Category: Training

The article “Letting Go” is reprinted on Slanted Flying website with the permission of the author Sam Langley from his personal Blog.

Human beings are industrious creatures. “How are you? Busy? That’s good. “Is It? What is so inherently good about busyness? Obviously, a certain amount of vigilance is required to survive but once your basic needs are met why continue running about like a headless chicken? If there’s a problem we tend to think we need to always ‘DO’ something to fix it. Work, work, work, do, do, do, no wonder everyone’s stressed out.

So if you are stressed out, anxious and restless what can be done? How about nothing? I mean absolutely nothing or as close as you can get. Linguistically speaking, you can’t DO nothing, after all, nothing suggests an absence of doing. So what I mean is, try practicing NOT doing.

The closest you’ll get to not doing is meditating. Of course, once you try to sit there and do nothing you find it’s impossible! You try to calm your mind and it gets busier…..so stop trying and just relax. This is isn’t that easy. How many people do you know that are capable of sitting on a train without looking at their phone? Imagine how it would feel to be happy just sitting there unoccupied.
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In Chen style Tai Chi we practice standing meditation or Zhan Zhuang which translates as ‘standing like a tree’. When I practice standing, my mind is focused in my body. It is an experience of letting go. I find there’s a small amount of tension in my hip and I let go, my mind is full of intrusive thoughts and I let go of that too.

As you practice letting go of physical tension you are increasingly able to let go of unhelpful emotions and you can stop trying to control everything around you. As far as happiness goes it might be the only sensible thing that can be done or rather, not done.

There is a concept in Taoism called Wu wei which translates literally as ‘Without action’ and is commonly understood as the art of not doing or as the philosopher Alan Watts suggests ‘Not forcing’. As Tai Chi has Taoist roots it is a very good way of exploring Wu wei. We don’t force things and we try to be as natural as possible.

As I write this I realise it all sounds contradictory. I have a theory that anyone attempting to make a particular argument will eventually contradict themselves and that’s fine with me. Writing articles is a good way to practice letting go. One could easily cringe at the babblings of their former self but really ……what does it matter? So it could have been written better, I choose to let it go.

Personally, I think we’d all be better off if we stopped trying so hard, to be good, nice, successful or happy. I have whittled my own philosophy down to one word which is simply….relax. If you can do that it’s quite likely that everything else will come to you a lot easier.

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The “unbendable arm” demonstration is commonly used in Aikido (合気道) schools, but it is also used in some Taijiquan (太極拳) schools as shown in the following video:

There is a quality that is somewhere between resisting and collapsing that we strive for in Taijiquan. This is reflected in the admonition to avoid butting against (or resisting) as well as avoiding collapsing (ding bian dui kang 顶匾丢抗). The “unbendable arm” exercise can illustrate this middle approach.

In brief, the “unbendable arm” exercise can be performed as follows (although variations are common):
1) Place the wrist of your extended arm on a partner’s shoulder with the palm up.
2) Have the partner place one or both hands on top of the elbow joint and gradually increase the downward force applied to it, seeking to bend the arm.

There are at least five different ways one can respond to the attempt to bend the arm.

1) Resisting the downward pressure by trying to raise the elbow up. This produces an upward force to counter the partner’s downward force. This raising of the elbow is primarily using the extensor muscles (the triceps) to extend the arm, but since the arm (elbow joint) angle is too poor for this action to be strong, it is very difficult to resist the bending of the arm.

2) Resisting by tensing the arm (isometric tension which tightens both the flexor and extensor muscles) in an attempt to lock the arm in position. This is sometimes accentuated with an accompanying clenching of the fist. The arm angle is again too poor to allow the muscles to produce sufficient force, and this resistance is unlikely to succeed unless one’s strength is significantly greater than that of the partner trying to bend the elbow. This approach is also vulnerable to fairly rapid fatigue.

3) Relax! This approach attempts to avoid tensing any arm muscles. This usually results in collapse and cannot resist the bending of the arm (except when done as in #5 below), although one has little fatigue doing this.

4) Activate the flexor muscles (biceps). This just bends one’s own arm and adds to the bending produced by the partner, and cannot succeed in keeping the arm straight.

