ChiDragon

Chapter 16 1. Reaching vacuousness to its extremity, 2. Maintaining stillness ultimately. 3. All things are being vitalized, 4. I observed that they are reciprocating. 5. Therefore, all things are flourishing, 6. Each returns to its root, 7. Returns to its root means stillness. 8. Stillness means returns to its essential. 9. Returns to essential is called the basic routine. 10.Knowing the routine is called comprehension. 11.Not knowing the basic routine, 12.Will act rashly become chaotic. 13.Knowing the basic routine is encompassing. 14.Encompassing is justice. 15.Justice is wholeness. 16.Wholeness is natural. 17.Natural is Tao. 18.Tao is eternal. 19.Thus, the whole lifespan will be in no danger. 1. 致 虛 極 2. 守 靜 篤 。 3. 萬 物 並 作 ， 4. 吾 以 觀 復 。 5. 夫 物 芸 芸 6. 各 復 歸 其 根 。 7. 歸 根 曰 靜 ， 8. 是 謂 復 命 ； 9. 復 命 曰 常 ， 10. 知 常 曰 明 。 11. 不 知 常 ， 12.妄 作 凶 。 13.知 常 容 ， 14.容 乃 公 ， 15.公 乃 全 ， 16.全 乃 天 ， 17.天 乃 道 ， 18.道 乃 久 ， 19.沒 身 不 殆 。

Interesting point 4 --- The Importance of Breathing. The application for the ultimate breathing method is a lot different from the regular practice. During practice, one can inhale and exhale anytime. However, in a combat situation, one would like to inhale as long as one can and exhale very slowly. Video-1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZf4taeqht0 Let's look at each round, from the beginning to the end, Master Chen had his mouth closed at all times while Long is opening his mouth yelling and screaming. Indeed, both are doing the opposite of each other. Master Chen was using the best breathing method while Long was using the worse. The kind of breathing method was used by each person is very significant to determine the outcome of the match. Inhalation in breathing is to provide a source of oxygen to generate the body energy. Therefore, one would like to breathe as much oxygen as possible in one inhalation. Then the oxygen shall be retained inside the lungs as long as possible. However, breathing involves inhalation and exhalation. Inhalation is to breathe deeply; but a special technique for exhalation is need to retain the oxygen for a duration of time. Here is the special technique for retaining the Chi(in terms of oxygen) inside the lungs after one deep inhalation. It may be difficult to describe for one to understand but I'll try. With the mouth closed at all times, using the reverse breathing method and take one deep inhalation, one should feel a compression in the trachea. The compression was due the reverse breathing and inhalation. Try to circulate the Chi up and down in the trachea but do not try to hold the breath. While the Chi was being circulated, release a small amount of air through the nostrils in one short burst then go back to compress the Chi again in the trachea. The reason for one not to hold the breath because it will cut off the oxygen being supplied to the head and the face will be turned red due to suffocation. When holding the breath, one will feel that the Chi was compressed downward instead of circulating. As long there was oxygen in the lungs, the heart will be able to deliver the oxygenated blood to the body cells. Hence, the cell respiration process will continue to manufacture the biochemical energy ATP. In Long's case, each time when he yell and scream that will cause him to exhale and the manufacturing process of ATP ceases. Under this condition, it will make him the weakest at the time and most vulnerable for Master Chen to push him back. Let's look at 9:00 in Round 2, Long was yelling and screaming, Master Chen had taken the advantage of that and regain his position in the Yin-yang circle.

Yes, "formless" is only a philosophical concept from a Taoist point of view. What that all come to was the self discipline in cultivation for self poise which is a big challenge skill to endure something that others cannot endure. The best part of the endurance was no harm done at all to the Taoist cultivator....

