C.J.W. wrote:IMO, all good CMAists, regardless of style, possess Peng Jin. Different styles have different names for it, and many don't even talk about it; they simply consider it as one of the results of correct regular training. It is the physical quality that makes one immovable and able to bounce away incoming forces that come into contact with them.
In the arts I have practiced, this physical quality is -- at the most fundamental level -- developed through mindfully expanding and opening the joints in multiple directions.
That's pretty much my take on it, although I think the " mindfully" aspect is more complex than it sounds. I believe in Chen style they refer to moving the chi from Chao to Chao, the hollow points in the joints which are also entry and exit points. Moving the chi is more like using Yi to guide the mind along pathways of connection ensuring that more of the body's elasticity is involved than only opening and closing joints. I find that the metaphor of the 5 bows works well as a training aid to developing Peng as a completeness.
At a still mor local level, working outside to in, the exercise of always allowing a yin moment before a yang projection also creates the quality of peng in the limbs. I think that this often mistaken for the complete result. People that do a lot of push ( apologies to John Wang) get good at this but do not necessarily have full body Peng. My experience is that folk who have it can hit harder than folk who appear to have it in their hands and arms.