"SENDING YOUR QI INTO AN OPPONENT"
(And a Subtle Side-Issue)
This has been discussed before on 6H, but it's probably time
for a re-do.
One of the things I learned to do, earlier on and to varying degrees of skill, was to "ground" a push from a partner. At first it was grounding into my back leg, but being careful, at first, to not simply arrange the back leg as a brace. Anyone can brace and many people still do a brace and think that they are using jin.
The visualization I learned to use was to imagine a straight line, like a thin wooden dowel, for example, going straight from, for example, my forearm where I was being pushed, directly to my foot (usually the back foot, but sometimes the front foot; sometimes in between both feet). The main idea is to immediately allow an incoming push to rest fully and completely in the sole of the foot. In other words, try to let the ground hold the incoming force, not your muscles. Adjust your waist and legs until you can comfortably rest the incoming force into the sole of your foot.
When an opponent/partner pushes you, you can view the source of the force in one of two different ways:
- the
force starts at where the opponent is touching you;
- if the
opponent is pushing or grabbing you firmly enough, his structure becomes
effectively a part of your structure, so you can perceive his force as
coming from somewhere within his structure. This second situation is often
translated as "become one with your opponent", but it's a
physical thing, not a spiritual encouragement.
Always let any incoming force slide through your frame and
rest fully at the sole of your foot. If you are pushing someone, there should
be a connection from where you're pushing on the opponent directly to the sole
of your foot and you use the leg, hip, and back to push the opponent while
maintaining that connection to the ground.
There is a picture below of me holding a green stick-frame
in front of me. What I can do with a frame (imagine loosely that it is the
skeletal frame of an opponent that I am holding) is what is described in a
previous article about "Cast in Resin" (it's also on the 6harmony blogspot:
http://6harmony.blogspot.com/ ).
While holding a frame or person who is firmly attached to your own frame, you
can direct and focus your "intention" to certain parts of the frame,
without having to move your body.
What happens is, when done correctly, your subconscious
(read "Shen" or "Yi" for the general idea) reacts to an
imagined circumstance (like the line of force to your foot) and adjusts your
involuntary-muscle systems to accord with the imagined force and direction. So,
for example, I can hold something like my green frame or a compliantly rigid
partner and arrange my body inside so that there is a focus at some given point
in the frame or skeleton. With practice it becomes quite easy.
Even if there is a straight line to a target or object, say,
at the end of your arm in your hand, you can focus or "send your qi"
into some area that is firmly attached to your frame. In the case of someone in firm contact with
you, you can "send your qi" into the lower abdomen and will a force
direction from your frame to him that off-balances him downward and backward,
for example. Manufacturing forces with
direction within a frame or object attached to you is referred to as "sending
your qi" into that object. If you
hold a sword or pole firmly in your hand, you can direct a force from the
ground to the end of or the middle of that weapon: that's called "sending
your qi" into the weapon. Ideally,
a weapon should always be partially controlled by mind-willed force directions.
This is the somewhat subtle side-issue that I referred to in
the sub-title, above. If your hand, for example,
or some other structure, weapon, person, etc., is firmly and directly attached
to your torso, you can transfer momentum from the movement of torso pretty
directly to your hand, weapon, or whatever.
I borrowed a video from Tin Tran showing him doing a body-momentum
transfer to his hand (rather than using the shoulder to initiate force), but
then he holds a spring-type exercise article in his hand and sends his momentum
to the top of the spring, rather than the portion in his hand. As long as there is a firm connection, the
mind/Yi can send a force direction to some other firmly connected object, even
if the straight line to the object has to be imagined in order for the mind to
make the necessary calculations. It's
something to think about and experiment with, but it takes time to develop this
skill correctly.
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