders a pure ground signal is obvious, whether it is a tense shoulder, tense back, unbalanced posture, etc. When someone moves their arms using local arm and shoulder musculature (as opposed to manipulationg the ground strength with the waist and back), it is immediately apparent, no matter what their spiel is. :^)

So the question is, what is the exact mechanism of using the peng jing as a detector of another persons posture and moves?

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allen@starfire.utias.utoronto.ca Mon Jul 22 14:06:35 1996

Hong JunSheng is one of the very senior and still surviving student of Chen FaKe. His skill is so high the Japanese call him wizard hand. He also tries to preserve the authenticity of Chen FaKe's teaching, and I think its quite safe to say that he can represent Chen FaKes ideas with great accuracy. Below are some (unauthorized) translations from his book.

Any mistake in the translation is probably, well most likely, mine.:

"There are two aspects of Peng. One is referred to the 'jing' aspect, which is the 'silk reeling jing'. This jing is obtained naturally through prolonged training in the interchanging of opposing helical motion. My teacher Chen FaKe called this peng jing, which is what is commonly known as neijing [internal strength]. Applying this jing through various techniques we have the eight techniques of taijiquan. The second aspect is the Peng Technique from the eight techniques. This is a technique for meeting the incoming hand of the opponent.............The emphasis of the Peng Technique is on the leading and neutralizing of the incoming force."

"Chen Xin said: 'Taijiquan is Chan Fa [the technique of reeling and winding].'"He also said: "if you don't understand this, you don't understand taijiquan." It is clear that the fundamentals of taijiquan is the reeling technique. The appearance of the motion in Chen style taijiquan is helical. This form of spiral movement not only appears on the surface of the skin, but also appears inside through the whole body. It causes every joint, muscle bundle, and even every cell to experience motion. Through repeated stretching and twining in the training for a prolonged period of time, the body will naturally attain a resilient and elastic strength that is loose and yet not loose at the same time. This is the silk reeling jing. In the Chen style this is also known as peng jing, or the neijing commonly known in taijiquan literature. ChanFa, the 'technique of reeling', then, is the various application of this strength."

"We must understand how to apply hardness and softness, what is softness, what is hardness, and how hardness and softness can interchange and compliment each other. People who do not study Chen style taijiquan, or study it but don't understand the technique of reeling, when they apply hardness and softness their motion are usually linear. Or maybe they understand how to move in large orbital curves, but they don't have the spin coupling with the orbital motion. The result is that when they use hardness they feel they are resisting, when they use softness they would feel they are letting go. All motion in Chen style taijiquan, whether it is large or small, are spinning. If you turn half a circle, you have 180 degrees of arc composed of points. At the contact point with your opponent, if you meet the motion head on (meeting the point), then you feel hardness; if you meet the motion from the side (meeting the arc), then you feel softness. If your point meets the opponent's arc it will slide over and becomes softness. Only if you meet point with point will the hardness appear. If both sides meet each other head on, however, it becomes resisting force with force. At this point, whoever has bigger strength and faster motion will bounce out the weaker and slower. In Chen style, although you need to use your point to attack the opponent's point, you should use the point in the arc from the spinning motion, so during fajing there is no feeling of resistance."

"We can use the motion of the screw as an example. Whether you are driving in or taking out the screw, you cannot use pulling or pushing motion because of the thread. It feels sticky and yet it can easily move in both directions if you just turn the screw. This is what the Classics mean when it says 'Nien is Zou, Zou is Nien'........Taijiquan is a whole body exercise. The requirement of the body being centered without leaning is a vertical thread; the two legs are two threads going down; the two arms are threads that can change in any direction depending on the situation. When everything is coupled together, the directions can change in a million ways, and the opening/closing, substantial/insubstantial, and hardness/softness of the jing is very difficult to predict. Although every part of the body are like the gears in the clock and can have it's own motion, the most important part is still the motion of the torso. So the Classics says it is governed at the waist. The turning of the waist is what moves the arms and the legs, and the compliment motion of the arms and the legs also can not be ignored."

__________________________________________________________________

What is the speed of gravity in Feet per second?

Gravity is the force of attraction one mass exerts on another mass. To answer how fast gravity travels you have to answer the following question; Suppose you have two masses at some very large distance "R" apart. Now gravity gets weaker if the distance is made larger. Suppose one of the masses was moved very quickly so "R" is made even larger. How long does it take for the force on the second mass to become smaller because the distance "R" is now larger? Another words, how long does it take for the second mass to know the first mass was moved. The answer will tell you how fast gravity travels. No one has ever been able to measure the speed of gravity so the answer to your question is not known for sure. However, from theories like General Relativity it is believed to be the same speed as light, which is about 982 million feet per second.

I think the question referred to the earth's gravity on falling objects. The acceleration is then 32 feet per second, per second.

Unraveling the Grain of Movement

2009-07-01T21:19:00.000-07:00

Exercise -
Walk towards your partner aiming at the ribs and connecting freely. Settle into the shape. Quickly flow thru all the 15 plus checkpoints.
Using an against double peng, unravel the grain of motion in your partner, taking the motion towards it's end point of safe structure.

___________ Continuance __________________
In peng, when lu'd you can take the grain of motion thru the shoulder, releasing the elbow downwards or take a step releasing to the leg while retaining the square peng shape.

If when unraveling your partner, you cannot tell who is doing the unraveling, then you are single-weighted.

What happens when your peng is lu'd, you release naturally to ji and your partner fails to an.
Or you lu and your partner fails to feel that their peng has been neutralized and continues to hold on to their peng...
When two bodies are joined in connection and one fails to stick/adhere to the changed condition, a bind in formed in the connection and your partner can easily respond with an to your neutralized peng hanging in space. Jim used the example of the squishy ball. Holding it between your palms compressed, let the left palm shift a little forward. If the right palm does not rest into the changed condition, a bind in formed in the back of the wrist. That the body works this way, in connection, is mind blowing.

Nice Diaphragm

2009-06-25T10:54:00.000-07:00

I've been really unclear about the diaphragm since that's a part of the pathway checks thru the points, joints and gates. Check out the shape of it. Really cool how it covers and suspends.

"The stem of it is anchored on the inside of the lumbar spine where it rises to the uppermost dome quite high in the chest (at about the fourth rib or about nipple level in a male). The bottom edges of the lungs and the heart rest on top of it. It flips over to attach on the inside front edge of the ribs just above the point where the ribs separate, and the bottom edges attach to the lower ribs. (Note how the stem of the diaphragm is actually made up of separate sections thus giving the muscle enormous flexibility. It is not a solid, one-piece structure as is often believed.) There is connective tissue from the top of the diaphragm to the back and neck muscles, which helps suspend it from above." - Excerpt from Born to Sing by Ron Murdock

Direction Shift

2009-06-22T21:42:00.000-07:00

I figure that most of these posts are too vague to benefit anyone, but valuable for me as a way to cliff note my observations at class. I'll be putting up more descriptive pieces to delineate the learning process at the Natural Arts Center in a new blog 'Decoding Tai Chi'. Let me know what ya think?

Bind Dissolving via Gates, Valves and Basins

2009-06-18T21:03:00.000-07:00

Solve the bind in the circuit starting from the region of the bind and funnel through all the checkpoints of the path. For example, if the bind's origin point is the shoulder...
Check the shoulder girdle, then thru the waist, hips, hip girdle, knees, ankles, yung chuan, then up thru the wei yin, diaphragm, neck, throat and bai wei. The idea here is to dissolve the bind by giving space throughout the system, dynamically changing the pressure load and relationship of gravity to the situation. This is another way of describing resting-in and supporting.

Below is some correspondences to play with in solo or partner work. An example here would be ...
If your partner has fixed a bind in the upper chest through your arms, relax the nose to allow space into the region to untangle the bind. Don't ask my why this works. It's part of the mapping mystery of nei jia. If the lower back is tight when practicing the solo set, relax the ears.

Heart = Eyes
Lungs = Nose
Lower Back = Ears
Lower Tan Tian = Mouth

Playing from the periphery without toe grabbing

2009-06-12T09:42:00.001-07:00

Julie took us thru a cool exercise. While rolling backwards and forwards, take your balance right to the edge of falling. With the soles of the feet relaxed, release into the available space to refill the balance. There's a big water analogy here. Start to find the edges of your balance first from the feet and ascend upwards. The work here is to experience the slip feeling before falling and to recover quickly. The utility is to deftly release into a balanced shape from the seed of falling. The cool thing here is finding all the different ways to shape the balance thru the hips which functions as flexibly as the shoulders

Julie's Tai Chi farm would consist of ...

Hauling 130 pound bales of alfalfa onto a truck.
Moving a thousand pound horse after it's stepped on your foot. Kind of like deflecting a thousand pounds with four ounces.
Getting really sick and dizzy so that you could only move thru relaxed structure and from the center.
I'm thinking this would be the accelerated course.

Check Points Revisited

2009-06-10T08:51:00.000-07:00

The check points of lao gung, wrist, elbow, shoulder, shoulder girdle, waist, 2 gua of the hips, knees, ankles, yung chuan, wei yin, diaphragm, neck, throat and bai wei ... With your partner resting-into your structure, let the extra load help you find the center of each of the check points. Wow! How illuminating is that.

Note the correspondence of the gua of the shoulder and the gua of the hip. They influence each other. Problem solve a bind in the shoulder by investigating the feel of the gua in the hip and visa-versa.

One thing I've found that really helps with doing the set is connecting the lao gung with the middle tan tian. This defines when you are going beyond the safe/strong boundary of the emerging shape.

__________________________________________________________________
Below is more stuff from Scott Phillip's blog -

In the Internal Martial Arts, taijiquan, baguazhang, and xingyiquan, there is a basic sequence which allows for natural, uninhibited freedom to reemerge. There is no inherent order to this sequence. It can all be learned simultaneously; however, it makes some sense to conceptualize the stages:

Ice Man: Jin, and jing– the revealing of our most efficient underlying structure. This stage is characterized by unbroken power. Continuous expression of uprightness, twisting, wrapping, whole body power, and opening and closing the joints is achieved. While muscle tension, over extension, limpness, and collapsing, are all discarded.
Water Man: The fluid aspect of the body is emphasized to the point of discarding impulse control or defensiveness. This stage is not very effective for fighting, it is more defensive in the limited sense that your attacker finds nothing solid to push or hit. In a push hands match the opponent may lose to a “water man” only if he/she makes a mistake, like leaning or exerting a lot of effort against something that isn’t there. Heaviness is achieved.
Steam Man: It might be better to call this one “air man” or “mist man” because “Steam” implies hot or under a lot of pressure, which is not the case. In this stage the mind discards its focus on the body in the sense that movement becomes effortless. All movement becomes unified and multi-directional. Attacks become unstoppable. Lightness is achieved.

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Thought for the day

2009-06-09T11:29:00.000-07:00

From Scott Phillips' blog (http://northstarmartialarts.com/blog1/)

In traditional Chinese martial arts the result may be too subtle to withstand being chased by desire. Desiring a particular nameable result may crush it before you get close enough to grasp it. Thus, the Jade Maiden disappears when the adept’s conduct wavers from the pure and the resolute.

In traditional Chinese martial arts time may be collapsed in on itself. A list becomes a series of ideas which are simultaneous. A list without priority or order. It is therefore false to say that this idea should be combined with that one, because each idea is the whole idea simply presented from a different perspective or orientation.

For example, many years ago I heard this list of two word phrases:

Muscle let go
Sinew engage
Connect Bone

Americans will try to make this a “to do” list. “So first I practice letting go of my muscles, then I practice engaging the sinews, then I practice connecting the bones. Right?” or “While my muscles are letting go my sinews are engaging and that will connect my bones. Right?”

The problem is that this list of three is actually a single description of the same event from three different perspectives; that of the muscle (as a single type of mind), that of the sinew (again a singular orientation), and that of the bone (a whole dynamic structure). If you get any one of these correct, you get the whole thing. They fit together perfectly because they are actually one.

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Making Sense of the Intrinsic Functionality In the Older Body

2009-05-20T12:25:00.000-07:00

Lately I've noticed that most of the students in the internal arts classes I'm taking are all over 40. An interesting observation is where else are people studying function and movement from persons over 40 except in Nei Jia Arts? In my youth, I studied with Kuo Lien Ying (pictured to the left from one of Simu Kuo's books on Tai Chi doing Monkey Boxing). Kuo Sifu was a magician at deceiving motion. He could appear to be moving in one direction while moving in another. The planes of articulation were stacked one on another and nowhere could you discern the origin points. He could appear to be moving slowly yet be covering alot of ground. I remember seeing him doing Pi Chuan lines with another student and while seemingly moving slowly, that 20 year old student couldn't keep up and the distance between them broadened by 20 ft til Sifu stopped. What are the internal arts in our culture, at this point in time, but an interest in the older aging body to unveil its intrinsic functionality and beauty in motion. Perhaps also invoking the magic of ritual in daily practice.

