AnotherMonkey wrote:What does one actually do in Yiquan?
What do they try to accomplish in what methods?
Yiquan has eight postures for standing meditation. Traditionally one just stands in each posture for as long as one comfortably can then change to another posture (ex: 5 minutes in each one for 40 minutes total). But in hanshi yiquan we move through all eight fluidly with a resisting partner holding onto our arms (different hand placement for different zhuangs). This is how we begin testing the zhuangtai (body state). Without the correct zhuangtai the movement is not internal and one is not doing yiquan. The body state (or condition) involves holding the bao and fingertip extension. Bao is an embracing quality in the body with all joints open. We embrace with body, arms, legs, etc. The fingertip extension is every bit as important as bao. Using one's mind (intent) the fingers extend well beyond the target, making the torso and arms feel empty (or hollow) to one's opponent. The fingers grasp and pull one forward. Yiquan, like xingyi, is a spear art. The spear not only goes through the opponent but into the wall or tree behind them. One must keep extending. And, yes, this is done "internally" and with the mind (intent). Yiquan is the art of awareness. The zhuangtai allows one to respond with one's body, not techniques or applications although yiquan has plenty of those.
AnotherMonkey wrote:Is the standing to learn to relax the muslce that one doesnt need? Is it to build strong stabilizer muscles? Is it something completely else?
Yes, if using the old method. But not in Han Shi Yiquan.
The standing is what creates the internal aspects of the art.
AnotherMonkey wrote:The Shili, tasting force, meaning to have a certain amount of strength in all directions while moving?
Shi li is being able to move with zhuangtai. When one moves it is hard to hold onto the feeling. We want to reach a wu (nothing) state. Be like a buoy in the water. Let the current and waves move you but stay afloat and tethered. When most people move their intrinsic energy comes out of them. We want our opponent to fall into us. When he touches me he becomes part of me. When I move he moves. I want to find the feeling (zhuangtai) and hold onto it.
"It was already late. Night stood murkily over people, and no one else pronounced words; all that could be heard was a dog barking in some alien village---just as in olden times, as if it existed in a constant eternity." Andrey Platonov