5) Visualize qi (氣 energy flow; ki in Japanese) rushing through the arm and shooting out of the fingertips. Some methods accompany this visualization with an extension of the finger(s), but this is not necessary. Even the reference to qi is not necessary since many people without any knowledge or cultivation of qi can successfully do the exercise by visualizing the arm as being like a hose with water surging through it. This method allows one to remain feeling relaxed while being able to maintain the straight arm, preventing the partner from bending it!

The effortlessness of the “unbendable arm” illustrates that we are capable of maintaining our structure without fighting against the incoming force, as well as without collapsing! But how is this done? The following is my examination of this phenomenon, and how it relates to the practice of Taijiquan.

I am unaware of any rigorous scientific studies that explain this exercise, so what follows is merely speculation. An article was published in the Journal of International Society of Life Information Science in 2001 (titled “The Physiological Study of Ki in Ki Aikido (2)” by Machi, et al) that attempted to address this issue, but it only had a sample size of ONE experienced practitioner, and thus was not very rigorous and no valid conclusions can be made, although they did make scientific measurements of various physiological variables.

Several web sources attempt to explain the “unbendable arm”, but often use statements that conflict with others. Note that my explanation is also likely to have errors, although I provide information for practitioners to think about. An explanation that includes an examination the above article is given in the following link:
http://umlud.blogspot.com/2013/08/no-ki-energy-does-not-explain.html

What the “unbendable arm” shows us is that there is some mechanism for maintaining structure that does not rely on tensing (or relaxing) the flexor and/or extensor muscles of the body. There are several things that various people invoke to explain this quality (of not resisting but also not collapsing) that is desired in Taijiquan and other martial arts. The most common explanation is probably qi energy, but others include using tendons and/or ligaments rather than muscles, or using “intent” (用意 yongyi) rather than force or, increasingly popular these days, the properties of the fascia, or the stretch reflex.

I’ll start by examining qi as a possible explanation. The classical belief of qi included nearly everything, but specific understandings were contextual. So, while sunlight, which nourishes and vitalizes plants, would be considered as being qi, this would have nothing to do with the “unbendable arm”.

There are many aspects associated with qi that do concern the human body, like the vitality that we obtain from the air we breath and the food we eat, the energy we get from our parents at conception and our constitutions which protect us from diseases, etc., but these are also unlikely to be what allows the “unbendable arm” to work (except for Popeye when he eats his spinach).

Most explanations using qi are probably thinking that it is a physical substance that is coursing through our acupuncture meridians, and that this movement of an energetic substance through our arm is what prevents it from bending. In the broad sense that we need our living vitality to be able to succeed with the “unbendable arm”, then the qi explanation is correct. If our arm is anesthetized or if we are asleep, then we cannot prevent the arm from bending.

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Taijiquan (太極拳) practitioners sometimes think of the body as a cylinder, or as a single sphere with the center located at the lower dantien (丹田elixir field; the lower abdomen, the area centered in the waist), but there are numerous spheres that are important to understand. For example, the major joints in the body (i.e., the “nine pearl bends” [九曲珠 jiu qu zhu]) can be considered as spheres with their own centers.

In the accompanying illustration from Chen Xin’s (陳鑫) book, notice how the qi (氣energy) reeling paths wrap around the wrists, elbows, shoulders, hips, knees and ankles. Depending on one’s interpretation of the nine pearl bends, these joints can represent six of the pearls (the other three could be viewed as the lumbar, thoracic and cervical curves in the spine).

Practitioners should maintain stable centers in each of these joints, and the qi reeling paths around them can be seen as reflecting the ancient version of the Taijitu (太極圖) shown below.Yin (阴)and yang (阳)energies would cycle around the stabile center circle of the diagram. These individual spheres (pearls/joints) are all contained within the large sphere that is often viewed as having its center located at the dantien and encompassing the entire body.

It may help in understanding the concept of the energy cycling around the joints, rather than through the centers of them, if one considers that the muscles that flex or extend the joints go around, rather than through, the joints. In addition to flexion and extension, combinations of muscles allow for rotation, especially in the wrists, ankles, shoulders and hips. Elbows and knees have less mobility and function more like hinges, but the ball joints at the roots of the limbs (the hips and shoulders) do allow for some limited rotation even in the middle of the limbs.