____________ Class Notes ______________

Don't lose what you acquire - Erica in reference to real estate acquired when changing connection in sensing hands operations.

Exercises -
Relax from the skin inwards to the very marrow.
With one waist turn, shift many times through the hip track. This exercise is kind of maddening in the amount of coordination required to do it.

From a position of supporting your partners arms, move thru the hip track. Note that in this exercise nothing is done with the arms. It's all waist, ribs and hips. This releases one to just feel the neutral effects of shifting weight in connecting to another. Line up the body to support the shape. Or let the shape build around where you put your body.
Take a tai chi movement and let it release naturally finding the path quickly. Do this a good number of times. Then do it slowly. The body won't like if it goes against or out of the natural line/path that you have neurologically prepared for it.

Here's my stupid question of the week. Does the gua extend thru the hip blades?

Neutralizing When the Structure Is Receiving

2009-05-11T11:44:00.000-07:00

The question is how to neutralize when your partner is putting a load into the structure thru the arms. The waist is free-turning and has the ability to turn via the axis of the spine. The difficulty is relaxing the waist enough (drawing the receiving structure long) so that the ribs can turn without seeding the turn anywhere in the arms. The key is letting the load in deeply enough so there is no reactive gap or insufficiency in the connection. Then you just release the ribs to the open side. The 'just' is really difficult. But when it works it feels like doing nothing.

Big difference in neutralizing peng with an. A hint here is in releasing the waist/ribs in an ... think of

Peng is equal to the feeling time needed to find the space to support the shape

2009-05-01T09:40:00.000-07:00

And to relinquish, dissolve the resistances in intending the shape. Do less. Do even less than is possible to find the space surrounding the shape. Drape the resting-in and supporting envelope of space over and into the shape becoming peng. Release the interior weight to find it's own level like water. When practicing the set and you're holding, drop and reset. Makes the set really long, but the interesting thing is that the set becomes a practice of unraveling and releasing. Drop. Let go of what you don't need.

Erica walked us through this cool exercise to find peng.
A sequenced exercise to find Peng using your partner as a draping base.
Rest into your partner's shoulder. Abide there as your structure unfurls finding it's easy shape from the support. Your partner detaches away as you drape away from the support. Remember the feeling of resting into your partner and keep the same feeling as your arms adjust to support the resting in which is now into your own structure.

What is the pulses, streaming's which occur when a gate or pathway is opened? It is an excess of chi released from a dammed gate or pathway.

On Stirring, the Waist and Other Fun Things

2009-04-22T08:13:00.000-07:00

"The word 'jiao' comprised of 'hand' (shou) and 'jue', offers yet another idea. This character means to 'stir', 'rouse', 'agitate, 'mix up' and even 'annoy'. Here is a hand that gets involved, stirs things up and rouses what is stagnant out of complacency." - Wudan Taiji Jue-shou - Sam Masich

Jim touched on 'to stir' last class. The idea was to stir as in stirring away the sand in the ocean to reveal what is at the bottom. This idea makes sense to me in how to activate the hands thru the regular process of resting-in and supporting. It's merit lies in finding the deeper tendency of what lies beneath whatever the contact points are and stirring into a deeper connection without forcing. Usually the pressure load into my partner is too flat and linear laying a stack of gaps and binds for her to flow into and take my balance with it. This is way less linear, more asymmetrical and my mind intent can detect the curves and grain in my own motion, if nothing else. Sweet.

More class notes ____________________________________________________

The waist is defined as the movement of the ribs relative to the hips. The hips retain their sunken, bridging and neutral properties as the ribs are turned by an act of releasing to the desired direction without creating a tendency or minute bind in the hips.

Center/off-center in peng or an. When your partner is putting a forward load into your an, the waist turn is created through the fill of structure via arms, back, hips and legs into the ground and the neutralization is bounced back up through the legs to turn the ribs. The structure must be full, especially in the arms, to eliminate any binds, gaps or insufficiency's which would seed the neutralization in the arms, back, etc. (any place in the body where the pressure is pinched or stopped and creates the origin point there).

Tan Tian - An infinite point of no magnitude - Sam Masich

A book by it's cover

2009-04-14T22:44:00.000-07:00

Just as you can't know the depth of another's skill save by connecting ...
You can't judge a book by it's cover. Check out Susan Boyle. 47 years old. Never been married. Never been kissed.

Intention pulls the practice

2009-03-19T10:00:00.000-07:00

Originally I began my study with the Natural Arts Center so that I could understand the GuangPing Tai Chi set that I practice better thru push hands. What's the first things I found? The confusion of line and exertion. I begin again.

Pic of Jan Parker and Jim Madras from the "Push Hands Reference CD".

Notes from class __________________________
Chi Gung -
3 basins - lower, middle, upper
Breathe into with equal density. Find the path to the extremities quickly bypassing the dense parts. Let nothing come between the bai hui and the hui yin.
It is the diaphragm which moves the dan tien and areas below with the subsequent expansion of the fascia and other connective tissues.

The fascia net

Be relaxed enough to feel the line thru the body as you perform reel the silk movements thru all the check points.
Make the interior density equal to the environment. Perception of equal density while moving provides the line going thru the body.

Tension in the foot creates a bind in the hips. Fill the back foot to create pressure in the push. Use asymmetry.

When intent takes you off line, use the bind to feed/release back into line.

Practice the kidney shaking exercise. Note that it's like taking a scarf between thumb and forefinger and gently shaking out the structure from the hui yin.

The squishy ball provides just enough extra pressure thru the body to accentuate the binds.

How to find the leg's natural Peng?

You should be able to touch your thign at all times. This is a check for over extension.

Use the hip track exercise to begin to define the grain of motion thru the whole body.

Intentional movement from neutral creates the gaps whereby your partner's resting in fills the line leading right to your center.

The 15 checkpoints reveal the necessity of rest-in/support to conduct the movements without intent and let the shapes define themselves interiorly from the ground up or contact point downwards. The grain of movement makes the shapes/energy practical and is only detected by resting-in and supporting the shape.

Peng, Lu, Spiral Peng as boxing and other notes

2009-03-04T17:31:00.000-08:00

punch as peng
block as lu
uppercut as spiraling peng

_________________________________________
Unstoppable Peng

Ch'ien, The Creative Heaven - vertical
K'un, The Receptive - horizontal

water and fire - ordinary life and it's interaction

The vertical feeds the horizontal. The horizontal feeds the vertical.

___________________________________________

Partner work tuning using the 14 gates/valves
lao gong - wrist - elbow - shoulder - shoulder girdle - waist - hips - knees - ankles - yong chuan
Then ascending ....
hui yin - diaphragm - neck - bai hui

Peng versus An
Your partner uses an to push to your center.
It is such that it is difficult to tell how much pressure you are putting into their system.

______________________________________________

Foot tightness feeds back into the hip joint.
Density should be equal to the environment.
Pressing into the back foot relaxed creates effortless pressure into the partner's system.
Contrarily filling the leg is what relaxes it.
What is the speed of the fascia's ability to adjust to conditions and not create a splint in the tissues?

Gates and Valves and a dream about Sam M

2009-02-26T22:30:00.000-08:00

Had a dream this week about Sam Masich (Jim's teacher). I showed him a stamping beng chuan from Xing Yi and he said that the lead hand's function was invisible. That the arm was just a conduit for the pressures moving through the body. And I thought, "Wow! That's what I always wondered about". Jim said that I better not tell Sam since he'd charge me for teaching from the astral plane.

Class notes -----------------------------------------------------------
fascia - bioelectrical influences can turn the fascia from firm/solid to liquid states

Check points when connecting from top to bottom ............
lao gong - wrist - elbow - shoulder - shoulder girdle - waist - hips - knees - ankles - yong chuan
Then ascending ....
hui yin - diaphragm - neck - bai hui
Listen in the series then reverse. These gates/valves connect and open constantly. This is a way to connect and create an awareness of interior spaces enough to define the interior lines.

Depending on the depth of the connection, use the nooks and crannies of the very bones themselves to rest into from. Articulation/rolling lu can settle in a quarter inch roll within an individual nook crevice of the ulna. Use the bones and not the muscles.

Find the individual range of each joint. Moving the individual joint without resistance or forcing, take it through its full relaxed ability.

Swaying wrist fist

2009-02-25T18:40:00.000-08:00

Never knew I had a swaying wrist fist. If the internal alignments are not correct, when you hit something the force will burst throught the weakest part of the structure. In this case, out of the small bones in the back of my wrist.
Last class we tested structure and alignments by placing a fist into a temper pedic pillow on a chair. Slowly building the pressure into the fist and then release the muscles. If the structure alignment shifts off and the muscles cause a splint in the fist, then you're not aligning correctly or deeply enough. The underside of the arm will hold the tension to make the connection functionally similar to the thighs when they support the weight of the upper body. Differentiate between surface tension to weight into the fist and the deeper feel from structural alignment more central to the core of the arm and then extending through all the joints into the feet. Think of the 3 essentials theory of shoulders to hips. Wrist to ankles. Elbows to knees and all the articulations between. The feet should essentially be relaxed as dynamic tension and gravity feeds into the ground.

Remember that the shoulder also has a kua.

Test again by placing the fist into a partner's back while they are sitting in a chair. How much more you have to adjust. Adjust. Adjust. In the initial contact, rest into the direction of the muscles. More light. More connected. More neutral. You can connect in such as way thru the core as to effect any structure in the your partner's body as a tensegrity. The ability to not be controlled is in the depth of one's connection. Your sitting partner can begin to play with the connection and pretend to be a temper pedic pillow allowing the pressure into core. Further the play by feeling the movement tendency and taking it, respecting the grain of movement, subtly into another line and controlling your partner while sitting.

Spiraling Peng and Drawing the Bow

2009-02-19T22:20:00.000-08:00

Solve the bind created by the spiraling Peng. What this has to do with is whenever you execute a move you must find all the available space to support that movement. It should fall deeply into structure and you should feel comfortable. If you're an inch from losing it, you haven't made enough interior space to support the motion/action. It's kind of like drawing a bow. Ultilize all the connections in the body to support the drawing. Rest-in, support as deeply as possible, by letting go of your holding to keep the shape. Let it bottom out thereby strengthening the connection.

Observe and listen for the strong range of each joint. Sometimes it's inches only.

Use an as a straight push. The straightness is interior meaning that even when the push is neutralized continue the path of the push without deviation. Do not change the direction. This requires listening. When neutralized does the body have to follow the path of the neutralization or can it just be played out thru the arms?

Define free binding.

Shoulders, holding and the front of the gua

2009-02-12T20:54:00.000-08:00

Here's some notes from class. Never could have figured out these myself. In the classics there's a line that says...
'Deviation at the center of just a hair's breadth leads to divergence of a thousand miles at the circumference".
Apparently if you do things as you will, you will be swept away as your action creates gaps, insufficiencies and binds.

__________________________________________________
Move thru the hip track and feel how the shoulders respond.
Lock the shoulder and feel how it creates binds and gaps when moving thru the hip track.
Watch as you take your partner just to the edge of their extreme range of the shoulder. It reveals a nice line that you can reverse right into their center.

The wheel can only be active in one spot. Note the slight lean when opening the kua at the front and the weight sits into the bubbling well points. Eventually the back of the kua will open allowing weight to shift through the heels as well and you will be able to sit more balanced without the lean.

Active sinking and passive rising
Active rising and passive sinking
This works in moving thru the hip track as well as working to develop continuous flow in push hands. The feeling is distinct when going through each method of rising and sinking. One leads into a feeling of rollback and the other similar to brush knee.

Row down each vertebrae and row up the same path. Otherwise it will mess things up. You will need all the space and ability to articulate the openings and closings in the spine and hips.

