day 284: more hsing-yi (with revisions)

concepts:

• ding, ko, yuen, bao, chwei, chu, ting, du
• shing
• wu
• slow
• structure
  

lessons:

• hsing-yi
• kyudo

this post relates to Saturday, June 19. i'm also including the kyudo session from Sunday, June 20, since i'm not so sure as to how regular the Sunday kyudo is going to be.

hsing-yi

there's some revisions to make to last week's post regarding theory. Sifu went through the list of 8 principles from last time but made some clarifications. i'll list the revised version below:

• ding--support/out (hands) & up (head & tongue)
  
• ko--lock/inward (for feet & hands, knees & hips, shoulders & elbows)
  
• yuen--circle/round (front & chest, back & arms)
  
• bao--hug/embrace (body hugs the organs & courage, dantian hugs the chi)
  
• chwei--down/drop/sink (elbows, shoulders, qi into dantian, lower back & legs into the ground)
  
• chu--bend (elbow, knee)
  
• ting--stretch/extend (spine, tailbone, knees)
  
• du--determination/aggression/spirit (heart, eyes, hands)
  

Sifu said that all of these concepts are associated with each posture in hsing-yi, meaning that for each movement we make we should be able to see each of these principles in operation. in fact, he stressed that we need to make sure that each of these is being expressed in each movement we make.

there's a reason and a method here.

the reason, as with everything else in TCMA education, is to ensure proper body mechanics so that the body is positioned in a manner necessary to optimize the transmission of power. from a physics and engineering perspective, this means that the body has to align in such a way so as to convey force vectors without loss of magnitude in a direction (remember: vectors represent magnitude and direction) against the opponent.

methodologically, hsing-yi differs from many other TCMA styles. other TCMA follows a gradual, incremental process having the student practice and ingrain one concept at a time before proceeding to learn and integrate another concept. you can see this in styles like bagua and tai chi, which feature training introducing students to additional layers of concepts and principles in combat over time. hsing-yi, in contrast, asks that the student learn multiple principles from the very beginning, and requires that the student concentrate on incorporating and consolidating multiple concepts and principles starting from the initial lessons.

Sifu noted that this was a philosophical difference in teaching, with the reasoning that hsing-yi's founders suspected that the teaching styles of other TCMA allowed too many opportunities for corruption, errors, and bad habits to appear and propagate, and so actually served to impede student development as opposed to aid it--which is the opposite of what training intends. hsing-yi's philosophy, in contrast, asserts that a comprehensive approach from the very beginning serves to discourage such dangers with the hope that in the long term it served to enable better student development.

of course, Sifu observed, for the hsing-yi teaching method to work, it means that the student has to take great effort to learn and apply all the principles from the very beginning. this means that the student should start off learning hsing-yi using very slow, deliberate movements (akin to tai chi), with the idea being that the student should consciously think about all of the above 8 principles in each movement, and then make sure to correct their own movements to express all of these principles. eventually, as the student progresses, this will become second nature, and the student will be able to maintain proper body mechanics without conscious thought.

Sifu added this is why so many hsing-yi practitioners end up having good structure, since the conscious, deliberative process of learning stresses the student concentrate on body structure.

taking this discussion into the lesson, Sifu led us through the first 3 lines (we've done 2 so far, today he added a 3rd) slowly, with him pointing out each of the 8 principles as we held each movement in each line. he noted that we should be doing this in our personal training outside of class, and that we should try to do so whenever practicing hsing-yi alone.

he also observed that we need to constantly apply these principles not only in the movements, but in the postures. hsing-yi, he said, is typically interpreted as "mind-intent boxing", but that there were additional concepts associated with the art: shing and wu, with shing being shape/form and wu being movement. this means that as much as our minds are constantly thinking about the principles, it has to do so in relation to both our body shape/form (shing) and movement (wu).

this consumed the entire class, and we even went over--we were shocked to find that it was already 2pm, at which point Sifu called class to an end so that we could proceed to our other priorities for the day.

kyudo

i attend kyudo both Saturday night at the Pasadena dojo and Sunday morning at the Rancho Park (Culver City/West Los Angeles) dojo. both are held every weekend, but i've only been attending the Saturday evening one because of its proximity to my apartment. Rancho Park is a longer drive. also, it's an outdoor archery range with targets 25 m away from the shooting line, and so is an extra challenge above what i'm used to.

i decided to attend the Sunday morning class since i figured it was time to let myself take on the additional challenge. i wasn't so sure about this, actually, since i had trouble Saturday night and my shooting was suddenly deteriorating. but i figured i'd committed to both so i might as well go.

of course, this meant that this weekend of kyudo was pretty much a disaster. my shooting problems seemed to get worse as the Saturday night class wore on, and everything absolutely fell apart Sunday morning.

the problem seems to be a greater expansion on the issues i had last week: problems in my draw and release. according to Sensei, my draw is still not involving enough of my right side. that, and i'm not expanding into the bow. he said both are related, and that i can fix it by concentrating on having my elbows go forward and backward, so that i'm drawing by lowering the bow but letting the draw of the bow lead my elbows down. the distinction, while superficially semantic, is actually physically distinguishable--Jean showed me the difference, and you can see it in the arch formed by the bow in the draw: simply lowering the bow yields little or no increase in the lower arch of the lower bow at full draw, while extending the elbows to lead the bow down results in a greater arch of the lower bow at full draw. this means greater stability and power in the release.

in terms of my release, the shot is not coming naturally off the string. either the arrow releases prematurely or it doesn't release at all, leaving me to struggle to let the string go. Sensei said this is due to improper hand positioning, which in turn is due to my form in my draw. he pointed out that because of the problems in the form of my draw, my shooting hand is following an improper path in which it turns and holds the string in the notch of the glove. he said that proper form in the draw allows the hand to follow a path that has the string fall out of the notch at full release. Sensei said that i needed to have the elbows continue to extend, even beyond what i perceive to be full expansion, so that it goes naturally into release. he also added that i need keep the right hand loose, so that it's not gripping the string, but simply letting the string sit in the notch. he noted that the release is not in any action of the hand but instead in the action of the body.

i was pretty frustrated with kyudo this weekend. it seems simple but it's really complicated, and it's much harder than it looks. this is going to take a lot of work.

day 283: from spear to joy of kung fu

concepts:

• ellipses
• power
• drills
  

lessons:

• spear
• joy of kung fu
  

this Sunday was a bit of a kung fu day. the morning was the Sunday morning class, but the evening was the Joy of Kung Fu, which is an annual event gathering the local kung fu community. with this morning class we returned to spear and skipped chen pao quan--which is good, since i'm still reviewing it and need some more time to work through it.

spear (chaang)

today was the first day back to spear in some time. one of Sifu's students from CSULB showed up, and we worked together on the basic drills, with Sifu and Phunsak providing observation. Phunsak ended up spending some time with Alex to resolve some "issues" on some "finer" points of unarmed combat, but the rest of us spent the time working on spear alone.

