- wuji
- tai chi
- liang yi
- xiang yi (si xiang?)
- combat applications
- functions and variables
- change rhythm and combinations
- circles
forms:
- 5th palm change
the class started slowly this time. it seemed everybody was late, and Lee didn't do his customary lead through stances or tantui. after a while, i figured i better warm-up with stances on my own. i took the stances slowly this time, trying to incorporate the breathing work that Sifu Jason had taught us in the previous classes. of course, this meant that by the time i was finishing them everybody else began arriving.
Sifu Jason began by having us review hand drills (one-arm and then double arm), with John leading the class. after that, we proceeded with a brief review of the 1st palm change, with Sifu stressing proper form, particularly in terms of keeping the quads close and the hands, arms, and head all moving in and out of tension. once he was satisfied re-familiarizing everybody with the palm changes, Jason then began discussing combat applications of the forms.
combat applications
this was probably one of the more fascinating sessions i've had. so much of the palm changes we'd practiced to date had been focused on proper technique, proper form, proper breathing, and feeling of energy. today's session added a practical layer to the palm changes, showing just how the techniques and forms are meant to be applied.
Sifu Jason spent a good chunk of time demonstrating the use of "leaf covers summer flower." as i've discussed before, this applies to a stance featuring the practitioner crouching and twisting the torso around, with hands crossing in opposite directions across the chest, with the lower hand facing up and the upper hand facing down.
Jason showed that this stance is actually part of a throwing technique. when used in conjunction with a step-turn, it allows a practitioner to step outside an opponent's line of hand-strike while simultaneously trapping the opponent's outreached arm and throwing them. the practitioner's lower hand (the "summer flower") is supposed to align in the direction of the opponent's line of strike, the upper hand (the "leaf") is supposed to move towards the opponent's face, and the shoulder of the lower hand is supposed to engage the rear side of the opponent's striking arm shoulder. the technique is supposed to involve a rotational moment about the step-turn's pivot foot, with a slight downward movement that finishes with the non-pivot foot's knee stopping in the rear of the opponent's forward knee and the practitioner's 2 arms squeezing the opponent's striking arm. the technique itself finishes with the practitioner continuing follow-through and rotate the torso in the direction of the step-turn, so the practitioner's shoulder throws the opponent. performed properly, it's supposed to be a largely effortless means of throwing the opponent off-center.
functions and variables
Sifu expanded the lesson by showing the various options involved with the throw, and stressed that there's different ways to perform the technique. he showed that instead of being a throw forwards, it can be reversed in mid-rotation to become a backwards strike or a backwards throw. he also showed that it could be used to facilitate a joint lock on the opponent's shoulder, elbow, wrist, or hand.
Jason paused to emphasize that our use of the technique--and the ultimate end of it--could be interpreted as a function with variables. he said it was important to NOT view it as a simple answer to be applied mechanically in response to an opponent's attack, but rather should be seen as a mathematical function whose end result would depend on what variables were sensed by us. this, in effect, goes back to the discussion in previous posts about not becoming algorithmic technicians but more engaging, observant, and creative problem-solvers. of course, this means that it becomes imperative in being able to recognize and observe the opponent's actions and intent correctly so as to adjust the variables of the function.
change in rhythm and combinations
the next point of emphasis was the idea of changing rhythm. taking the "leaf covers summer flower" lesson as a starting point, Jason said the technique could continue to successive actions. he showed how the technique could be changed in mid-application by reversing the hands from "leaf" to "summer flower" and reversing the rotation, throwing or locking the opponent in a different direction. in addition, it could also be changed by shifting the practitioner's weight downward, tripping the opponent. this way, in the event we saw the opponent employing a counter-technique, we could change and employ an effective response. the concept is to adjust the rhythm of the technique so that it becomes more unpredictable and more difficult for the opponent to follow.
Sifu Jason commented that in combat chances are that most trained opponents would be able to respond to a single technique in isolation. many, however, can be caught off-guard and confused by changes in rhythm.
Jason proceeded to the idea of combinations. here, he said that apart from changing the rhythm of a technique in mid-application, that it can be combined in successive variations, with the same purpose of increasing unpredictability and confusion against an opponent. with "leaf covers summer flower," for example, he showed that we could perform the technique going one way, and then continue by staying engaged with the opponent and repeating the technique in a different way (reversing rotation, shifting weight, changing into a lock from a throw, etc.).
according to Jason, a substantial number of trained opponents can handle a simple technique, and will almost always have a counter to employ. however, fewer will be able to handle 2 changes, and fewer still will be able to deal with 3 changes. he estimated that the application of 3 changes would probably deal with 99.5% of opponents (although i suspect the precision of this percentage).
this is apparently an extension of Taoist principles, especially those presented in the classic I Ching (The Book of Changes). by its very title, the work espouses the concept of constant change and its application. for bagua, which is derived in part from Taoism and the I Ching, change is an integral component of combat, and something to be utilized to achieve victory.
