Graham wrote:because without the silk reeling there can not really be a whole body movement from toes to fingers, controlled by the Dantien.
yeah, sorry G, but I had to just come back and disagree with you some more.
You can get power from centre to extremities with out silk reeling involved, no problem. It's pretty easy really. I can do it against a wall with no outer visible movement even. no limb rotations, nothing like that. And yes the whole body is involved. Expanding outwards from DT/Core. If you want a label for it, I might say it's a function of "opening" or peng or Omni direction force, supported by DT - or sod it all 3 of them. And whole body is involved..
It's maybe hard to explain well (I'll try) but pulsing or pushing out from the DT works or you can use small rolls/movements up down left or right. No rotation of any joints/ limbs at all, no waist turning. none of what defines silk reeling as it is widely and commonly described in the TCC world.
So if we add a waist turn to that.
I don't go from toes to fingers in the literal description, the toes and feet have no power (yes bhassler I know I'm using the term "power" wrongly!). But the extremities do connect. The way I feel it happening is pretty standard TCC which is the power eminates out from the centre, roots at the feet("sinking"), controlled by waist manifested in hands, at which point the full connection of hand to foot is there.. I don't find it sequential though it happens in synch. And the standard wording always gives the impression that it begins at the feet - which I have always found problematic, and just wrong.. the wording also makes it sound rather sequential. I prefer to think of it and do it as one.. hand and foot arriving together, rather than force finding itself travelling up the body.
Now you can do what I described with just visible turning of the waist movement. I'll repeat no rotating or turning of limbs is needed in unison with each-other. There'll be no spiral energy though, because that's what silk reeling is really all about and getting more "travel" in your movements. So you can do what you describe with no silk reeling at all hopefully. Unless you want to define silk reeling = turning the waist.. But of course, it's not that at all.