Sifu (and Phunsak) noted that my technique was a little bit wrong in some of the drills, saying that my front hand was locking the spear shaft, when it should be more loose to allow the spear to move freely. they also noted that the path the spearpoint was tracing needed to be more of an ellipse (as opposed to a circle). in addition, Sifu noted that some of the drills that involved circular patterns weren't really, pointing out that the categories are:

• shallow crescent down, but vertically back up
• shallow semi-circle down, with shallow semi-circle back up
• full semi-circle down, with full semi-circle back up
  

in addition, Sifu noted that the intent (yi) had to be in a certain direction, so that the power was going down in each of the drills. Sifu asserted that this was so the movements were defensive, operating to knock the opponent's spear down. he also observed, however, that the movements could also be offensive, in that you knock the opponent's spear down, effectively opening a gate than allows you to raise your spear back up to go through the gate with an aggressive movement.

we finished up around 1, and then went to prepare for the evening event, which began at 4pm.

Joy of Kung Fu

the Joy of Kung Fu is a relatively recent event that began only last year. this was the 2nd annual celebration, but apparently is intended to continue and grow into the future. ostensibly, it's meant to celebrate TCMA and allow the community to come together to promote the heritage of TCMA. it does this in a festive atmosphere with a dinner and demonstrations by participating masters. Sifu went last year, and went again this year as a bit of a celebrity, since he was being interviewed by local news. in addition, he, Phunsak, and Kieun all did demonstrations.

this was a fairly large event, taking up the Rosemead Community Center with what i estimate to be around 400 people with approximately 20 masters. it was interesting to see all the demonstrations and the different TCMA instructors in the community. my suspicion is that this is still being promoted and has not yet reached everyone in the Southern California martial arts community. as a result, it probably has more room to grow and i would expect to see it continue to expand in participation in the next few years.

the local tv news covering the ceremony was NDTV, which is a Chinese (Mandarin?) language channel. they posted their report of the event (including the interview with Sifu), which you can check out:

• NDTV: http://www.ntdtv.com/xtr/b5/2010/06/14/a410200.html#video

i also took some videos, but won't post all of them up here. i will, however, post the videos of Sifu and Phunsak:

• Sifu Jason Tsou Chen Tai Chi:
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3rqjD2LhKY
  

• Phunsak Bagua Forest Palm:
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ao-XTQ-ywXg
  

i should note that Sifu was on a bit of a mission with his demonstration. the version of Chen tai chi he teaches is an older version that is not that well-known, and which has been eclipsed in public awareness by other, more popular, and more well-known versions of Chen featuring softer movements more consistent with Yang style. Sifu asserts that this has led to misperceptions and misunderstandings about some of the principles and applications in Chen tai chi--misperceptions and misunderstandings that have taken away or erased some of the original ideas and functions endemic to it.

in particular, he was frustrated by some recent comments put on the Youtube video of Phunsak doing the Chen tai chi short form. he said those comments reflect the aforementioned misperceptions and misunderstandings and shows just how widespread they have become. his demo at Joy of Kung Fu was meant to be a response to this, and he said he felt it was important to show a different voice that contrasted with prevailing viewpoints. he wanted to have everyone see his version--and to his perspective, the older version (and hence the version more consistent with the martial origins)--of Chen tai chi.

i think if he wanted to get people's attention he definitely succeeded. i noticed the room became noticeably quiet during his demo, and that some quarters of the room were in definite shock, either because they had never seen anything before similar to what they were seeing or because they didn't agree with what they were seeing. his demo of Chen tai chi (or as he later called it: "combat tai chi"), for sure, was different from any of the other versions of Chen shown this evening. i'm curious as to what they were thinking.

generally speaking, i think Joy of Kung Fu has a valuable role in connecting the local TCMA community together, providing a specific date and location around which all the masters can get together--and hence enable a forum for networking and coordination...things which i suspect just does not happen in an organized fashion in Southern California. i could see the networking happening, with a lot of people talking and catching up on news and happenings.

my caveat on this, however, is one that Kieun voiced: i'm not clear as to what is meant by "promoting" TCMA. if the goal is to promote it within the local TCMA community (i.e., help participants connect and work together), then this event is certainly doing this. but if the goal is to promote TCMA to a larger population, then i'm not so sure it has yet achieved this--Kieun made a good point: if the goal is really to promote to a larger population, then the event needs to be in a setting that is more accessible to the ordinary populace of Southern California (e.g., public spaces, like a county fair, or in Pershing Square in downtown LA, or the Pacific Grove complex in Hollywood...anyplace where people not familiar with TCMA can see it and thereby possibly be educated about it).

overall, my take is the event went well and has value. it also has potential for more. i'd definitely like to see it in the next few years to see how it's grown.

day 282: just kyudo

concepts:

• elbow
• left v. right
  
• posture
  

lessons:

• kyudo

i skipped kung fu this Saturday morning--it's final exam time again, and i've been grading. i did make it to kyudo, though, so i'll include comments here.

kyudo

this kyudo session was a disaster. the story with kyudo is 2 steps forward 1 step back--just when i think i'm going along and making progress, everything just falls apart. this evening i had issues with the arrow releasing before the string, the arrow and string not releasing at all, the arrow shooting high and right, the arrow shooting low and right, or the arrow simply releasing early or falling off the bow even before i could get into daisan.

Sensei tried to help me out, saying that my elbows weren't engaging the draw (even though i tried to focus on them). when they were they weren't engaging symmetrically, and Sensei noted that while the left side of my body was doing the correct thing, the right side of my body was too rigid and not doing the required work at all. he suggested i focus on the right elbow pushing out horizontally to the right, but said that in order for this too happen i needed to give my shoulder blades room to extend out--and that this was something that needed good posture.

i tried to piece things together before the end of class, but it didn't happen. i'm going to have to revisit this next week and see if i can't things sorted out.

day 281: starting hsing-yi, and more corrections

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
  

lessons:

• hsing-yi
• kyudo
  

today was a busy day, with a fair amount of information to take in all around. before i get to this, however, i should issue a further correction on my previous post (day 280) regarding ju quan. Sifu corrected me on some errors regarding ju quan (which i've also corrected on the Youtube videos):

• 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)
  

hsing-yi

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
  

once we'd gone through these concepts, Sifu then introduced us to 8 principles in hsing-yi, which he said we'd discuss in-depth as we went further on but that for now are worth just recognizing:

• 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
  

i don't know if i have the spelling or definitions right, since i was taking notes as the conversation was going on. hopefully i can correct things in the next class. if anybody knows, then let me know and i'll be happy to make the corrections.