The lumbar, thoracic and cervical curves/pearls align in an axis that helps establish ones verticality (corresponding to the central dotted lines in Chen’s illustration). It is like three balls, the abdomen, the chest and the head, all stacked on top of each other. This aligns the central axis that would form the center of a cylinder. While the cylinder analogy can be useful when examining one side of the body retreating while the other side advances, it also has limitations.

If someone pushes on both sides of a cylinder at the same time (crossing the centerline), then the cylinder can be prevented from rotating and the cylinder will be pushed back. Because of this, each point of contact should instead be considered as being a separate sphere, capable of rotating relatively independently of each other (like the two arms each being capable of relatively independent actions even though each is limited by its attachment to the torso).

There should not be just one body ball/cylinder; there should be multiple spheres (with different centers). A cylinder can be prevented from rotating with two points of contact if they cross the centerline, but a sphere needs three points of contact spread around the center to prevent it from rotating.

While the whole body does make one sphere, there should be an infinite number of possible additional spheres (sometimes referred to as being made up of ball bearings) inside of it. There should be yin and yang on each side of every point of contact (i.e. separate spheres for each point of contact). This takes us into the realm of imaginary spheres, rather than the spheres associated with physical body parts as described for the pearls/joints.

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According to Swedish psychologist K. Anders Erickson, sometimes referred to as the “expert on experts,” those who are the best at what they do are attentive to feedback. Without feedback, how do we know how and when we improve? Many sports have measurable criteria for detecting improvements (e.g., times and distances that are objectively measured), and these can be used as one form of feedback that can help athletes improve. But how do we get the feedback to improve in more personal, and less measurable, endeavors like Taijiquan (太極拳)?

By maximizing opportunities to gain feedback, elite performers in their fields increase their chances to learn from that feedback. Taijiquan practice begins with relying on the instructions of one’s teacher(s), but the goal is to gain awareness of our bodies such that one’s body becomes a teacher, one’s own body provides feedback. Self-awareness is one reason why Taijiquan is called an “internal” martial art, and the following are examples of levels of awareness.

NOVICES:

Novice practitioners frequently begin learning in a way that is similar to dancers, by learning a choreographed sequence of postures. Some schools require students to meditate prior to the forms instruction in order to clear the students’ minds and reduce their mental distractions. This increases the potential for paying attention to what their bodies are indicating during their physical practice.

Many schools use the concept of feeling qi (氣) or energy flow in the body. This is something that is difficult to visually detect in the teacher, and something that must be felt in oneself. While this practice does direct students to pay attention to their bodies, unfortunately, there are potential pitfalls to sensing qi, especially for novices.

Our minds have a tendency to deceive us, allowing us to sense what we expect or desire to feel. It is difficult to differentiate between what is real and what merely exists due to expectation or desire. Numerous examples of this problem can be found in scientific studies in psychology, where it is extremely difficult to design rigorous and relevant controls.

One example of this phenomenon can be seen in a study that tested if meditation helps reduce stress. The researchers (Creswell et al., 2014, Psychoneuroendocrinology, 4: pp.1-12) compared stress levels of subjects who, after their meditation, took a standard task assessment (the Trier Stress Protocol), designed to be difficult enough to induce high stress. These were compared to similar subjects who took the same test but without the pre-test meditation.

The study design was superior to most similar research in that selection bias was controlled for, as well as having the controls undertaking similar learning processes to the group being taught meditation, except without the meditation component. They also had an objective control for the typical subjective questionnaire, by drawing a blood sample and measuring cortisol levels (a hormone that is elevated in stressful situations).

The results were surprising. The subjective questionnaire results showed that the meditating subjects had a perception of significantly reduced levels of stress after the stressful task that followed meditation, when compared to the control participants, as was expected. But their cortisol levels were actually significantly higher than in the controls! While the mediators FELT that they were less stressed, their levels of stress were actually higher!

Until a practitioner can distinguish actual sensations of qi circulation from imaginary ones, relying on subjective feelings of qi is probably not useful. However, once a practitioner can reliably perceive their qi, then increases or decreases would provide feedback into the quality of their practice.

