Hardness in the attacker makes their body brittle.
You can learn to strike and shatter them inside as if they were glass.
It is very terrible.
(Cheng Man Ching)
Force
External, hard
force is what almost every martial art uses in self
defence.
Holding, grabbing, clutching and banging bone against bone are all
manifestations of force.
Anything that goes against the flow of the incoming force is
external - because you
are blocking the natural flow of the movement.
The counterpoint of force is 'jing'
- soft, internal power. Inexperienced
beginners use
force rather than energy.
This is a mistake.
External striking
The difference between internal and
external striking is easy to discern.
An external strike uses locked joints and tense muscles.
It hits the target and then pushes.
External striking is like hitting somebody with a baseball bat or poking them
with the end of a stick.
It is a concentrated use of
force; locking the joints and exerting the
muscles in order to accomplish an outcome.
There is a lot of visible movement taking place in the body.
Internal
striking
An internal strike is unique because it emulates the action of a
whip.
There is no pushing.
Any appearance of hardness is caused by the inertia of the whip being pulled
back upon impact.
The whip itself is soft at all times.
There is no need to lock the joints or tense the muscles. Gravity and
internal strength is used instead.
Most of the work takes place in the centre, the legs and the spine.
The effect
Jing can be seen by a simple
demonstration.
Strike a focus mitt but do not push upon impact.
As soon as you hit the mitt, stop and withdraw the hand.
The effect of your strike should cause the mitt and the arm holding it to
continue moving.
This is different to an external strike, where your aim is to push through
the target.
Internal strength
Internal strength is different to external strength. You never tense
the muscles or lock the joints.
Your limbs feel loose and heavy at all times. They are imbued with internal
strength.
Neigong (internal strength) is
cultivated
by paying attention to
how
an action is undertaken.
Rather than move the body in a 'normal' manner, a whole-body action must be
trained.
Once the new way of moving is familiar, you no longer realise that you are
moving in a contrived manner.
Wave
A student learns how to generate an undulation wave.
This is passed throughout your entire structure, storing and releasing kinetic
energy.
We develop this wave by learning whole-body movement. Every strike involves
every body part moving as one.
It is this rippling action that performs the delivery, rather than local muscle
strength.
Coiling & releasing energy
Imagine
twisting a towel as tightly as you can and then letting go?
The towel will unfurl by itself. Why? Your twisting action stores energy. This
is what opens the towel again.
Tai chi twists and turns the body in order to store and release energy using the
soft tissues of the body.
If your body is loose and dreamy, you will be capable of greater release.
Hard & soft
Tai
chi is a soft martial art, so the body remains soft at all times - you literally
never tense your muscles.
Hard & soft refers to two things:
the energy
the striking tool
You can change the nature of the energy by using
your mind, your
intention.
Hard parts
Most striking tools are hard by nature: fingers, knuckles, palm, elbow, shoulder
and knee.
Bone must not hit bone in tai chi - force never meets force.
To avoid the risk of personal injury you always use a hard part of your body to
strike a soft area on your opponents body.
Striking hardness
If you must strike a hard part of your opponents body, make sure that
your striking tool is soft.
Slaps are more sensible than punches.
Keep your body springy and loose.
When you make contact and feel solidity, withdraw your power immediately
so that no adverse feedback can damage your bones.
Think of the whip flicking out its power.
Jing development
Part
1 of the
intermediate syllabus introduces the
13 postures and you learn the core
jing.
13 postures teaches you how to project energy rather than use brute force.
Moving qigong and the reeling silk exercises also help to train these skills.
Use
form to explore jing.
Every posture is designed to cultivate and express energy.
The experienced syllabus combines the 13 postures in more
sophisticated ways and your repertoire expands.
Page created 3 April 2000