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.

day 280: history! ju quan (ba tang quan)

concepts:

• history

lessons:

• ju quan

this post is for Sunday, May 30. since this was Ching-Chieh's last day before she left for Taiwan, we decided to focus on just ju quan, so we could finish it off and review everything one last time. it was more review for her, since today was the 1st time that i covered lines 7-8.

i should make some clarifications to correct my previous posts on ju quan:

• it turns out that there are only 8 lines, not 10; and
  
• it turns out that ju quan and ba tang quan are really the same things, with the difference being that ju quan was a simplified version of ba tang quan that was considered more appropriate for the Taiwanese military (at least, more appropriate in terms of something that could be taught in the course of basic training for hand-to-hand combat and which could be performed for parade ground purposes).

i'm including the following videos that show what we've done:

• ju quan, 1-person form, lines 1-8:
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKvQVnF8etE


• ju quan, 2-person form, lines 1 v 2:
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBqESi73-tE


• ju quan, 2-person form, lines 3 v 4:
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9QsZs2gZrk


• ju quan, 2-person form, lines 5 v 6:
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qi5GRS-aUtw


• ju quan, 2-person form, lines 7 v 8:
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvvAGgsNmCQ
  

i should provide some background comments to explain ju quan. based on what i've been able to gather from Sifu and Ching-Chieh (i missed a number of classes, and so didn't participate in all the conversations they had on the subject, leaving me to assemble the background piece-meal from discussions as we've gone on).

first, there are reasons why ju quan stopped being taught to the Taiwanese military. Sifu said that we could see it for ourselves as we learned it. he noted the following:

1. even though the movements look basic, there are a lot of subtleties in ba tang quan--subtleties which unfortunately were glossed over, omitted, ignored, or downright suppressed during basic training, either because military instructors didn't understand it or recruits couldn't get it (Sifu said that he learned it from Liu Yun Qiao before entering the military, and was shocked when he saw what the drill instructors were teaching and what the soldiers were doing). these subtleties are very important, as without them the effectiveness of the techniques are greatly reduced, and ju quan is left to become nothing more than a force-on-force brute strength martial art (which defeats the entire point of learning it).
   
2. ju quan, because of the subtleties in ba tang quan, is just too complicated to be taught to recruits in basic training, especially in a mass setting (with hundreds or thousands of conscripts) with limited time (a few weeks). to really learn it properly takes personal attention with a dedicated time--neither of which is plentiful in a military environment focused on producing as many soldiers in as short as time as possible.
3. ju quan was replaced by other martial arts, predominately tae kwon do and judo (or some combination thereof), largely because they are more popular in Taiwan and because they're easier (and faster) to teach to large numbers of conscripts within the confines of a few weeks. at the very least, the Taiwanese military seemed to think so, since they discontinued ju quan after only a few years.
   

second, all of the above videos are a reconstruction, based on the articles from the Wutan Hall journal and Sifu's memory. ju quan was only taught in the Taiwanese military during the late 1960s to early 1970s, and has disappeared since then. Sifu says he doesn't think it's been done in 40 years.

Sifu commented that he can see the reasons why (see the above comments regarding a military setting with large numbers of students and limited time), but that this doesn't mean that ju quan/ba tang quan is irrelevant or that it should be discarded. in his opinion, it has value (he believes a lot of value), but it was just applied incorrectly in a context that was inappropriate under conditions that were incompatible to the art form. when taught individually (or with a few students) in conditions allowing more personal attention with more time for detail, it is a martial arts style with many things to offer.

of course, given that it hasn't been done in so long (i.e., it's been forgotten), this means that what we're doing is essentially historical research, and a revival of a lost art form. you could even call it a historical re-enactment. Ching-Chieh is treating it as such, since she's using it as a basis for a dance project she's doing in Taiwan. Sifu says we're now a part of history, which makes me feel i'm on a mission to preserve the pieces of the past--and i guess that's one aspect of what we're really doing with TCMA. history! so enjoy!

day 279: the memorial day review (sort of)

concepts:

• memory
• basics
• structure
  

lessons:

• bagua
• kyudo
  

this post is for Saturday, May 29. it was the Memorial Day weekend so class turnout for kung fu was light (although, surprisingly large for kyudo).

bagua

Sifu announced that next Saturday would be the start of xingyi lessons, and that he wanted us to spend the day on reviewing all the bagua forms we've learned. he also asked that we take some portion of class time reviewing all the basics with the beginner students.

the basics review consisted of the standing hand basics (stationary, and some moving) from some time ago. it was good to back through this, since it's been awhile since i've done them, and i found that there are some nuances in them that i see that i hadn't seen before. i remember Phunsak, Kieun, and Sifu all saying this at various times--that as you go farther you start to realize some subtle things about basic elements that are actually very important, and which allow you to understand more about the basics than you did initially. it was interesting to experience this, and it made me take a different approach to them.

after the basics, we devoted the majority of class time to reviewing forms. this turned out to be a bit of a fiasco for me. it turns out that i couldn't remember major components of the elbow form or the fist form. i didn't even bother attempting forest palm. i managed to remember most of 64 palms and xiao kai men, so there was some redemption there. but Phunsak ended up having to lead us through the elbow and fist forms, and even then i found myself having to stop and think at several points.

this was, to be quite frank, embarrassing. i can't believe my memory is this bad. i'm going to have to take some extra time in the next few weeks to review all the forms, because this is just inexcusable. i've been extraordinarily busy the past few months with my teaching load (which has been much heavier than usual), but i still can't accept that as an excuse. i've expended too much time, energy, and money to forget things so easily, and i also have my pride. we're heading into summer now, which means i will have some more time to devote to martial arts work, so hopefully i can rectify this situation.

kyudo

turnout at kyudo, similar to kung fu, was low. apparently a number of people had taken the day to go to the beach, and some others were taking the holiday weekend off. as a result, Sensei just had us assemble only 3 makiwara (usually we have 5). in addition, he only had 1 round of formal shooting for everyone, and then had us spend the class in informal shoot and working individually with each of us as we shot.

i took advantage of this to work on some kinks in my form. Sensei helped me with my structure, particularly in lifting the bow and arrow--apparently i wasn't aligning my spine as i lifted my arms. my mistake was that i was leaning forward from the feet and then standing into the bow, when i should be doing more of a roll, wherein i lean forward as i bring the bow and arrow up to head height but then start to bring my body back to vertical as i raise the arms, with my tailbone tucking in and my neck rising up. the net effect is not that i stand higher, but that the spine extends vertically, going through the vertebra both downwards from the center/dantian into the ground and upwards from the center/dantian into the sky.

i also took some time to do some maintenance work on my bow. i'd threaded the nocking area on my string the wrong way (in the opposite direction of the spiraling direction of the string), and it's been unraveling over the past few weeks. i've been removing the fibers as they've come loose, waiting until the nocking area becomes thin enough that i can rethread the string again in the right direction. i think it's getting close, and i'll be able to rethread it again within a few weeks.

day 278: corrections - ju quan

concepts:

• lines

lessons:

• chen pao quan
• ju quan
  

i need to preface this post on the Sunday class by noting that my previous Sunday post (day 276: ba tang quan) was in error. we private lessons we have been getting were not in ba tang quan but in ju quan (so the comments from the post are preserved, but the name for what we are learning is different).

i should also note that Ching-Chieh is leaving in June for 6 months for a dance project and needs to finish ju quan before then since the form is the basis for the project. unfortunately, because she's going to miss next weekend, it's putting extra pressure to finish ju quan off in the immediate future. as a result, we adjusted the Sunday schedule so that we're focusing only on ju quan in the time that Ching-Chieh has remaining before she leaves.

chen pao quan

we didn't go further into chen pao quan, but instead just reviewed the portion we've done to date. Phunsak was gone today, so it was just me, Ching-Chieh, and Jo-san.

ju quan

i missed a Sunday class, and so Ching-Chieh had to help me get caught up with what i'd missed, which was lines 5 & 6 of ju quan. with Phunsak out, she also needed me to review the 2-person forms so that she could practice them. Sifu then showed us lines 7 & 8 and the 2-person form for those. that was largely it, since we spent all our time practicing ju quan.