Interesting point 3 --The Internal Art......Neigong(內功) Yes, let's talking about internal arts. It is time to look closely inside Chen Xioawang's body to see how he mastered his internal arts. So far, we know Master Chen has to maintain his resisting force of 150 pound by generating his Jin constantly. Thus he knew that, at the time, once his Jin was collapsed then he will be pushed out of the Yin-yang circle immediately. What is the worse case that will cause his Jin to be collapsed...??? From his internal arts skill, he knew darn well that he must not release his chi (in terms of oxygen) from the dan tian during the one-minute strength match. Finally, this will give us a chance to go into breathing which is Chi Kung, the ultimate method of breathing. Chi Kung is the prerequisite for neigong(internal arts). Neigong is a method to control the body internally to prolong the body strength for a persistent duration. In the case of Master Chen, in order for him to prolong his body strength, he requires a constant source of energy to generate his Jin continuously. He knew that he must not exhale completely for one minute. How can he do that...??? There is the real ultimate breathing skill from Chi Kung practice. First of all, he must use the reverse breathing method then compress his breath rather than holding the breath. What was that all mean in terms of modern science....??? In order for Master Chen to keep up with his body strength, he needs a constant supply of oxygen for the mitochondria in his body cells to manufacture ATP. "Constant" means that he cannot exhale his breath completely because his ATP energy will collapse as soon he does that. Thus he must exhale slowly to release the carbon dioxide while keeping the oxygen inside. PS.... The effect of the reverse breathing and compressing the chi inside the lungs will be discussed to show how it was done in the next post.

You are right to say that I am a Philosophical Taoist and a "Laoist". BTW did you know that the ideas of the philosophical Taoist was all from Lao Tze's patented idea of Wu Wei, so to speak......???

I am glad that someone understand the same way as I understood Wu Wei. Let's continue with our Wu Wei......

I knew something about frequency modulation(FM) too. I don't think that was how it works. I hope the FM radio operators do not read about this. PS..... Since this thread is parallel to the other one, I am just wondering is this thread related to Tai Ji Chuan or how to obtain an amateur radio operator license.....???

Interesting point 2 ---The most power stance. In the strength match, Master Chen was not just took the most ultimate strength test against the strongest man in Asia and Chines. He also took the upmost test of his Zhan Zhuang practice. Please notice that he was not standing on the ground with friction but he is standing on a frictionless mat. The slippage on the mat will make it much harder for him to anchor himself in place. Another words, he must exert extra Jin in his leg muscles. How did Master Chen make changes to his strength so quickly. The key in on his right foot. Please notice when Long moved his whole body to a different position, Mater Chen only moved his right foot pointing at the direction where Long had just moved. This is a very effective way to resist a force from the pushing direction. Another thing we should have noticed that the Master was using the most power stance to go against a pushing force. The stance was called the "Bow and Arrow Stance" with the bent leg in front and the straight leg in the back. The reason it was called as such is very obvious because that is the most effective way to shoot an arrow with a bow. BTW At this position of the stance, the bent right leg was considered to be the "bow" and the straightened left leg was considered to be the "arrow". The stance allow one to rest the body weight was right lower leg. The left leg was used as a supporting beam for the whole body, in a diagonal position, against a pushing force.

Here is one noticeable point that was interesting to see. In video-2, Master Chen talks about the importance of to have the chi in the dan tian, at all times, because dan tian is the most vulnerable spot in the body to anybody. Therefore, when one is in a strength match, the worse thing was to have the opponent attack one's weakest spot. In Video-1, let's look, at 3:50, and see what Master Chen was doing to his opponent. While his opponent was perspiring, Chen was using his Jin to strike the right hip of his opponent three times. Please note that, every time, his opponent got hit at the vulnerable area, his body jumps up a bit. What is happening was that his looses his chi in the dan tian which makes him the weakest person at the moment. For a fair competition, one should not use an extra force upon the other.

Since I had concluded this thread, but there are lot more pointers, in the videos, I would like to share with those who are interested. It is very interesting to talk about it by going into the refinements of the martial arts. I think the stance and breathing of the two masters, during the match, are worthwhile to talk about it.

