ChiDragon

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Posts posted by ChiDragon

  1. Posted

    1 hour ago, dwai said:

    let us also clear up what you mean by "internal strength of the muscles." Do you mean to say that muscles have both external and internal strength and that the two are somehow different from each other?

    The trem "internal strength, 內力" was often used by the Chinese kung fu practitioners as the body strength acquired from practice. In other words, internal strength Is acquired from the practice of neigong(內功)。

     

    There is no such thing as external strength.

    • Confused 1

  2. Posted · Edited by ChiDragon

    6 hours ago, dwai said:

    Can you explain the mechanics of Fajin from your perspective?

    Fajin is an ability to exert the intern force from a Taiji body. The reason I said Taiji body is because that Jin was acquired from the practice of Taiji or Taijiquan. BTW Taiji is short for Tiajiquan. 

    Since you said Taiji has nothing to do in developing the internal strength of the muscles, I would like to hear your view why Taiji movements are practiced so slow?  There was a big discrepancy in our view from the other thread.  I would like to have this cleared up if we can. So, your input is very important to discussion. May I please hear it from you?

  3. Posted · Edited by ChiDragon

    5 hours ago, dwai said:

     

    What would be valuable to me is if you could express it in your own words without quoting text


    Certainly, I will do so. I always like to express my view with my own words. It is not my nature to quote somebody else's text and pretend I knew it all and all others are wrong. I like to tell what it is other than say it is not without an good explanation.

    Now, we got this out of the way and start from here. :)

  4. Posted · Edited by ChiDragon

    1 hour ago, dwai said:

    We can see where there might be disagreements (either in the phenomenology or the terminology) and where there is common ground. 

    I think discrepancy is a better choice of word. The phenomenology or the terminology might be differ in name but came from the same origin. I am sure that there is a common ground. 

    • Like 1

  5. Posted · Edited by ChiDragon

    15 minutes ago, dwai said:

    Maybe you can show a demo of how you apply jin?

    I think we should understand what fajin is all about first before we are jumping the gun. We can talk about how to execute fajin first. It would be more meaningful when the demo was done. Don't you think so?

  6. Posted

    5 hours ago, dwai said:

    What I was asking is whether your intention/yi projects through and out of the blade.

    I belive that awareness is different from intention. It wasn't clear to me when you ask the question. However, every move of a weapon has an intention. Otherwise, there is no purpose to make the move.

     

    Since the OP is about fajin, we can talk about how the Jin was projected to the weapon.

  8. Posted · Edited by ChiDragon

    14 hours ago, dwai said:

    Do you move your awareness out through the blade when you do your saber form?

     

    Certainly, awareness is very important in handling weapon in Taiji. Otherwise, I wouldn't know where the blade is going to strike or landed on or where to go for the next move. That is why diligent practice of Taijiquan is a prerequisite before practicing any weapons. The body has to be conditioned to handle the weapons. It is because handling a weapon requires good muscle tone to execute each move. There are many focus points from the arm to the blade. In order to move the blade from start til the end, smoothly, the focus point change constantly.

    The focus points on the blade are in the handle, the middle of the blade, and the tip of the blade. The focus points on the arm are the shoulder, forearm and the wrist. Finally, the waist is the final pivot point to execute the strike with maximum force. However, before all these taken place, the bow stand must be in the right position for balance and grounding. The final execution is by a little twist of the wrist to move the blade to the target.

    If I want to do a slice cut, I will focus on the handle by drawing it back to the rear with the blade at 45 degree with the tip pointing upward. If I want to do a chop, I would focus in the middle of the blade with sharp edge pointing downward and landed horizontally.
    If I want to a stab or a slice someone's throat, I would focus on the tip of the blade. For a maximum force of execution to go for the throat, I will hold the the blade in the air with my right hand. My wrist will hold in one position while the arm is moving toward the target. At the point where is about to strike, I will give a little twist with the wrist while turning my waist.


    I think this is what you mean by move the awareness out through the blade.

