rojcewiczj wrote:
What is the argument for cultivating relaxation/ release?
rojcewiczj wrote: why do taiji teachers often talk as if relaxing is the goal itself?
As if you can actually effect external objects without the necessary amount of tension.
Master Hong was training at his usual spot. Close by, some young muscular young men were playing basketball. During a break, one of those young man came over and asked Master Hong what he was doing and how useful was his “quan”. Master Hong points to a big rock and tells the young man to move it over to Master Hong’s position and then he will answer his question. The young man dutifully picked up the rock and moved it over to the feet of Master Hong. Master Hong then replied “This is my quan – moving the rock from there to here”. I did not get it when I first heard the story but now I see how it illustrates perfectly the concept of indirect power!
The argument for cultivating the ability to create and control tension is very clear to me. What is the argument for cultivating relaxation/ release?
So why do taiji people always talk about relaxing
rojcewiczj wrote:One thing that continues to confuse me is the relationship between tension and relaxation in internal arts. It seems to be correct use of tension which creates the forces we use to move ourselves and effect objects around us. Without enough tension, the body can not bear external forces. So why do taiji people always talk about relaxing? of course one must be able to relax in order to control ones tension, but why do taiji teachers often talk as if relaxing is the goal itself? As if you can actually effect external objects without the necessary amount of tension.
I like archery and use a 60lb resistance re-curve. I had to train my shoulder muscles to be able to produce enough tension to pullback and control my bow. How would cultivating "release", "song", or relaxation ever substitute the need for enough muscular tension? It is the same with punching, kicking, and throwing. Lately I have had much better results from my techniques by only focusing on creating enough tension where I need it, without any core movement, spiraling, etc.
When I just stand there and reach my arms towards my target and focus on maximizing tension at the moment of impact, I punch harder that when I press off my legs and rotate my waist. Why? Because it is the tension which creates the connection to the entire body, movement in itself does not create connection.
The argument for cultivating the ability to create and control tension is very clear to me. What is the argument for cultivating relaxation/ release?
Michael Garofalo on August 18, 2015 wrote:
"The Chen Old Frame First Routine helps to instill the three characteristics of song (looseness), yuan (roundness, centerness), and rou (pliancy). Song means not using stiff force. Many practitioners of Taijiquan will probably have been exhorted repeatedly to look for the quality of fangsong, or to let loose. Western texts often translate the term simply as "to relax," which fails to capture the energetic state that is actually required. the renowned Taijiquan historian Gu Luixin describes this state as one of the essential features of Chen style Taijiquan. He explained, "... you require looseness (song) to get pliancy (rou) and then softness to get hardness (gang). From hardness you need to be able to revert to softness. So the goal is to simultaneously have softness as well as hardness and to be able to alternate hardness and softness."
- David Gaffney and Davidine Siaw-Voon Sim, The Essence of Taijiquan, 2012, p.185
Michael Garofalo on March 03, 2015 wrote:
"To be relaxed means to release tension, but not to let go of substance. There is a quality in-between stiff and loose which is stable, yet flexible, that has fullness without being rigid, that is calm in motion yet conveys a vigorous presence. For lack of an equivalent English word, I refer to this concept as flowing within firmness, firmness within flowing. Flowing and firmness do not gain support from a rigid skeletal posture or strength from muscular tension. Rather, their integrity comes from expansion. Expansion is the ability to spread out in all directions. This is the key to relaxing without collapsing."
- Ting Kuo-Piao, Understanding Flowing and Firmness, 2000
"Relaxation of the whole body means the conscious relaxation of all the joints, and this organically links up all parts of the body in a better way. This does not mean softness. It requires a lot of practice in order to understand this point thoroughly. Relaxation also means the "stretching" of the limbs, which gives you a feeling of heaviness. (This feeling of heaviness or stiffness is a concrete reflection of strength.) This feeling is neither a feeling of softness nor stiffness, but somewhere in between. It should not be confined to a specific part, but involves the whole body. It is like molten iron under high temperature. So relaxation "dissolves" stiff strength in very much the same way. Stiff strength, also called "clumsy strength," undergoes a qualitative change after thousands of times of "dissolution" exercises. Just like iron which can be turned into steel, so "clumsy strength" can be turned into force, and relaxation is a means of gradually converting it into force. Our ancestors put it well: "Conscious relaxation will unconsciously produce force." There is truth in this statement."
- Yang Zhenduo, "Yang Style Taijiquan", p 16
rojcewiczj wrote:Lately I have had much better results from my techniques by only focusing on creating enough tension where I need it, without any core movement, spiraling, etc. When I just stand there and reach my arms towards my target and focus on maximizing tension at the moment of impact, I punch harder that when I press off my legs and rotate my waist.
rojcewiczj wrote:Relaxation cannot truly be trained, knowing this...
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