Let's continue and review with the help of the modern science to see how did Master Chen to maintain his body strength against the strong man in Asia and China. So far, the formula for the summation of forces was used to see what Master Chen need to do to maintain the point of contact at zero. F1 = Weight of Long Wu F2 = Weight of Chen Xioawang E = The force to be exerted by Chen to maintain equilibrium F1--------->0<--------F2 + E 350 ------->0<-------200 + 150 The finally conclusion: Chen was using his own tremendous body strength to hold the strongest man in his life. The tremendous body strength was know as Jin(勁) in Tai Ji term. With the help of modern scientific knowledge, it leads us to correlate "Jin" to the scientific term "adenosine triphosphate (ATP)". How do they correlate with each other...??? It was based by a statement made by Chen in Video-2 and the basic biochemical energy formula on muscle contraction: 1. Chen : "The chi must merge with the muscles to Fa Jin." 2. Basic formula: Glucose + Oxygen = Water + C02 + Heat + Energy In comparison, the Chi is analogous to Oxygen and Jin is analogous to Energy(ATP). Since the combination of chi and muscle are require to generate Jin and the muscles do require oxygen to generate the energy, therefore there is a big correlation in the two statements which involve with the muscle movement. The common factor here is the movement of the muscle which is the main criteria with the same ingredients for the energetic process. Therefore, unless otherwise, I have come to a conclusion that Jin(body strength) and ATP(biochemical energy) are correlated to each other as far as Tai Ji Chuan is concern. Note: In the Chinese language, in general, Chi is a gaseous substance. In terms of breathing, it has the meaning of "air" or "breath".

Now let's apply the basic formula to both competitors. 1. Long Wu: Glucose + Oxygen = Water + C02 + Heat + Li(力) Long does not have any Chi Kung experience, his normal body strength(Li) will be depleted as soon as he is out of breath and become fatigue. 2. Chen: Glucose + Chi = Water + C02 + Heat + Jin(勁). In Chen's case, we have to start with the basic formula and see how his normal body was developed to a Tai Ji body. Please note that in his formula, "Chi" was substituted for oxygen to indicate that amount of oxygen intake is much greater than normal due to Chi Kung practice; and "Jin" was substituted for energy to indicate the his energy level or body strength is much greater than few decades ago. Initially, Chen's body was just like a normal person. The muscles in the body is getting to be firmer and the energy level is higher after decades of practicing Tai Ji Chuan. What so unique about Tai Ji that will strengthen the muscles in the body...??? It is the slowness of the movements which slowly work into the muscles causing the muscles to become firmer slowly. At the same time, breathing was done spontaneously to increase the oxygen intake progressively. At the beginning of Tai Ji practice, besides, the arms and legs were moving slowly; but it was also told to bent them slightly. Without realizing that the muscles were contracted slightly due to the bending movements. The slight contraction will cause the muscles to manufacture ATP energy which required for the actual muscle contraction. Since the body cells are manufacturing the ATP, there will be a demand for more supply of oxygen. The respiratory system will be activated to breathe more air into the lungs. The process will take place constantly if the practice continues and the breathing will be deeper and deeper. The breath will go down deep into the dan tian so to speak by the ancients. This is the hidden Chi Kung part in Tai Ji Chuan. That is why Tai Ji Chuan was considered to be a form of Chi Kung(see note). Most importantly, the energy level was increased in the body due to the practice. The body will function and fine tune itself to the ultimate state of homeostasis. Initially, the number of mitochondria in the muscles were lower. The body strength Li was not as much. Since Master Chen Xiaowang have a long period of practice, the number of mitochondria have been increased tremendously in his muscles. His Li will be tremendous when he contract his muscles. Remember I said in the earlier post, a large amount of Li was considered to be Jin. Indeed, right now, Mater Chen has a tremendous numbers of mitochondria in all his muscles. Therefore, when he contract any muscle in his body to exert his body strength, the Li will be considered to be Jin. Can one imaging that when he contract all the muscles in his body, do you know how much Jin can he be generated to resist any pushing force against him. Finally, he was able to withstand the extra 150 pound pushing force by Long Wu. Note: By the Chinese definition, Chi Kung is to enhance the breathing habit for the respiratory system. Therefore, Chi Kung was considered to be the ultimate method of breathing. PS... If you have any comments, please do not hesitate to post them. Thank you very much.

