mixjourneyman wrote:Some very good posts (jjy specifically).
What I was trying to get at is a discussion of the basic foundation of internal power.
We all seem to believe that internal power is obtained differently and we have different methods of going about getting it. I personally believe the whole softness thing is way overrated, but of course don't rate clumsy force at all. Its about striking a balance. I personally equate it with creating dynamic tension the whole way through the body, extending, and squeezing the force out. What are peoples thoughts on that?
mixjourneyman wrote:Lets put it this way: a specific kind of internal power is present in hebei xingyi, cheng bagua, and chen style taiji.
I studied wu style, so I know they have a different take on things. In my opinion it is less useful for people who are beginning in the style, though I know that some people can use it very well.
mixjourneyman wrote:If you look at good bagua players such as liu jing ru and luo de xu, you can see that they are very extended and twisting. This can only be achieved by keeping some extended power in the frame, which means that they have to use some tension.
mixjourneyman wrote:Ok here goes: for Yang taiji variants, they do things differently. Softness is emphasized more and internal force has a different meaning to them.
For bagua, xingyi, and chen style, the force is expressed through twisting and drilling.
You just can't twist and drill properly without putting some basic force from the body and yes, you will always be able to feel if you have the force. The posture is also always quite extended. This is (aside from the walking) the main problem with my first bagua video. My structure was too compact and the force could not make it to my hands. Since then I have had many revelations about practice and my teacher has guided me a lot. My current understanding of the parallels of force between the big three internals is that you always have to be able to put the force from the body into each movement to make them effective. The force is achieved by creating a compression in your body through your posture via twisting. The major differences in the force as I see them are in the hips. The easiest way to quantify that is to look at a xingyi guy, a bagua guy, and a chen guy. They all use their hips much differently.
Of course, I'm sure this is not the big picture and I admit that there are other areas that I don't know about yet. Anyways, thats my take on it. Hope it was helpful.
jjy5016 wrote:You can bet that the old guy's movements weren't always that compact and light. They started out like everyone else's and he refined and condensed them over the years. If you look closely at the single palm change application you can see a very tiny movement of his waist that aids in delivering the force through his arm and sending the student back. This combined with balanced force is the beauty of the technique.
Even at an old age if one's technique is correct he can just keep refining it more and more until it's barely noticeable.
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