All Thumbs

2009-02-10T22:56:00.000-08:00

Last class we were playing with trying to stick as my partner (at the same speed) tries to get a disengage. Almost unconsciously I was using my thumbs to hook into and feel the direction she was going to release to. When she complained that I was holding and controlling, it took me off track since I didn't even realize it. There's a fine line there between resting in correctly and using the weight of structure to influence and direct the line of flow. Jim came over and showed us a neat thing about the thumbs ...
They can be used, pivoted to lock/chin na like by a simple resting into fulcrum of the joint. Yow! That's a mistake.
Erica said that the resting in should be as relaxed as just giving her the weight of one's hand with a little juice going thru it (enough to keep the hand from falling). Lose the intent to control.
Jim explained that when you want to disengage your partner from sticking, try setting up a pattern of movement that your partner recognizes and then disengage from that. Yow. It's hard to support and rest into a movement form you habituate to even for a couple of seconds.

My turn

2009-02-05T21:08:00.000-08:00

The space/real estate you acquire from your partner makes it your turn. What this means is as long as your partner controls your space's interior, she is free to act upon your inward structure.

Notes from class:

George is the Spiraling Peng. A bridge to connect the 4 hands operations.
The body naturally wants to expand circularly thru the body when opening.
Peng beats an since an has an intent to press downward.
Learn to observe the spirals working their way thru the bodies when watching two people do tui shou. Observe how resting-in effects both as they settle/create space to adjust to the dynamic pressure.

A thought...
What if the belly through the hips is the wheel with only one revolving point of contact with the earth? When I think more forward into the gua which engages the belly, the sacrum doesn't tighten up to support the movement.

An interesting quote -
"The power in Pa Kua feels to me to be one of two things, first, like a connection in the way that a tree connects with the ground and its branches, second, the internal force feels like it is squeezed through the body in a similar manner as toothpaste is squeezed through a tube. The power in Hsing-I feel like a rush in the manner of water being turned on and moving through the body
at full force. The power of T’ai chi feels the softest and based on the permeance of ch’i to every part of the body in the way a slow flowing water over the ground will trickle into the earth."
- John Bracy

The undoing of Peng as an ideal shape

2009-02-03T22:24:00.000-08:00

Classic forward peng when meeting pressure creates a bind in the shoulder. Adjusting by creating space will alter the classic shape of peng, but it adheres to peng's intrinsic nature. You can't define the eight energies by shape. All the methods of the eight energies are interior and will not work if imposed as an external form.

To create lu, first peng. Then settle the wrist.
Releasing one wrist transforms the structure into lu

Take the shape of an as a trigram.

The edges of the body are firm. The middle is receptive.

Take the shape of ji as a trigram.

Receptive on the outside edges, firm in the center

The only remedy to ji is resting in as a preparation for it. If there is a gap/lag in sticking, you must use puck/cai.

Use the dynamic tension playing out in the body as you go thru the form. Accumulate and release, but don't allow the thread of dynamic tension to disappear completely.

In any physical system, the pressure will break at the it's weak points. Usually thru the small muscles of the back.
Work on isolating each joint progressively thru the whole path. This will give greater articulation and flexibility when doing any spiraling movement. Learn how each joint functions independently and how each feeds into the line/grain of motion.

Next class is the spiraling peng.

The Grain of Movement

2009-02-01T14:07:00.000-08:00

From the Writings of Wu Ju-Ch'ing (Lost Classics of the Ching Dynasty)

'When it comes to sparring with opponents and hands first make contact, concentrate on listening to your opponent's energy. Your task is to follow your opponent and not to do as you please. You must know your opponent and not allow him to know you. Once I understand the opponent, I can easily draw him in regardless of direction so that his energy lands on nothing. In this way, my opponent goes against the flow, whereas I go with it.'

The keys here are ting (listening) jin. There is no intent. You are simply listening. Following the 'grain of movement' by resting in and supporting. Listen and comprehend the direction of his energy.
On another note...
It is said that the chinese weight of 4 ounces is roughly the weight of a human hand.
The shoulders should drape. They rest into the shape.

Lu & Ji (Roll & Squeeze)

2009-01-29T21:23:00.001-08:00

From the 'Eight-Character Secret Transmission' -Li I-yu
"Lost Tai-chi Classics from the Late Ching Dynasty - Douglas Wile"

When he reveals gaps, I respond with press.

The basis of roll-back is drawing the opponent in.
Roll-back without press is a waste of roll-back;
Press without roll-back is a foolish risk.

Unless press follows roll-back, there is no drawing the opponent in,
And if roll-back is not followed up with press, it is a waste of time.

________________________________________________________

Class on Lu & Ji

Lu (roll back) in a simple form is just rolling. Ji (squeeze) is to fill/squeeze thru the gaps. When doing a solo form/shape and you encounter a bind in the tissue, hindering the line thru the body, roll to give space and squeeze to release thru the bind without resistance. I repeat. Without resistance. Follow the inner line that the tissue wants to take without bypassing the bound area. This is a great way to stretch. It's non-linear.
Think of the hips more on the order of a parallel with the shoulder girdle. In their similarity they can move the same way.

Inches

2009-01-23T21:24:00.000-08:00

More squishy ball.

Here's some passages from the Tai Chi Classics.

"All parts of the body must be threaded together, not allowing the slightest severance.
Each movement proceeds inch by inch without gaps or breaks in continuity."

The exercise is to 'rest in and support' holding the squishy ball. The moment you rest in, you can feel the parts you are holding. Release. Find the space to relax into. Play with the five connections integral to sensing hands. Each time you feel the bind when you're inching thru, release and let that carry and play out while pivoting, rolling, transfering and exchanging. The ball with the weight of your hands feeds back into your body. It's an internal mirror.

Five connection-operations:

resting-in and supporting (qixi jin)
pivoting (shu jin)
rolling (gun jin)
transfering (qian jin)
exchanging (huan jin)

Some interesting stuff.
The dantian. There's nothing there. The point is empty. It's value is in that emptyness/space from whence you can move. And it can absorb anything.

Jou Tsung Hwa's exercises
Expand outward to the edges of the room. Right, left, upwards, downwards, backwards and forwards.
Fold inwards as small as possible.

Farewell to No. 6

2009-01-20T22:41:00.000-08:00

Patrick McGoohan passed away on Jan 13.
Secret Agent Man/Danger Man/The Prisoner

R.I.P

And we'll 'Be seeing you".

Playing with the sticky ball

2009-01-10T00:25:00.000-08:00

Lately we've been playing with these soft squishy balls with the idea of using them to do solo push hands. Initially just rest into it's structure using the following principles.

Stick, connect, adhere, and follow. Without butting, insufficiency, separation, or resistance.

Inch thru the movement. Rest in and see how the movement plays thru your body. Find the line (grain of movement) as it plays out. This should help you recognize the line thru your partner's body when you do tui shou.

Try holding the ball palm to palm resting in. Do nothing but rest in and see what happens. (Whatever the lao gung points at effects the direction the body orients to and turns.)

Last days at the old Natural Arts Center

2009-01-06T08:19:00.000-08:00

This tues and thursday will be the last sensing hands classes at 240 West 6th Alley. After this week classes will be at a much smaller location. It was a great space for push hands classes with a great core group of people. It's interesting what kind of person wants to delve into the deeper aspects of Tai Chi beyond shape and form. What emerges from a more integral perspective is really interesting tendencies and natural abilities that would possibly never have shown itself from practicing form alone. For example, I'm thinking of one woman at the dojo whose sense of placing and expanding into a plane while we're messing around freestyle is pretty cool. Different, in that most of the time, people focus on pressures at the points of contact.

On another subject...
Why isn't there a more vibrant push hands community in Eugene. It's certainly not for Jim's lack of trying. My perspective is that if something can't be picked up in a day, people think it's too complex. And if it goes against their idea of what movement is, it brings too many things into question. Any other perspectives are welcome. I would like to hear any ideas on this.

The connection is the message

2008-08-02T09:03:00.000-07:00

What is the meaning of push hands/sensing hands? It is to connect by way of relaxation to allow you and your partner to become one body. If you connect with an idea of separation, the jings will never work or emerge. It ties into 'The observer is the observed'.

What I've learned in a year. Be aware of the protective elements of instinctive reaction. What are you playing with? What drains away the ability to 'rest in' and 'support'? There is nothing more then the hip track and the ribs independence. The hips abililty to support movement is greatly drawn from the function of the psoas and not the hip rotators. You lose by having a plan. You cannot change quickly enough. The ease and speed of connection should not be underestimated. It happens almost without a gap. :)

"The body is like a wheel. The waist is like the axle." Consider a wheel resting on the ground. Where can there be two heavy places? If there are two, then it cannot move. - Tai Chi commentary

Why is Tai Chi skill so uneven? When you contrast external training...
'It's easy to learn how to tense up.' - Peter Ralston.
The ability to relax and trust the energy of structure requires retraining of instinctual and cultural reactions. The desire and capacity to delve deeply into the internal soma and origin of intention is the measure of potential skill in Tai Chi. The perserverence of this desire thru decades is the journey.

Seduction Tips relevant to your form

2008-07-29T17:14:00.000-07:00

(with acknowledgments to http://www.martialdevelopment.com/blog/ for the idea)

Just as you would pay attention and give yourself to connect to someone you want to meet or your life's partner, so the same approach to whatever IMA form you choose yields it's meaning thru the conditions of stick/adhere requiring listening, sung and adherence to the correct principles and driven by cultivation and strengthening of it's subsequent feeling states.

Trust the form and it will give up it's secrets.
Listen. As you listen, relax. She/he will will give you hints. "You're creating a bind here. Allow the pressure to thread through the bridge of the sacrum and into the opposite hip joint."
Don't impose your will. You can find the shape by receiving inwardly. Follow the internal grain of movement. Then the inherent structures in that path releases to form shaped by soft intention.
Delve deeply. Just as one's attention is caught by a pleasing shape, you don't want to explore with the eyes only. With soft eyes sense the form's opening and closing responses through all the joints and connective tissues using the energies of ting jin.

Get the JanJimJam Push Hands Reference

2008-07-25T13:29:00.000-07:00

Just got the Push Hands Reference CD. Really great to see Jim and Jan doing the all the push hands practices. It highlights the differences in Masich lineage teachings. What is that, you say? You can see the depth of connection and response. It's alive. Last class Jim showed a cool thing about connecting to the fascia through a slightly tense arm. The tension was to illustrate the level at which one wanted to connect into. Not too deep and not too surface. It is necessary to connect where the fascia is firm or bound. Don't really understand it, but it was pretty cool that you could control things at that level. But back to the CD. What's difficult to communicate about the teachings is the sheer rightness of the feeling of it. The basic core teaching is squeezing out innate intelligence from the body's natural resilience in accord with the theory of Tai Chi somatics. Smoothness thru the Hip track. Getting the connection from resting in and supporting. Allowing the binds to unravel and generate the new shape. The only downside to this CD is the lack of commentary. You know that Jan or Jim have volumes to impart on any one of the core practices.

Miscellanous tibbits from class -
Your friend the psoas.
Weird exercise to identify the poas muscle.
A better use than the Rectus Femoris.

Find the center tan tian of each joint to supplement the tan tian of the body.

More Magic

2008-06-25T11:54:00.000-07:00

The quality of your training at that point depends to a large extent on your teacher’s ability to explain the material - Dave Chesser (Formosa Neijia)

It's the old story. Ya can't judge a book by it's cover. The Natural Arts Center cover conceals deep knowledge like Paul Potts (referenced originally from Formosa Neijia).





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"The person making the change is responsible for the health of the circle" - on push hands at Natural Arts Center

"Long range/Mid range is determined by the depth of the connection. If blocking from the mid range with minimal connection, that's long range." - Jim Madras

The Magic -

ears - Kidney/Mingmen
eyes - Heart area
mouth - Dantian
nose - Lungs

More Kua

2008-06-18T16:58:00.001-07:00

Function and Usage of the kua
http://internalartsia.wordpress.com

Q & A with Chen Zhonghua

This article presents questions and answers, based on instructions in workshops, with Chen Zhonghua. The course material was Hong’s Practical Method of Chen style Tai Chi. Training emphasized mechanics and application skills. This selection of those questions and answers dealt with understanding of function and usage of the kua,in developing those skills.

The questioning here led to answers which deal with some universal topics and challenges which inevitably present themselves to serious Tai Chi practitioners, regardless of style. For example, often discussed ideas about “whole body movement”, “separation of upper and lower body “, “role of the waist”, “transfer of power”, “opening the kua”, and “central equilibrium”, are considered here with a penetrating survey in a precise context with a practical orientation.

As one comprehends the following elaboration, these intellectually familiar concepts may be better appreciated as being far more than some aesthetic or philosophical ideals. Rather, a very persistent and patient commitment to the physical work of developing the skills related to usage of the kua, is prerequisite to actualizing those ideals. Perhaps this may serve to inspire further exploration, to help readers progress through the challenges of actually integrating the concepts into their practice.