BEGINNERS:

While self-assessments of qi levels are unreliable, there are numerous physical principles that are easy to observe and can be used for feedback. Correct understanding and application of physical principles will aid in increasing the feelings of qi circulation; but since the physical principles are easier to detect, they may be better for feedback in beginners than the potentially unreliable feelings of qi.

Various physical and postural principles are taught while students are learning solo forms, and physical corrections to postures are common long after students complete a form. The feedback from a teacher is valuable, but if students learn and understand the principles, then they can self-correct many errors by checking themselves in a mirror. These physical/postural principles are typically noticeable to students, if they know what to look for.

UNDERSTANDING ONESELF:

The individual physical principles that are learned in Taijiquan cannot all be focused on simultaneously. At best we can focus on one or two at a time (see my earlier article on multitasking), switching from one to another during different practice periods.

Knowing Without feedback, how do we know how and when we improve? Many sports have measurable criteria for detecting improvements , and these can be used as one form of feedback that can help athletes improve. oneself involves synthesizing the various individual components into one whole. It is like the difference between a spider making individual threads of a web, and the completed web where the spider can sit in the center and be able to sense the entire web simultaneously. Understanding ourselves is the stage where we achieve wholeness or oneness, rather than having to think about individual pieces.

At this stage, physical corrections may become too subtle to detect visually, so another method of receiving feedback becomes necessary. For those who can now reliably sense their qi flow, this can be used for feedback. Like an undisturbed spider web, one should feel correct and be comfortably aligned. When the “web” is disturbed by errors, then ones attention should be directed to the problem area.

Since this stage relies on self-evaluation, one’s ego can interfere with making objective evaluations of one’s abilities. It is human nature to think we are better than we really are. Often, postural habits feel comfortable, but these could contain errors that one may not be aware of. “Comfortable” does not necessarily mean correct, and one must be objective in evaluating whether or not one is actually incorporating proper Taijiquan postural and energetic principles. Care should be taken since incorrect habits can often feel more comfortable than correct practice.

To obtain more objective feedback, one can focus on interactive work, where a training partner or opponent provides challenges to ones posture and movement.

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There are several ways that peripheral visual awareness is trained in Taijiquan (太極拳). For example, during push-hands (推手 tui shou) and fighting practice, schools often teach a “soft focus” on the partner or opponent’s chest. Some schools practice keeping their nose vertically above their navel, avoiding turning their heads during solo forms practice, but keeping awareness of the movements of their hands and feet; other schools turn their heads while having their eyes softly follow the direction of their lead hand. Some direct their gaze to the horizon.

In both solo and interactive practices, we want to train to have a “wide-angle” vision such that we have awareness of the whole body, from the hands to the feet.  The “binocular” vision of humans is good for focusing both eyes on an object, enabling accurate depth perception, but sacrifices peripheral awareness. Our eyes are not as wide set as in prey species, like rabbits, where safety requires a wide visual awareness so that predators do not sneak up on them.

While humans are not capable of seeing behind us (rabbits can see almost 360° horizontally), we should be able to have visual awareness of about 180-200° horizontally and 125-135° vertically. About 60-70° of the horizontal visual field does not have binocular vision since only one eye can see those parts of the field. Our field of view narrows considerably when we focus intently on a single object, the so called “tunnel vision.”

A 1996 article by Steve Gallop, O.D. (J. Behavioral Optometry, 7(6):151-155) presents a case for the importance of human peripheral visual awareness, and I will extensively use information from it for this article. He gives the following definition: “Peripheral visual awareness will be considered as the ability to be cognizant of, though not distracted by, a significant amount of space/time volume relative to the particular setting and task at hand.”

More simply, peripheral vision is what we can see “at a glance,” or everything we see that we are not looking at directly. It can be viewed as being like a spider in the center of its web, sensing the entire web without focusing directly on any specific place until something touches the web.

The ability to have a wide field of visual awareness, without becoming distracted, is something that needs practice. We want to avoid tunnel vision or being overly focused on a primary detail. If we are paying too much attention to a partner/opponent’s hands, for example, we may miss knowing when they threaten us with a kick, or noticing when they are preparing to take a step.