Sifu reminded us that the only constant is change, and we have to embrace it. he said that in bagua, and in Taoism, even the idea of yin and yang, as dynamic as it is, can involve even more change. in Taoism, complexity can increase. it has the term wuji to describe a state of zero energy (void?), tai chi to describe a state where yin equals yang, liang yi for when yin and yang are discernible from each other (i'm guessing this means unequal), and xiang yi (si xiang?) where yin and yang further divide.
Jason referred to the idea of exponents of 2. wuji is a state of 0. tai chi is the value of 2 (yin and yang) with the exponent of 0 (creating a net value of 1, or unity). liang yi is 2 with an exponent of 1 (creating a net value of 2, indicating 2 distinct entities). si xiang is 2 with an exponent of 2, indicating that 2 becomes 4 (or increasing complexity). to me, this is roughly analogous to the idea of entropy, which is a thermodynamic law prescribing increasing disorder and chaos.
circles
something else covered today was the concept of circles.
bagua is apparently about circles. circles circles circles. circles everywhere. big ones. small ones. horizontal ones. vertical ones. angled ones.
as we practiced using "leaf covers summer flower" with rhythm change and combinations, Sifu repeatedly stressed that we hand to understand and visualize our actions moving in circles. these circles extended beyond just general motions involving rotation of our torsos, but also needed to be visualized in reference to movement of individual body parts. in essence, while there might be large circles described by the actions of our bodies, there were simultaneously smaller circles being described by the individual behavior of our hands and feet as well as arms and legs and head and waist. in other words, there are circles within circles, sometimes moving in conjunction, sometimes moving independently, sometimes within each other, sometimes outside each other.
Sifu said that the idea of circles also needed to be visualized as beyond the horizontal plane. the circles could be angles or vertical as well as horizontal. for example, our practice with "leaf covers summer flower" involving a shift in weight to trip the opponent could be interpreted as a vertical circle. in addition, our application of the stance into a throw can be understood as movement in an angled circle.
according to Jason, this concept is important, since it increases the effectiveness of the techniques and also increases the ease with which they can be performed. and that, in part, is the purpose of bagua: to exert as little of the practitioner's energy as possible to defeat the opponent.
5th palm change
we finished the day by learning the 5th palm change. on the day i missed Sifu had evidently taught the first half of this form. i'd managed to get John to show me what they had covered during the break, and it had seemed simple enough to pick up. but then Kei-Yon (sp?)--another student who, while one of Jason's intermediate level students, had a broad martial arts background--showed us the second half of the 5th palm change, and it became apparent that this was one of the longer palm changes.
Jason had everybody do a couple of run-throughs of the first half, and that allowed me to get my bearings straight and pick up some of the nuances. he then introduced us to the second half of the form.
the 5th palm change begins in something called "lion protects the head," which basically means that both arms are above the head, with one reaching to the side and the other reaching over the practitioner's head. from there the practitioner rotates to a 70-30 stance with both arms lowered to torso level, from which the practitioner steps into a single-leg posture with a hand strike forward before rotating into a crouch facing the opposite stance with the striking hand suspended where it was. at this point, the hands come forward and then perform a figure-eight pattern in the air.
Jason noted that the figure-eight pattern was exactly that: a figure eight pattern, but with variations in vertical position so one side of the eight is at a different height than the other. he explained that the combat application of this was meant to be a warding away of an opponent's strike using the downward portion of the figure eight and then a counter-strike into the opponent's torso or head using the upward portion of the figure eight.
Sifu had us practice the figure-eight pattern, emphasizing again its variations and options. being somewhat newer to this, i was a little more uncomfortable with this movement--or the entire form. but i figure this is something that can be resolved through practice.
we ended the day with Jason reminding everyone that next week was Thanksgiving and that there would be no class. i exchanged contact info with John for a practice session, so i could get caught up and more familiar with everything we'd covered--and also to review the chi kung he'd led everyone on 2 weeks ago.
with that, class was done for the week.
food
i decided to go with everyone for the post-class meal. this week it was to one of Jason's favorites, a place called Hunan Restaurant. this placed turned out to be GREAT--at least for the stuff Jason ordered. good spicy food.
i kind of enjoy the meals, since it gives an opportunity to discuss background questions about martial arts and Sifu's understanding of them. as a result, i can fill in a lot more of the gaps in my perception of just where his class and teaching fits within the larger framework of Chinese martial arts, both from a modern perspective and in terms of historical continuity.
this week we spent a good portion talking about Sifu's class-mates, and their schools, as well as the apparent division within his teacher's (Liu Yun Chiao) progeny. it's somewhat unfortunate to hear about this kind of thing, since i believe that 1) it's not good in terms of preserving the styles of martial arts taught by Liu Yun Chiao and his Wutan Hall (see my previous commentary on open door schools), 2) it's never good to be afflicted by needless political infighting, and 3) i'm not really superstitious, but i think it's bad karma. Jason apparently agrees, and i sense he's disappointed by the behavior of some of his martial arts class-mates.
as with so many things, i guess all we can do is to control the things we can control, and let everything else just be left to itself.
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