Anatomy and General Understanding

Q. It is quite common for teachers of the internal arts to emphasize the importance of the kua for attainment of higher levels of skill. What could you say about the kua in terms of its role in the practice of Tai Chi?

Its fundamental role is that without the kua the upper and lower body cannot properly work together. The kua is the body part responsible for integration of upper and lower body.

Q. Can you give some description or details? In context of the hips, groin, pelvic girdle, or the femur, speaking in simple layman’s view of anatomy—- how would you describe the kua?

The kua is that ball joint inside, at the top of the thigh bone. I dont know the English name for it (femur), the ball joint inside, inside the hip.

Q. The tops of the thigh bones that rotate?

Yes, the ball joint, thats the kua.
The rest, the body parts connected with it, are just things associated with it. Thats why there is always confusion, why the understanding of it always changes. At different levels you will be able to associate your kua with other parts of your body. Its these various different perceptions of experience of the kua, that give rise to different explanations of the kua among different masters or teachers.

Q. When they talk about the kua, maybe their definitions are more in terms of its usage?

Yes. As you exercise that joint, itaffects the structure and movement of your body. The better you are at using the kua, the better your body is coordinated. So it will appear that different masters use the kua differently, with varying levels and depth of experience of that function.. Ability to connect the kua with better integration with the body reveals higher skill.

But the simple objective anatomical definition of the kua has not been wrong in the past. It is commonly understood to be that ball joint.

Functional Relationship with Upper and Lower body

Q. So greater ability brings better coordination of kua with different parts of the body. Could you distinguish the role of the hips, the waist, and the kua in terms of using it properly?

To properly use your kua you have to properly use the body parts around the kua. You have to use your hips correctly and use your two thigh bones,
the femurs, correctly; also, to use your weight correctly and move your tail bone correctly. These are the things that are associated with it, so they must be considered. But these are aboutthe kua, relevant to the kua. They are not the kua itself. Yet when you talk about the kua, you cannot talk about it without considering the areas I just mentioned.

Q. Perhaps the area of the body that most frequently causes confusion about mechanics of correct Tai Chi practice is the role of the waist. Can you talk about the connection of the waist and the kua, and the distinction between the waist and the kua in terms of usage?

In terms of function, it is better to emphasize the primary role of the kua, rather than the waist. On the surface, people view Tai Chi exercise in terms of the waist. Waist is what you see, but the work is done by the kua. Consider the waist area from the kua, the crease in the two legs, (inguinal crease), from that portion all the way up to your arm pits. This whole body trunk, this one piece must be expressed, exercised as one piece. Think of this one piece as a round cylinder sitting on top of two legs. It is the function of the kua to coordinate the two legs directing this one cylinder.

Q. Communication from the legs to that whole upper body?

The communication will never occur unless the kua is properly aligned.

Think of it like a physical machine. The U joints on the 2 thighs must adjust so the cylinder can be aligned correctly, adjusting in terms of length, angle, and its ability to maneuver with connectedness.

This connectedness is very elusive and difficult. The requirement of the joint is to be connected to take full weight of the body, yet it must have flexibility to direct movement at all times. So it is similar to a universal joint. The kua must be able to carry the weight with a constant friction level, and yet constantly changing direction, without disrupting the connection.

Primary Role of Kua, Guiding, Adjusting Function

Q. How does the kua function to accomplish those different things?

The other body parts I mentioned earlier must come into play.
We must understand how they work together.

Now we are talking about the function of different body parts associated with the kua. The trunk, the waist and torso, must be erect. It sits squarely on top of the two legs, and the kua joint guides the waist as it adjusts to actions involved in maneuvering, changing direction.

The two kua guide change of direction. The body trunk doesn’t guide, it adjusts to changing direction. Like a log in water, the water can move causing the log to move, not the log causing the water to move. The two kua must move in a manner directing upper body movement, not the other way around.

Recognize this major distinction. Most people mistakenly assign primary function to the waist. The waist actually is the base of this cylinder I talked about. To view waist movement as primary, to view it as physically moving this cylinder, causing your legs to move— thats wrong understanding. Leg movement causes the kua to move, thus causing the adjustment of the trunk.

Q. Like the incorrect practice known as noodling? Too much waist movement, or the knees and the arms and shoulders are moving all over place, with no kind of strong connected root from the ground and power because the upper body is separated from the lower?

Thats right.

Q. This has been the most amazing discovery emerging from what you have taught us, over the course of this workshop. For so many years, books and instructions from teachers always seem to place all emphasis on the guiding role of the waist. Mention is made of the necessity to open the kua. But no one has ever clarified details of how the waist is being directed by kua, as opposed to moving the waist, using the waist muscles—- rather than being directed by the adjusting mechanisms of the kua. Now it is clear why performance of form and difficulties in push hands practice have been less than satisfactory, with the undesirable qualities mentioned. This is a starting point to get on the right track. Thank you very much.

You are welcome.

Integrative Function of the Kua

Q. Can you elaborate how the kua makes for the correct connectedness of the trunk, hands, and arms being driven powerfully from the ground—– as opposed to non connected noodling?

The critical element is the action of upper body in relation with lower body. The trunk must be set in a fixed position and cannot move independently. It can only rotate, or adjust to the action of the legs. Action of the legs must be on the knees. When the knee moves, energy is propelled both ways. One portion goes to the feet right through the ground, the other portion into the kua in directing the trunk. That is the proper action.

That is why beginners have excess knee movement. As they improve, movement of knees becomes smaller. With practice they learn to effectively make use of small movement to cause large changes in the body.

Q. Did you say that one knee is pushing while the other is pulling? One pushing the ground the other pushing the kua?

The two knees: one must go up, one down. That is the physical action. At all times the main source of power of the body must be two knees going one up one down. As skill develops, they may not appear to do so, but the action is still the same. As the player gets more advanced, knee movement may be less obvious, but still the power must be initiated from the two knees.

Q. How do you distinguish that from saying the power is coming from the kua, one pushing down and one pushing up?

Kua is the joint responsible for transmission of power. The mistaken notion of dantian acting as the transmission should be amended, to recognize the primary role of kua. The dantian, ( in Tai Chi functional terms, not qigong usage), is defined as the area between the kua and the arm pit. This is one big ball. When this area turns you wont see the kua turn. On surface, you only see the area from kua to arm pit turn. Therefor many people practice shoulder movement, turning dantian from the top. We must emphasize turning of the dantian from the bottom.

Q. And that is from the knees pumping like pistons, one going down and one going up?

It is more precise then that, but at the beginner level it is important to know that the knees function like two pistons.

Kua Establishing Correct Usage of Dantian and Upper Body

Q. When you bring in the concept of the dantian, are you saying the kua is rotating on each side and the ball is staying centered?

Whatever the intended activity of the upper body may be, rotations of the two kua are coordinated so as to ensure the trunk sitting on top of them remains erect all the time.
How you do that each time varies, but the trunk must remain level, erect, and suspended.

Q. It seems that the functional role of the abdominal area just above the kua, the dantian or whatever, this includes the whole waist?

Yes

Q. So the waist really isnt moving, its not moving up and down and not moving left and right. Its staying in one place like a ball sitting on top of these two rotating balls under it?

I can give you a better word. Its called adjusting, not moving.

The dantian area adjusts to the movement or the actions of the kua area, driven by the knees. At the same time, the dantian area can adjust to other movement, such as the shoulders being pushed or pulled by your opponent. In any case, dantian doesn’t cause action. It adjusts to actions applied on to it.

Q. Would you also say it is the point in the center of the body that maintains that uprightness and equilibrium?

Yes, it maintains and it adjusts. It does not create action. But for most practitioners, due to incorrect understanding, they attempt to create the action from the waist.

Q. So you mean dantian should keep itself completely stable?

Yes, it is important that movement is initiated in the knees. Incorrect practice, attempting to initiate movement from dantian, leads to twisting the waist, the knee, the arms and everything. The common mistakes in practice, wrong body mechanics such as the knee twisting sideways, are due to wrong application of kua, not connecting properly with associated body parts.

Q. So if the kua is open, one can get this action with the knees, one going to the ground, one going to the kua, and adjusting with each other to allow the continual centered position of the dantian. If the kua is too pinched, or closed, or compressed, however you say it, then the knees will not be allowed to go down and up? If there is some twisting of the knee, does that mean the kua is resisting being open?

Two ways to view it. One, the kua is resisting, so the knee twists. Second, even if flexibility of the kua is adequate, to allow correct action of the kua, incorrect action of the knees would push the kua out of alignment. It is necessary to develop the awareness of coordination of kua and knees.

Q. You have to learn how to coordinate them with each other to produce the proper alignment and the proper balancing?

Yes.

Functional Relationships of Kua, Dantian, and Physical Structure

Q. You have clarified the function of knees and kua, and their primary role in directing action of the waist, dantian, and upper body. Can you elaborate further on the mechanics of how the kua directs the activity of the dantian, to allow the qualities of correct practice, and higher levels of Tai Chi?

Consider the globe of the earth. We have all seen these globes, resting in a seat cradled underneath. Similarly, the kua has legs underneath it. Compare what is above it to the globe. This globefor us is the dantian. Dantian is anything sitting on top of the two kua. When the two kua move proportionately, in coordination with each other, the dantian resting above can function correctly for desired results. If one kua moves more than the other kua, you will see a noodling quality or other incorrect practice.

This defines the relationship between kua and dantian. Kua is only the seat. Dantian is what is on top of the seat. If one kua disengages from this dantian, resulting movement is not upright, not balanced, causing noodling, wiggling, and other incorrect qualities. An example would be belly dance movement, as contrasting with the dantian movement we describe.

Q. Practically speaking, when I see you move, your shoulders stay level and your hips stay level. They rotate, but they dont gyrate up and down.

They dont but they do. You may not see the subtle underlying activity.

Q. Well, I see the back of the hips where they are connected is moving a lot, but it keeps the part above those ball joints appearing to stay level. It seems to me that the pelvic hip points, which are level with the dantian and the waist, they seem to stay level.

Sure, that seems a good observation and you can say that. I agree with you.

Q. I think when most people say hips, they dont understand anatomy. They may understandhips as being all those bones in the waist area. Where the hip joints are really much lower than that at the top, right where the leg sockets are. Those leg sockets twist around all over, but you can rotate them by adjusting them in coordination and still keep the hip points level.

Yes. You are describing what you see, as correct or incorrect. Also you are describing a quality. A good quality, high quality, and low quality. But the essence is still deeper than that.

Essentially, it is like the ball sitting in the seat. You can move the globe with the seat stable. Or move the seat, the globe will move. The bottom line will depend on skill level. At varying levels of skill, your actions are different.

At higher levels, the seat remains stationary, always adjusting. The globe moves above it. At beginning level, we are incapable of movement of the globe by not moving, so we move a lot. The result is overextension and problems you have noticed. You observe my hips and kua area remain relatively stable, yet I can still cause action of the body. Thats the difference between our levels. Ultimately, at highest level, it shouldnt even move.

Let me describe it another way. Consider the U joint on a car. It can move the wheel of the car in various directions. Whatever the range of direction, it is still movement. Yet a look underneath the car would reveal the U joint as fixed onto the bottom frame of the car. Like that, the body part, the joint of the kua, is fixed. Yet what’s inside it can move any direction.

Another analogy. Make your one hand like a cup, your other hand a fist. Put your fist in the cup. The cup is like the kua. The fist is inside it. Now rotate your fist, in the kua. The cup never moves, yet it allows the fist to change in various directions. In this manner, the kua doesnt really move. Yet it causes, it adjusts other parts of your body to move within a fixed frame.

Q. Is that contradictory to what you said earlier, about incorrect movement of waist first, to move the kua and knees—-that correct action is driven from knees, with kua adjusting, then causing waist to move?

No, not contradictory. Its exactly the same. For example, imagine your fist inside the cup. Your fist is like the femur that goes into the kua. It moves because theknee moves. The kua is in a fixed position, but it adjusts to allow movement changing direction. The kua is open, adjusting smoothly, so your body can change direction within a fixed frame. This is the requirement of Tai Chi, which appears contradictory to students. It is that very elusive ability which must be developed over time through practice.

Q. Could you explain the contradiction?

The contradiction of Tai Chi is that your body does not appear to move and yet you have to create action internally, to generate a degree power and dynamism at least equal to external arts such as boxing. How can you generate such power, if your body as awhole does not appear to move at all? The kua holds the key to answer this dilemma. When the kua is activated correctly, the kua and other body parts provide a fixed frame, so your body appears not to move. Yet this allows activity inside to produce external results .