Gallop states that “…it is the nature of our culture that emphasis is placed on the small details, not the big picture; on outcome, not process; on stasis, not change. Central/foveal vision is about static details and outcomes. Peripheral vision is about movement and process, and it is involved with detecting and understanding the big picture – the context and changes in our environment. It represents the bulk of what our world demands that we process visually.” This information on peripheral vision fits well with Taijiquan’s emphasis on change and movement.

Central vision and hard focus are more about reaching out for information, whereas peripheral vision and soft focus are more about receiving information, letting information come to us. This receptiveness should be accompanied by alert awareness since we do not want to reach the stage where we lose interest (“zone out”); we should be aware of when we stop letting new information in.

When we practice from-contact interactions in Taijiquan, we lessen the need for vision to be the dominant information gatherer; we now get much of our information from the sense of touch (e.g., mechanoreceptors and proprioceptors) which often becomes primary. This allows us to relax and soften the eyes, and allow our peripheral vision to increase in importance. Rather than focusing on one or two things, soft focus allows us to take in more information.

Gallop states “It is well accepted that 20% of the fibers that make up the optic nerve go directly to the so-called lower (postural) centers in the brain rather than to visual centers, as do the other 80%. However, those 20% represent up to 80% of the area of the retina – the peripheral retina. Apparently a large amount of visual information has little to do with ‘seeing’ per se, but very much to do with being.”

Peripheral vision helps aid balance; those who have tried performing their solo forms while keeping their eyes closed will realize this. While the inner ear’s vestibular system is more critical for our sense of balance, vision does play a part. Peripheral vision is what places us into the context of our surroundings, a sense of orientation and our relationship with gravity, and this may be why balance can be affected when we move with closed eyes, although the inner ear will quickly compensate with practice.

While wide angle awareness may have evolutionary importance in protecting us from danger, modern society has trained many people to limit our visual capabilities. Gallop states: “We are typically taught early in school that we must block out all distractions and concentrate entirely on the task at hand. We quickly learn to narrow our focus to a small volume of space/time in order to carry out our required duties. This type of behavior is not innate and, in fact, requires considerable effort to achieve. Nonetheless, with repetition this becomes an automatic behavior, one that is likely to manifest any time we are engaged in some demanding task…”

As martial artists, we need to practice to overcome this behavior that has become automatic for many of us. We need to practice having a soft focus, a wide angle vision. As an optometrist, Gallop found that “While it is not at all a simple matter to maintain optimal peripheral awareness at all times, it is surprisingly easy to enhance this function enough to make a meaningful difference in overall visual performance.

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I haven’t been training in Chen Old Frame for very long, so when I had the opportunity to train with a Chen Master (Chen Bing) I knew that this would be the opportunity of a lifetime. My taiji instructor, the senior students, and I attended a seminar at Master Ling’s Oriental Martial Arts, in Noblesville, Indiana, on June 2-4. Dr. Zhichao Ling was a gracious host with a beautiful school. He helped to teach the lessons that Master Bing was instructing us on.

The first lesson was on a short 13 form Chen form. With each lesson, from form to push hands, to silk reeling exercises, he instructed us with such a calm, demeanor. “Enjoy breathing” he would tell us, reminding us that breathing is one of the first, and most important lessons. I also learned that breathing was an often neglected lesson. As fellow tai chi practitioners, as well as martial artists, I am certain that many of you have had lessons in appropriate breathing technique. Even though the 13 form isn’t very long, it is still a complex form. My tai chi training group is still working on it. The form work was followed by silk reeling, an art form that helps to refine one’s movements. It was during this time where I felt as if I was moving through water. The deceptively simplistic movement of silk reeling exercises grew to be complex the more we trained in it. Working for hours on tai chi form and silk reeling exercises, tired the arms, which made them heavy. Making the arms “heavy” was an excellent tactic for pushing hands (the training that we did on the last day of the seminar).

