Qi and Jin, Movement and Stillness: the Ideal of Movement

 

Movement, in the traditional Chinese sense, is considered to be part Yi (the mind directing forces) and part Qi (the tissues associated with movement, generally speaking).  So, as an example, if someone is trying to do their Silkreeling exercises correctly, they will be training their Jin forces (where the Yi controls forces) and they will be training to wind, twist, push, and pull the body as a whole, connected-tissue unit.

 

If I am, for example, moving my right arm in a clockwise circle in front of me, I will move the arm by twisting the body even down to the feet and controlling the overall winding with my middle/dantian; the arm's circle will have four general force directions: Up, Out Away from the Body, Downward, and In Toward the Body.  Those four jin-force directions are called Peng, Ji, An, and Lu, respectively.  Jin forces are not the same as our normal muscular forces, BTW.  See the post about Cast in Resin, for a better understanding: https://6harmony.blogspot.com/2020/11/cast-in-resin-moving-against-water-and.html

 

In terms of the actual qi-tissues, connective tissues, muscles and bones, the idea is often stated that "Movement goes toward Stillness".   In other words, large muscular movements are gradually replaced by the subtle shifting and pulling of the connective tissues and the imperceptible movement of the qi-tissues.  I.e., you try to transition from largely muscular usage to the subtle pulls and twists of the involuntary-muscle/fascia tissues.  Tensions can be stored and released without needing large movements if you train your body and the control of movement with the dantian and qi-tissues out to the extremities.

  

The idea of "Stillness in Movement" has to do with the ability of the subconscious mind to create stressor-forces with the involuntary-muscle systems.   The descriptions in the "Cast in Resin" article mentioned previously are about how to move forces from a stilled position, just using the mind's intent/imagery to effect subtle changes in the body structure.

 

The overall point is that there is an ideal of movement that doesn't involve our regular muscular movement, but involves (1.) a subtle use of the whole body's connection and control by the dantian, gradually changing muscular movements to the subtle use of the pulls and twists of the body and (2.) a shift from large body movements of muscle and bone toward a reliance on the jin forces that we can learn to manipulate via control of the involuntary-muscle systems of the body.

 

 


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