The explanation of the basic formula of cell respiration. Basic formula: Glucose + Oxygen = Water + C02 + Heat + Energy ATP formula: Glucose + Oxygen = Water + C02 + Heat + ATP In the basic formula, the left hand side tells us that we must eat and breath in order to have energy to burn. The glucose was acquired from eating; and the oxygen was from breathing. In the right hand side, it was the chemical reaction taken place after the glucose was decomposed by the oxygen. The water and Carbon dioxide are the waste products resulted from the body cells. During the muscle contraction, heat was generated as our body heat; and mostly importantly, the ATP energy was generated for the lungs to breath, the heart to pump, the action potential from the brain to send message through the central nervous system and etc. Overall, the ATP is the vital energy for the whole body to function. The more energy the body is much healthier and the body has quicker response. If the oxygen on the left hand side of the formula was decreased by a short of breath, then the heat and energy on the right hand side will be decreased. The lactic acid level will be increased in the body to cause the muscles to fatigue due to hypoxia(lack of oxygen) . If the condition of hypoxia occurs in the body for a long time, then chronic diseases will cause the body to deteriorate due to the low level of the biochemical energy(ATP). In the worse case, death may result if the body was either lack of food or oxygen. The ATP are constantly generated. If they were not used, then they will be gone in few seconds until the next inhalation to provide more oxygen to produce more.

Now we have the physics aspect out of the way. It is time to going into the physiologically aspect. Chen Xiaowang became a Tai Ji master was not because that he knew the Chen style Tai Ji Quan but rather he practiced for years. The practice transformed his ordinary body to a Tai Ji body. What is a Tai Ji body...??? A Tai Ji body is a body with lots of muscle tone throughout the whole body. What muscle tone does was to generate the body strength when the muscles contract. The more the muscles contract the more the body strength which can be generated. Why? That is how the muscles work physiologically. Without the western modern science, then I wouldn't have found out what Tai Ji is all about. What so unique about practicing Tai Ji Chuan...??? Well, the unique thing about it was to do the movements very slowly at the beginning to build up the muscle tone as the first level. At the second level, the movements can be done much faster because the muscle tone can help to generate more body energy for a quicker reaction. In order to see the advantage of having lots of muscle tone, we need to know what was happening when the muscles contract physiologically. In addition, most importantly, we must not forget about breathing. First of all, let's use some Tai Ji terms and see how they are correlated with the modern scientific terms. There is a very famous common term used throughout the martial arts industry. The term is 氣沈丹田(sink chi to the dan tian). The translation is to send all the breath down to the abdomen but not the energy as misunderstood by many. The 氣(chi ) means breath. The reason the Chinese said this phrase in such way was because when one takes a deep breath, the abdomen expands outward. In the ancient time, without any modern science knowledge, the Chinese though all the breaths were going down to the abdomen. Hence, this idea has been passed down through centuries. With the help modern science, we know damn well that when we breathe the oxygen goes into the lungs but not the abdomen; and the blood pumped by the heart will gone into the lungs to collect the oxygen. I will change you thinking a little bit by switching the "chi" as the "oxygen" for simple explanation. I also wanted to correlate with Master Chen's statement in Video-2: "The chi must merge with the muscles to Fa Jin." There is a physiological effect in the muscles when they under contraction. The muscle generates a biochemical energy called ATP. The ATP energy is the energy which help the body to function internally as well externally. When we lift up something, the ATP is the energy in our muscles which help us to do the mechanical work. I will not go into the science of the ATP due to the microscopic aspect of it and it is very time consuming. However, I will go over how the ATP was generated. The muscles are composed by many body cells. Inside the body cells there lots of mitochondria which generates the ATP energy. The process in generating the ATP was called the cell respiration. The reason it contains the word respiration was because each body cell require oxygen in the process of generating the ATP. There is a simple basic formula to represent the ATP generating process. Basic formula: Glucose + Oxygen = Water + C02 + Heat + Energy ATP formula: Glucose + Oxygen = Water + C02 + Heat + ATP If I correlate the basic formula in terms of a normal body and Tai Ji body, I'll get: 1. Normal body: Glucose + Oxygen = Water + C02 + Heat + Li(力) 2. Tai Ji Body: Glucose + Chi = Water + C02 + Heat + Jin(勁) I will go over each formula separately for clarity. Thanks.

