how do YOU suspend your head as if from above

[everything]

if I think about it, then I sort of "try", then that seems to just put tension in my neck.

if I just mind the rest of the body, it seems to sort itself out better.

enjoy all the commentary. very helpful and interesting.

[charlie_cambridge]

Hi Wayne, completely agree. Depends on the purpose, I can see many elements of Huang's film still being useful for health and many of the other elements of taiji. Where the issuing force is concerned (and where the loosenings teach the body basic necessary components of that) his film does look completely incorrect. Not necessarily harmful, but fairly useless/deliberately incorrect on the aspects of the movements used to develop elastic/issuing Jin. My understanding is giving more martial arts abilities to random people was low in Huang's list of priorities and PK quotes him as saying "Taiji bu shi wu shu" ("taiji is not martial art")

For suspending the head we let the upper body "float" temporarily and stretch down from the lower portion releasing and sinking away first (to keep a long continuous natural stretching of nucal ligament in back of the neck). I.e. the release down the spinal column etc is as if it were a spring, not a stick. (so I think of "suspending" the headtop as not letting it go down immediately when the lower body starts to release down).

The one thing I do know Huang didn’t go to the trouble of making a film just to trick people

[wayne hansen]

Huangs 4th exercise is all about suspending the head top

[charlie_cambridge]

The last part of the 4th is an obvious reference yes. The shoulder roll also quite clearly emphasizes the fingers as the still point with big opening of the shoulder blade area, which is a big hint that aspects of the 1st and 2nd in the video are not being done correctly/consistently.

Also the whole alignment related to suspending the headtop is a crucial component of the 5th--the obvious emphasis on phases of the lower body but of course upper body has to be aligning correctly too, and the end of the 4th going straight into the 5th helps set that emphasis up too.

But suspending the headtop should also be a key part of all the other loosenings too, and the 1st incorporates that along with a number of other things.

Huangs 4th exercise is all about suspending the head top

[yeniseri]

Within the context of Western anatomy and physiology, it is nothing more or less tthan what is called postural integrity.

[wayne hansen]

Yes you are right there but I haven’t seen a system in the west which trains it naturally

[yeniseri]

Yes you are right there but I haven’t seen a system in the west which trains it naturally

It isn't necessarily a matter of training (though it is involved) but of cultural necessity in the numerous instances of African, Asian and some Arab groups, who through agricultural and other means of manual transportation in their societal matrix.
It a a life and death situation when personal vehicles are non existant. Often, we see the women carrying food, water, etc on their person in a rush to survive in this modern era. A necessity on all points.

[wayne hansen]

I had an ex girlfriend who was a highly trained Indian and Balinese dancer
She would be called on by both Embassy’s to demonstrate
Her training in Bali involved carrying all sorts of things on top of her head in daily life
Her awareness in pushing hands was at a high level
Also in daily life her perception was in amazing
The above post made me think of it

[KongFuGongFu]

In the past the most detail I learned for this was "just using a thought" to extend from the base of the skull to bai hui with the chin dropping, while everything else drops, tailbone tucks slightly to hui yin and chin drops to pubic bone, chest sinking. This was okay but I also often found I would get stiff in the neck. Sometimes it was too abstract.

Lately I've been learning to press up from the heels as if resisting pressure from above. This requires getting the leg structure right, using more imagination and intention throughout. Sometimes I find it helpful to press on the bai hui a bit to get the feeling. I find this much more effective at connecting through the body... breathing deep and gradually softening seems to make it all right . It all seems a bit more clear this way to me.

[Kelley Graham]

I don’t. I support it from below. The result is ‘as if’ suspended from above feeling.

[wiesiek]

how I doin` it before standing:
in riding horse position, arms down - stretch toes and fingers to the max,
sit and relax. (rep. if needed)
This giving extra press impression on the foot and head will "float" like in K.G.`s above post.

[wiesiek]

ps
today morning, this "set" come to me :
- while standing in horse position
- support (press from the sides) palms on the hips
- "sit" and support it from the feet squeezing them inside, while knees are pressing in reverse direction
- fill up your trunk with the breath (don`t forget about supporting role of the feet), now is easy to feel head like cork floating on a water
- hung head from above (gold thread from bai hui point )
- and
imagine pressing down when breathing out

best
wiesiek

[greytowhite]

Here's a nifty Aunkai clip. Looks like a reverse engineered San Jiao.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fShg13Hm3I

[robert]

Here's a nifty Aunkai clip.

Here's another Aunkai clip regarding lifting the top of the head.

https://youtu.be/EYqVgU3PY44?t=858

[everything]

really interesting, thanks a lot. it seems he "took out the slack" and everything was then "connected", "all parts move as one" gives more leverage that his partner cannot see or detect.

I don't remember the move I was doing, learning some bjj, the tip was to basically crawl your fingers along the mat. somehow that gave inexplicable great strength to move the arm. vs. if you tried to only use the arm, it just wouldn't work. move a few fingers, it "magically" worked.

all that said, still not sure i have feeling of the head thing, lol.