day 73: combat concepts & chen tai chi

concepts:

• yin & yang
• whirlpool
• tangential force
• energy
• relaxation
  

forms:

• tantui
• Yang tai chi applications
• Chen tai chi long form
• combat concepts
  

Phunsak was gone this weekend, and class turnout was 6 people, so Sifu decided to change the schedule for today and focus on tantui, tai chi, and general combat concepts.

Yang tai chi applications

as a prelude, we took a number of minutes clarifying Yang tai chi questions. Art, Jonathan Shen, and i had been sorting out some Yang tai chi applications, and had gotten stuck on a number of points. in particular, we couldn't figure out the differences between parting wild horse's mane and ward-off, or the purpose for needle at the sea bottom and the cross hands going into conclusion.

Sifu said that the applications depended on the purpose, so that the techniques actually did different things depending on what you wanted to do. this meant:

• parting wild horse's mane and ward-off are similar, in that they can both function to push the opponent off-balance and backwards using the shoulder. but they don't have to involve the push with the shoulder, but can instead be seen as lead-ins to open the opponent. in essence, the techniques aren't just strikes, but ways to open the opponent's gate for follow-up attack...and this is where they differ, with parting wild horse's mane engaging an arm-lock on the elbow joint to lift and break the opponent's root, and ward-off driving up into the shoulder to form a shoulder lock to lift and break the root. once the root is broken, the practitioner then has the option of doing other techniques--not just a push, but alternatively a tripping of the foot, or further joint locks, or successive hand strikes. it depends on what the opponent does. Sifu noted the push, or any other action, is just a 2nd move in the techniques, so they really aren't necessarily about pushing at all.
  
• needle at the sea bottom can be seen the same way. in the UCLA class, he had demonstrated as a yank downwards to throw the opponent off-balance. but today, Sifu said it can also just be a move to open the opponent's gate. it can be simply what he showed at UCLA (i.e., feinting upwards to lead the opponent to direct their force down, and then switching to take advantage of the opponent's action to yank them downwards). but the technique doesn't just have to go down, and actually can go in any direction that the opponent goes. Sifu said that it basically is a way to grab the opponent in a way that puts the practitioner in control to redirect the opponent's force, and so can be used to guide the practitioner into position for a joint lock, throw, pressure point attack, upper body strike, or lower body strike.
• cross-hands into conclusion has differing applications. Sifu had demonstrated as a joint lock on the wrist in the UCLA class. this time he showed it as a way of wrapping up an opponent's limbs--either an opponent's arm strike or leg kick. in which case, it can be a defensive move. in addition, similar to the above techniques, it can be seen as an opening move to other actions, with the technique opening the opponent for joint locks on other areas of the body, attacks on pressure points, or strikes to exposed areas of the torso and head.
  

Sifu reminded us about the 5 combat attacks discussed previous weeks: suai, da, na ti, dien (reference: day 69). he noted that we can see techniques as being just permutations of these categories, and so techniques are really just avenues that can lead you to options against an opponent.

i'm starting to think this is a part of what Sifu means by imagination in combat training, in that it involves the following ideas:

• we have to develop a certain free-flowing creativity in our movements, meaning that techniques are really just guideposts from which we can get an idea of what directions we can go.
• from what Sifu has been saying, there seems to be an undercurrent of fluidity in combat applications, so that fighting isn't just about rigid performance of specific techniques from rote memory, but more about modifying and adjusting techniques to fit 1) what the opponent is doing, and 2) what you want to do in terms of attack and defense
• in terms of one analogy, techniques are like nodes in a computer network, where many paths lead in and out of a node, offering you many ways into the technique, and many ways to use the technique to lead to other techniques
• in another analogy, techniques are really just guidelines about movements, and which point out ways for you to think about options, and so really are just starting lines from which you can develop your own movements and applications on a path of your own choosing
  

of course, the implication here is that you have the knowledge, understanding, and experience to actually work with techniques in this way...which i suspect is where training comes in--and quality training in quantity. i'm guessing few people in the ordinary world get to this stage, which is why we have masters (because they've had the quality training in quantity) and soldiers (because they have to know it as a matter of life and death).

tantui

after working on our questions about Yang, Sifu said we needed to go through all 10 lines of tantui. this was good, because i managed to get some more work on tantui with other people for models, particular for line 10 and the closing, both of which continue to pose some difficulty for me in terms of timing the movements.

Sifu reminded us that tantui was about deep extension and long body lines, so that we needed to work on trying to reach out in the postures. he also said that as we worked on these elements, we also needed to develop power in the movements. repeating his comments from previous classes (reference: day 66), he said that tantui had several purposes: to develop flexibility, balance, and strength.

these concepts, incidentally, overlap with the elements for good structure. Sifu has said in the UCLA Yang tai chi class that structure involves balance and strength (reference: days 71 & 72). he told that class to work on stances to develop these qualities. today, however, he noted that tantui was an extension of stances, in that it teaches dynamic structure (i.e., having good structure while moving), whereas stances teach static structure (i.e., having good structure while being stationary).