day 277: ugh, back again (again)

concepts:

• balance
• opening
  

lessons:

• bagua leg form (tuei)
• kyudo
  

well, okay, i had another break. this time i was out for 3 weeks. the 1st weekend due to grading, the 2nd weekend due to my brother's wedding (which was out of town), and the 3rd weekend because of grading again. i wasn't able to make it back until May 15. thankfully, i didn't miss as much as i thought i had--although it was still a fairly substantial amount.

bagua leg form (tuei)

it appears that the class has been in a review phase, with everyone refining xiao kai men and bagua tuei. i suspect Sifu felt it was necessary, since a lot of the beginners still need to learn both of these and many of the more advanced students have been traveling or away (i was gone, Ching-Chieh had to skip a few classes for a project, Phunsak missed a class because of a seminar, and Kieun was also gone for 3 weeks on his honeymoon).

this past Saturday was devoted to bagua tuei. i managed to remember the form, although Sifu commented there was still an issue with my tornado kick, in that i wasn't landing it with any balance. i ended up working on this for the class.

with most everyone back (me, Ching-Chieh, Phunsak, and Kieun), Sifu also announced his plans for the curriculum: starting in June, we will be starting Xing-yi. Sifu has taught it before, but apparently this will be the first time that he'll be doing it methodically--apparently, in previous incarnations he's done it as a weekend seminar.

i think this will be good (not just in terms of having a more sedentary curriculum, but in terms of learning the art itself), since according to Sifu it is very closely related to spear, and so is compatible with the spear training we've been doing on Sundays. in addition, it involves some physics that i think bridges the gap between spear movements and unarmed movements, and do so in a way that translates the body mechanics in a manner consistent with internal martial arts styles...although, i should note, Sifu has mentioned more than once that the physics are not just endemic to "internal" styles but rather are relevant to all martial arts styles.

the plan is to finish review of bagua tuei, and then commence with hsing-yi the first weekend in June.

kyudo

as much as i had worries about returning to kung fu, i had more trepidation about returning to kyudo, largely because there are so many nuances that i can sense i'm not really getting. for the most part, however, it felt like a return to the familiar, with the form still being the same steps as it has always been.

tonight, i focused on the drawing of the bow, concentrating on working on drawing by opening my body structure into the bow. following the formal shoot, Sensei started the informal shoot early (prior to the tea break, whereas it normally occurs after). i took advantage of this to spend some time on practicing with my bow with just a dry pull (i.e., drawing without the arrow or glove), trying to expand my skeleton through hakawake to kai to zanshin.

Sensei observed me, and came over a few times to guide me through the arcs that i needed to be following. this was helpful, since it helped me map out the keystone markers (milestones) that my skeleton needed to reach. of course, repeating this consistently turned out to be another problem, since the movements were unfamiliar and required that i constantly check my body structure positioning in the mirror.

day 276: ba tang quan

concepts:

• history

lessons:

• ba tang quan

this post relates to Sunday, April 18. the schedule for the day was adjusted relative to other Sundays. Ching-Chieh is learning ba tang quan from Sifu as part of an ongoing project, and so we canceled the spear lesson for the day and truncated chen pao quan to a review of the form we've covered to date.

ba tang quan

ba tang quan is not actually a style. it's more a form composed of a series of lines, with movements drawn from baji. much like chang quan has tantui, with its 10 or 12 lines (depending on the version of chang quan), ba tang quan is comprised of 8 different lines with movements unique to each one. while derived from baji, ba tang quan is much more fundamental and deals with only basic aspects of the principles in baji.

from what i could surmise (i missed the background discussion on this, but it appears the Sifu and Ching-Chieh had talked about this more extensively around their class times at UCLA), ba tang quan was developed for the Taiwanese military by Liu Yun Qiao. it was originally meant to comprise their basic training in hand-to-hand combat, and was taught for a period of around 10 years sometime in the 60s and 70s. it was subsequently phased out and replaced by different martial arts training, and has been largely forgotten since that time.

Sifu showed us his copy of the Wutan journal (Liu Yun Qiao actually attempted to publish a periodical journal for Chinese martial arts, with the goal of being a scholarly source dedicated to preserving TCMA, but unfortunately the journal ceased publication after a few years). the copy is an original, and contains pictures of all the lines of ba tang quan, along with explanatory commentary. Sifu said he was using this to reconstruct ba tang quan, in addition to using his own memory of his experiences learning it when he was in the Taiwanese military.

we've learned the first 2 lines the previous Sunday. today we reviewed the previous 2 lines and then learned the next 2. we also did some tentative work learning the 2-person forms for the lines.

all of this consumed a fair portion of the class. not so much because of the lines themselves, but because we were trying reconstruct them based on the journal and Sifu's memory, and this proved to require a bit of deliberation and thought.

day 275: sort of an abbreviation

concepts:

• loose hands
• elbows
• hikiwake
• daisan
• kai
• hanare
• zanshin
  

lessons:

• kyudo

this post relates to Saturday, April 17 (yes, i know, late...but this spring has been inordinately busy). i actually missed most of kung fu today, since i had a morning doctor's appointment and only made the last few minutes of class. as a result, i'm not going to post any comments regarding kung fu.

kyudo

i did manage to make kyudo. things were changed up a little this evening, with the beginning meditation preceded by a reading of 2 poems related to kyudo: the raiki-shagi, which deals with the etiquette in kyudo, and the shaho-kun, which deals with the principles of shooting in kyudo. when i first started, the dojo began with the Buddhist heart sutra, but we've been away from that for awhile (i'm assuming to more closely align to normal kyudo dojo practice). i'm guessing this is integrating something from more traditional Japanese kyudo dojo procedure.

this evening was a focus on shooting release--at least, it was for me. Sensei observed that we were struggling with this portion during the formal shoot, and devoted extra time during class to this. this has been a major weakness for me, and while the changes in tenouchi have helped in this regard, i know there are some additional things for me to improve here.

Sensei noted that my hikiwake wasn't high enough, and that my hands in daisan were placed incorrectly. in lifting the bow in hikiwake, i need to lean my body forward with my weight more on the arches of my feet, since this allows the arms to go higher without rolling the shoulders. with daisan, i need to have the draw comes from the elbows, with the hands simply following until my right hand is 1 fist's length from my forehead.

Sensei commented the key is to keep the hands loose, since having the hands tight tends to put your concentration on your hands, thereby disrupting tenouchi and putting the emphasis on the muscles of the back. keeping the hands loose, in contrast, allows you to put the concentration in the elbows, thereby allowing a better sense of the body's structure doing the work of inserting itself into the bow and thereby engaging the draw. this is better, since it involves less muscular effort and allows greater stability (and hence accuracy).

Sensei noted my kai is getting better, but that in addition to imagining my elbows being pulled in opposite directions along the same line i also need to align my spine straight up and down. in addition, i need to keep my neck turned, so that the arrow shaft comes along the corner of my mouth.

during his lesson to the class, Sensei noted that we all needed to work on hanare. he said that we were all trying to do hanare (release) by using our hands (i.e., we were opening and closing our hands to release). he said this was forcing the string to leave our hand, which is wrong, since it's bad for the string (puts excessive pressure on the string), bad for the bow (puts excessive pressure on the bow), and bad for accuracy (injects extraneous forces into the bow, disrupting the line of aim).

it is better that hanare come on its own without any action of the hand. if done right, hanare comes at kai (maximum draw), when the body and bow align in a way that the string leaves the nock in the shooting glove. because the hand doesn't move, it doesn't apply any force onto the bow or string, eliminating vectors that pressure both and disrupt aim.

