the rum soaked fist: internal martial arts forum

This post is supposed to be deleted because I only keep my most recent 100 posts. An admin should delete it or allow users to delete their own posts to save space.

Appledog wrote:If it's not your idea then don't hold on to tightly to it. A lot of people will say something like this, but it is based on a misunderstanding as I have shown. You should probably double check that FZW quote, are you sure it is saying what you think it is saying?

I have an open mind, but the quote seems pretty clear to me.

YY: Does this mean there are two definitions of peng? One is the upward direction of the four side energy, while the other is a broader concept, the expanding energy concept?
FZQ: It is OK to differentiate; to give two definitions. One is the upward direction of the four-sided energy (peng/lu/ji/an), the other is yi(4) qi(4) gu(3)dang(4). [Gudang has a very subtle meaning. Here it is used to describe the outward expansion/movement/vibration of yi and qi.]

Every movement is guided by yi and qi movement. If you don't have yi qi gudang, you collapse. Even if your limbs do not move, you need to have yi and qi. When your intention arrives, your qi will arrive. Movement will follow naturally and your force will arrive.

I'm not trying to sell this idea and if you interpret it differently that's fine, but what he is saying seems clear.

robert wrote:

Appledog wrote:If it's not your idea then don't hold on to tightly to it. A lot of people will say something like this, but it is based on a misunderstanding as I have shown. You should probably double check that FZW quote, are you sure it is saying what you think it is saying?

I have an open mind, but the quote seems pretty clear to me.

YY: Does this mean there are two definitions of peng? One is the upward direction of the four side energy, while the other is a broader concept, the expanding energy concept?
FZQ: It is OK to differentiate; to give two definitions. One is the upward direction of the four-sided energy (peng/lu/ji/an), the other is yi(4) qi(4) gu(3)dang(4). [Gudang has a very subtle meaning. Here it is used to describe the outward expansion/movement/vibration of yi and qi.]

Every movement is guided by yi and qi movement. If you don't have yi qi gudang, you collapse. Even if your limbs do not move, you need to have yi and qi. When your intention arrives, your qi will arrive. Movement will follow naturally and your force will arrive.

I'm not trying to sell this idea and if you interpret it differently that's fine, but what he is saying seems clear.

Yeah it's clear, as I said, both ways can be interpreted as being correct. Thats what he says too. He says it is OK to give two definitions; one is my definition (as part of peng-lu-ji-an) and the other is the fill-up outward expansion.

The problem is the second explanation is kind of a mistake. What makes it weirder is that there is a name for this (I checked with 2 of my sifus to be sure -- one of whom is a student of FZQ and one who is a student of FZW, both of whom I think you quoted) and it is not peng. So it is anyone's guess how this trend got started. My speculation, when people have been going down the wrong path for quite some time, they tend to try and map whatever experiences they have had into the tai chi classics/13 postures/etc, never assuming that they could make a mistake because "something is happening". They get attached to this "something" (whatever it is, there are several we could discuss) and they don't want to let it go because it is "something" and that means they're "making progress". And they are, if they could learn to recognize that "good moves and bad moves are next to each other", i.e. what is and is not a correct "something" is progress because you know where to look but not necessarily what to look at. Or might not have the eyes to see it. Etc.

So sure, you can say that this expansive relaxation and stretching and whatever is peng, but that is a form of humility, you might as well call it peng assuming you are talking about the system in absence of it's politics and difficulty finding a good teacher. FZQ has also said he has chi bolts flying around inside his body, but he (by the way) never explained how that fits into training either. So you need to realize that this is just a stepping stone, and grab the feeling, grab the energy, but maybe forget about what it is called. Its not important to know what it is called, actually, that is an academic exercise maybe for teachers and historians. Calling it peng will just cause needless confusion. Why would anyone want to do that?

Now once again the point of all this and why I want to be so careful is because of the title of the thread.

If you have peng ala peng lu ji an, you will not have excessive movement in taiji practice.

If you have peng ala expansive/framework/song-qing jing energy, this will allow for excessive movement in taiji practice.

Therefore song-qing jing is not a core skill of taiji despite being a core skill of neijia in general.

Appledog wrote:Yeah it's clear, as I said, both ways can be interpreted as being correct. Thats what he says too. He says it is OK to give two definitions; one is my definition (as part of peng-lu-ji-an) and the other is the fill-up outward expansion.

