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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