bailewen wrote:Yes.
That is after all, what both Taiji and Baji were designed for. One of the absolute most difficult things with Shifu is to avoid "running away". Always enter. He is always criticizing people for trying to create space. The proper way to yield to a push (or palm strike) to the torso is to move in. It's counter-intuitive at first but there's a way to do it and it really is yielding. You redirect the force in a very small circle from the heel of the hand into your body and then back out into the striking hands fingertips.
Full speed palm strikes is a fairly regular thing. If they don't come in full bore, you can't really do any damage with the shen-fa. For Baji is it even more core and less listening is required. Every hand strike in Baji is really a chest strike. For Baji it would be force on force but I train daily to strike with the chest. What do you think all that tree banging is about? How about the numerous strikes you do to your own chest in the form. Largely to entrain that bit of shenfa. When the palm strikes, so does the chest.
It's a special skill and it can be applied for real.
Again, of course I can't do this to everyone anymore than I could guarantee landing a punch or a kick but if the attack comes in, palm or palms to the chest, it's not especially harder for me to damage the wrist than it is for many others to catch a round kick and sweep the leg.
Interesting point---GM Liu Yun Qiao--translated as well as could be in our circle [Ohio]---there is no defense in baji--offense is defense---once you commit you commit everthing from fist, to elbow, shoulder, hip to head--sort of a folding principle. However, I do think Ting Jin is also fairly important--my limited understanding is that baji "defense" is an on-ward adjustment of angle e.g. slight step to the side---a slight step sideways/backwards slightly is not a retreat because the front is still aimed at the target---it is like a the old drawing compass---you move along an arc but the fist is still at the center of the target. In the upper levels baji--the little understanding I have, I mean that sincerely, the punch is the "block" and strike at the same time with a continuous move to the second strike---we used have a two person drill, using chan si jin, you block/roll with the punching arm while continuing forward with the strike, and then collapse with the elbow---when training we strike the opponents shoulder, yes as hard as we can--the opponet must block the eblow strike with an elbow strike twisted at an angle from the waist, otherswise you'll find your ass on the ground---been there in the old days.
We were also taught when punching through, image and visual is that you punch three or four feet beyond the point of impact, that is, you mind is not at the point of impact once contact is made but is 3 or 4 feet beyond that point.
The chest strike, I think, for us, is the side of the chest, including the inner side of the shoulder alll the way down to the waist---two person drlll, kao shoulder to shoulder, step back, adjust angle of body, go in, chest to chest---I have an old clip of George Xu doing this in a public demo in San Francisco in the 1970s as part of his Liuhe xinyi training.
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