Trip wrote:D_Glenn wrote: where when a typical '生物力 Shengwuli' (body movement) is first learned it's either just zero or 100%, but when it's trained and developed into a 勁 Jin (Refined Movement) - as 勁 'Jin' is made up of the character for an 'Underground river' (巠 Jing) next to 'Biomechanical Force' (力 Li) and represents the underlying movement of 'Yi, Qi and Xue' (Intent/ thought, energy and blood) that provides the movement, and this 勁 Jin can be controlled with your mind, or power output in varying percentages- 30%, 90%, etc., like in basketball where the ball can be thrown with just the right amount of force to just make it into the hoop, no matter how far away you are standing when you throw it.
The phrase "just the right amount" to make a hoop, sparked a new way for me to look at something I've done for a while. Thanks.
The words
thrown and
force that bracket that phrase sparked a few thoughts too.
Like...in basketball when someone uses the word
thrown, it is not a compliment. To say someone can’t shoot they say he’s throwing up bricks. An implication that he’s not accurate and using too much
force.
It means you might as well be tossing bricks because you do not know how to shoot a basketball.
In addition, when your shot is off, it’s not just something people observe objectively: it is also a visceral feeling. When they shout “He’s throwing bricks” it is accompanied with a frown and a groan.
When someone shouts he can shoot, they say things like,
“he’s feeling’ it”, “he’s got a shooter’s touch”, “He’s got a hot hand”,
“He’s on fire”, “he’s lighting it up”
“He’s in rhythm”, “He’s on a streak”
"he's schooling folks", etc.
Their description implies they are getting a kind of…sense of you: that you have a certain touch, that you have a feel for the game.
They say—he got skills.
Whereas, the use of force is described as, “he’s bulling his way in”. They are happy you scored but it is not as respected as having skills.
The odds increase that you can acquire the skills—to be a good shooter faster—if someone teaches you proper shooting position and wrist usage.
Like many, I played basketball since I was a little kid; shot thousands of shots, and won many games. Still, it was not until someone taught me proper hand position and wrist usage; and many drills that my shot got better. It was kinda funny because proper hand position and wrist usage was actually really simple. But I didn’t know that until after someone taught me. Plus, it’s so simple it’s easy to skip as a solution; easy not to do. Weird. Anyway, after a lot of practice, I began to shoot in a game without being aware of proper hand position and wrist usage.
It is the same with almost anything. If someone does not teach you, how will you know? Maybe you could read about it but that could lead you down many wrong paths. By the time you figure it out, years have gone by and you are old. In addition, what you teach yourself runs a high risk of being one-sided or just partial learning.
For instance, in Taiji if someone does not teach you how to fight with it properly, it does not matter how much you’ve read about it, how much push hands you do or how many fights you have. The odds will still be low that you will actually use Taiji in a fight properly.
Natural talent plus someone teaching you things properly and hard practice makes the odds high that you will be good at what you do. And, just maybe someone will shout he’s got skills.