day 83: applying theory

concepts:

• whirlpools
• weight distribution
• structure
  
• centers
  

forms:

• contact drill (a variation)
  
• palm change 8 (side B and 2-person form)
  

like i said in last Sunday's post, i originally was not planning on showing up this Saturday, since i had the Rose Bowl Half Marathon, with the goal of actually running 16 miles. i'd thought this was going to take the entire morning. but i ran 3 miles before the race started, then did the race, and at the end realized that it was only 10:30. at that point, i figured i really hadn't missed that much of class and decided to drive to Casuda Canyon Park--not that i was in any condition to actually do anything (i wasn't), but i figured that at least i could absorb something by watching.

contact drill (a variation)

i arrived at 11, and found that Sifu had just wrapped up a discussion on combat concepts. from what he told me, he'd been talking more about the application of the whirlpool concept. he had everyone broken off into pairs, with arms locked in a typical wrestling pose, and working to throw each other to the side. which side didn't matter. rather, the important thing seemed to be doing so without reliance on force.

based on what Art and Eric told me, the idea of the exercise was to read the opponent's distribution of weight, and based on this assess the opponent's structure by recognizing 1) the yin-yang layout of the opponent's structure, and 2) the stability of their "I" formation (you can reference these terms at: day 80). in addition, you were also supposed to identify the centers--your own center of gravity, your oponent's center of gravity, and the center of the system composed by both of you engaged together.

using this information, you then were expected to decide how you were going to manipulate the opponent to rotate them over and onto the ground. the opponent was supposed to resist as much as possible, so as to force you to make the correct read and action: if you had to rely on strength to make the throw, you were doing it wrong; if you were able to rotate them without effort, you were doing it right.

there were a number of points that Art and Eric relayed to me (that Sifu apparently discussed in the time before i arrived), and which Sifu later confirmed:

• the point of looking for the yin-yang and "I" is to detect weaknesses in their structure. if the structure is solid, you can still use this information to assess their weight distribution, and thereby identify areas that can be manipulated (i.e., are more vulnerable) than others.
• you can determine the yin-yang and "I" by looking, but you can also do it by feeling it through physical contact
• weight distribution determines the center of gravity within a person. but the systemic center (i.e., the center of gravity of both of you as a system) is determined by your relative masses (i.e., how much bigger or smaller you are relative to each other), physical spacing (i.e., how far apart or close you are to each other), and posture (i.e., the way you're moving, standing, kneeling, crouching, etc.).
• you need to imagine each center as the center of a vortex about which you are applying force. this indicates the relative ease of creating the force vector. vectors going radially require the most energy and effort, and hence are inefficient, as well as likely to result in direct force-on-force conflict (which is what you're trying to avoid). you want vectors that are tangential. in addition, vectors that are farther away from the center involve bigger motion, and require greater energy and effort to create torque, while those closer to the center require less. you want vectors closer to the center.
• tangential force does not automatically make things easy. they are easier if they work in conjunction with yin-yang and the I. you need to see if the I is skewed. if skewed, you can see which parts of the body are yang and which are yin. if the I is not skewed, you can sense through physical contact which parts of the body are yang or yin. from this, you apply your force vectors so that they go yang for the opponent's yin and yin for the opponent's yang. this sets a pattern of your force vectors, and taking these as tangents to a vortex positioned on the center of gravity, you'll find they determine the direction of desired rotation of the vortex.
• working the yin-yang distribution this way helps to destabilize the "I", and thereby acts to break the opponent's structure. once you have broken their structure, you require much less effort and energy to operate against them.
• in setting your force vectors, you are ultimately trying to manipulate the vortex around the systemic center. but to do this requires manipulation of your own center and your opponent's center. you have to protect your center (i.e., maintain your stability by holding your structure) and disrupt your opponent's center (i.e., render them unstable by finding weaknesses in their structure). if you can do this, you control the systemic center, which means you control the direction of rotation of the vortex, the magnitude and direction of the force vectors, and the resulting outcome produced by them.
  
• the rotational direction of the vortex is not set in a specific plane. the plane of rotation, as much as the direction of rotation, is defined by the force vectors. meaning that the plane of rotation of the systemic center can be in any plane, as can the plane of rotation about your center, and the plane of rotation about the opponent's center. to control the systemic center (and hence control your engagement with the opponent), you have to adjust the force vectors to set the vortex in a way that requires the least magnitude (remember, a vector has 2 quantities: magnitude and direction). to do this, you have to 1) correctly recognize the yin-yang layout and "I" formation of the opponent, and 2) correctly set your force vectors against them. free your mind: work in any plane.
  
• just because you've managed to set a yang force vector against the opponent's yin body part and a yin force vector against their yang doesn't mean you've gained control...fighting is dynamic. the opponent can react and adjust their posture to change their yin-yang layout and reset their "I", thereby changing their center of gravity and the location of the systemic center. this means you have to start the process over again. which is why it's not easy. it has to be done fast, and in constantly changing conditions, against someone who does not want to cooperate.
  

i decided to give this drill a try with Art, but i told him that i wasn't in any condition to throw or be thrown. still, i figured we could at least get to the point of initiating a throw, and then stop there and still be able to fulfill the educational purpose of the drill. i found the following:

if the opponent has the weight on their front leg (i.e., their front leg is yang, rear leg is yin), then you want to initiate yin action against their front. for example, imagine a vertical plane placed perpendicular to your face, with you facing your opponent. if they engage you in bow-and-arrow stance with their weight on their right front leg, and you attempt to rotate them in the plane to throw them to your left or right with a pushing component to the force vectors, you are acting to create a yang-versus-yang encounter, because you're applying your force in a way that the force vectors have a pushing (yang) component, against their body weight going forward onto their front leg (yang). the result is a test of strength.

the more efficient action is to adjust the plane of rotation away from the perpendicular so that you rotate them in a plane closer to line between your center and the opponent's center going through the systemic center. this means you are attempting to rotate them to your left or right with a pulling (yin) component to the force vectors. this creates a yin-versus-yang encounter, in that you're applying force to your rear, or pulling (yin), drawing their yang down.

similarly, if the opponent has weight on their rear leg, you want to initiate action with a yang component pushing through them. by putting weight on their rear leg, they are taking a yin posture, calling for you to take action with a yang component to throw them clockwise to your right or counter-clockwise to your left.

we tried this in differing permutations, with one partner trying to throw the other, and the other partner trying to resist. i found that even in situations where the opponent has good structure, you can feel the way they're placing force, and thereby feel shifts and imbalances in their structure. what's more, you can even induce this, simply by adjusting your own force vectors to incite them to react, with the goal of inciting specific reactions that allow you to apply the right action to destabilize their structure, and thereby control the systemic center--and in turn, control the entire system...including them.

palm change 8 (side B & 2-person form)

after awhile, Sifu ordered Phunsak to guide us through palm change 8, side B. we did this for a number of repetitions (although, for this, i just watched). Phunsak then had everyone go through this for the 2-person form (the videos are in a previous post, reference: day 79).

i mentioned to Punsak that we never recorded the 2-person form for palm changes 7 or 8. Phunsak decided we should record palm change 7, and then try palm change 8 next week. you can see the video for 2-person form for palm change 7:
2-person A v. B, palm change 7: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btbLkrLD4Jg


by this time, class was wrapping up. Sifu announced that next Saturday's class was going to in at Cal State Long Beach, where he had agreed to give a 2-hour bagua demonstration to the long fist class there, with a dual-class meeting. he wants all of us to go with him, and his plan is to present xiao kai men with applications, with us as models to work with the long fist class students.