Function of Kua in Transfer of Energy

Q. That leads to the question of the concept of energy transfer. Getting power or energy from the ground, the legs, to the torso, waist, arms, hands. The key to real power sounds like this coordinatingcontrol of the kua? Can you describe the process or explain the role of the kua in this transfer of energy from the ground, the legs, the kua, the torso, the waist, arms, hands—the role of the kua in generating that power?

Let’s view this from a different perspective.
Internal energy is activated though movement of joints, not through lack of movement. Rather, there is a flow of movement within the frame. But the action of the joints is not that they are stretched, or extended, or moved horizontally. The joints are only turned, or rotated.

Q. What you are describing sounds like experience of the kua in doing a positive circle.
I feel the pelvic girdle stays centered and thats the only way my dantian can stay centered. What happens is that thetwo kua kind of push against each other. So they have to turn. One has to rotate up to the other one around in the opposite direction of the circle. Its like they are pumping into each other.

Thats correct.

Youre getting onto something very important here. The key is, your two kua are locked onto your body frame. Fixed in place, they do not move from that frame, they only rotate.

This is very different from your two hands, for example, which can move freely, without connection with rest of body. The kua is not free to move horizontally. Unlike hands, you cant put one kua on your body and the other three feet away from your body.

Your two kua are always connected, as an anatomical constant fact. When you believe you are moving your kua, you are actually just rotating one kua against the other. As you just said, its as if they squeeze together toward each other causing your waist to turn. Thats very crucial.

In terms of function of the kua in generation of energy, the kua is essentially a junction. So anything that you talk about in regards to any joint applies to kua. Tai Chi energy being the product of joint rotation, the kua’s role is most important, since it is the largest joint. Rotation of a small joint generates a small range of movement. When you rotate a large joint, you generate a large range of movement.

When you rotate your two kua, they cause your waist, your dantian, to turn. It is a coordinated and proportional movement, not independent activity of the kua. As the largest joint, the kua’s effect on range of movement of dantian and waist can be quite significant, so much so that the entire body can appear to move.

This is the unique quality of Tai Chi movement, generated by joint rotation, not by muscles pushing and pulling. This is drastically different from normal human activity, which employs the muscles in physical effort of muscles independently pushing and pulling various parts of the body.

The Key Role of the Kua in Meeting Unique Requirements of Tai Chi

Q. It seems the reason the kua makes everything else move, is because it’s in the middle of the body. Or it is controlling the waist, which is in the middle of the body.

Yes, you can say that. As well as being the largest joint, the kua is most strategically positioned . These things illustrate its crucial importance.

Q. As I understand your description of generation of power in the upper body, its the rotation of the kua, being in the middle, with the knees pumping the ground, driving the power directly through the center to get to those points of the upper body. What about in terms of its role in the classical Tai Chi functions? For example, to absorb and neutralize, when an opponent is pushing on you. You can maintain your balance or adjust your body parts to absorb his power and neutralize it and then redirect it.

Yes. Using kua to make dantian waist rotation, half a waist turn translates into 30-50 centimeters, or more, between one and two and a half feet. That is a wide range of movement, in terms of neutralization.

Q. How about in terms of redirecting power and then releasing power?

Your question reflects misunderstanding, as you are using the terms incorrectly.
There is no redirection and no release. The most crucial thing is to have proper use of dantian, that long ball centered in the body, controlled by its seat, the kua.

For example, in practice, my body is round. My physical action is more rounded than your physical action. Everything relates to the dantian. My movements more clearly reflect rotation around a clearly identified center. You might feel that you are trying to move like a ball too, but it appears as more linear movement. This prevents accomplishment of the higher Tai Chi skills.

All these skills people mention are representations of this one action. The big ball in the center moving, and turning. If the dantian rotates properly, with center never moving, the center never changes positions. Thus, automatically it accomplishes neutralization. Action becomes soft, smooth, and strong, causing redirection. To simply say this move is redirect, this move it push, this move is absorbing— such descriptions are incorrect. I can tell you though, when you master rotation of the center of your body, you will have peng, lu, ji, an and all the other tai chi energies. How they relate is an extensive topic for future discussion.

Correct Usage of Kua, Establishing a Center for Advanced Tai Chi Skills

Q. So the correct description is that you just have this very centered awareness that automatically adjusts to any movement upon it, or any pressure upon it?

Speaking in traditional terms, the goal as defined by Hong Junsheng
is to ultimately have one point on the body. Feng Zhiqiang described it as one grain of chi.

Through training, eventually you experience the body as always pivoting on one dot. Everything rotates and moves around it. Thats Hong’s description of the overall guiding principle. Feng’s overall guiding principle is one grain of chi. They are talking about the same thing.

Q. Is it a state of awareness and coordination of body, that the individual is experiencing all movement pivoting on this one point right in the center of the body?

Yes. And because everything pivots on it, you know where your center is, and your opponent cant find the center.

The requirement of Tai Chi is to be centered, and not reveal to your opponent where that center is. Your opponent feels no center, because he cant find it. Wherever he pushes, he can never catch what he cannot find. But if you lack recognition of your own center, your opponent can find it all the time. When you push, you generate a center as you respond to the push— your center goes directly into the push.

Q. When you havent developed the awareness and coordination of that center, it’s easy for the opponent to find it because any time you try to move or push youre pushing it right into him?

Yes. Also, from another angle, if I consciously create a center somewhere on myself, you can never find it. And if I dont establish a center you can find it, because
whenever you touch me you are actually creating a center on me.

Q. Because the person being pushed knows how to establish balance?
So the key is really about equilibrium and balance?

Yes. It’s who owns it.

Q. The one who owns the central equilibrium?

Yes. That word I have no problem with. In terms of yin and yang, balance and establishing center are critical variables.

Q. And when you resist, or meet force with force, you lose balance and immediately expose your center to your opponent?

If you own center, I lose it. If I own it, I dont lose it, and you can’t find it. Thats the objective of training. I have a student who is a magician. He says you impose your conduct onto your opponent. Understand that?

Q. Yes, but it seems pretty abstract.

It means, through training, I can construct a center onto myself, so you will not recognize it or be able to locate it. Before you start pushing me, I have already formulated a center in my body. As your actions are consumed in attempting to find my center, you cannot establish a center for yourself. Without any center you are lost.

Q. You dont have awareness and balance from that central point?

You can also see that, when people do the form incorrectly. From perception of a skilled eye, in observation of someone practicing form, it is obvious when there is no awareness of center. The quality of waving arms, arms moving independently from the body, overextension, and other flaws will be apparent.

This brings us full circle, to recognize the primary importance of the correct use of kua, driven by knees, guiding the waist with awareness of the center of dantian, coordinating activities of the upper body.

Practice for Developing Correct Usage of Kua

Q. Concerning training to improve these skills, how can we open up the kua? Here is the problem. People have difficulties practicing, because they are always compensating one part of the body for another, to try to get the appearance of the teachers form. How would you advise students to practice, to open the kua.?

There are some basic exercises you can do. Do all the foundation circles I taught you. To a certain extent, these facilitate opening the kua. Also practice the fetching the pail, twisting towel, 6 sealing 4 closingexercises. Practice that kua exercise, in which you squat down sideways with one leg stretched out, like the action of falling into a sled. Practice each side.

But these exercises do not really produce the open kua experience. They only loosen up the kua, so you are ready. The ultimate experience of the kua opening evolves over time as one learns how to restrain, or be in control of its movement.

Ill give you an analogy, to illustrate how to practice correctly. Compare the kua movement to a ball turning. The restraining capability I am describing is like that turning ball rotating inside a square box. Imagine the sides of the ball all press against the inside walls of the box. So the ball, in constant contact with the box’s four sides, is always restrainedfrom any horizontal movement. The ball can only rotate in its fixed position, inside the box. If the top of the box is open, you can touch it to spin the ball, but the ball doesnt toss or move horizontally. It only rotates.

This analogy illustrates the guideline for form practice. Body movement should be always connected and driven by joint rotation, not by independent movement of body parts. Form should be upright and stable. The body shouldn’t bob up and down, nor toss from side to side. The spine must be straight, moving rotationally from center, rather than tilting.

Movement reflects adjustment within a fixed frame, with limbs always connected. There is no waving of the arms. Arms only move connected with torso, from kua rotation driven by legs, not independently from the body. That is what kua movement is about. Only by moving in this manner, can you eventually develop your kua.

The function of the kua is to be able to rotate constantly, with the body adjusting accordingly. Many people develop only range of motion of the kua, not functional ability. Movement without stable rotation accomplishes nothing. Only balanced, coordinated kua rotation produces the qualities of soft, smooth, stable, neutralizing, redirecting—- all Tai Chi qualities. Tai Chi requires adjustment of each kua with each other in complete coordination, with the area above the kua maintaining its equilibrium in the midst of those two rotations.

Q. Thats what causes the body or the arms or the movements in the form to be caused by that rotation rather than to be caused by muscles pushing and pulling those parts of the body around?

Yes. Another point, as Master Hong said, The opening of the kua is a matter of one millimeter.If your kua is open, a very minute movement can bring profound results. Correct usage of the kua allows for application of whole body power. When the kuais open, it serves the function of connecting the body, allowing for flow of energy in a fixed frame.

Q. Could you say if the two kua are open they always counterbalance each other properly to allow the proper alignment and direction of the body? Then the kua can allow the body to have tremendous power because it is structurally aligned?

Yes. If the body is connected, with proper structural alignment, a little bit of direction from the kua gives it tremendous power, because the whole bodys weight can be directed at the point of contact.

If the kua is not open, mere physical movement of the kua may be like that of a belly dancer, without value for Tai Chi. Or one might possess the flexibility of a gymnast, moving the kua any which way, but have no Tai Chi skill. Stretching and increasing flexibility are a physical property, not necessarily indicative of an open kua. They do not have a Tai Chi function.

Opening of the kua is a function, vital for correct Tai Chi movement. Opening of the kua is a special quality. It reflects the ability to turn your kua to serve Tai Chi, to facilitate the proper structural alignment for postures to serve their proper function.

Coordinating the two kua together to produce the proper structural flow—this creates the proper Tai Chi form, with power, root,and whole body movement. The unity of movement of the different parts of the body is dependent upon the kua functioning properly to facilitate structuring of that unity.

Lengthening the thigh muscles and song kua

2008-06-18T15:57:00.000-07:00

Jim's been endlessly stressing the hip track. :)
One really interesting thing he said the other day was how when sinking the knees in ma bu stance one is actually lengthening the quads as when one slowly lets a heavy weight down using the biceps.

The Quadriceps are a group of four muscles that sit on the anterior or front aspect of the thigh.
They are the Vastus Medialis, Intermedius and Lateralis and finally the Rectus Femoris.
The Quadriceps attach to the front of the tibia and originate at the top of the femur.
The exception to this rule is the Rectus Femoris which actually crosses the hip joint and originates on the pelvis.
In this diagram, the Vastus Intermedius and Rectus Femoris overlap.

Functions
The function of the Quadriceps as a whole is to extend the knee (straighten the knee).
The Rectus Femoris functions to extend the knee but also acts as a hip flexor because it crosses the hip joint.

Check out this entry on 'song kua' from the Formosa Neijia site:
_____________________________________________________

The most basic requirement for doing Tai Chi is song kua, or relax the hips, means that the muscles surrounding the hip joint, i.e. where the thigh bone meets the hip, should not be used to any great degree in supporting your structure. These hip muscles can then be used to adjust the angle of your pelvis so that your upper body can remain relaxed, or direct the jin if so required. If you haven’t achieved a song kua, then everything else is academic. You will not be able meet the requirements for the rest of your body.

In Chen village the term kua is sometimes used to mean the hip joint in general. However the term song kua means that the interguinal crease is bent. The problem is that Tai Chi also requires you to bend your knees. This semi squatting position puts a lot of load on your quads (i.e. the thigh muscles on the front of your leg). Your quads consist of a group of 4 muscles. The bottom of these muscles are connected to the knee cap. The top of 3 of them are connected to the thigh bone. However the top of one of them is connected to the pelvis itself and is classed as a hip flexor.

