The Art of Neutralisation in Taijiquan: An 按

[Yeung]

The term “An” simply means press down, but the mechanics become complex without brute force or an explosive type of force is required to break the inside grab on both upper arms for example, or immediately follow the Ji technique as in the Grasp Peacock’s Tail. There is a combination of inward rotation of the arms, protraction and depression of the shoulders, stretching the thoracic spine or the lumbar spine, and crotch rotating backward or forward or to the sides. This combination is another example of avoiding the fault of double heavies. In my understanding, it is simply muscle strain (an injury to a muscle caused by overexertion or twisting) which is somewhat different to delay onset muscle soreness (DOMS). From the practitioners’ point of view, double heaves would be the instance where trying to shorten muscle fibres when they are being lengthened, like carrying a weight for example. The phenomenon is that we can hang on to a weight that is 30% or more than the weight we can lift. That means we can resist a force 30% or more than the force we can push away concentrically. Back to our equation of residual force, we can resist a residual force up to 30% or more than we can generate, so that is a lot of power. Eccentric muscle contraction was considered as the cause of DOMS, but the method of stretching to the maximum slowly and avoiding concentric muscle contraction is the way to avoid DOMS, and it is more sensitive to pain resulting from over stretching, etc.

[Bao]

I've said this before, but IMO, "an" as a downward movement is specific to Chen style as their movement they call "an" is a downwards movement. But IMHO, turning the jin into a direction, is a mistake that has also a wide spread amongst other Tai Chi practitioners. You can see Mizner's videos for instance, he always says that "an" is a downwards force. However, there is nothing in the Chinese character/word "an" that suggests a specific direction. "An" merely means to place you hand on something. You can "an" a lamp over your head or the roof. The direction is not equal to the meaning of "an".

Some interesting points and reflections in the post though.

[cloudz]

what would you suggest then Bao.

Tim Cartmell for instance described it as if pushing yourself up on the side of a pool - I think that captures the feeling of it pretty well.
I also don't think it's just a Chen style thing either. Have come it in Wu style too.

'the feeling' and EXTERNAL direction don't necessarily have to match up - the kinaesthetic forces are (felt) on the inside..

[Bao]

what would you suggest then Bao.
Tim Cartmell for instance described it as if pushing yourself up on the side of a pool - I think that captures the feeling of it pretty well.

Yeah, I've heard this before. I like his way of describing a certain feeling, especially considering how you need to engage the back to do it (though it should be the body and legs doing the work, not the limbs). But do you really need to do it downwards to get the same kind of feel?

[cloudz]

what would you suggest then Bao.
Tim Cartmell for instance described it as if pushing yourself up on the side of a pool - I think that captures the feeling of it pretty well.

Yeah, I've heard this before. I like his way of describing a certain feeling, especially considering how you need to engage the back to do it (though it should be the body and legs doing the work, not the limbs). But do you really need to do it downwards to get the same kind of feel?

no not necessarily, that's why I went on to differentiate the internal and external in the other thread about taiji jin.
Apologies for cross posting as have obviously confused myself which thread/ post I was replying to - I will copy and paste the points here for clarity.
inside the feeling doesn't change - the outside can change.

so there can effectively be an internal direction and an external one. external can be static too.

but the direction of force that matters for An does not change - and that's the internal one. it's pressing down.
It's how l've been taught by a few teachers yang and wu - never done any Chen style. it's how I do the neigong for it - taught to me, coming from very reputable sources.

[cloudz]

Hey, so these are the comments I mixed into the the taiji jin thread that maybe apply more directly to this chat..


we feel and are aware of our force internally but direct it and issue it externally
things like peng and an are expressions of neijin

the inner direction does not necessarily have to match the (external body) orientation or direction

take ji for example

there's no reason at all that it can't be issued in a downward trajectory (direction) for example
in fact the first form I learnt did this

the thing about 'the directions' is they are called cardinal.. what does that mean?

well I think contextually it means something like proto type, or something like 'proto - typical'
the simplest/ basic way of combining inner and outer force

but for practical and usage purposes that is not fixed in stone
so let's say your body can move forward whilst you lu with your arms up and back

things start to combine, inner and outer can mix and match.




not quite sure what's got into me today lol, far too much time on my hands for posting on RSF