Trick wrote:Ah, its not pulling from the reel but reeling the thread on to the reel.
It depends on your view point. You can pull silk from the cocoons or wrap it around the reel - reel it. Either way if you've seen what is involved in setting up the silk and the reel you don't want the silk to break - you want it to be continuous.
Chen Xin wrote:The masters of Taiji boxing created a system called Chan-si jing or the silk reeling method of the energy regeneration to move Qian and Kun silently without breaking, in such a way that the coiling threads or spiral-like lines arrange vital energy flow thoughout the body. On hearing this, people of the boxing world exclaimed, “How marvelous!”
Chen Xin uses two terms.
缠丝精 Chan si jing - chan (to wind around / to wrap round / to coil / tangle / to involve / to bother / to annoy)
si (silk / thread / trace / (cuisine) shreds or julienne strips)
jing (essence / extract / vitality / energy / semen / sperm / mythical goblin spirit / highly perfected / elite / the pick of sth / proficient (refined ability) / extremely (fine) / selected rice (archaic))
缠丝劲 Chan si jin - jin (strength / energy / enthusiasm / spirit / mood / expression / interest )
The idea is that you don't want any breaks in the jin - you want the jin to be continuous.
In YCF's 10 essentials of taijiquan (from Chen Weiming)
九相連不斷
9. THE MOVEMENTS ARE LINKED TOGETHER WITHOUT INTERRUPTION
外家拳術。其勁乃後天之拙勁。故有起有止。有續有斷。舊力已盡。新力未生。此時最易為人所乘。太極用意不用力。自始至終。綿綿不斷。周而復始。循環無窮。原論所謂如長江大河。滔滔不絕。又曰運勁如抽絲。皆言其貫串一氣也。
In external styles of boxing arts, their strength is only the clumsy strength of acquired habit. Therefore there is a start and a stop, a continuing and an interrupting. It is when old force is spent and new force is not yet initiated that is the easiest moment for an opponent to take advantage of. Taiji uses intention, not exertion, and so from beginning to end, it is continuous without interruption, recycling endlessly. A primary text [Essays, part 1] says: “It is like a long river flowing into the wide ocean, on and on ceaselessly.”
It is also said [in Understanding How to Practice]: “Move energy (勁 jin) as if drawing silk.” These words describe a continuous flow throughout.The character used is jin (勁), so again the jin should not break, it should be continuous.
The idea that jin is continuous seems to be a defining characteristic of taiji, but I don't know if it is applicable to xinyi, xingyi, bagua, and yiquan. Are they allowed to have breaks or gaps in their jin?