San Ti Shi????

[Doc Stier]

San Ti Shi: Choice of Champions Everywhere

[xingyijuan]

now watch me youuuuuuu! now watch me youuuuuuu!

[josh]

I read somewhere recently, possibly in a thread here, that the term "San Ti" come from one particular daoist or maybe chinese buddhist text? but I don't remember the thread (if it was here) or the name of the text, or the context or what the actual term means in that particular sentence or verse or whatever.

Anyone? Josh?

Sorry, I can't help much... it doesn't have much meaning in a Buddhist context (except in a VERY rare usage as a substitution for "san shen" - the "three bodies" of the Tathagata). I've seen it used in a couple of Daoist texts (namely Zhang Boduan's Wuzhen pian), but it is usually interpreted as referring to the "three powers" (sancai) - heaven, earth, and humanity. Looking at a couple of Xingyi texts (Sun Lutang, Jiang Rongqiao, Xue Dian), it seems that they all generally interpret it as referring to the "three powers" as well.
Sun Lutang adds that "in boxing, it refers to the head, hands, and feet," and additionally associating it with the "three sections" - of which there are actually three sets - waist/dantian, back/heart, head/crown; shoulder, elbow, hand; hips, knees, feet. He also quotes the verse from the Wuzhen pian that I mentioned above - "The Dao, from empty nothingness, gives birth to a single qi; from this single qi are produced yin and yang; yin and yang again combine to create the three bodies; the three bodies again produce the ten thousand things" （basically just an elaboration of Daode jing 42 - "The Dao gives birth to one, one gives birth to two, two gives birth to three, three gives birth to the ten thousand things").
I guess there's an interesting metaphorical correlation there - just as "three" is the point of proliferation in Daoist cosmogony, which gives rise to the "ten thousand things," so in Xingyi the Santi posture is the point from which all techniques begin?
I would add that in all those three Xingyi manuals that I looked at, there was a lot more emphasis on the practical aspects of Santi than on the cosmological implications found in the name.

[I-mon]

Thanks.

I guess the idea could well be that with the bodies extending, contracting, and twisting forces all activated refined and balanced in the posture to the point that the whole torso and all of the limbs become relaxed and "full", then there is the feeling of potential movement of the whole in any direction with any combination of those forces.

I like that bit about the three sections of the spine/torso too. keeping the up-down spinal stretch and maintaining the balance between the front and back at the areas of the navel-lumbar, chest-thoracic and head-cervical parts of the spine is pretty hardcore stuff, seems to create a natural kind of breath-packing feeling due to the myofascial wrapping of the whole torso it creates. Ok, and then link those three to the arms and the legs to make another three, extended up the back and out the limbs, contracted through the front and the insides of the limbs, twisted by the shape of the posture itself. Yes yes good stuff lots of threes.

[mixjourneyman]

San Ti Shi: Choice of Champions Everywhere

Looks more like yi quan.

[Tesshu]

On a German forum we were discussing San Ti recently. Some chaps made this little vid.

[everything]

The Bruce vs the kitty - who will win?

[Brady]

I never realized Santi was referring to the trinity. Interesting and does make sense, but very cool nonetheless.

[Morty]

Like the dude on the right shows us, along with bear shoulders:



...and the 5(6) signs. And the 7 words.

[Bao]

Like the dude on the right shows us, along with bear shoulders:



...and the 5(6) signs. And the 7 words.

The arch of the back is quite pronounced, so I believe this must be Song style? Right?

[GrahamB]

On a German forum we were discussing San Ti recently. Some chaps made this little vid.

You Germans are crazy