Sensei also observed that if hanare is done right, you will naturally find yourself in zanshin without any effort, since the hanare leads naturally from kai to zanshin.

i put in some practice on this without shooting, working on form with the bow while facing a mirror. i tried shooting towards the end of class after i'd gotten some comfort level, and things seemed to be a little better. Sensei commented that my issue right now is consistency--sometimes i seem to be getting things right, but then suddenly everything just goes wrong...seems to be where i am right now. what can i say? it's going to take practice.

day 274: words

concepts:

• kami-no-michi
• shyugo
• renshu
• keiko
• shizen
• ten-o-uchi
  

lessons

• bagua leg form
• kyudo
  

this post relates to this past Saturday, April 10, and finishes off the series of posts (3 total) to catch up to the present. again, i'll have to keep this really short.

bagua leg form

we continued on with the leg form. today was more applications, with us exploring variations in the leg form. this proved somewhat frustrating, as there were some applications that were relatively straightforward but then some that just didn't seem to work. Phunsak noted that i was working with Martin again, and that i needed to modify things for Martin's size. Phunsak also commented that some applications work well with one kind of body but that others don't, with the difference really becoming evident when the other person's body is different in proportion and mass than yours. as a result, it's important to learn when some applications are available and others aren't.

kyudo

the theme for kyudo this evening was words. Sensei had us devote some time to discussion of tenouchi (the hand grip on the bow), and in the process delved into the various meanings of japanese words. here's the list i have--i don't have the Japanese characters, or if i even have the English translations right, but if anyone has either let me know and i'll put them up:

• kami-no-michi: people who've come before
  
• shyugo: training/practicing, but in the sense of learning
  
• renshu: training/practicing, but in the sense of polishing or refining
  
• keiko: training/practicing, but in the sense of just doing an action over and over again
  
• shizen: nature, or natural self
  
• ten-o-uchi: the inside (hollow of the palm) area of the hand

Sensei had us practice the proper tenouchi on our bows, and then had us try to shoot w it. i noticed an immediate difference in my form. this in and of itself was not a surprise, since i expected to see some difference resulting from a change in the hand holding the bow. what was a surprise, however, was that the change in the hand resulted in a change in body mechanics, and this resulted in a change in the effort level to follow proper form in drawing the bow--it made it significantly easier. Sensei noticed this, and said this was good and that it was producing the desired effect.

we ran out of time in shooting, so i think next class i'm going to really devote some effort into practicing this. i think i'm getting better, and it's coming from a better sense of the requisite body mechanics involved, but i need to put in more time to get a more intuitive sense of what's right.

day 273: things on a Sunday

concepts:

• moving footwork
• up-and-under
  

lessons:

• spear
• chen pao quan
  

this follows from the previous post, and this will also be short. this refers to Sunday, April 4.

spear

spear work consisted of review of the moving spear basics. this time, however, Sifu added in combination patterns, with us mixing footwork as we moved with the spear.

chen pao quan

we went further into the chen pao quan form. we kept the additional material short, since we're still trying to get a handle on everything we've learned. this time, Sifu showed us a portion of the form that involved what i call an "up-and-under" action with the arms.

day 272: legging it

concepts:

• centers

lessons:

• bagua leg form
• kyudo
  

once again, i am very delinquent in posting. my apologies. this spring has been inordinately busy, and i am constantly struggling to stay up to speed. as a result, this post will be short. this post relates to Saturday, April 3.

bagua leg form

this was a continuation of the leg form. however, i also took some time to experiment with some things Sifu had talked about before regarding the center, particularly finding and taking the center of the system created by the bodies of you and your opponent. as a test, i partnered with Martin, who is significantly larger than i am (about 2x as heavy) and hence skews the center of mass towards him. this proved a major challenge, as my sense of distance and spacing was thrown off and i found myself having to feel out the center again--something which i can't do with any level of instinct at this point in time. it's going to take some practice.

kyudo

part of kyudo tonight was spent working on the nocking area of the string on my bow (the arrow shaft has a nock where the string fits, and the place on the string where the arrow fits is in a very specific section by the bow handle). this took a little time, as this involves gluing and wrapping string thread around the nocking area on the string, and then adjusting it so that it fits the arrow nock. this involves a little work, since the nocking area is deemed to fit the arrow when you can nock the arrow, hold the string horizontal, and still have the arrow remain on the string.

i'd done this the prior week, but had found that i'd applied too little glue and thread. tonight was an effort to refine the previous week and apply the requisite glue and thread so that it fit the arrow.

i did manage to get in a few rounds of shooting. Sensei asked me to focus on expanding into the bow--he later observed that things are getting better, but that i'm still not reaching full expansion. it's something i know i need to work on, and will be something i'm going to have to consciously focus on for the next classes.

day 271: back into things

concepts:

• extension
• borrowing energy
• center
• vector (force & magnitude)
  
• earth & sky
• structure
• opening
  

lessons:

• bagua leg form
• kyudo
  

so i made it back to the regular class today for both kung fu and kyudo. i'd been swamped over the past few weeks with grading, prepping lecture, and training for Ironman Utah. but i got past the grading, managed to mostly finish prepping, and dropped out of Ironman Utah to make it to my brother's wedding. as a result, i now suddenly have more time, which hopefully translates into spending more time on other pursuits--like kung fu and kyudo.

bagua leg form

it appears that in the time i was gone the class finished off xiao kai men and proceeded to the bagua leg form. Kieun and Phunsak told me that the class had gone through the leg basics very quickly (1 day!), and they'd already had 1 class on the opening portion of the leg form. i'm guessing that this is a continuation of the curriculum for the newer students--although, it appears that some of them have missed parts of it. still, we had some returnees (Martin, who's coming back after several months, and Steven, who had to miss a few weekends) for whom this is new, and the timing is good for them in terms of learning the form from the relative beginning.

this is good actually, since while i can remember the leg form there are segments of it for which i'm uncertain regarding application. that, and the theory in the form is also something that's always worth reviewing.