The latter portion of the seminar dealt with practical applications and pushing hands. Using silk reeling in pushing hands and seeing how the form work, breathing exercises, and silk reeling translated quite seamlessly into the martial application (fending off opponents, upsetting the balance of those with whom we are training with in pushing hands techniques, etc.) was quite an enlightening learning experience. Of course, my taiji group was quite fascinated with the applications portion of the seminar. We were often seen throwing each other to the ground, and getting back up trying the maneuver again.

For me, I saw this as a different teaching style. The form work was done standing the entire hour, with lots of repetition. Master Chen Bing spoke with a calm, almost hypnotic, voice. The way he drew out the word “Relax”, almost lulled me into a meditative trance. On many occasions, we heard the loud slap of the collective group dropping our hands to our sides, letting them slap along our thighs. And once our arms got heavy, we would work on the form again. Constantly, he referred to having “heavy hands”. It was quite interesting to see him use those “heavy hands” in application. Sinking the body and applying the “heavy hands” could be used as a strike or a throw. Seeing what we learned on day one (form and silk reeling) being used on day two (martial applications and pushing hands) taught me that even the smallest of movements and seemingly innocuous of hand/arm positions, can be very crucial in self-defense techniques.

Since the seminar, I find myself working a lot with the 13 forms and silk reeling. I also find myself using the “heavy hands” techniques that I learned during this seminar to relax and warm up. One of the most important take-aways from any seminar would be to continue to practice. Otherwise, you risk losing the wealth of knowledge that is gained at events such as this.

As with any seminar, the training that one receives at an event such as this can only be effective if the lessons are practiced afterwards. My colleagues and I have used many of the lessons that we have learned in our continued training together. I know that I still train in the Chen 13 form on my own. I also have been helping out with a children’s taiji class where we the young students are learning this form. The silk reeling and pushing hands techniques that we have worked with are still a part of my training and the taiji group that I am a part of.

 

I have learned a lot from Master Chen Bing and Dr. Zhichao Ling. The session has taught me that there are many different components to the internal martial arts (and taiji in particular). Just like any other martial art, it is important to understand how your body works with the art instead of trying to bend to the art (or vice versa). One just needs to be receptive to the teachings and open to the experience of the training and it will enhance you as a martial artist and even as a person.

Taijiquan (太極拳) strives to train fighting skills that don’t rely on “inherent natural abilities” like strength and speed, as indicated in the classic attributed to Yang Banhou (楊班侯) [translated by Paul Brennan]:

“There are many other schools of martial arts besides this one. Although the postures are different between them, they generally do not go beyond the strong bullying the weak and the slow yielding to the fast. The strong beating the weak and the slow submitting to the fast are both a matter of inherent natural ability and bear no relation to skill that is learned. Examine the phrase ‘four ounces moves a thousand pounds’, which is clearly not a victory obtained through strength. Or consider the sight of an old man repelling a group, which could not come from an aggressive speed.”

The concept of “four ounces moves a thousand pounds” indicates that size differences should not matter for someone skilled in the art of Taijiquan. Zheng Manqing/Cheng Manching (郑曼青) explains this principle using the analogy of leading a cow by using a cord passing through its nose: http://www.rockymountaintaichi.com/zmq-13-13-12

Although we don’t interact with training partners and opponents using body parts analogous to a cow’s sensitive nose, the analogy does emphasize the quality of leading a large or powerful partner/opponent without using much effort. But how do we translate this principle into practice?

What skills do we learn that would allow us to control someone larger and heavier (more massive) than us? Since F=ma (Newton’s second law of motion), it is clear that mass (“m”) does increase force (“F”), as does speed (or acceleration “a”). Even though a larger (or faster) person may generate greater force, how do we minimize the effectiveness or impact of that force when used against our training?

The analogy of leading (牽 qian) the cow requires the rope to connect the person with the nose of the cow. Without that connection, the cow is free to act independently from the person. In order to lead a large force, we need to maintain our connection to that force. One also does not bang into the cow’s nose, nor does one suddenly jerk on the rope; to lead the force of a partner/opponent, one cannot crash into nor separate from them.

We train to control a partner/opponent through contact. This is an important difference from most striking arts. Striking arts often bounce into and out of range, trying to keep a safe distance except when closing to strike. In Taijiquan it is important to stick and adhere, connect and follow (粘黏連隨 zhan nian lian sui) and to avoid crashing against or separating from them (顶匾丢抗 ding bian dui kang).