Chen tai chi long form

we continued with Chen tai chi. Sifu taught us a few more techniques of the Chen tai chi long form, which involved elbow strikes and elbow throws. Sifu emphasized a number of aspects:

• slow and deep: Chen tai chi involves slow and deep postures, with the goal of developing lower body strength and overall coordination
• structure: Chen, just like other forms of tai chi (and martial arts in general), requires good structure, meaning development of balance and strength
• whirlpool: we need to visualize (again, imagination!) that our actions are moving whirlpools of energy, either horizontally, vertically, or at angles in 3-dimensional space, with motions that go in varying combinations with the whirlpools (clockwise or counter-clockwise) and tangentially with the whirlpools (in or out from the center). in mathematical angular space terms, this means moving on the angular dimension, radial dimension, and axis dimension.
  

Sifu also noted that single whip in Chen is different from single whip in Yang. in Yang, the rear hand is aligned parallel with the front arm. in Chen, the rear arm is at an angle, roughly 30-45 degrees off the line of the front arm. in addition, in Yang, the entry into single whip happens in a vertical plane with the hands slightly off the torso, while in Chen the entry isn't on a particular plane, and the hands come in close to the torso.

combat concepts

after showing us more of the Chen long form, Sifu gathered everyone together to go over some combat concepts. he said he wanted to discuss some higher-level principles, which he has not covered with too many students, but which he felt it was time to give to us. Sifu gave the following commentary:

• yin & yang--Sifu said that yin & yang principles can be applied to combat, but on more than just the obvious level of moving in yin (soft) to the opponent's yang (hard), or vice versa. he pointed out that this can apply to techniques. he demonstrated that actions by the opponent place their muscles into states of contraction, which is yang, and expansion, which is yin (e.g., if they're curling an arm, the bicep is contracting, so going into yang). this opens and closes vulnerabilities. for parts of the body that are going into yin, the attack should be yang, and for parts of the body that are going into yang, the attack should be yin. he showed how clenching and unclenching of the hand in and out of a grip opens and closes various pressure points, where the closed grip forming a yang section in the fleshy portion between thumb and fingers, with a pressure point opening for a yin attack near the juncture of the thumb and hand bones. he gave further examples using the forearm, bicep, and tricep.
• whirlpool--he repeated his imagery of the whirlpool from his comments on the Chen long form. but he said that this applies to other martial arts as well, although particularly so for bagua and tai chi. he noted that we should visualize whirlpools of varying shape and size, as well as various orientations in 3-d space. more than this, we need to visualize our opponents doing this, so that a fight is about our whirlpools, each of their whirlpools (however many there are), and the larger whirlpools made by everyone together. this makes the fight the action and interaction of whirlpools, disrupting each other or complementing each other. they serve as guides of how to attack and defend, redirecting forces in ways that aid our attacks and defenses. he noted that a whirlpool is consistent with yin-yang principles, since it means you counter direct force (yang) with indirect motion (yin force) directing the force in a way that allows your own response.
• tangential force--Sifu said that operating with a whirlpool involves tangential force. by analogy, he noted that it's much harder to try and escape a whirlpool (vortex) going directly out along its radius, and much easier going on a tangent to its rotation. similarly, generating an attack from a whirling vortex of motion is easier (and more efficient in terms of output relative to input of energy) directing the force vector on a tangent to the direction of vortex rotation. likewise, on defense, it is much easier to respond to an incoming force vector by having the vortex engage it on a tangent to the direction of vortex rotation rather than trying to apply the vortex directly against the force vector.
• energy--Sifu build on comments made from previous weeks about inner and outer gates (reference: day 62), saying that we should visualize an energy field around us, each of our opponents, and all of us as a group. this makes the fight an interaction of energy fields. Sifu said we need to use this to sense our opponent's actions, not only in terms of predicting what they are going to do, but also in terms of understanding how they are going to do it and developing our reaction against them. he also emphasized that it also helps in making us more dangerous and unpredictable, in that we we fight by playing with the opponent's energy. Sifu said we need to play with the opponent's energy, working with it using yin-yang, whirlpool, and tangential principles, so that the opponent is constantly being surprised and unable to recognize what is happening (and so unable to know what they should do).
• relaxation--he said that all the above requires a level of relaxation. we need to relax in a fight, so that our body is free of tension and our minds are free of obstacles. this enables quicker recognition of events, quicker thinking, quicker reaction, and quicker movement. in addition, it heightens the senses and allows easier interplay of energy.

Sifu finished the day by saying that the way to develop the above skills is through training, not only physically, but also mentally. he reminded us that this is why we need to train awareness and imagination.

he called class to a close, and we ended on that comment.