no fajin no taiji

[dwai]

I wanted to chime in here for a bit. If you guys ever get a chance you should head over to rum soaked fists awesome forum. Anyways there was a thread (will look up if I have the time), explaining that the reason the yang's became famous as fighters is because of the gong training they did. It was said that before they even got to learn the form(they as in sons of Yang lu chan), they spent years doing the gong practice to develop as mjjbecker puts it well, body awareness and of course the required strength. The soft has to go with hard and vice versa. Everybody wants to fajin and fling people with super softness but the truth of the matter is gong training is required, lots and lots of it and it all physical and hard. You need to build your tendons and fascia to become steel wrapped in cotton. There is no escaping hard work.

you should meet Master Waysun Liao or some of his senior students. Master Liao can "fling" people across rooms with the lightest of touches. My teacher describes his experience with such a "Fa Jing" as follows:

 

"It was as though he (Master Liao) just lifted me up and suspended me in space and time and the world rotated till the wall hit me in the back and I fell to the ground".

 

When my teacher did it with me, under far more controlled conditions, it felt like I'd touched a live wire. When he condenses his energy, it feels like "Iron wrapped in cotton", but there's nothing physical going on there. It is all energy.

[chenplayer]

you should meet Master Waysun Liao or some of his senior students. Master Liao can "fling" people across rooms with the lightest of touches. My teacher describes his experience with such a "Fa Jing" as follows:

 

"It was as though he (Master Liao) just lifted me up and suspended me in space and time and the world rotated till the wall hit me in the back and I fell to the ground".

 

When my teacher did it with me, under far more controlled conditions, it felt like I'd touched a live wire. When he condenses his energy, it feels like "Iron wrapped in cotton", but there's nothing physical going on there. It is all energy.

 

I might have come out sounding that I did not believe that some one can "fling" without effort. I do believe masters can do that, like Master Liao. I was just stating that it was not just the form practice that gave him that ability. Like the Yang's I am very sure he did a lot of gong training on order for his body to be ready to issue energy like that. It like putting a scooter engine in a corvette. You have to get your body in the best physical condition before you can have your energy moving to the point you can issue and "fling". I feel a lot of people today feel that the form is enough and just meditating and trying to make the qi flow is all you need. Yin and Yang you need both soft AND hard training.

[dwai]

I might have come out sounding that I did not believe that some one can "fling" without effort. I do believe masters can do that, like Master Liao. I was just stating that it was not just the form practice that gave him that ability. Like the Yang's I am very sure he did a lot of gong training on order for his body to be ready to issue energy like that. It like putting a scooter engine in a corvette. You have to get your body in the best physical condition before you can have your energy moving to the point you can issue and "fling". I feel a lot of people today feel that the form is enough and just meditating and trying to make the qi flow is all you need. Yin and Yang you need both soft AND hard training.

 

The key to power in Taiji is relaxation (as professed by Cheng Man Ching as well as Master Liao). The Gong is hard but because of it's delicately balanced nature. It is like walking the tightrope on a single strand of silk, imho.

 

It requires the right degree of detachment, with the right degree of focus. It requires the right degree of relaxation, as well. Too much or too little is counter-productive. It's hard to articulate and easier to do. You know what I mean?

[PLB]

removed by author

Edited November 27, 2013 by PLB