If you engage a hip flexor, then you are using a hip muscle, therefore violating the requirement to relax the hips. So not only does Tai Chi want you to put a huge stress on your quads, it also only allows you to use 3/4 of the muscles available! This is why standing meditation is so painful, and why you can tell whether someone has begun to achieve some gongfu in their Tai Chi by just looking at how their leg muscles are developed. So what is so bad about using a hip flexor? A hip flexor is a muscle that you use pull your knee towards your chest. Now if you engage a hip flexor in a Tai Chi stance, it will pull the front of your hip downwards, thus making your bum stick out and your lower back arch. To counter this, you will have to engage muscles opposing it, i.e. hip extensors such as you gluts. Now you are locking up your hip joints even more. How can you manipulate your hip if it is so locked up?

“Sit down hip.”

The use of the hip (kua) is basic to the style. I’ll use a typical bow stance, left foot forward/weighted, for illustration. In this bow stance, the rear (right) hip should be sunk and open and the rear leg not completely straightened (i.e. knee not locked). (In Chen style, the rear foot often angles outward more than 45 degrees, often as much as 90, which facilitates sinking the rear hip in lower stances.)

The hips do not generally face directly forward (”squared”) in the bow stance, but, rather, 20 or 30 degrees to the right. With exceptions, squaring the hips with the front leg causes excessive tension/stiffness in the rear leg and lower back, separating the upper body from the lower body/ground, closes the rear kua (inguinal crease) and prevents sinking of the qi.

From the bow stance, if you shift your weight to the rear (right) leg, the left inguinal crease opens as the torso rotates away from the front leg (to the right), closing the right inguinal crease. (Closing the inguinal crease causes your pants to crease; opening it, the crease goes away.) Think of Yang style “roll back”, but on the opposite side.

The opening of the left inguinal crease maintains the alignment of the left hip, knee and ankle. If the left crease is not opened, the knee is dragged along with the retreating hip/torso while the foot/ankle remains in place. Doing so causes the knee to bend sideways (or attempt to), which it cannot effectively do.

As the weight sifts forward to the left leg, the torso rotates towards the left, closing the front inguinal crease and opening the rear (right) crease. As it does so, the right leg spirals inward - the knee rotates towards the left in concert with the turning of the torso, hip and ankle - and the left leg spirals outward (toward the left). Ni (outward) and Shun (inward) reeling of silk. The ankles, knees and hips work together: when one part moves the whole body moves. This is chan si jin, or at least a piece of the puzzle regarding coordinating the joints of the lower body.

I would encourage everyone to follow the advice listed above and try to work this into their IMA practice. This is a significant piece of the puzzle. If you can get this, then you will find many other IMA abilities are opened up to you. Things like peng jing, relaxation, etc. naturally flow from song kua. If you don’t have this, then your development will forever be stuck at a low level and you may waste years of practice time.

Yes, this is that important.

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Amidst Profundity

2008-06-17T10:41:00.000-07:00

I'm afraid that so much of the work requires prolonged contemplation that I've neglected to post in a while. I will continue once I get a handle on the material. Meanwhile, check out the van Sickle analogy. :)

The Ping Pong Ball
by Kenneth van Sickle

It is much harder to submerge a floating Ping Pong ball with the tip of one finger than it is to push a person. However, some parallels do exist.

Its buoyancy is due to the fact that it contains air, (Chi). The sphere contains more, relative to its surface, than any other shape.

Its ability to move quickly is due to its lightness (relaxation), and its ability to seek the surface so directly is due to its roundness (alignment).

The pushing finger must go in a straight line towards the ball’s center, as with the Tai Chi push, and the ball rotates towards the direction of least resistance like a good neutralization.

__ Current questions on the 5 section Chen __________

Problems with right hip transitioning before Buddha's Warrior Pounds the Mortar. Is this a result of inadequate/or incomplete shifting thru the hip track?

5 Words

2008-04-23T11:15:00.000-07:00

Breath
Calm
Center
Root
Energy

Practice solo or in relationship using these 5 words as a noun and then a verb to enhance/influence the connections in resting in and supporting.

Presence

2008-04-17T11:46:00.000-07:00

Here's some notes I made after Jan Parker's min-workshop in Feb 08.
She can really create an experience and is a home-grown western Tai Chi player/Teacher of deep quality. I only mention this because it's so interesting to experience the principles articulated from an open perspective without the wrappings of formality. Her methods kind of reminds me of the great dance teacher, Anna Halprin. She takes you to just the place where you can feel the seams of your beliefs begin to stretch, unravel and then find center.

Presence. Create presence. Don't do the form. Let the form happen thru deep connection. By being open give yourself access to all parts of oneself.
There is nothing more than the hip track and advance and retreat.
The cows are either in the barn or not. (HIP TRACK)
Use the chickens (the ribs).

Holding the hands standing - palms out = yang/palms in = yin

metal = clear intent
wood = grounding, expanding
fire = flicking, burning, unpredictable
earth = stable, deep,
water = flowing, finding it's own level

My Space. Your Space

2008-04-16T11:10:00.000-07:00

Nah, I'm not talking about the popular social networking website. This is about a weird kind of way to occupy space. Jim was talking about ways one occupies another's space. For example, you want to take the space that your partner is standing in. You push thru, slip, enter your partners area, but abandon the area of your back and create the gap for your partner to do a balanced occupation of. Then you're hosed! What's weird is that the occupation doesn't need to be physical. Erica, NAC 5 section instructor, did an energy thing where she took another's space from across the room. An interesting illustration she talked about was that as a woman, she was aware of this as a daily occurrence. For example, while in public, she could feel guy's invasion of her space from a block away. A form of focused intent on their part. I thought, "Wow! Never even thought about it this way."
Practice resting in with the intention to invade/occupy your partner's space. Then do it without to see if you can feel the difference. Jim says that the correct thing is to never abandon your space by invasion. You will find you lose structure and connection by the focused intent. Better to increase the size of your space to include your partner. That way... instead of having 2 legs to balance with, you have four.
Another cool hint. "The arms should be held with just the minimum amount of energy to keep them in place as you're doing the form". - Erica Anderson
Really really relax the shoulders. Drop the elbows. Now you can 'rest in'.
"You will need to educate the ankles to release and listen. The lower leg relaxes with no localized tension or binding." - Teacher Jim

Tai Chi and Mastering the Art of French Cooking

2008-04-12T21:32:00.001-07:00

I was watching a bio on Julia Child. Julia made accessible to the ordinary person the ability to approach and learn french cooking. She imparted through gusto, charm and deep knowledge and studied continuously throughout her long life.
The pic to the left ...
Simone "Simca" Beck Fischbacker, Julia Child and Louisette Bertholle

In the 60's, American cuisine...

"By 1965, we were well on our way to the synthetic food future. Already the eating of readily identifiable plant and animal species was beginning to feel somewhat recherché, as food technologists came forth with one shiny new product after another: Cool Whip, the Pop-Tart, nondairy creamer, Kool-Aid, Carnation Instant Breakfast and a whole slew of eerily indestructible baked goods (Wonder Bread and Twinkies being only the most famous). My personal favorite was the TV dinner, which even a 10-year-old recognized as a brilliant simulacrum -- not to mention an obvious improvement over the real thing. My poor mother, eager to please four children whose palates had already been ruined by the food technologists (and school lunch ladies), once spent hours in the kitchen trying to simulate the Salisbury steak from a Swanson TV dinner." Michael Pollan

What Julia Child did was to bring to America the possibilities of good food at home. That it could fun as well as challenging. That one did not master the art, but dwell in the process. What does this have to do with Tai Chi? Tai Chi originates from China where much of it's methods were transmitted orally and by way of Kinethesia. The deep aspects cannot be imparted by books or video. As far as I know there is no popular equivalent paradigm in the west relating specifically to the Tai Chi idea of somatics (the living body in its wholeness). One will by education and inclination misinterpret the body of the Tai Chi Classics. One needs a coherent method from a teacher who knows the material and can exhibit the skills in their own body and have a dedication to communicate the work. It's not enough to know the shapes of a particular style and vague promptings related to the classics. This ties to my experience with traditional teachers of Tai Chi from China. As exempary as their skills were, the methods of teaching were not open. The attitude was that you needed to put in your time. The teacher would assess your character over years and decide whether to teach you the real stuff or not. You did a lot of experimentation with very little input as to the internal components. If you were lucky or had perserverence and talent, you might be able to figure out some basic mechanics for making certain techniques work. Again I'm speaking as an ordinary student and certainly not as an indoor disciple. Although this aligns with the observation that Tai Chi skills come unevenly. I heard an interesting story regarding a disciple of a teacher. An example of testing the disciple's character...
The teacher would ask the him to demonstate a move and he would do it without intent or skill. The teacher would say, "Is that how you do it?" And he would reply , "Aah, I don't know". It turns out that the test was the implicit understanding that the disciple would not show what he knew publicly. That he would conceal what he had learned and act stupid in public. Talk about a variation of 'eating bitter'! You have to admire the dedication.
Here's a different western home grown approach to Tai Chi. The Natural Arts Center Tai Chi classes are based on the teaching methods and forms taught by Sam Masich in Canada. Here's the menu and ingredients I'm interested in. Jim Madras (Director) teaching entry into push hands is based on how to connect to another person via Jue Shou (Sensing Hands). Here's the menu.

Jim Madras

Five sensing-hands energies:

sticking and adhering energy (zhan-nian jin)
listening energy (ting jin)
comprehending energy (dong jin)
receiving energy (zou jin)
neutralizing (hua jin)

Five connection-operations:

resting-in and supporting (qixi jin)
pivoting (shu jin)
rolling (gun jin)
transfering (qian jin)
exchanging (huan jin)

These are the core ingredients to building skill in Tai Chi. Jim explores numerous methods to impart the relationships between the 5 connection operations and clarify their individual properties. This alone is daunting since we don't usually play with how to connect with another person in a neutral way without intent. The idea of finding neutral and discover the innate properties and quality of one's ability to connect to another's structure is continually astonishing thru the process of 'resting in'. I will define later what I think it is and try to describe it's feeling state in the body. This is part of a process known as sticking and is the meat of Tai Chi skill. Pretty much without it, there's nothing to cook.
to be continued...

Picking the teacher's brains

2008-03-19T13:56:00.000-07:00

Here's a summation from picking Teacher Jim's brain on relating to the contact points in tui shou class last nite.

Start from the connection. Rest in. Support. As in the tai chi diagram, resting in contains some of supporting and supporting contains some resting in.

What is it you're feeling for?

How the pressure/weight/connection at the contact point affects your structure.
Instantly adjust to read the depth, weight and direction of your partner's push pressure.
Don't do too much.
Just rest in/support.
Open the laogong and the joints to get information. Roll the arms, exchange and pivot.
Be comfortable.
No force.
I believe there is a line, a small direction that feels thru the pressure acquired instantly from the resting in. And you must constantly adjust to this by feel as you alternate between the full and dissolving bindings that occur at the connection points. This is at an almost micro-movement level when it's on and you're working.
If these requirements are met, this is sticking and following.
Feel/expand into the gaps (acquire the partner's real estate through the connection).
Let the direction of the push reveal itself from your partner and by resting in and then supporting that direction to carry the partner's root. This is following turning into leading.

Corrections from the man:
Binding in the middle of the left shoulder. Slightly lift the middle finger area to form a small pocket. Experience the release in the shoulder. This was an amazing observation.

Relaxing at the point of contact

2008-03-16T18:50:00.000-07:00

What is it that is so difficult about sticking? For me it's learning to relax at the points of contact. If too light, I lose the connection. If too hard, I lose the connection. To learn to follow (at least initially) may help establish the correct connection. Do not let your partner's force effect your posture save to increase the depth of the connection. Kind of like Jim's idea of letting the pressure firm the joint at the point of contact. Change thru rolling, transferring, pivoting and exchanging. Follow thru sticking. Following means not letting your partner get away and not letting her detect and control you. Ideally, following your partner will change from following her to her following you. (And that's in a perfect universe.)

Move inside then move outside

2008-03-14T20:34:00.000-07:00

The above statement pretty much sums up my almost year experience with Jim Madras and the Natural Arts Center. Studying here is one of the best decisions I've made in a long time. It's shook the foundations of my understanding of Tai Chi and function. The basis for function is integration and relaxation. Without relaxing there is no sensitivity and function is reduced to what one of my old teachers called 'local chi'. Usage at the my level is experienced ... for example, when taking the pressure of a push as spreading, supporting the load through the whole body. It allows the body to remain relaxed even when supporting a really heavy pressure. The difficulty in getting how relaxation works in Tai Chi is knowing how to respond to the connection with another. For this you need the central ideas of 'resting in and supporting' to build the initial experience for 'sticking'. Also you need the teacher to be free with sharing information. Erica Anderson, who is an instructor at the center refined for me what the whole gua thing was about ... Being that when weight is transferred thru the hip track the gua is defined as the crease that naturally forms from the weight shifting thru the hips. One should keep the whole hip/gua area relaxed and take the pressure into the large muscles of the thighs which are natural for that function without breaking the alignment of knee.