Nacken.... There is a difference between Jin(勁) and Jing(精). Here is what I think. If body A was absorbed the energy from body B, then body A would have to be moved away. In the point of interest here, two people are in contact with each other and using human strength. Where Kinetic energy involves in mass and acceleration(E = m x a square). There was no acceleration involve here. Thus I don't think that the potential and kinetic energy were our concern here. In the match, I believe the point of contact should be zero force in order for the two persons not to move. Another words, both persons have to exert a force to cancel each other out. One energy of one cannot be absorbed by the other. Otherwise, one or the other would have had been moved in either direction. That was the reason why I had set the summation formula F = 0. If F = 350 - 200, the final result was 150. Since the pushing force against Master Chen is 150 pound, he would have had been pushed out of the Yin-yang circle already. In order for Master Chen to stay in the circle, he must generate his own energy at least 150 pound to counteract this extra pushing force.

In order for Master Chen to win the match, he must introduce an energy factor, E, into the formula. The energy factor is the force that Master Chen must be generated by his body to counteract Long's body weight to have F=0. Thus we have this new formula: F = F1 - f2 - E 0 = 350 - 200 - E E = 150 pound(needed to be generated by Chen). Master Chen had practiced Tai Ji for years in his family. The Chen style Tai Ji is very unique, they added a little sway in the between the movements. The sway is very good in helping for the body muscles to build the muscle tone in the torso. BTW Long did mention that he saw a big sway made by Master Chen during the match. Anyway, after all the years of practice, Master Chen has a Tai Ji body so to speak. His body is able to generate lots of Jin. Actually, Jin(勁) is nothing but a normal body strength for a Tai Ji practitioner. However, Jin is much greater than the body strength(力, li) of a normal person. From Video-2, Master Chen said that the Chi must be merged with the muscles in order to Fa Jin(to execute Jin). For that being said, it tells us that the Jin is not stored in the body but has to be generated in the muscles. Therefore, the greater the amount of Li can be generated than normal was considered to be the Jin. The next thing to be considered is to see how the Li(力) was generated in the body of a normal person. Using with modern science, the closest thing that I can come across to explain how the body strength was generated is the cell respiration. The cell respiration theory will help me to explain how Master Chen can generate the Jin to counteract the extra 150 pounds to maintain the his stance in place. So, how is Jin(勁) differ from Li(力)...??? I will prove that Jin is nothing but Li; and Jin is only a large quantity of Li.

There is a thread going on right now about Fa Jin in any muscle in the body. Have you ever thought of having the muscle in between the legs to Fa Jin....??? I think this is a very interesting question....

BTW When two masters goes into an ultimate strength match, normally, they do a handshake then both walk away with a smile on their faces. This way, they are the only one knows who won the match in their hearts. Indeed, they respect each other and saving faces too. In this case, it was not just a handshake because the match was between internal and external strength test. Now, let's look at the physics aspect of the strength match of the two masters. In physics, there is a formula for the summation of the forces. F = F1 + F2; with a "-" sign assigned was to indicate it is going in the opposite direction. So, we have a formula for the two masters. F1 = Long Wu f2 = Chen Xiaowang Let's just look at the weight of both masters by this formula: F = F1 - f2 For analytical purposes, let's assume that Long weights 350 pounds and Chen weights 200. F = 350 - 200 F = 150 Therefore, the resultant of the force(+150) is going to the right which is showing that Long's force overcame Chen's force. Mathematically, the formula had shown that Master Chen did not and impossible to win the match. However, the final result had shown physically that Master Chen did win. The requirement of the match was to have Chen to prevent from pushed off the Yin-yang circle by Long Wu. In order for Chen to win the match, he has to change the formula to have F = 0. Chen knows he does not have to push Long farther back but just to exert enough energy to hold himself in his standing position without wasting anymore than he should. Thus he saves himself some energy. He did change the formula, F = 0, for him to win. The question is how did Master Chen holding himself in place to win the match...??? There was a physiological process taken place inside his body which must be explained scientifically.

