days 77 & 78: tai chi ball & bowl qi-gong, additional combat concepts

concepts:

• wen & wu
• static & dynamic
• sensitivity
• power
  

forms:

• ball qi-gong: wen & wu, static & dynamic
• bowl qi-gong: wen & wu, static & dynamic
  

this week came off the Thanksgiving break, so there was a little bit of review and catch-up for people missed the class during Thanksgiving week (like me). this week was devoted exclusively to qi-gong.

day 77

we spent this class (Tuesday) largely on ball qi-gong, and briefly started bowl qi-gong.

we began with a review of the ball qi-gong we've done so far. following from the last class i made (reference: day 74), we went through tai chi ball static qi-gong, doing wen & wu, with regular & enhanced for each one.

from the course materials Sifu gave to us, the organization of the static ball qi-gong can be seen as follows:

• wen (palms facing inward), regular (standing)
• wen, enhanced (in horse stance)
• wu (palms facing outward), regular
• wu, enhanced
  

following this, we went through dynamic ball qi-gong. this is new to me, but it appeared to have been something that was covered in the 2 classes i missed. i managed to follow along, largely because i'd watched the tai chi qi-gong video that i'd gotten from Art the night before (it covers all the tai chi ball & bowl qi-gong that's being given in class).

the dynamic ball qi-gong is organized differently than the static, with the breakdown from course materials consisting of 5 movements for each wen and wu. in addition, for dynamic ball qi-gong, wen is done with the feet stationary (while legs move to position the body), and wu is done the feet moving. the breakdown is given by the course materials:

• wen-rotation of the ball forward, inward, bottom horizontal, top horizontal, 4 corners (figure 8)
• wu-rotation of the ball forward, inward, bottom horizontal, top horizontal, 4 corners (figure 8)

Sifu noted the following:

• the imaginary ball is being rotated in differing directions, so that it is moving with a changing axis that alters its orientation as the body and limbs move
• the ball can expand or contract, so it does not necessarily have to be a constant size, but can change in accordance with the movement or breathing
  

we finished the day by doing the simplified 24 movement form using ball qi-gong. Sifu shows how it alters the movements, as well as the sensations of the form.

day 78

we started class with a quick review of the ball qi-gong from Tuesday. we continued with an extension of the bowl qi-gong. this apparently had also been covered on one of the 2 days that i'd missed, so i had some catching up to do--although, again, it helped that i had reviewed the tai chi qi-gong DVD (without it, i probably would have been lost).

bowl qi-gong applies a similar visualization method to ball qi-gong, in the sense that the practitioner is asked to imagine manipulating a bowl (as opposed to a ball) of varying size. there are differences, however, in that bowl qi-gong involves transitions into various poses form the tai chi forms. in addition, the wu version of bowl qi-gong incorporates application of force. following the course materials, the organization of bowl qi-gong can be listed by poses:

• wen, forward expansion to white crane spreads its wings
• wen, upward expansion to high pat on horse
• wen, downward expansion to single whip
• wen, side expansion to brush knee
• wen, angle expansion to slanted flying
• wu, forward expansion to white crane spreads its wings
• wu, upward expansion to high pat on horse
• wu, downward expansion to single whip
• wu, side expansion to brush knee
• wu, angle expansion to slanted flying
  

Sifu made the following points regarding tai chi ball and bowl qi-gong:

• ball qi-gong is about developing sensitivity, bowl qi-gong is about applying force. from a qi perspective this means that ball qi-gong is about developing awareness of qi in the body, as well as developing the ability to nurture and gather it. bowl qi-gong, in contrast, is about projecting qi.
• qi-gong has health and combat applications. from a health perspective, it improves the mind-body connection, circulation, and relaxation. from a combat applications perspective, it aids muscle memory and proper technique.
• ball and bowl qi-gong have very specific purposes in terms of combat applications. ball qi-gong involves movements related to "receiving" or "absorbing" an opponent's strike, and hence is about training reflexes and sensitivity in ways that redirect and dissipate an opponent's strike with minimal damage to the practitioner. bowl qi-gong involves movements related to "projecting" or "emitting" force, and hence is about developing power that can direct force into the opponent. Sifu noted that with ball movements, the practitioner can take defensive actions that 1) do not involve direct force-on-force action, and 2) preserves sensitivity to an opponent's movement. he also pointed out that with bowl movements, the practitioner is taking offensive actions that 1) avoid direct force-on-force action, and 2) applies force-multiplying physics (i.e., it exploits levers, fulcrums, angular momentum, etc.).
• tai chi--especially in relation to combat--is about transitioning seamlessly from ball to bowl and back again, since in a fight a practitioner has to receive energy from an opponent's strike and then project energy into the opponent. Sifu says this is why it is important to stress that the practitioner should never practice qi-gong imagining balls or bowls that are of a static size, shape, or orientation. instead, we have to imagine that they can vary in all their properties, and that a bowl is really just a distortion of a ball, and vice versa. Sifu says that we should imagine that we are working with a substance like a gel, or very malleable clay, so that a bowl is like a ball that's been smeared out to a platter, and a ball is a bowl that's been compressed into a sphere.
• Sifu reminded us (at least, those of us taking the weekend classes--reference: day 73, and day 75) that ball and bowl qi-gong is just an expression of the concepts of whirlpools, tangents, yin-yang, and energy. both the ball and the bowl incorporate movements following the circular motions of a whirlpool vortex, as well as movements going tangentially to the vortex. both ball and bowl are about locating yin and yang points in an opponent's structure, and applying yang to their yin, and yin to their yang so that it disrupts their structure. all this really about manipulating energy (potential & kinetic)--yours, the opponent's, the total energy of the combined system of the 2 of you--in a way that you can control the outcome to your benefit.
  

this last point followed a discussion Linus had with Sifu at the beginning of class over combat applications. Sifu had noted that a fight can be seen as the interplay of structure (i.e., stability, flexibility, power, etc.) and center (i.e., center of gravity, dantian, etc.)--you, with your structure and your center, versus the opponent, with their structure and their center, and the system created by the 2 of you, with its net structure and center.

structurally, the fight is about detecting weaknesses in the opponent's structure, which you exploit by penetrating the opponent's defenses. Sifu commented that you can find weaknesses in structure in static conditions (i.e., when the person is fixed, such as in a stance), but that if you can't, you must force them into movement to try and induce them to expose a weakness in structure. he said this is why there's a distinction between static structure and dynamic structure--static structure is about having good structure while stationary, and dynamic structure is about having good structure while moving. Sifu said a skilled opponent will have no weaknesses in static structure, and you will have to force them to move in ways that cause them to expose weaknesses in dynamic structure.

regarding the center, the fight is about you protecting your center while disrupting the opponent's. this has to be done while moving. between the 2 of you, this becomes about controlling the center of the system created by both of you--and the position of this common center varies. Sifu compared this to 2 astronomical bodies orbiting each other (like a planet orbiting a star): each has their center, but the common center is a point between the 2, with the location of the point a function of each respective body. this means that the common center will be located closer to the body with greater mass. the person who can control this common center is usually the winner of the fight, and control of the common center is achieved by breaking the opponent's center while protecting your own.

we finished the day with Sifu telling us that he was going to begin final exam for the class next week. he said he was going to have each student perform a random component from the subjects covered in the course--either the Yang simplified 24 movement form or the ball & bowl qi-gong.