concepts:- 5 elements, 12 animals
- numbers
- harmonies
- levels
- ding, ti, yuen, bao, chwei, ko, fan/zhwan, swun/hun
- hwuh yun gong
- wuji
- static tai ji, dynamic tai ji
- san ti zuh
- key, windows, door
- hands and forearms as hooks
- elbows horizontal
- hsing-yi
- kyudo
- ju quan was developed by Grandmaster Li Yuan Zhi of the Central Gou Shu Academy
- ju quan was adopted by the Taiwanese military from 1966~1976, after which it was replaced by tae kwon do
- ju quan is based on baji quan, and has 3 different forms: ba tang quan (the beginner level--which is the one that we've been learning), shi zhi quan (intermediate level), and baji quan (advanced level)
today was the 1st day of hsing-yi. Sifu is teaching the entire Saturday class--both bagua and baji groups, and so gathered everyone together. he started off things with a conceptual discussion of some of the more basic components of hsing-yi. he observed the following:
- hsing-yi comes in different variants, each of which come from various parts of China (Henan and Hebei) with differing curriculums
- the version of hsing-yi we are learning has 5-element theory and 12 animals (others have 10 animals, and another has no animals at all)
- we will see the prevalence of certain numbers in hsing-yi (especially 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 12). Sifu said to not get too caught up in this, since these are just ways of organizing information so that it is more digestible (i.e., easier to understand and, more importantly, remember)
- hsing-yi addresses the body and body parts in terms of 3, with the spine having 3 levels (cervical spine of the neck, the main spine in the back, and the lumbar spine towards the tailbone), the arms having 3 levels (the upper arm between the shoulder and elbow, the forearm between the elbow and wrist, and the wrist/hand), and the legs having 3 levels (the upper leg between the hip and knee, the shins between the knees and ankles, and the ankle/foot). together, this makes 9 parts.
- there are 6 harmonies (hands with feet, elbows with knees, and shoulders with hips). there are also 3 external harmonies (hand/feet, elbow/knee, shoulder/hip) and 3 internal harmonies (xing, or heart; yi, or intent; qi, or energy; li, or force; so that there is xing-yi, yi-qi, and qi-li)
- hsing-yi, similar to the body, views training in 3 levels: stances (level 1), tai ji (level 2--and not tai chi quan as in fighting style, but tai ji as in moving energy), and combat (power issuing). in addition, training at level 1 involves 5-element theory, at level 2 involves 12 animals, and at level 3 involves 5 elements+12 animals
- ding (?)--this means to extend up or become erect, but not rise or lift up (e.g., extend your spine up through the neck but keep your dantian/center down)
- ti (?)--rise/lift
- yuen (?)--circle
- bao (?)--in
- chwei (?)--dropping/sinking
- ko (?)--locking
- fan/zhwan (?)--piercing/changing
- swun/hun (?)--go through or go parallel/deflect or divert
after the conceptual introduction, Sifu had us begin with qi-gong, which consisted basically of a series of postures, with the first standing in wuji posture with arms at the sides, then standing in hwuh yun gong, which is standing in wuji posture holding an imaginary ball. from there Sifu had us then proceed to static tai ji and dynamic tai ji.
Sifu said that the qi-gong essentially consists of the movements in basic hsing-yi form, except done slower and with more focus on breath, the dantian, and qi. he showed us by then leading us in san ti zuh, which starts in 70/30 stance and then proceeds with the classic hsing-yi movement so many people are familiar with.
Sifu, however, was very cautious here, saying that there were a lot of subtleties in the movements, and that we needed to be cognizant of the intent in them in terms of what physics were actually be employed. on the surface, the movements seem simple and largely brute force. but Sifu noted that all the movements do NOT involve force-on-force contact. instead the movements actually involve capture and redirection before issuing power--Sifu pointed out that they follow the jing concepts we've learned before (ting, hwa, na, fa).
Sifu observed that this is part of what makes hsing-yi an internal art, since it does not counter incoming force directly. he argued that this is also in part what makes it a northern TCMA, since he says you can see this concept in all northern TCMA (including, incidentally, chang quan, piqua, and baji--styles not typically seen as internal). he went on to note that the way northern/internal styles deal with incoming force can be seen in how they open the opponent's gate: 1) use a key (i.e., a technique that causes the opponent to open a gate), 2) enter through a side window (i.e., lure the opponent to expose a gate), or 3) chop the door down (i.e., go directly through the opponent's gate by diverting their force).
once he'd finished this part of the discussion, Sifu instructed us to practice the movements on our own. we spent the rest of class working on the qi gong and opening movements.
kyudo
kyudo this evening was spent at Sensei's house. there was an all-day seminar for advanced students there, and Sensei decided it would be easier to just have class there as well, so as to eliminate the work of taking all the stands and makiwara down and setting them back up again at the dojo. because of the sunset time, class was held a little earlier (5-9 pm, instead of the usual 6-10pm).
Sensei wanted each beginner student to be paired up with an advanced student, so that each beginner got individual attention. we did not do any form work tonight, since there was no floor (everything was set up outside in his back yard), so we practiced free shoot. i was paired up with Jean, and then had Aaron helping me with shooting.
this turned out well for me. i got a lot of nuances that i'd been missing before, including not only how to do the free shoot, but also some issues i'd apparently not picked up regarding nocking the arrow and making the draw from daisan. Sensei had commented on the latter in previous classes, but this time i managed to get a better sense of where i was breaking down, with Aaron noting that i was off-balance (i was leaning towards the target) and my right elbow was not leading the draw (Sensei had described this as my hand pulling the string down, when i needed to just let the forearm and hand be loose and let the elbow move back).
Aaron noted that the bow (and string) would naturally drop if i just focused on letting the elbows expand horizontally on a line extending from infinite behind the makiwara through me into infinite--expanding the elbows horizontally allows the bow to come down naturally, so that your skeletal structure leads the body into the bow (i.e., the intent of moving the skeleton precedes the intent of muscular effort), thereby reducing the amount of muscular effort in the draw and thus increasing the stability of the shot (because the muscles don't have to work so hard to keep everything stable). the key, Aaron and Sensei pointed out, is to just imagine that your forearms and hands are just hooks and not doing any action, and that everything in the draw is going through your elbows while originating from your legs (which get their force from pushing into the ground, which creates a reaction force through the legs which goes through the dantian and then goes through the elbows to spread them out horizontally).
we did a number of rounds of free shoot, and then finished class with tea before the sun set.
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