Ideally, we want to be able to strike, throw, lock, etc. from contact, which can require power to be expressed with very little or no windup and in a very short distance. This power generation is different than is typically seen in striking arts, which commonly use windups and longer distances to generate the acceleration that increases the strike’s power.

Our typical strategy is to gain control of the partner/opponent, through our contact with them, prior to striking them. If their stability is compromised, then it is difficult for them to defend against our attacks, or to counterattack. Furthermore, the power that can be released by an unstable partner/opponent is typically significantly lessened compared to when they are stable.

Striking arts commonly use avoidance, bobbing and weaving, covering, or retreating out of range, sometimes entering a clinch to get inside the opponent’s ideal striking range, etc. Taijiquan includes a different strategy that is closer to the idea of rolling with the punches; but instead of it being merely defensive in intent, we try to use this contact for controlling the partner/opponent and setting up counterattacks.

Rolling with the punches can be like a matador leading a powerful bull off target. One leads the partner/opponent to exert their power where they think a target is, but the “target” being insubstantial, like the matador’s cape. This is referred to as leading into emptiness (空 kong). One can also lead into emptiness by moving offline of the attack, or by guiding (leading) the attack off-target. If an attack fails to impact a target, then it does not matter how big its force is. When missing, their momentum makes them susceptible to counterattacks.

The acceleration used for typical strikes produces momentum, the direction of which is often difficult to change freely, smoothly or quickly. It is the partner/opponent’s momentum that we can train to take advantage of. If they commit energy in a particular direction, then we may be able to use their intent to lead them astray and to set up counterattacks.

When making the partner/opponent’s power miss, it is best to use the minimal amount of force that is sufficient to succeed (i.e, “four ounces” [四兩 si liang]). As Zheng Manqing points out in his article, using too much force when leading (being excessively heavy) often results in the partner/opponent feeling that force, and changing in response. If their change stops their momentum, then it is more difficult to take advantage of their movements.

In order to make a partner/opponent’s technique miss, we need to sense (聽勁 tingjin, listening energy) and understand (懂勁 dongjin) their energy and intent. We can learn more about a partner/opponent when in contact with them than we can just from looking at them. If we remain resilient and avoid stiffening up when we contact them, we can use our mechanoreceptors (sensors that respond to pressure) and proprioceptors (sensors that provide information about joint angle, muscle length, and muscle tension) to sense changes at the point of contact. With training, this information can be understood and used to control the partner/opponent.

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The article “Language” is reprinted on Slanted Flying website with the permission of the author Sam Langley from his personal Blog.

The word ‘Relax’ is a pleasing one and I’ve yet to find a better word to replace it.
It is, perhaps though, problematic. We’re all it seems used to doing and not terribly adept at not doing.
When you tell someone to relax it implies that there is something to do.
How do you force relaxation? I don’t think you can.

Now you could accuse me of pedantry but I think that the language we use is very important
in shaping our reality.
The words we use habitually effect the way we think, feel and experience the world.
I used to work as a hypnotherapist and have seen how people’s use of language can have a powerful impact both on themselves and others.

In China they use the word ‘Song’ to describe the desirable body state required in Tai Chi.
Roughly translated it means loosened. The term ‘song’ is based on a character for ‘long hair that hangs down’.
To me this doesn’t seem to have the same meaning as relaxed.
When you’re slumped on the sofa watching TV you’re probably relaxed but that’s definitely
not the same feeling we’re trying to cultivate in Tai Chi.

Obviously you can’t think your way into getting the right feeling.
With practice you hopefully develop an awareness of tension and are increasingly able
to ‘Let go’ of it.

So maybe I should tell my students to ‘let go of tension’ instead of relax……but it doesn’t roll off the tongue as well and isn’t quite so relaxing to the ear.

Fancy learning Tai Chi in Bristol? Sam teaches regular classes and courses suitable for everyone.

