Silk Reeling Demo

[Appledog]

In keeping with the spirit of the recent discussions I've produced a demo of six variations on the grand circle (first circle) silk reeling motion.

This demo of silk reeling shows a basic jibengong, suitable for "100 days" practice. When you reach that level it is often suggested you stop practicing it and just do the form.

In a famous interview with Jarek Szymanski, Feng Zhi-Qiang said, "All Taiji styles emphasize Opening and Closing (Kai-He), Empty and Solid (Xu-Shi), Hardness and Softness (Gang-Rou), Contracting and Opening (Qu-Shen), Yin and Yang, etc. Silk Reeling Power appears in all Taiji styles but Chen style emphasizes it more than other schools and the round movement of all parts of the body is its feature. Other schools of Taiji pay more attention to Opening and Closing. Actually all martial arts contain circular and round, Hunyuan movements. In Xingyiquan this feature is described by Drilling (Zuan), Wrapping (Guo), Twisting (Ning), Overturning (Fan)."

[everything]

thanks for posting for fun.

When you reach that level it is often suggested you stop practicing it and just do the form.

so this is for beginners not ready for form?

Chen

or you are making some comparison to tai chi, Chen style?

or just making conversation?

[GrahamB]

I see two kids waving their arms in circles. It's cute mimicry, but I don't see any chan si going on...

[Appledog]

thanks for posting for fun.

No problem Keeps things lively.

When you reach that level it is often suggested you stop practicing it and just do the form.

so this is for beginners not ready for form?

Correct, as stated, it is a jibengong (basic exercise). Chen Zhenglei for example said he does not practice these exercises but only uses them in teaching.

Chen

or you are making some comparison to tai chi, Chen style?

or just making conversation?

This is Chen style, and i'm here to make conversation yes This video is strongly emphasizing silk reeling as taught in many schools of Chen style. In our group we also do the set of silk reeling exercises promoted by Feng, Zhang Xuexin, etc. You can find them online here: https://www.silkreeler.com/articles/silkreelingsections

In the video above I presented some of them organized in a different way, which I find useful to teach at the beginner level. As I said in the OP this is mainly for 100x100 practice. I.E. beginner level. There are many, many different types of "silk reeling" and ways of introducing the concept. On the page above it is stated:

"Other popular silk reeling exercises commonly practice by other Chen stylists may include movements found in the various forms, and some may be practiced in conjunction with stepping e.g. Yellow dragon Stir Water. In addition, Qi Gong movements can be and often are practiced as Silk Reeling movements, and vice versa."

I see two kids waving their arms in circles. It's cute mimicry, but I don't see any chan si going on...

Chen Zhao Pei said "silk reeling has numerous windings: forward, reverse, up, down, left, right, inside, outside, big, small, forward, and backward, plus hundreds of other winding motions. Each is coordinated with another by the central internal qi." If you are telling me you have difficulty determining whether or not someone is coordinating with their central internal qi I would agree with you. I think it is almost a saying, "You can't see internal."

Anyways, these are just a couple of kids doing jibengong -- as advertised. Chen Xiao-Wang said, "No one does it correctly the first time... The first thing is to understand the principles and then they can gradually improve. Many people don't understand the principles, like not keeping the shoulder too high. When you understand the principles you can learn to do it better.

"After you realise what the principles are and understand the standards, then if you practice incorrectly that's just because you are just beginning and no one can be perfect from the first day. If you understand the basic principles and standards then you will gradually improve by repeating the movements over and over again so that you reach the level of accomplishment set by the principles and standards.

"If you try to close the distance between where you are and what the standards of T'ai Chi should be each and every day and each and every time you practice then you will begin approaching the correct form.

"But there are many people who do not understand the basic standards of T'ai Chi and who continue to practice a long time but it is very difficult for them to receive the benefits of practice."

