Linkongjin Explained in a Way That Makes Sense..
Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2014 7:15 am
So today I met a new Taiji teacher that has been all over China and was telling me about special attributes that separate it from other martial arts. I felt that I could get away with asking him about a very divisive topic that comes up on these forums. Yes, I went there.
The teacher in question then told me that he'd give me an example. He suddenly attacked me without notice and I moved my head out of the way, flinching, though he never touched me. In my defence, he was very fast for an old man! This, he said, was Linkongjin in simple terms. He was controlling my body's reaction without making contact. It reminded me of something my teacher said yesterday.
There is an expression; "Bei dong bian zhu dong". For example, you pull someone towards you and their back foot comes along with them. As the foot is coming you knee them below their knee (this happened to me and it hurts!). So you took their body's natural reaction and used it against them.
Linkongjin is like that, but without touching them. I think that projecting your intention at someone with some movement of your body can certainly cause a reaction in them, perhaps to your benefit. Fear can enhance that effect.
I then asked him about those videos where someone waves their hands and a person starts spazzing all over the place. He told me that he believes that somewhere out there there may be masters with amazing abilities, but that he has never seen or felt anything like in those videos in thirty years of traveling and studying around the country in various styles of Taijiquan, Yongchunquan, Baguazhang etc. He's willing to keep an open mind, however. He said that there is an incredible amount of skilled masters left in China and that a large percentage of them don't publicly teach. Most of them are in their sixties or older. If any of you want to study in China I'd do so sooner than later.
The teacher in question then told me that he'd give me an example. He suddenly attacked me without notice and I moved my head out of the way, flinching, though he never touched me. In my defence, he was very fast for an old man! This, he said, was Linkongjin in simple terms. He was controlling my body's reaction without making contact. It reminded me of something my teacher said yesterday.
There is an expression; "Bei dong bian zhu dong". For example, you pull someone towards you and their back foot comes along with them. As the foot is coming you knee them below their knee (this happened to me and it hurts!). So you took their body's natural reaction and used it against them.
Linkongjin is like that, but without touching them. I think that projecting your intention at someone with some movement of your body can certainly cause a reaction in them, perhaps to your benefit. Fear can enhance that effect.
I then asked him about those videos where someone waves their hands and a person starts spazzing all over the place. He told me that he believes that somewhere out there there may be masters with amazing abilities, but that he has never seen or felt anything like in those videos in thirty years of traveling and studying around the country in various styles of Taijiquan, Yongchunquan, Baguazhang etc. He's willing to keep an open mind, however. He said that there is an incredible amount of skilled masters left in China and that a large percentage of them don't publicly teach. Most of them are in their sixties or older. If any of you want to study in China I'd do so sooner than later.