Phunsak took us farther into the form while Sifu was helping the baji students, and then Sifu came back to lead us through the applications. he made the following comments regarding where we were:

• extension: a lot of the movements in the leg form are exaggerated to the actual application in a real fight. Sifu said the exaggeration is meant to show us the nature of the physics in the movements, and indicate the intent we need to be exercising in the actions in order to deploy the physics.
• borrowing energy: Sifu said that some of the movements appear to be brute force actions. but he said that this is a inaccuracy, and that they actually employ energy borrowed from the earth and sky. he demonstrated that we borrow energy from the ground by positioning our bodies to create a structure that utilizes and propagates reaction forces from the earth. he said we can also similarly do the same thing in terms of creating structure that appear to propagate forces from the sky--they don't literally do this, but by having the intent to do so it aligns the body in a structure that conveys more power. the idea, Sifu observed, behind both earth & sky is that the body structure is such that it aligns the center with the vector going from the source of force (reaction force or otherwise) to the opponent, and hence allows your body to become a clean line of transmission of the force vector.
• force vector: for the full force vector (remember: a vector is both magnitude and direction) to go into the opponent, you want the body to align with the vector direction so that it can carry the full magnitude of force--this means the power is not just the power made by your own muscle actions, but the power coming from the exploitation of basic Newtonian physics (note: improper alignment of body structure "breaks" the force vector--hence the term "broken energy"--and stops the Newtonian reaction forces from being carried through you, leaving only your muscular power as the remaining source of force).
  

we spent the remainder of class time working on these concepts, with varying degrees of success. i find it hard to grasp this, since sometimes i'm trying to feel out things that i've never felt before, which makes everything a process of trial-and-error.

we took a longer post-class lunch today, since it turned out to be Eric's birthday (a big one...but i'll spare him the publicity) and a homecoming of sorts for Martin (who apparently was gone involuntarily due to an injury).

kyudo

kyudo this evening was focused primarily on me preparing my yumi (bow). i hadn't had time to do it before, so i'd decided to devote attention to it tonight. it was a bit of a project, since the string had to be adjusted to the proper length, then the nocking section had to be reinforced with string and glue to fit my arrows, and i also had to let everything cure. this ended up consuming all of the free shoot for me.

i did manage to achieve some shooting. Sensei worked with me a bit, saying that i needed to open up more in my draw and release. he observed that i still wasn't getting extension, and that i had to expand out from my center through my spine to get the requisite extra extension. he covered this later with the entire class, and advised us to expand until it opened our chest. the opening isn't supposed to be too much, but he noted it does need to be there, since it serves to push out the body structure into the bow and then follow through to the release of the arrow. in fact, Sensei observed, if done right, the opening actually causes the release of the arrow--and at does so at the proper moment: the moment of maximum of expansion of the body structure.

we finished a little late tonight, which gave the glue on my string time to dry. i didn't have enough time for a trial run with my yumi, but i figure this is something i can do next class.

day 270: moving with the spear and reviewing chen pao quan

concepts:

• movement
• center

lessons:

• spear
• chen tai chi pao quan

i skipped kung fu and kyudo for Saturday, March 20. i made it for Sunday morning, March 21, so this post applies to that. it was just me and Chieng-Chieh, since Phunsak was at a seminar.

spear

Sifu had us spend time on spear moving basics. so far, the drills we've been doing have been from a stationary position, with the feet largely immobile. today, Sifu showed us some initial drills for spear with footwork.

the footwork was similar to others we've learned when training for sparring work: linear footwork, 1st with a shuffle-step with the front foot initiating, then with a shuffle-skip with the rear foot iniatiting; circular, following bagua stepping; and finally what Sifu translated as a "gangster" walk or Ching-Chieh labeled as a "duck waddle", with the body moving in a see-saw movement as the weight shifted with each footstep. with each step in each drill, you're supposed to time thrusts with the spear in a way that the footwork helps generate power into the spear thrust.

Sifu also noted that in the moving spear drills it's important to keep the center down, so that it moves parallel to the ground rather than up-and-down, and that we also work all spear movements from our center, so that the feet and the body serve to move the spear. this proved to be a total body workout, and quite a bit more strenuous than i'd expected--for all that, Sifu said it's better than simply relying on your arms, which get tired far more quickly than your legs or body.

chen tai chi pao quan

we had enough time to work on chen tai chi pao quan. Ching-Chieh is still catching up, so we spent the remainder of class working on review of what we've done to date--which is just as well, since i hadn't had any time to practice at all in the past 2 weeks, and i needed the review as much as anybody else. i think we're starting to get it better, but i really do need to start spending more time practicing. hopefully i'll get the time now, but i'll have to see.

day 269: post & 2-person xiao kai men

concepts:

• pressure
• post
• 2-person

lessons:

• xiao kai men
• kyudo

this post covers March 13. things went off the deep end the past few weeks in terms of workload. so i've missed a few classes and missed a few posts. i'll try to catch up here. you'll have to forgive the terseness of the posts.

xiao kai men

we continued with xiao kai men. today Sifu had us start with post training for the form. essentially, you do the form, except that you do it against a stationary post, with the post serving as an imaginary opponent. this means you have to adjust your positioning and change the orientation of the postures in the form so that it's constantly against the post. Sifu said to do this with varying degrees of pressure against the post. he cautioned that in reality you wouldn't strive to constantly apply pressure against an opponent, but rather instead change depending on where you were in the arrangement of ting, hwa, na, and fa jing. still, with the post, you try to work with pressure, with the goal of training yourself how it feels to apply techniques against a solid body/mass.

we spent the 2nd half of class doing the xiao kai men 2-person form, which basically means 2 people doing the form against each other in a symmetric application of each of the techniques. Sifu said that this takes training a step further, training you to learn how to find spacing and how to fit your body against another person.

i ended up skipping the post-class lunch today, since had to rush home and pick up with exam grading.

kyudo

news this evening: my bow arrived. i now have a brand new bow. 13kg draw weight. of course, the catch is that i need to string it. originally i thought this would be straightforward and that i could do this during the free shoot after the tea break, but it turns out that it's more intensive, since the string length has to be adjusted, then treated, and then wrapped to fit the arrow nock. i decided to exercise wisdom and postpone this to another class.

shooting went well tonight, with Sensei saying that i'm getting better. he advised me to continue working on the draw, saying that it's simpler than i'm making it and that i should concentrate on inserting my bone structure inside the bow rather than on expanding my arms out. he observed that drawing the bow is about applying proper body structure.

we ended up eating out as a class afterwards, and went to a diner for a late dinner.

day 268: continuing chen pao quan

concepts:

• power
• explosion

lessons:

• chen tai chi pao quan

i missed class Saturday, March 6 for both kung fu and kyudo, since i was grading. as a result, this post applies to Sunday, March 7, which i managed to make. this is going to be a very brief post, since i'm trying to catch up after several weeks of overwhelming work.

chen tai chi pao quan

it was just Ching-chieh, Phunsak, and me today. Sifu had us work on the chen pao quan form. it's been some time since Ching-chieh had been learning this, so we back-tracked to the beginning and focused on reviewing the form for today. we went a little bit further, but not much, just enough to reach the 3/4 mark of the form.

Sifu corrected my punches in the form, saying that the punches needed to function as a rebound of the foot-pounding. in the form, there are several times when you pound both feet simultaneously into the ground. superficially, they appear to be a technique separate from the subsequent actions, and can function this way as their own application.

Sifu, however, noted that for the times they are followed by the punch that they serve to as an initial act of power generation, with force going into the ground and then immediately coming back through the feet, which we then need to exploit to assist the power of the punch. this means that punch has to be applying power rebounding from the foot-stomps.

