body method

[Overlord]

Thanks guys.....wd, I like the spring/compression idea as it is easy to feel and create a signature sensation with, I think that is key, many ways to say it, as long as there is an associative feeling I think it is useful.

Over, the breath should enter with the space created in the the opening.......exhalation is the volitional phase of the breath and exhaling is like wringing out a sponge it powers the he

Thanks Derek!
I actually encounter a guy ( I think Lu's lineage), his store energy when breath in, with back arch, and breath out when release the energy.
This occurs when another Bagua master was there, saying his fajing tech was perfect and superb.
But hard to say, because I was only watching. And different school maybe different.
The Bagua master however in another seminar indicates one is for nourishing and one is for power issuing.



Over

[somatai]

Nice video Somatai.

Very clear what you're saying

A few questions:

1. The movement is big. Like HUGE - the open and close couldn't be bigger or smaller- I've often heard 'train big, use small' - what are your/XinYi's approaches and thoughts to working this body method into applications?

2. What are your thoughts on staying relaxed? Or not? Or is it just not an issue - when you stretch to the extreme open you can't say it's 'relaxed' - equally the extreme contraction is obvioulsy going to involve some sort of tensions. Is it a question of the 'right' sorts of tension?

3. Is open and close for striking only - or can you use it for other things - like stepping away from a punch or kick? Defending a wrist grab? Defending a strangle? What if somebody is choking from behind? I guess what I'm asking is - is this method used in all circumstances all the time, or is it specific to particular situations?

Thanks for all the comments.


To answer the above

1. This may sound a bit vague but the extreme size of the motions has to do with two things. One is developing the physical body and the length of connected chains and the other is the yi. Once having been developed, you are no longer dependant on the shapes themselves, but the yi is very strong.....my sense of up is bigger than most other folks and so i have a longer line of force available...i will show on video some of what i mean , hope that makes sense....the point of going big is to develop big yi, big and small define eachother so the to characteristics get simultaneiously developed. The smaller/tighter the yi the denser the power....long and short force

2. as for relaxation it comes with time at first you cannot be, but then it is no problem, the strength and connection used is more of an inherent power than a tension, like a bow.....so the top of the motion, the open is about stretching the tendons through the whole body the effort is up, not on contraction.....as for the close and the he it is literally the same as closing your fist, the power is around the hollow in the middle, the contraction is from the abdomen, but it is natural, not like you are trying to tighten, it just gets tight like when you pack a sleeping bag into a stuff sac

3. open and close is for everything, it is how you move, think of your body like a pair of scissors in terms of alternting sides and like a ball in terms of compression, the closing is the ball hitting the ground, the open is the bouncing up and away.

one of the reasons i think it takes time is the physiological changes, my body feels and moves so different than it used to and it is a function the method the body becomes very hard which allows it to become very soft as it takes one to know the other....hope that all makes sense

[somatai]

@ over i think this is the same......build on the open release on the close

[Wanderingdragon]

Very clear and knowledgable explanations, it is obviously by way of training and the tangible elements such training develops. Thanks for sharing.

[Overlord]

@ over i think this is the same......build on the open release on the close

Thanks Derek,
Are you saying if we divide the contract/expand into left and right side, breath in and breath out is the same?

Over

[somatai]

The breath will fill the side that is open and alternate as the opening and closing alternates

[charles]

Thanks guys.....wd, I like the spring/compression idea as it is easy to feel and create a signature sensation with, I think that is key, many ways to say it, as long as there is an associative feeling I think it is useful.

If you like the spring ideal/model, there are actually three types of springs at work here. The first is the linear spring - compression and extension, both are mechanisms for storing and releasing energy. The second is the torsional spring, like a clock spring. You wind it one direction to store energy, then let go to release the energy. The third is a leaf spring, such as old car suspensions or the bow of an archery bow. Bend it to store energy, let go to release the energy. Many movements combine all three: expansion/contraction, rotation and bowing/unbowing.

[Wanderingdragon]

Nice and all three are indicative of the reality of the internal arts hard but not stiff, taught but not tense, always set but never moving without outside sense.

[somatai]

Nice images thanks.........whole body,Yao, kua...great distinctions and images

[leifeng]

I am a beginner so my opinion might be wrong but when I compare your movement to my teacher's I think your frame is a bit unstable. There is too much expansion and you don't sink very well which results in losing 含胸拔背 and your centre。 here is how he does 起落大劈： http://video.sina.com.cn/v/b/70212963-1982270864.html

[somatai]

Your teacher moves nicely.......it is a different movement and done deliberately in a very large way to illustrate a point.....looks like your teacher is showing a version of dragon chopping,which is more compact by nature......my point was to show the training idea of building the connections by enlarging and engaging the frame...fwiw

[leifeng]

Have a look at 丹凤朝阳 in his siba http://video.sina.com.cn/v/b/62272104-1982270864.html when he expands he is still keeping hanxiongbabei but sometimes I think when you raise your elbow too much I don't see the hanxiong anymore. However my opinion might be wrong.