Many martial art styles, as well as sports, primarily use speed to generate force (“F”), and therefore emphasize the “a” (acceleration) component of the F=ma equation (Newton’s second law of motion). While acceleration is also used in Taijiquan (太極拳), there is an emphasis on using a unified (whole-body) structure, therefore emphasizing the “m” (mass) component in F=ma.

Our goal should be to maximize the effective mass by recruiting the entire body into our techniques. This unified body is reflected in the saying from the Taijiquan classics that “if one part moves, every part moves, and if one part is still, every part is still.”

While someone can be very strong or very fast, if they are using primarily their arm to generate their force then they are mainly using the mass of their arm rather than the mass of their entire body. Training allows one to increase the effective mass (and the corresponding force that is produced) by recruiting more of the body into the techniques.

In martial arts, force primarily from acceleration can be illustrated by the spinning back fist, which combines spinning the body with whipping the arm. Force primarily from structure/mass can be illustrated by the “one-inch punch” (寸勁 cun jin) which combines the mass of various body parts (whole-body power) to generate the force with minimal body movement.

Taijiquan primarily practices to control training partners or opponents from mid-range contact, rather than attacking from non-contact like striking arts typically do. When not in contact, many things can be done to help generate acceleration (therefore increasing the force of ones strike) that cannot be done against resistance as is often encountered during contact. As long as one has good alignment upon contact, weak alignments while accelerating may not be problematic.

One could say that Taijiquan practices to be properly aligned against resistance even while moving and even when the direction(s) of the resistance changes. This results in a unified structure that is ready to maximize ones mass at all times. Acceleration is primarily generated by moving the unified structure (mass) by shifting ones weight (or stepping), and/or by rotating to advance one side of the body, without compromising (or breaking) the unified structure.

Acceleration used to generate force can be illustrated by sports like baseball and American football where movements of the legs and body are added to the motion of the arm (a “kinetic chain”), which is then transmitted to the ball, generating the ball’s speed when released. Here the weight of the ball produces only a slight resistance to the thrower’s arm.

A heavier ball is difficult to throw in the same manner, which is why the mechanics of a shot put throw are different from throwing a baseball. Shot put uses acceleration generated by spinning the entire body around while holding the shot at a fixed location at the athlete’s neck, and finishing with pushing the ball away.

Whereas a baseball player’s throwing motion can go behind the torso due to the relative lightness of the ball, a shot is too heavy to allow this same arm motion, which would likely strain or injure the thrower, and the shot would travel a shorter distance, than one thrown conventionally.

Each joint has a peak angle where it is strongest, and the shoulder is not strong when the arm is behind the torso. But the minimal weight of a baseball allows one to swing the arm through the weak angles in order to increase the distance that the arm accelerates through, and allows greater acceleration to be transmitted to the ball. The following article includes information on peak joint angles, optimal muscle fiber length, etc.:
https://www.strengthandconditioningresearch.com/perspectives/stronger-joint-angles/

Resistance from a partner/opponent’s contact can often easily disrupt acceleration, especially when joint angles are weak. For example, if a quarterback’s arm is touched during the throwing motion, the arm’s motion is easily disrupted and the throw is easily affected. This is what can happen to potential martial attacks that rely on acceleration to generate force; when one is in contact with a partner/opponent the attack can be “jammed” or “jostled” which prevents the power/force from being able to build or to be effectively released.

When in contact with an opponent, Taijiquan can use techniques like covering (敷 fu), blanketing (盖 gai) and intercepting (對 dui) to disrupt the opponent’s ability to accelerate, and therefore inhibit their ability to generate force.

Another potential problem with generating force by relying on acceleration is that the resulting momentum is often difficult to change. After force using momentum is issued, it can be countered by “swallowing” (吞 tun), a type of “leading (牽 qian) into emptiness (空 kong).” With Taijiquan we want to maintain our changeability even when attacking, and therefore we try to generate power in a manner that reduces continuing momentum.

The four terms above (fu, gai, dui and tun) are the “Four Word Secret Formula” (四字秘訣 Si Zi Mi Jue) given by Wu Yuxiang (武禹襄). Zhang Yun (张云) gives a translation with explanations and examples of the four words in the following article:
http://www.ycgf.org/Articles/Qi-In_TJQ/Qi-in-TJQ1.html

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