Hengjin
Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2018 9:41 am
I feel like I neglected to stress the importance of Hengjin in my previous articles, so I thought I'd do so now..
Hengjin, or horizontal power, is something that's not usually used on its own, but more combined with other powers (similar to Doujin). It is basically using additional strength from the waist to power techniques and there are specific training methods to achieve this. The way that I like to demonstrate this power is by asking someone to stand squarely in front of me, with their feet in a slightly wider stance, very stable, and sticking my right arm straight out past them, making contact with their arm. I stand in the same way and move my right arm to the left, causing them to fly left. I then let them try to move me in the same way and they usually can't even budge me (I use reverse Hengjin as a sort of Pengjin and sink into my stance, kind of Taiji-esque), despite me being significantly taller than them and having a bad ankle. It is a very safe, but impressive, demonstration.
Now, in practical usage we could do a left Baiquan (loose, whippy hook punch) and knock their head off (not literally!) and add Shuaibeijin and Hengjin into it. If they block, the punch will go through their block. If they move in, the punch will go through the block and I can hit the back of their head or grab their head. In this case the Hengjin is more of a short, crisp power. If I hit their head or their block with the middle part of my arm because they got too close then I will follow through and just move their entire body and drag them to the ground (where the head goes, the body follows). In this latter example the Hengjin is more of a long, steady power.
Other good examples are Yemafenzong (Part the Wild Horse's Mane) and Danbian (Single Whip). They can both be used as strikes and adding in Hengjin (and Zhenjin and Shuaibeijin) will cause terrible damage. Or we can throw them and use the long, steady Hengjin. In any case, the difference between having Hengjin or not is massive. All of the different Jin that I discuss add to the power of normal techniques. They take what is already effective and make it scary. They are not very difficult to apply, but require daily, tiring training for about a half year. There are several methods to train each. I highly recommend that people train these types of Gongfa more to improve their Gongli and spend less time on forms and complacent partner exercises.
Shuaibeishou, Zhenjin, Doujin and Hengjin don't give a shit about your sensitivity. They plow right through it like a knife through butter. The sensitivity will come in handy during sparring, but more in the way of when and where to use what combo, which I prefer to train with simple drills and sparring. For those that prefer to wrestle, sensitivity training becomes more important, but having that extra power will make things a lot easier! A high-level Judoka would probably be able to express the long, steady versions of some of these powers. It's good to have both, though. Especially when it's this easy to learn..
In Taijiquan they often use pole-shaking to develop both Heng and Doujin. I highly recommend it. It's probably THE most important Gongfa in the system. Many people came to my Master over the years wanting to know the secret to using their Taijiquan. Pole-shaking was that big secret. The secret is out, yet most would rather stick with their fantasy, as this type of training is exhausting..
Hengjin, or horizontal power, is something that's not usually used on its own, but more combined with other powers (similar to Doujin). It is basically using additional strength from the waist to power techniques and there are specific training methods to achieve this. The way that I like to demonstrate this power is by asking someone to stand squarely in front of me, with their feet in a slightly wider stance, very stable, and sticking my right arm straight out past them, making contact with their arm. I stand in the same way and move my right arm to the left, causing them to fly left. I then let them try to move me in the same way and they usually can't even budge me (I use reverse Hengjin as a sort of Pengjin and sink into my stance, kind of Taiji-esque), despite me being significantly taller than them and having a bad ankle. It is a very safe, but impressive, demonstration.
Now, in practical usage we could do a left Baiquan (loose, whippy hook punch) and knock their head off (not literally!) and add Shuaibeijin and Hengjin into it. If they block, the punch will go through their block. If they move in, the punch will go through the block and I can hit the back of their head or grab their head. In this case the Hengjin is more of a short, crisp power. If I hit their head or their block with the middle part of my arm because they got too close then I will follow through and just move their entire body and drag them to the ground (where the head goes, the body follows). In this latter example the Hengjin is more of a long, steady power.
Other good examples are Yemafenzong (Part the Wild Horse's Mane) and Danbian (Single Whip). They can both be used as strikes and adding in Hengjin (and Zhenjin and Shuaibeijin) will cause terrible damage. Or we can throw them and use the long, steady Hengjin. In any case, the difference between having Hengjin or not is massive. All of the different Jin that I discuss add to the power of normal techniques. They take what is already effective and make it scary. They are not very difficult to apply, but require daily, tiring training for about a half year. There are several methods to train each. I highly recommend that people train these types of Gongfa more to improve their Gongli and spend less time on forms and complacent partner exercises.
Shuaibeishou, Zhenjin, Doujin and Hengjin don't give a shit about your sensitivity. They plow right through it like a knife through butter. The sensitivity will come in handy during sparring, but more in the way of when and where to use what combo, which I prefer to train with simple drills and sparring. For those that prefer to wrestle, sensitivity training becomes more important, but having that extra power will make things a lot easier! A high-level Judoka would probably be able to express the long, steady versions of some of these powers. It's good to have both, though. Especially when it's this easy to learn..
In Taijiquan they often use pole-shaking to develop both Heng and Doujin. I highly recommend it. It's probably THE most important Gongfa in the system. Many people came to my Master over the years wanting to know the secret to using their Taijiquan. Pole-shaking was that big secret. The secret is out, yet most would rather stick with their fantasy, as this type of training is exhausting..