words/sounds in Yang taijiquan practice

[kenneth fish]

In Shaolin based systems there is considerable deep muscle training and control that results from these practices, which translates directly to power generation. I know of several Xingyi lines that also employ these methods. I cannot speak for the training in Taiji.

[Bao]

I know this topic is found in meditation but how does it relate to combat? The way I understood it is these practices are distinct from the combat aspects and are learnt as part of their own system for health and spiritual purposes.

It has everything to do with combat. Different sounds will help to make different kinds of impact. Some sounds will help you to focus the power when you strike like a spear and others will be more like a hammer or an explosion. So different sounds goes together with different kind of strikes and different kind of surface for the attack (soft tissue, bones, point attacking etc.). In short, sounds can help you make better damage.

[dspyrido]

Ken/Bao - I should elaborate. It's not that vocalisation has confused me - it's the specific nature of the sounds, words etc.

In xy there seems to be only one objective which is the sound of thunder. I know there are many views that are taken to achieve this based on opinions of different sounds but in the end the training is down to raw projection, duration & volume - project as much as possible, duration is aligned to the movement, volume is as loud as possible which comes from deep within the body. The objective is to startle or to commit 100% into the movement (power).

The variants on pitch, words, colour, tones, sensation in the body or other stuff only seems to come up in daoyin. So ...

For the different systems are different words/tones being directly applied to different martial applications? Are these words/tones being implemented at low volume or is just high volume projection?

[wayne hansen]

Tin Sid Kune should be mentioned here
Iron wire fist has vocalisations connected with certain movements

[kenneth fish]

Iron Wire (Tik Sin Kune/Tie Xianquan) was what I was referring when I mentioned Hung Gar.

Interesting that Lei Sheng (thunder sound) has come to be descriptive of Shen Jiao ("spirit shout"). The latter is the use of forceful voice projection to shock or startle an opponent. The former actually refers to the sound of very quick, forceful muscle contraction, such that the sound produced is like distant thunder or a drum.

The sound training that I am familiar with in Xingyi is, as I said, the product of deep muscle contraction in various parts of the trunk and chest. It is most definitely a component of power generation, not daoist practice.

[I am...]

I will only speak from my experience with breathing and sound in Hung Gar as the breathing is different in Pak Mei. As mentioned above, the sounds in Hung help one develop and feel different patterns of contraction and expansion within the body, as well as at different speeds and amplitudes. Once one has trained these methods for a while, a few notable changes begin to become apparent:

1) One becomes aware of how breathing and power intertwine to a much deeper degree. A movement can create a breath/sound, and a sound can create a type/quality of movement. In truth they are the same thing.

2) One begins to develop the "lions roar", and the voice and breath can be used in a very sharp, sudden way. When combined with movement (say taking a step or flinching, this acts a bit like a super charger acts on an engine. There are studies I could dig up that show how projected audio vibrations can cause one on the receiving end to react more slowly/sub-optimally and I suspect the the concept of a Kiai in Japanese arts, as well as the use of sounds in martial arts in general often ties in some with this. This study also shows some of how sound can help with athletics: "Researchers from the University of Nebraska have recently published a study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research which may offer some scientific foundation for the physical benefits of kiai (or as they word it ”grunting”.

They discovered that grunting produced a 3.8% increase in groundstroke velocity for tennis players, while not impairing any oxygen consumption." Combine that with the studies showing how one can exert more power more efficiently when the tongue and neck are engaged in certain ways and you have some interesting concepts to work with (Having developed a bit of the lions roar makes arguments escalate quickly if one is not mindful as the voice begins to project and raise quickly and often more forcefully than it feels like one means to use it.)

3) The vibrations made by different tones, as well as the way the body moves to create the sounds themselves can resonate or guide the intent and awareness to parts of the body to help relax, recruit, or change how/if we move them.

[Bao]

I have mentioned this before, but I learned the Dragon form of Hung gar as a gift from a teacher. It's actually a shorter version of the Iron Wire set and both are internal. They look strong, but in fact they are performed very soft and relaxed. The breath work though is quite heavy. There are five sounds in these sets. One is "Yeay", a sharp, sudden sound, another is "Hmph". Sharp, "m"-sound, but the mouth does not open. A third one is "hi", performed as you breath out naturally, the air goes out by itself and is not ressed or rushed. The breath work and sounds are very different from tai chi and also from Xingyi. It should be close to southern white crane, but from the northern IMA, very, very different.