The philosophy in Taoism was based the idea of "Wu Wei" which is follow the course of Nature and let Nature take its course. Thus the whole Taoist philosophy was evolved around the idea of "Wu Wei'. If you can grasp the meaning of "Wu Wei", then there you have it.

Thank you very much. At the end of the thread, your questions will be answered. The purpose of this thread is to answer this kind of questions scientifically. Please be patient, I cannot say everything all at once. It is better for me to do it sequentially to keep the thoughts in order. Thank you for your interest.

From Video-1 Let's look at Long Wu's position, it is the easiest to analyze. Apparently he is leaning on Chen's shoulder for support. He was lifting up his lower part of the body and moving his legs from left to right. That indicates that Chen is mostly fighting against his body weight plus not too much force exerted by Long. We can look at all three rounds at 5:05, 7:26 and 11:15 to see that Long's waist was not in the vertical position at all times. That is the worse position that a martial artist wants to get into. Since he is loosing control of his breath, his oxygen level was getting lower and the lactate level was building up inside his body. Hence, his body strength was getting weaker and weaker. We can see that he had a little exhaustion at the end of round 1.

What are the advantages and disadvantage of both masters....??? Long Wu(龍武):... Advantages: 1. Good physical structure with great body strength. 2. Taller and wider. Disadvantages: 1. No zhan zhuang experience which means he has no stance for leverage. 2. No Chi Kung experience which means he is lack of breathing experience. Chen Xiaowang(陳小旺): He is a Tai Ji Master which says all. Advantages: 1. He has a good stance to anchor himself to the ground. 2. He holds his vertical to maintain his chi sinking to the dantian to sustain for the generation of Jin. 3. He is shorter which allows him to have his shoulder to go against the chest of the opponent for leverage. 4. He used Chi Kung to sustain his execution of his Jin. Disadvantages: 1. His opponent was using full throttle against him to deplete his Jin which was making him work much harder to win.

Video-1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZf4taeqht0 Now, it is time for the big evaluation. How can a man beat another man with bigger size and taller than him...??? Let's look at their physical appearance and practices to see how can we come to a reasonable conclusion. Long Wu(龍武): 1. Heavy weight set, known as the stronger man in Asia and China. 2. His body is wider than his opponent and also taller. 3. No Ku Fung, neigong nor chi kung experience. 4. He can lift a small automobile at one end and move it laterally to park. 5. He can push a big heavy machinery truck. 6. He claims that use his pushing strength is his expertise. Chen XiaoWang (陳小旺): 1. A, sixty-six year old, descendent of the eleventh generation of the Chen Style Tai Ji family. 2. He says that he is the delegate of the Chen Style Tai Ji Quan family. 3. He uses the most famous method, in the martial arts world, know as 千斤墜(qian1 jin1 chui4) to anchor himself to the ground.

In order to have a better understand of the whole world of the Chinese martial arts, in these dialogues, there are some basic terminologies that we should be familiarized with. Indeed, it will make it easier to explain if we have something in common. These are the terms normally used by normal people and non Tai Ji practitioners. 1. 力(li): strength; natural innate body strength 2. 體力(ti3 li): body strength 3. 用力(yong4 li): use strength 4. 發力(fa li): exert body strength The terms that the Tai Ji practitioners use: 1. 勁(Ji): immense strength acquired from Tai Ji practice 2. 用勁(yong4 li): use Jin 3. 發勁(fa li): execute jin The usage of these terms are very distinctively in the two videos above. Master Chen always use the term "勁(jin)" or "用勁", yong3 jin. However, the strongest man in China, 龍武(Long Wu), had never used the term "勁(Jin)". As a matter of fact, he did not recognize what kind of strength that Chen was using. Indeed, he said that was the first time he had ever encountered an unknown force like that. @Imperial....no problem....

Sorry.....guys This is not within the scope of the thread.....