Jin in Movement

3/23/2021

 

I have written posts, over time, trying to explain how jin is essentially a force or force path/direction formed by the "intention" or "yi".   Our bodies, in daily movements, naturally form force-compensation paths at the direction of the subconscious mind, but jin is a use of those same force mechanisms by deliberately directing the subconscious (via imagery) to form a force path in some direction, using either the supporting force from the ground or the downward force of gravity/weight.

 

Movement, as traditionally defined in Taijiquan and many other Chinese martial arts, is said to contain two main components: (1.) the movement component of tissues (generally speaking, the "qi" part of the movement) and (2.) the movement component of mind-directed force (the "yi" part of the movement).

 

I did a post in recent times that I called something like "Cast in Resin", in which I focused on how movement potential can be arranged by the mind, even when the body does not make discernible movement (the post is also one of a number at my blog: http://6harmony.blogspot.com/ ).  The idea of the "Cast in Resin" post focuses on the "yi"/"intention" part of movement, not the structural, dantian-related movement of the qi-tissues, muscles, and bones.

 

Ideally, in the classical sense, the yi/jin of the body is combined with the optimal whole-body mechanics of dantian-controlled movement, so the true "internal" martial-arts contain jin forces with the whole-body, dantian-controlled type of movement.  However, jin can be manifested and used in a body that does not use dantian-controlled movement, so many of what are referred to as "external martial arts" use jin also.  Jin is common to both the internal and external Chinese martial arts; dantian usage or partial dantian usage will vary within the numerous Chinese martial arts.

 

The "Cast in Resin" idea of mind-controlled jin direction prior to movement is a first step that is very important.  Using the jin directions to provide forces while moving is a second step.  In the video below, taken 5 or 6 years ago, I demonstrated how jin is used within movement in order to give the body power that is not just use of muscles: the jin forces add the power of ground-support and/or weight to movements, thereby making a seemingly mild movement quite strong. 

 

In the video below I was demonstrating jin forces that are used in conjunction with whole-body, dantian-controlled movement … the important point to note is that I still could have used fairly good (although not as efficient) jin forces if I had just been moving my body with normal muscle, bone, joint movement.

 

The idea I am trying to convey is that I could take a martial arts "form" and do it with jin, regardless of whether I used whole-body movement or not.   A Taijiquan form would require that I used both jin and full-body, dantian-controlled movement, in order to truly be Taijiquan.  Many other arts, for example Wing Chun, could be correctly done with jin while using more local control of the body.  Bear in mind that a person can do a form with varying degrees of "local control" that might still employ some aspects of "whole-body control".

 

As an example, the first form of Wing Chun is generally referred to as something like "Siu Nim Tau" (or a close variant of the spelling), but the same slow analysis of jin that I show in the video can be applied to every movement within Siu Nim Tau, even the small, twisting motions of the hand.  If I were practicing Siu Nim Tau, I might envision every small movement as being pushed or pulled or twisted through a thick molasses type viscous liquid, making sure that only jin forces were used at every angle (similar to what I showed in the analysis of a circular motion in the video).

 

The idea is to move non-muscularly against an imaginary viscous fluid with jin forces until jin forces become an imbued part of your every movement.  You gradually develop what is called an "iron wrapped in cotton" feel to your strength, regardless of whether you use whole-body motion or the more localized movements of the so-called "external" martial arts.

 

 

https://vimeo.com/176938090

 

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