I prefer peng jin referring to peng-lu-ji-an because you can use the term neijin or just jin to refer to the other, but on public forums you often see both being used and that's fine with me, but it can be confusing.

Appledog wrote:Now once again the point of all this and why I want to be so careful is because of the title of the thread.

If you have peng ala peng lu ji an, you will not have excessive movement in taiji practice.

If you have peng ala expansive/framework/song-qing jing energy, this will allow for excessive movement in taiji practice.

If you are connected, if you use that connection to move (silk reeling/drawing), if you're using neijin, I don't think your movement can be excessive at least in the torso & pelvis. I think that's part of the reason it's hard to learn the internal arts. When I was first learning Chen style, if I was having problems with a move, I would sometimes ask if the instructor could move a little larger, but of course you can only go so large and still be connected, otherwise it's external and that is not the same. Within internal movement there are larger and smaller movements and the goal is to get smaller, but once you're internal I don't think the movement would be called excessive.

The only advice I have is to focus on moving with connection and practice, be persistent, and sincere.

My opinion.

So it is anyone's guess how this trend got started.

It began when there were claims on the newly-formed internet that "Peng" was the reason that tcc and people like Yang LuChan and others became famous. It's what made tcc so formidable and so on. And, thereafter, every style wanted a prestige of being the "real" tcc and the possessor of its power.

Afa pengshi versus pengjin, they're both correct in context. As so many have pointed out, they're not the same. I wouldn't even say that either are the same as "peng" the feeling of expansion. Ymmv.

Bodywork wrote:Maintaining circular movement creates yin and yang within all aspects of the movement. Chen Fake supposedly told Hong Jun Shang that he believed that people misunderstood peng as the one jin. Rather Chansi jin was the one jin. As within silk reeling...all jins are present.

Interesting. My understanding, perhaps incorrect, is that Hong defined peng as, "Not giving up what you have won". The method for achieving that could well be silk reeling.

For absorbing and generating forces I prefer rotation as it maintain an independence and detachment in free movement across styles... So being free to change and maintaining detachment in widely changing environments are integral to how I think about internals. For me I have found that, my foundational skill set works best based on rotation.
Dan

These days, I regard the basic building blocks of movement to be expansion/contraction, translation and rotation. If one eliminates translation, one is left with expansion/contraction and rotation. I regard silk reeling as a combination of expansion/contraction and rotation.

I was taught that Taijiquan is about change, change in what you are doing in response to an opponent's applied force(s), and how to effect change in your opponent. The inability to change is, I was taught, the error called "double-weighted" or "double-heavy".

Partridge_Run wrote:Charles,

You are doing a fantastic job with your posts. Your style of communication sets a clear standard.
Thank you for that.

Thank you.

This post is supposed to be deleted because I only keep my most recent 100 posts. An admin should delete it or allow users to delete their own posts to save space.

The OP asked about EXCESSIVE movement and that's what I was dicussing, see the thread title. You're engaging in a straw man argument.

I wonder what part of Beng you are talking about
It is in backlist parry punch,punch down and groin punch
It is the first two movements of side a of the San shou and the second movement in side b
It also appears many more times that I won't mention here

This post is supposed to be deleted because I only keep my most recent 100 posts. An admin should delete it or allow users to delete their own posts to save space.

Hidden hand punch is another kind of problematic move.

Do you mean the "Step forward, deflect downward, parry, punch" in the Yang form?

Every move is a spiral employing twisting of silk and reeling of silk
Even though one might be there to a greater degree they are both always there

This post is supposed to be deleted because I only keep my most recent 100 posts. An admin should delete it or allow users to delete their own posts to save space.

Appledog wrote:Well, it's an opinion, but if in practice it works out by defining connection as staying in the circle, and having to go to a larger circle to feel the roundness, then aren't we now talking about something different than the expansive energy you get from standing? What about arts that don't have this kind of circular motion, but do have the expansive energy. Would they also be a kind of Tai Chi? If we took one of those movements. Say Beng quan (the punch) from Xingyi. A fine and famous move. But in tai chi, would such a move be considered extraneous?

It looks like we have different ideas about what connected means. I mean the body is connected internally using jing jin (muscle tendon channels). I'm not talking about drawing in the air. If the body is connected the waist and pelvis can be used to move the limbs. I'm interested in body mechanics and from what I've seen the body mechanics for taiji, xinyi, and bagua are very similar. I suspect the main difference between the neijia is tactics.

This guy looks connected to me.