    In order to control the direction of the blade, it is very important to have a very strong wrist. The arm must flow with the movements of the sabre. Otherwise, the arm will be fatigue very quick.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBAHRqOtJDQ

     

    • Thanks 1

  10. Posted

    1 hour ago, dwai said:

    If it is a genuine internal taiji system they will progress to the subtle internal power. Of course there are so many who’ve been practicing for decades with no idea how to do this (and many have given up too). These people become vehement and belligerent skeptics


    It is because that they didn't know how to practice properly. It is not very easy for people to grasp the subtlety of Taiji. The internal power will not be developed just by performing the movements. There is a lot more to it than that.

  13. Posted

    44 minutes ago, Cobie said:

     

    工 gong1 - work

    +

    力 li4 - physical strength 
    =
    功 gong1 - achievement 

     

     

    That is correct.
    To be more precise, in martial arts, it is something that was to be acquired, biologically or physically, from a method that requires diligent practice. 

    • Like 2

  15. Posted · Edited by ChiDragon

    @forestofclaritysaid:

    "{Interestingly, I've been "fajined" by at least two people. One felt very physical, both to me and the person performing it. It felt like the person was using leverage and muscular elasticity to "snap" me back into the wall. Earl Grey posted a video some years ago and it was just like that. This person learned it outside of Dwai's school. 

     

    The other felt very energetic, again to both giver and receiver. This one felt like a ball expanding and propelling me up and back into the air (the technique was press, which I thought was a BS move). I do think there is a muscular/physical leverage type of fajin, but there is also something completely different. This person was within Dwai's school. 

     

    I imagine that a well developed practitioner would be able to do both, but it is theoretical to me since I've not really developed much in CIMA past some basic body connecting/leverage using. }"

    ******************************************************************************************************************************

    First of all, I would like thank forestofclarity for seriously interested in the subtlety of fajin 發勁 with enthusiasm. BTW I like your nickname. I sensed the aroma of intellectual and wisdom in it.

     Fajin means exerting(發) an internal force(勁). It is a special technique performed by Taiji practitioners. Fajin, 發勁, is not something that can be learnt from someone or in a seminar. Jin, 勁 has to be acquired from the diligent practice of Taiji for years, in order, to develop in the muscles. The regular muscle strength is called li(力) before the Jin was developed in the body muscles. What Taiji does is to enhance the li to become jin, so to speak. Thus jin(勁) is much more immense than li(力). In western term, I think we can related as muscle tone.

    To fajin is not just simply raise the hands to push somebody. It takes a special technique to execute jin only understood by the experienced practitioner. I will keep it as a mystery for now. It was explained how to do it in some videos if one really pay close attention to it.

    I am glad to answer any question if it is needed to be asked. You are welcome!

    How does jin developed in the muscle can be explained scientifically. It has something to do with the cell respiration. However, most people I talked to don't care how Taiji works but only care that it works.

  16. Posted

    11 minutes ago, forestofclarity said:

    I imagine that a well developed practitioner would be able to do both, but it is theoretical to me since I've not really developed much in CIMA past some basic body connecting/leverage using.

    It seems you are interested in fajin with enthusiasm. Let's not spam the OP here. I will forward your valuable comments to a new thread and go from there. Thank you.

  23. Posted

    On 8/29/2024 at 8:51 AM, parsival said:

     I do a half hour of focusing on the breath in the nose, .and midday i do about a half hour of zazen.

    My suggestion is that you should do breathing, at the same time, while doing Zazen.

    • Haha 1

  24. Posted

    1 minute ago, dwai said:

    Er, that’s what I was saying - it is Jin, not muscular strength. 

    Yes, and Jin has nothing to do with muscular strength or conditioning etc. 


    If that is what you believe, it is fine. According to my native source, that is what it is all about. Peace!

    • Like 1

  25. Posted · Edited by ChiDragon

    8 minutes ago, Antares said:

    Do you have any experience of training in this lineage? I remember may be 10 years ago they held a seminar and wanted approx-ly 5000 $ for 7 days retreat. May be it was very advanced training but... I doubt it.  

    If one thinks that Neidan can just learnt from a seminar, then, it's better to say good bye to your money.

    • Like 1