Sifu also reminded me that the punch does not go straight out, but actually is supposed to have a slight curvature down. in effect, the punches are not just punches, but extensions of the body meant to drive a person down.

we worked on this for the remainder of class, and concluded with that for the day.

day 267: qi-gong, TCM, & xiao kai men

concepts:

• chan zieh jin
• center
• yangqao/yinqao
• yangwei/yinwei
• renmai/dumai
• qongmai
• daimai
  

lessons:

• bagua qi-gong
• bagua xiao kai men
  

this post is a little late, largely because i've been swamped with work. so again, things are going to be a little terse.

i should also make an addendum to the last post (day 266). one of the things i forgot to mention that in discussing absorbing/projecting using the fingers in our conversation on chen tai chi, Sifu had noted that this leads to the deployment of chan zieh jin (spiraling energy) in the movements, since the act of focusing on the little finger and ring finger to absorb energy and focusing on the middle finger and index finger to project energy naturally creates a twisting action as you alternate receiving/retracting and directing/extending your body and limbs.

i asked Sifu how this differs from the chan zieh jin in bagua, since the styles look so different. he said that with chen tai chi the silk reeling energy is employed more in terms of structure, in that the practitioner applies it through their own body against an opponent. bagua, in contrast, is more systemic, in that chan zieh jin is taken not just in terms of spiraling energy in the body but also spiraling energy in the system of free bodies (i use the phrase "free body" in terms of the engineering/physics concept) created by your body and the other opponents' bodies around you, where the goal is to apply concepts of spirals to engage opponents, find or create openings in their gates, and exploit them. he noted that this is why he uses the concept of "vortices" in teaching bagua applications. he stressed the differences are relative, in that both chen tai chi and bagua do similar things with silk reeling energy, but that chen tai chi is more structural chan zieh jin and bagua is more systemic.

bagua qi-gong

Sifu had us review all 3 levels of bagua qi-gong. when we finished, he gathered us together for a brief discussion as to some of the purposes behind qi-gong. he said that qi-gong is about learning how to cultivate and utilize qi (or chi). typically, this is taken as a medical function, since it is seen as constructive to individual health. he also said, however, that there are martial purposes behind this.

picking up from his comments from last week, he said that in martial arts it is crucial to maintain your center. this helps you to remain upright and creates a platform to counter opponent actions and to launch attacks against them. he demonstrated how a focus on your own center can make a person dramatically harder to destabilize, utilizing various applications against Feng and Phunsak to show how the effectiveness varied depending on whether they were focusing on their centers or not.

the issue, however, is to be able to maintain this focus on the center while in the chaos of a fight, particularly when the opponent is doing everything possible to break your center. he said this is where qi-gong comes in, since it teaches you to keep your mind on your center (he noted that in qi-gong, you're expected to constantly think about your center), and hence provides training on how to maintain and utilize your center. over time, via qi-gong training, you can go from having to consciously concentrate on your center to having it be something subconscious and automatic, so that it's not as susceptible to external disruptions.

he went on to note that eventually, as you become better, you learn about the multiple centers in the body and learn how to manipulate them. these other centers are also vulnerable to disruption. he demonstrated the same applications as last week (i.e., the ones for "wind blowing on the water") where simply waving a hand over certain parts of the body dramatically alters the effectiveness of the technique, and said that the reason such actions work is that they're disturbing the other centers in your body and thereby destabilizing your structure. he noted that it's possible to explain this using Western concepts (i.e., disruptions to the autonomic response systems of the body, distractions to mental focus, misdirection, etc.), but that we can also understand it in Eastern concepts, particularly since it fits with the use of qi-gong to help train our bodies to deal with such issues.

bagua xiao kai men

we finished the day with xiao kai men. Sifu introduced us the following concepts in relation to the form:

• yangwei--the part of the body that opens/extends in a given movement
• yinwei--the part of the body that closes/retracts in a given movement
• yangqao--the outer line of the leg running from the hip to the outside of the foot
• yinqao--the inner line of the leg running from the crotch to the inside of the foot
• qongmai--the line that runs vertically along the ribs
• daimai--the line that runs horizontally along the waist
• renmei--the line that runs vertically along the front of the body from the groin through the bellybutton and sternum to the top of the head
• dumai--the line that runs vertically along the back of the body from the top of the head down the spine to the groin
  

Sifu said it's useful to think of these while doing the form, since it helps to direct our intent (yi) and hence guides proper application of energy (he also interchanged the phrase "force vectors"). he noted that these are terms seen in TCM, and are described as meridians, but that they have martial aspects in that they indicate the more effective trajectories to project power.

Sifu had us do xiao kai men focusing on these lines, doing the form in a line, then in an X pattern, then in random directions, and then along a circle. i've never done xiao kai men like this before, since i joined him after he had taught this last time, and so this was all new to me. this was constructive, since i'd always felt i'd missed out on some of the deeper aspects of xiao kai men.

by this time it was getting late, and the rain had started to come down hard. Sifu ended class with that, and said he'd see us next week.

day 266: a quiet sunday

concepts:

• Eastern v. Western concepts
• statics, vectors
• thermodynamics
• energy
• gathering, projecting
• fingers
• chin na
• centering
• pulling along the pillar
• lifting the spine
  

lessons:

• chen tai chi pao quan
• kyudo
  

i missed this past Saturday class. i had a tough week of training for Ironman (the race is in May, and so i'm entering the peak of the training cycle right now), and needed some extra sleep time for recovery. i made the Saturday night kyudo class, and i made the Sunday class--although it appears that no one else did, since it turned out i was the only one who showed up Sunday.

chen tai chi pao quan

Alex stayed a little after his Sunday morning private lesson (it precedes the usual Sunday morning class), and we ended up talking about chen tai chi. Alex had some questions regarding the lexicon of TCMA in Eastern v. Western terms (e.g., "chi" or "energy" vs. "center of mass" or "vectors" or other physics-related terms).

we've had extensive conversations on this before, with varying different perspectives coming from different people inside and outside our school. i have my own take on this--that the phenomenon that practitioners of martial arts study are well observed and to some degree understood, but that ancient (and Eastern) cultures described and analyzed them using concepts of their time, whereas modern (and Western) cultures utilize the concepts of our time, which is science.

Sifu said that to some extent there are analogues between Western scientific terminology and Eastern traditional ones. but he cautioned that Western concepts sometimes fall short, and that it's thus useful to be able to understand Eastern ones. he asserted that the reason Western terms are sometimes insufficient is that Western science hasn't really gone far enough to study martial arts, and hasn't really understood all the phenomenon that TCMA practitioners have observed and learned to use.

Alex says he thinks that the Western scientific lexicon is capable of describing TCMA phenomenon, but that it just awaits scientifically trained personnel willing to study TCMA in detail. he noted that some of the demonstrations employed by tai chi experts can be explained by statics and vectors, and that a basic understanding of engineering can reveal how seemingly mystical demonstrations can work and not work.