My last correction from Teacher Jim.
Feel for any bindings when doing free style tui shou and release, find space thru the bound joint.

Rising And Falling In The Hip Track

2007-12-08T19:40:00.000-08:00

Jim talks a lot about practicing moving through the hip track. Reminds me of a passage from 'The Thinking Body' by Margaret Todd. 'The hips are a moving bridge".
Depending on what you want to do, the driving leg can use rising or falling energy feeding into the other leg. The rising and falling mutually support each other. For example, driving into the left leg falling creates the rising seed in the right leg one can use in following thru in the transfer of weight/pressure to the right. An important shift to note is when the transfer comes to neutral. At this point release tension in the points of transfer in the structure to deepen the ground connection and feel the difference this makes.

Defining Tracking In Tui Shou

2007-12-08T11:42:00.000-08:00

Jim has defined tracking as doing push hands without recourse to the basic principles of Tai Chi. It can be illustrated as in:

- Executing a single hand push and then changing the direction of the push.
- Using force to execute a technique
- Strategy moves to achieve an uproot
- Failure to stick/adhere (Zhan-Nian jin)
- Lack of internal connection or failure to outreach into structure
- Using quick beats in hand deflections to open a line
- Variation of speed abruptly/breaking rhythm to create an opening

How to deal with this kind of push hands?
Jim said that the tendency when dealing with this kind of pushing is to
raise the chi. He said that one will probably take some hits,
but to use it as training to lower the chi and maintain relaxed structure.
Stick/adhere to the center and not to the limbs.

Be there And Be Square

2007-12-05T16:50:00.000-08:00

Beyond an enthusiasm for a form of movement that I've practiced for 20+ years, I ponder the 'why practice Tai Chi'? Whenever one begins a set, there is the possibility for some kind of epiphany...
A momentary glimpse into the mystery of flesh and spirit. One begins. One ends and feels better. In exploring tai chi from the perspective of the Natural Arts Center (and it is an exploration down to a core level), you arrive at the observation of ... "What have I been doing all this time? Waving my arms in the air? (Albeit relaxed and somewhat sunken)."

Teacher Jim demonstrated with Tony the other nite that the four movements of Peng, Lu, Ji and An are not confined to any shape, but can be expressed in a moment in as simple an action as bumping. These energies are inherent and innate. It is the process of feeling them without interference, trusting in the structure and relaxed intent that is maddening, exacting and delicious. As in Ji (squeeze), when you find those shifting gaps, there is that feeling of "Wow! That's really sweet." You direct the body structure, tissues thru gaps releasing to center.
It's the experience of the inherent quality of these powers that makes one intuit/expect that one can continue to partake of that hidden well. It's like the first time you execute an effortless uproot. It's sooo not what one has been led to expect. Our society teaches us to contract, not to fill.

The 4 Squares

Peng - Lu - Ji - An

A Dedication

2007-11-23T22:07:00.000-08:00

Here's some remembrances in dedication to my father's memory (Feb 1912 - Nov 2007).

My father who was born in Portland, Oregon, went to China in the early 30s to study at Pui Chin Middle School in Guanzhou (Canton).
A large part of this was economic since the US was in the midst of the Great Depression. We're talking about the stretch of the american dollar in China at that time. Relevant to this tai chi blog is his stories regarding his physical ed teacher at the school. He had an honorary status as number 1 martial arts master in China during a tourament held in the 30's. My father couldn't remember this name, but described him thus. "When he walked down the street, he looked like he was flying." His signature technique was head strikes and he worn a white head band high up on this forehead. His style was called Yellow River Boxing. My father once asked his teacher how long before he could use gung fu to fight? His reply. Ten years. Dad thought, "Wow. That's too long. I'd rather study for ten years to be a doctor." During the tournament, my Dad had to demonstrate the shaolin set he was learning on stage. He said that he got nervous and forgot what came next and made stuff up. He didn't think anyone would notice, but his teacher gave him a really stern look. The individual who was thought to be the best at the tournament had light skill. My Dad said that he demonstrated it by running around the rim of a large bamboo basket twice. I thought this was really bogus, but ....
Check this out ...

Wan Li Sheng and the Art of Lightness

In Wan Lai Sheng (also known as ChangQing or nick named XuanWei) was born in EZhou, Hubei province. He graduated from PeiPing Agricultural University. He was known as a master of the Liu He (Six Harmony), Ziran (Natural) and Shaolin branches of martial arts. He was the disciple of Du XinWu, creator of the Ziran school, and a student of Zhao XinZhou and others. In 1928 the Republic government of China established the famous Central GuoShu Institute in NanJing. The Institute was headed by five chosen master. Wan was one of these five along with Gu RuZhang. He had also be a qualifying finalist, along with Gu Ru Zhang and Guo ChengYao in the highly competitive tournament of that year. Then he was brought to fame by winning the Five Provinces North China Tournament in 1928. He also captured First in the First Nanjing Wushu Arena Contest, a well publicized event. He was very active in Kung Fu producing such works as "Teaching Course of Practical Combat", "Wushu Collected", "School of Chinese Bone and Traumatology Medicine" and others.

That pic may be apocryphal in origin, but the similarity in description is unmistakable. So Dad ... not so bogus after all.

I'll end with my favorite quote from my father (and my apologies to any Christians out there.)
"If Jesus was so great, how come he wasn't Chinese?" :)

Observations from the Elder (Madras Lao Shr)

2007-11-22T14:11:00.000-08:00

Shifting from peng to an is done by spiraling/rolling the arms. This is also described as 'setting the wrist'. The fingers follow the grain of movement initiated from the arm's spiral. The fingers do not initiate the straightening as this will float the energy/chi.

Eight Gates

2007-11-21T20:59:00.000-08:00

The Jim Madras axiom of the Eight methods/energies

"If you depart from the eight, you are no longer doing tai chi."

Peng is the square.

Drill the sequence of Peng against Lu flowing into Kao. Then Jou filling into Ji.

Jou and Kao are lateral moves used to return to the square.

An is the square
Drill against Peng into An. As peng opens the space into kao, stretch into tsai (puck) to bring your partner onto his toes and finish with lieh (split/rend).
Tsai and Lieh are lateral movements used to return to square

Nooks and Crannies

2007-09-01T22:06:00.000-07:00

Jim's approach to refining the apps of moves from the 88 and 2 person 5 section forms:

Punching into the spine. The person receiving adds a hand over the punching hand to change the energy.

Using the contours and natural crooks and crannies of the body to lend support to the connection.

Using the structure as in 'parting the horse's mane' to execute the application with no exertion. In some instances, it seems as though one should shift the internal pressures without changing the obvious shape to deepen the connection internally which is what makes the application work.

On Shaping -
Don't impose the form as an outward shape. Let the shape form internally as a response to an action or pressure. Let the origin be internal without intention of a response or an effect.

On 4 hands -
Receive using peng allowing the pressure to seat the back leg as the hips turn to the side as the peng arm expands forward shaping. When the neutralization is complete, turn the waist to the opposite side, slanting the arm slightly upward to ward off the pressing arm, following with an (pushing downward) and taking the grain of movement into ji (squeeze); all the while remembering to stick/adhere.

Sensing Hands

2007-09-01T20:47:00.001-07:00

Key points of Sana Shanti's slow flow boxing class

Sink the belly button to the kua.

Observe the tilt of the head. Balance the head thru the atlas and avoid closing off the jade pillow (the central point between the ears towards the occipital ridge.) The jade pillow is integral to uniting body-mind connection.

Yielding is allowing the body to be moved.

When neutralizing allow the neutralization to take shape, to unfold naturally without resorting to technique initiated from thought. The counter can spring from without interference, flowing from the receiving. It's about sticking, following, connecting in the midst of motion, controlling the partner's center and to displace him in space.

Structural alignment and relaxation provides the elasticity and springiness in one's body. The body wants to return to center. Use the reversal theory to balance all actions... as when moving left, balance the right. Use the propelling power of down to raise hands.

Using the beginning movement of brush knee twist step, Sana illustrated how the blending with the partner's punch was initiated by an outreach before actual connection. This helps for the match of speed in connecting and is not an enticing action. The blending/connection when it is balanced into structure seems to extend directly into the partners body internally and feels effortless.

Listening (Ting-Jing)

2007-08-27T11:56:00.000-07:00

'A prerequsite understanding of Zhan Nian Jin (Adhere-Stick energy) is necessary for achieving mastery of the 24 energies. Sticking energy makes possible the ability to listen, comprehend and receive energy.' - Sam Masich

'The striping of the senses and the interruption of their interplay in tactile synesthesia may well have been one of the effects of the Gutenberg technology' - Marshall McLuhan

'The interiorization of the technology of the phonetic alphabet translates man from the magical world of the ear to the neutral visual world.' - Marshall McLuhan

First 13 of the 88

2007-08-16T09:59:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Ericka, Elizabeth and Julie for leading me thru the initial moves of the 88. Very cool. Here's some combined insights regarding the 13 so far.

A - advance and punch with right fist

This is the most difficult move of the set. The difficulty is in raising the energy of opponent B. It is also referred to as 'Unzipping the Chi'. - Elizabeth
The punch is like nailing with a hammer. - Jim

A - clean and punch again

Pay attention to distance. Be close enough to actually hit your opponent and keep the punch central. - Julie

A - Step back, raise B's Rt. arm with your Rt. Arm, shoulder strike under arm.

A - clean Lt. wrist, Lt. elbow to heart.

Shift backwards slipping B's fist. Shifting forward to weight in to the left leg allowing the elbow to follow. - Ericka, Elizabeth

A - back fist to head.

Follow the 'grain of movement' from B's response to open the line for the back fist. - Ericka

A - Block elbow, step behind, Rt. chop to nape

A - fall back to tiger, clean over arm with left arm, advance to backfist.

A - step back to left, clothesline with right arm.

Use puck and rend. The puck is a small pulling movement and the rend is a filing motion. - Ericka

A - Pull strike with Lt. hand, Rt punch to ribs.

A - Step Rt, Step left and in, Lt. arm press.

A - Step back, clean wide, Rt. toe kick

A - Drop leg, pivot Lt., Rt. clothesline.

Shift the supporting foot and step to the diagonal behind B. Utilize the space in your structure to accomplish the action eschewing tension- Ericka

According to Jim

2007-08-08T11:26:00.000-07:00

On peng:
The angle of one's peng should be determined by the position of the legs. If the stance is long and narrow, the peng should slant slightly diagonally. The test is that if you can take pressure in the forearm without strain in the shoulder, the peng is correct. If the stance is wider and medium, the peng should accommodate by going more horizontal.

When doing single push hands and the push from your partner is not directly to center... this will cause your peng to deviate from the strong peng path and you will compensate through taking the pressure into the shoulder. Plus you will be training to deflect strikes that are nowhere near your head or body. Don't train in this way.

The exercises:
Done with the intention of clarity, comprehension and appropriate slowness.

Train taking a random shape and moving from the centerline.
Through exchange stepping, shape and stretch the partners structure and through working from the arms connect into the shoulder, shoulder girdle; then ribs, etc; Note carefully that you shouldn't be directly effecting the waist, kua, knees. The partner keeps the sunken stability of their stance and in a sense, isolates the upper body from the lower.

Work a subset of the 5 section 2 person set with the idea of connecting deeply in and by a slight extending draw out their center of gravity into and through your structure. When this works it's an almost effortless sensing by feel and sight and your partner feels "I'm in deep sh**t".

The Method of Teaching

2007-08-03T22:11:00.001-07:00

Most adult human beings have very little ability to sense the movements of their own bodies and consequently have little ability to move and control their bodies. The sensorimotor functions at the heart of the human central nervous system are in the typical adult, atrophied. Except in rare instances the contemporary, urbanized human being reaches adulthood with a sensorimotor system that is only minimally developed, and then, during the remainder of his life, he steadily loses the ability to sense his body and to move it efficiently. - Thomas Hanna (1979)

Consider referencing the teacher for the feel of the method. One's sensitivity is determined by frequent and clear proprioceptive imprints to be able to discern the appropriate amounts of pressure and degree of sung. Jim's able to problem solve the deflects of direction, unconscious holding patterns... describe opening the space in the shoulder to unveil the usage of part horse's mane and expand it's meaning by reference of split energy. Can't beat that.
The Natural Arts Center's approach of Tai Chi tui shou is initially, at least, from a somatic point of view. Jim's every class seems to me to be developed with a core principle to reveal the innate power of the relaxed structure whether in initiation of a peng or in detecting the inch difference in taking possession of another's center of gravity. To demonstrate the kinesthetic feel of a technique and inform why it works over and over is the work of a good teacher and Jim's tenacious approach to explore structure in Tai Chi from a myriad of angles is that. And the sticking ability of the students pretty much neutralizes my old deflect, slipping, compressive push hands play. Nuff said.