[Bob]

I'm not going to make any judgements on what you practice but just one small suggestion or so - widen your stance by a fist and bend/sink your knees a bit - nothing deep - you might get a better connection/transfer/movement among the lower body, pelvis/hips/waist and upper body Arms - in late 1980s learned this at the Tai Chi Farm from a Chinese practitioner from Canada who was at the farm for that week - thanks for posting - although I don't practice it we have some relatively similar exercises with brick (light), wrist rings (light) and da qiang exercises

[wayne hansen]

Anyone who teaches something they don’t practice must be avoided at all costs
They are stealing your time

[Appledog]

I'm not going to make any judgements on what you practice but just one small suggestion or so - widen your stance by a fist and bend/sink your knees a bit - nothing deep - you might get a better connection/transfer/movement among the lower body, pelvis/hips/waist and upper body Arms - in late 1980s learned this at the Tai Chi Farm from a Chinese practitioner from Canada who was at the farm for that week - thanks for posting - although I don't practice it we have some relatively similar exercises with brick (light), wrist rings (light) and da qiang exercises

Thanks for the tip! I'll pass it along.

Anyone who teaches something they don’t practice must be avoided at all costs
They are stealing your time

He's right though. Although it does sound like a long time ago since he learned it, it's not exactly a secret. We practice Chen almost every day, although recently we have been pumping the Sun style. They seem to like Sun style and Chen better than Yang. Kids

[cloudz]

Maybe one day you'll share your own capability and achievement instead of hiding behind raw beginners. of what interest that is I don't know.
might as well go on youtube.

[Appledog]

Maybe one day you'll share your own capability and achievement instead of hiding behind raw beginners. of what interest that is I don't know.
might as well go on youtube.

I'm not hiding anything, I'm just too busy to make a video for you just to satisfy your curiosity. BTW it was rude for you to accuse me of hiding.

I typed out a longer message but I just wanted to be direct. You get to see the results of my teaching. That is the content of the video and is what is appropriate to post on this forum.

[Bao]

I'm not hiding anything, I'm just too busy to make a video for you just to satisfy your curiosity.

You have time filming and uploading videos of your students, but not time to film and upload videos of yourself? ... Okay then...

[Appledog]

I'm not hiding anything, I'm just too busy to make a video for you just to satisfy your curiosity.

You have time filming and uploading videos of your students, but not time to film and upload videos of yourself? ... Okay then...

Yes now it's starting to sink in! I get up at 4am and I don't get off work until 8pm. The videos I make are incidental. For natsukashiikute or documentation only. It is not but a light matter to produce something with myself.

[everything]

I think for sure you should do whatever you feel like. At some point, the kids may not want to be the "stars".

[Appledog]

I think for sure you should do whatever you feel like. At some point, the kids may not want to be the "stars".

Stars! Thanks for the compliment but my videos are not that popular

[Giles]

Appledog: I understand what you're saying about having insufficient time to get yourself filmed. The thing is, when we're talking about silk reeling and posting videos on the theme, most of us here will have a sufficiently practiced eye to sense (more or less) what kind of connections and processes are happening within the body of the person demonstrating. There are many, probably hundreds, of basic, cycling moves that can serve as a suitable vessel for some form of chansigong. But if we see only the external vessel without it being filled with some of the actual body (and mind) connections, then on this forum it doesn't really work as a demonstration of silk reeling. The two kids have my absolute respect and best wishes, and probably a time will come when things mesh and they develop some great qualities. But not right now. Which is why I too would very much like to see your own execution of these exercises, or just one of them, to understand (feel!) what your realization of silk reeling is.

[Appledog]

Appledog: I understand what you're saying about having insufficient time to get yourself filmed. The thing is, when we're talking about silk reeling and posting videos on the theme, most of us here will have a sufficiently practiced eye to sense (more or less) what kind of connections and processes are happening within the body of the person demonstrating.

So you claim! And presumably, all other things being equal, you would fall into that category. And I am willing to go with that for the sake of discussion (why not?) -- at least until you say something that doesn't add up. On your end, presumably, you seem a bit more sensibly skeptical (good, good); you are looking for external verification, in this case video evidence. Well, there's nothing wrong with that, assuming your original assumption is correct. But take a look at this:



Can you tell what Feng doing in this video besides waving his arms?