Sifu agreed with this, but said that we have to go beyond statics and vectors to really explain all the TCMA physics, particularly since Newtonian physics doesn't really cover all the permutations of energy that drives so much of TCMA. i observed that there's some potential regarding thermodynamics, which utilizes a different perspective on energy than the Newtonian translation of potential/kinetic energy equations. Sifu and Alex concurred, noting the concepts of enthalpy and entropy seem to be applicable to some of the conceptions of energy transfer related under TCMA.

this transitioned into Alex's next question on chin na applications, particularly on connecting internal TCMA principles into chin na techniques. Sifu said you can see internal TCMA ideas in chin na, and showed us some basic techniques while describing what was happening in terms of internal TCMA dynamics. Sifu pointed out how you can see that there are stages of energy gathering where you receive the opponent's action in a way that it is absorbed into your center, and there are stages of energy projecting where you then return the opponent's action in a way that destabilizes your opponent's center.

in discussing this, Sifu stressed the positioning of the hands, and showed how a subtle shift in the right way in the hands can change an action back and forth between energy gathering to energy projecting, and how a subtle shift in the wrong way can lead to catastrophic failure. he noted that the ring finger and small finger are for energy gathering, and that the index finger and middle finger are for energy projecting.

i asked if this related to 5-element theory, and Sifu said that 5-element theory helps explain what is happening. under 5-element theory, the index and middle finger are wood and fire, where fire complements wood, and the ring and little finger are metal and water, where water complements metal. he added that this ties into qi-gong, in that it reminds you on where to focus your actions.

Sifu then continued by mentioning how all this relates to our center. he said that even though we think about energy gathering and projecting through our fingers, our intent (yi) still has to be in our center, so that we can sense energy going into and out from our centers. he had me and Alex try different techniques, 1st with us not focusing our minds on our center then with us focusing our minds on our centers. the techniques were more effective with intent placed on our centers, requiring much less effort and involving much more stability.

this was a real head-scratcher to me, since it's not something easily explainable by basic physics. Sifu said that this probably indicates the subconscious (e.g. autonomic) nature of our minds, where even though we're not consciously aware of the subtle changes in body dynamics with appropriate yi, they still occur and do just enough to convey the physics through our body. Sifu added that this is why internal martial arts practitioners who believe that an understanding of these kinds of internal mechanics are enough to be effective fighters have it wrong--to understand the internal mechanics is one thing, but to actually express them requires that you have a body capable of doing so, which is why it's still important to be physically fit, since you have to have the instrument by which you can maximize the gathering and projecting of energy.

Sifu then went on to mention that this is why in a fight it's so crucial to be able to disturb the opponent's center, since it impedes their ability to master energy. he observed that this again is where Western scientific concepts struggles to explain what is happening.

he showed us an example where he utilized techniques that, while they did nothing physically, still served to disrupt the opponent's yi and thereby disturbed their center. Sifu labeled this as like the wind blowing on a calm surface of water--the wind does little to the water itself, but is still enough to send ripples through the water that breaks its mirror-like quality. he asserted that a phenomenon like this in Eastern terminology would be identified as "disrupting the qi" or "disrupting the energy" while in Western science there wouldn't be anything comparable. he argued that a better way to describe this is via Western psychological concepts, which would identify this as a situation where the body's reflexive systems were exploited to shift the body's structure just enough to break the center.

by this time Alex had to leave, and it left me and Sifu to continue the conversation. Sifu asked me what i wanted to do with the remainder of Sunday class time, and i decided that i wanted to try and apply all the principles we'd talked about this morning to the chen tai chi pao quan form we'd covered to date.

Sifu took me through the form, and as we went through, we identified what stage was energy gathering and what stage was energy projecting, and thus at what points the hands had to shift from emphasizing the ring/little finger to the index/middle finger.

he also took me through some of the applications, identifying how energy gathering and energy projecting can be manipulated to improve the techniques. he noted that straightforward gathering and projecting can work, but that sometimes opponents can sense simple applications of energy and will reflexively resist. in these situations, Sifu said it's useful to let the energy go in and out of the center (e.g., let it bounce back and forth between the opponent), which confuses the reflexes of the opponent enough to break their center.

i asked if this is why some chen tai chi practitioners shake when they do their forms. Sifu said yes, but that unfortunately many of them don't understand the purpose behind shaking, and they exaggerate it thinking it's just an appropriate expression of mastery when in reality it's serving to destroy the practitioner's own yi on their own center--and hence destabilizing their structure. he said that historically the shaking was taught to remind practitioners of how they could utilize gathering and projecting energy to disrupt their opponent, and so was supposed to be done in the forms just enough to help teach students the principle, but not to the point that it broke down your own center.

Sifu continued working with me, refining my movements, until we'd gotten to the point where we'd finished in previous classes. we decided to stop there, and wait until everyone else returned to the Sunday before proceeding any further.

kyudo

even though kyudo occurred Saturday night before the Sunday class, i'll put it here since it's the customary location most of you are familiar with.

i found that things this evening were strangely easier than they've been in the past. i don't mean regarding kiza or seiza--i've always struggled with these, and i have the feeling that i always will. but the handling of the bow and shooting the arrow was remarkably easier.

i was using the 14-kg bow this evening, and for me this has always been a struggle to draw. tonight, however, things didn't feel anywhere near as difficult, without anywhere near the same level of struggle. i was almost shocked.

i do know that i had modified my form tonight, putting a much greater level of attention on how i was lifting the bow when initiating the draw. tonight i focused on holding my hands out aligned with my centerline, visualizing that my hands were following a pillar that ran along my spine. i also concentrated on what Sensei had stressed to me before, which was straightening my spine and releasing the tension in my lower back by lifting my neck straight up. together, these 2 things greatly reduced the level of effort i had to apply in drawing the bow, and helped me maintain a much greater level of stability in the release.

i actually felt like i made some progress tonight, and put in some extra practice during the free shoot just to confirm that i really was feeling what i was feeling.

we finished class a little late, but it was no big deal since a group of us went out to eat afterwards. i'm looking forward to the next class.

day 265: pre-class and qi-gong review

concepts:

• fight fundamentals
• gi-gong: gathering, projection, moving
  

lessons:

• bagua

this will need to be another short post regarding Feb. 13, since i'm still trying to unbury myself from work. although, there's not that much to report, since i skipped kyudo class again and the kung fu class was largely a review of bagua qi-gong.

pre-class

Kieun led the pre-class session this time, and we focused on basic fight fundamentals. we met at 9:30. the bulk of time this morning was on fitness exercises and some basic punch/combination drills.

bagua qi-gong

Sifu had us review bagua qi-gong, saying it was a good time of year to start working on it (apparently, qi-gong is better during the winter and spring, and less so during summer and fall). he also said it's good to revisit it now that we've gone through more of the advanced bagua lessons, and reconsider it in light of what we've learned.

we went through level 1 qi-gong, which is largely focused on qi accumulation. Sifu led us through this, quizzing us on which animal, organ, and 5-element theory was related to each one. he reminded us as to the connection of all these to each other. he also showed us the breathing sequence for each. he noted that it's not necessary to have low stances on this, but rather to maintain a loose, albeit stable, structure through all the movements. he also stressed that we need to focus on our dantians throughout each of the qi-gong exercises.

Sifu had Phunsak and Art lead us through levels 2 & 3 qi-gong. level 2 is focused on qi projection, and ties each of the qi-gong exercises to the bagua stances, with each bagua stance serving as the projection of qi. level 3 is moving, and involves walking in a circle for each qi-gong exercise. Sifu noted that level 3 qi-gong is really just the 8 mother palms, except that each exercise is done on its own circle. Sifu pointed out that 8 mother palm is really just a moving form of qi-gong, teaching you how to move with a stable dantian while constantly gathering and projecting qi.

we spent the remainder of class going through this, working on the finer points of movement, breathing, and yi (intent) for each of the qi-gong exercises. we finished around 1 and went to lunch after.