Will the real Tai Chi please stand up?

2007-07-26T09:37:00.000-07:00

In my limited experience of push hands I've encountered many different ways of relating to a simple push pressure on a peng.

Gene Chen (who used to teach Wing Chun/Chen Tai Chi/Southern Preying Mantis in San Francisco) arms really felt like 'iron wrapped in cotton'. You could feel a cushion of air around his forearms. The feel was very soft, but you could feel the latent power and heaviness of his structure. Once he was showing me the four hands drill and stepped in with kao striking me in the middle of the chest. It felt like my chest rang like a bell radiating outward. Gene had the most beautifully powerful Chen Tai Chi and Southern Preying Mantis forms I have every seen. In the Chen 1st set the body led the hands and his articulation was incredible. Gene also was able to do an uproot in such as way as to spin you as your feet left the ground. He said that this was to keep the person being uprooted from executing a counter in the air.

Bing Leong of the Guang Ping Tai Chi school of Kuo Lien Ying was my teacher before Kuo Sifu. Bing stood Post for an hour every day without fail for 10 years. I could only do push hands with Bing for a short while since after 5 minutes my arms would ache so bad that I had to stop. Bing's arms were incredibly heavy and it felt like he was penetrating right thru the bones of my arms and the force of his motion would swing my light arms into their vectors irresistably. Interestingly enough... he could turn off the density at will. Bing's real strength was the ability to create a community. His classes were great gatherings of people from divergent backgrounds bound by interest in wushu. Everyone felt welcome and friendships formed from the open spirit gathered in his teaching, parties and after class breakfasts.

Defining Sticking

2007-07-24T21:35:00.000-07:00

More on basic tui shou as explained by Jim and Ericka:

Sticking is what makes Tai Chi Tai Chi. It's functional key is in supporting and resting in and is externally manifested in rolling, transferring, pivoting and exchanging. There are degrees of sticking or adhering or connecting in. The deeper the connection the more the bodies become as one. Essential is the ability to relax in structure (sung) as this prepares the ground for the basic skills below and at an advanced level is not confined to contact for application. Stick adhere is connecting to another in a soft non-threatening way and keeping the connection as you both move. To meet an opposing force with resistance/blocking prevents making the connection and results in the martial sin of double-weighting.

0. Sticking ( Zhan-Nian)
1. Listening (Ting)
2. Understand/Comprehension (Dong)
3. Receive (Jie)
4. Neutralize (Hua)

The experience of Resting in is really different from what I've been taught by other teachers. It changes the dynamic instantly from an adversarial relation to one of connective listening. It is neutral in the abandonment of intent. In the classics it is said, "You know others. They don't know you." Without the crisis of intention, one feels free to explore the interaction of pressure, center, root. Jim says that the act of sticking creates one body from the two. It becomes thru connecting/adhering/reading by the pressure of 'resting in' as though their body/root by extension becomes yours. Another benefit of sticking is that it allows a slower person to nullify the speed difference of someone faster once contact is made.

A few questions I have are ...
Is there such a thing as deep rooting or is it really a deep connection to the partner's body?
Is Jim's approach to the Yang Curriculum hinged primarily on the row back/receiving energy?

Paraphrased Jim quotes of the week

2007-07-18T21:33:00.000-07:00

I paraphrase simply because I don't remember the exact wording Jim used to convey the message.

When you ask people to relax, they usually go limp and sacrifice their intent.

If while taking pressure in ward off, you feel resistance in the shoulder ... you are trading the concept for the real thing.

Generally, it is easier to neutralize to the open position, but more advantageous to neutralize to the closed position.

On suspending from above...
When you see advanced people suspend from above, they drop and relax downwards to lengthen the spine.

To set the wrist, expand the palm from the center. If the expansion is from the fingers, it will lift the energy upwards and float the root.

Searching for the centerline:
After you eliminate everything else, it's what's left.

Getting the Connection

2007-07-15T10:15:00.000-07:00

Jim's principles of beginning Push Hands:

Essentials:

Relax into structure.
Take a natural shape utilizing the inherent structural strength of the body which can support sustained pressure. Whatever shape you find yourself in, relax into it's structure with no gaps. Find the space within the supporting joints and connective tissue. Fill it out. Whether connecting to another's structure or solo, it seems the same. When standing (Zhan Zhuang), the same applies absolutely. This is done thru feeling, dropping; Draining, if you will, to the point of minimal resistance in the shape.

Getting the connection.
Support
Rest into
Pivot
Change

Using push pressure to firm the joints

Beginning tui shou (again)

2007-07-11T20:14:00.002-07:00

My last experience with push hands was over 15 years ago. That was with Wong Jack Man (pictured on the left) in San Francisco who was my tui shou and Hsing Yi teacher. I regret ending my study with Wong Sifu when it was just beginning to get challenging. The last memory of push hands was Wong Sifu applying an elbow lock on my arm, releasing, then uprooting me into the wall many times on the rebound.

Flash forward to 2007. Started to feel really stale with my Guang ping Tai Chi/Hsing Yi solo practice and decided to check out the Natural Arts Center for the Tai Chi push hands class to see if it could add some new energy to the whole mess which is my practice. You know how it is when you first check out the teacher? Kinda like 'enter the dragon'.
Enter Jim Madras. Yow! The principles applied into the play of push hands was stunning. I've been used to a push and pull method where one would play with slap deflections, quick step into center to execute an uproot. Basically a method that Jim called tracking (using techniques without adherence to the Tai Chi Principles). Jim's teaching emphasizes using the body's inherent structure through relaxing, supporting, resting into, pivoting and changing to explore Tai Chi functionality.

Sensation

2007-06-10T17:12:00.000-07:00

People confuse sensation, the dynamic of strength turning into itself with the natural function or use of strength. It's very easy to learn how to tense up.
- Peter Ralston

What follows is a piece of an unpublished interview with Peter Ralston done by Michael Dorgan around 1983.

R:
If you're considering the moment as what one generally calls a present period of time, which is a small segment of time that we gather perception... You see, there is a distance in which we are gathering and assessing our perceptions. If you asked if that's the moment, then I would said no. That's just being present. You know... your life force and your energy; Your attention is involved in your perceptions presently. Your being present. But if I defined what a moment is to really what a moment is, the moment actually doesn't exist in form. You see, the moment is prior to form. Given that the moment, the moment being prior to form... what we're perceiving isn't this moment. What we're perceiving right now is the time segment that arose from the moment before. Thought is form. Color is form. Shapes are form. Light is form. Conceptualization is form. Energy is form. It is existence. What we perceive.

M:
So the moment is. If I say, "That's a bottle", I'm conceptualizing that and I'm referring to memory and that's a past moment.

R:
And if you just stare at it without conceptualizing, it's still past. By conception... Ah. that's a bottle of wine. White wine. Zoom! that's way back there. Just green is just still past. But even it's just that. It's past. It's cool. I mean, it's not long past. There's shorter periods of past.

M:
But if I were to stare at that prior to form, I wouldn't see anything.

R:
That's right. In the moment that bottle doesn't exist. In the moment no form exists. In the moment nothing exists. What we consider this is all history.

to be continued ...

Prior to Form

2007-06-09T09:44:00.000-07:00

Continued ...

M:
How do you function in the moment without any references or perceptions?

R:
You don't. You don't function from references and from perception. When you're functioning from the moment given that that definition of the moment is what we're working with, then I could say yes. Then enlightenment is about being in that.

M:
You mean the moment prior to form.

R:
And we function. It's like our functioning, our presence is a function of arising from the moment. The result. We notice the result. What we don't notice... what we're not in touch with usually is where the result comes from. The closer you get to operating from the form arising the more powerful you are. Not perception. Not through perceptions. It is not possible to enter that through perceptions. You can take your perception down and down and down so you're just a hairline between the arising and no form, but you still have to work off the arising. You have to work off it's first springing. You have to work off it's first entrance, it's first seed into form And that's called superfine perception. That's really close. You can break the line though. You can go working off the moment with no form, but you can't do it with perception. If you're still working on perception the only thing you can do is to get finer and finer tuned... more and more conscious of that which is good. You can go a long way with that, but you can also jump the line. In order to do that, you have to go into not knowing.

M:
Is the process to go through all the perceptions... to refine the perceptions and to approach the moment that way?

R:
Usually.

M:
But when you make that leap from perception to what else.... Not knowing, I guess there's no way of saying what it is that gives you 'Ahhhh'?

R:
It's an unknowable quality.

M:
Is that what you were talking about experiencing when you were fighting and you would act before you perceived? It's not that you saw the tiniest flicker in the eye?

R:
No. That was the other one. The other one was working off the seed. There was two things I talked about. They kind of smeared it around in there. They didn't make it clear in the article, but I was talking about two different things. they ran it together as if it was just an extension. The one perceiving the seed; the person has a thought, a glimmer, and energy movement and whoosh ... Working right off of that.

M:
Do you accept in Tai Chi, the energy transformation to be sperm to chi, chi to spirit, spirit to emptiness?

R:
You have to understand where it comes from. The people who said that were taoist. Now a lot of stuff that happened with the taoist had do to with their belief of the fluids in the body and how they functioned. Personally, I don't think that's correct. They were convinced that the release of sexual fluids was detrimental to your energy. What they were talking about was something else. They were coming from a different point of view about that.

To be continued ...

Obvious Strength

2007-06-08T09:50:00.000-07:00

Continued ...

M:
Jack Man says physical strength is the lowest kind of strength. Then he says there is chi. Then there is just mind.

R:
The Hsing Yi people talk about the use of obvious strength, concealed strength, mysterious esoteric strength. That's what he's talking about when he says that. The obvious strength is obviously the physical. Leverage, contraction of the muscles is obvious strength. But even things like moving from the center and coming from the ground is obvious strength. I mean, stupid strength isn't the only obvious strength. It's obvious to come off the ground and hit... the tissue and jin and all that. Then they're talking about concealed strength. You can't see it. It's not obvious. That's the chi. The energy. It's like what you feel, flow and how you do things. It's all thru feelings. And then the esoteric strength, mysterious energy is a quantum leap above using just energy. It's entering into states of being that handle things. It's like going into the moment that handles things before energy arises. Now whether you call that an energy level or not is really not important. I don't.

M:
You consider it something other than energy.

R:,
Yea. I do.

M:
If it's not energy... Energy is something we can kind of conceptualize.

R:
You can, but you're going to be wrong. We confuse energy with the results of energy; Just as we confuse the moment with the arising of history after the moment. We confuse energy with the sensations that we feel; the manifestations. Like you have some heat. Ahhh. That's energy. You feel this flow through my arm. That's my energy. No. The energy flowing through your arm is past. What you feel is what the energy does. Energy feels. One of the main qualities of energy is that it feels. It's like that I feel the air, it moves my energy up there. You could say moving my energy up there feels the air. Now I want to move my energy up there. How can I do that? Well, the way I know energy is thru feeling. So what I do is move my feelings out there. the energy goes. That's how I know it. The energy is not what I feel moving out there. the energy going out is what feels, but it's not the energy itself that I feel, it's what I feel with. When somebody's doing concealed energy, doing chi, what they're doing is that they feel things. What they feel is heat. They cultivate that. They feel this power growing out and they cultivate that. They feel grounded and the concept of the world changes and they cultivate that. They feel like a mountain and they cultivate that. They cultivate those feelings, those qualities... what the energy's doing. They get more and more powerful. More and more balanced. They feel this flowing coming out and they cultivate that and it creates power. More than they had before. They hit something now and it really destroys it. Whereas before it was so hard and it did so much. Now it's bigger and it does something more. So they say... Ah, well, that's the concealed nergy because you can't see it. It's the same blow except that it looks more relaxed than before. Now they don't have to use the same contraction in the tissue. And then you get into something where you don't have to feel. It's like you just stop somebody. They walk towards you. You just stop them. They just stop. That's what happens and you didn't have to feel anything. Woooommm. You didn't have to feel something. See? That what he's talking about using mind.

To be continued ...