Jin a la Aunkai Discussion Bear in mind that the 6H forum is more investigatory about jin, qi, dantian, reverse breathings, etc., and is less interested in actual martial usage. Aunkai is a focused martial pursuit, so there is no parallel in goals, although Rob John and some of the other Aunkai demigods do pursue a level of "how to explain this" and "how does this work". Anyway, to cut to the chase, this is a brief discussion about jin, at least from a 6H perspective. I'll let some of the Aunkai guys explain the subtleties and nuances that they posit we are missing (in good humor, of course). 😉 Jin is defined as "the physical manifestation of qi" and you can find that definition in a number of texts from different Chinese martial arts. What that statement means is that a jin force-path is arranged by the mind arranging or "willing" how the subconscious-controlled involuntary-muscle/fascia systems act. Often, during a day,...
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TING JIN - "LISTENING JIN" There is an old saying to the effect that "There are many jins, but there is only one jin" (I heard that from Chen Xiaowang, so it's a credible saying). Basically, the jin they're talking about is the ground-based jin where you mentally adjust force directions in your body when your "qi is sunk" and you bring the force/solidity of the ground to your hands (or wherever). "The force/energy starts at the feet, is controlled by the waist, and is expressed in the hands". All of the various "jins", of which there are many, like short jin, cold jin, spiraling jin, hard jin, soft jin, and so on, are just ways of applying the basic jin, the "neijin". The point in this post is that "Ting Jin" is just another variant of the jin that comes from the ground ... because "there are many jins, but there is only one jin". When a person is standing upright with all incoming forces al...
Why Similar Postures in a Form Mean Little Many applications and usages in Chinese martial arts can be found in numerous different styles. One of the reasons for common applications is that over the centuries, certain applications have been found to be so generally useful that most Chinese martial arts adopted those applications. Remember that the Chinese martial arts evolved over thousands of years and the better techniques have been codified and saved. One of the prominent features of the Chinese martial arts (and the other Asian martial arts that borrowed from the Chinese) is how the body mechanics are used. The Chinese developed a system of whole-body strength, using the middle of the body as a pivot as it Opens and Closes, that optimized the use of strength, while using less muscular effort. The system of strength and mechanics that is the hallmark of Chinese martial arts is often denoted by the Yin-Yang Symbol ☯, indic...
Functional Qigongs 2 Going back to the example in Functional Qigongs 1 of the qi-tissues of the chest, arms, and dantian pulling the arms inward and using breath … do that a few times as a warmup and then let's look at a slight tangent to some of the same tissues or tissues nearby. If you look at a diagram of the muscle-tendon channels (the muscle and tendon paths/channels upon which the acupuncture "meridians" are based), you can see that there are three channels that are used to lift and Open the arms: large intestine, small intestine, and triple burner. The 3 Yin channels are, of course, used to contract and Close the arms. Notice that the Yang muscle-tendon channels that pull the arm upward are rooted in the head and neck: something higher on the body from which to hang the arms. So, try this experiment. Let the arms hang loosely to the front and sides of the body. Lean the head backward to help make some pre-tension (tak...
Functional Qigongs Know Your Qi and Know When People don't know their Qi The qi-related tissues of the body are ones that involve involuntary-muscle systems controlled by the subconscious. Respiration tissues fall into this category because they are controlled both by the motor cortex and by the brain stem under subconscious/unconscious control. Much of the discussion about "qi" has to do with the subconscious control of the involuntary-muscle tissue systems and, often, the voluntary control of respiration for physical training. The ancient Chinese took the involuntary-muscle systems into account when they analyzed human strength and motion, but the ancient Chinese also postulated (remember, this was thousands of years ago) an unseen energetic part of the whole qi-paradigm in order to explain the actions of blood sugar, health, congenital strength, and so on . Most westerners focus on the unseen, unmeasurable, energetic qi postul...
PUT YOUR MIND IN YOUR DANTIAN? From a question by Mander Thiara and one other person. When I allow forces (say, a weight that I'm holding) to go through my body and rest on the ground at the soles of my feet, I am letting the ground do a lot of the work. If I push someone while leaving my hands connected to the soles of my feet, the ground provides the solidity and all I have to do is add a little extra force (usually with the dantian/backbow) to push effectively. By making sure that I always source my forces at the soles of my feet, I have to pay attention and "keep my mind in the soles of my feet". It's called "sink your qi". When I am used to using jin from my feet but have learned to control the forces with my dantian, my body becomes more efficient, although such a skill takes a while to develop. But ultimately, by keeping your focus on moving jin and pushing from the dantian area, you learn to use jin and qi better. But to focus on movement and...
PUSHING FROM THE SOLE OF THE FOOT? OR THE DANTIAN? July 9, 2021 It's a quirk of mine to focus on sinking all forces to the sole of the foot, aka "sink the qi". In other words, "sink the qi to the sole of the foot". But the common saying is "sink the qi to the dantian", isn't it? The reason I say to sink the qi to the sole of the foot is that most people don't have any dantian development so when they try to "move from the dantian", their source of forces is not the sole of the foot. Hence, they screw it up. It takes a while to develop movement from the dantian, so I always suggest that people focus on the force line straight between the sole of their foot and their hand(s). If they learn to push or absorb forces from the sole/ground, they will be far ahead of any wrong movements from the non-existent dantian. All of that having been said, someone asked me what the next step is, so I'll offer a suggestion. You don't...
DON'T BLOCK THE QI? The Chinese perspective of movement and body mechanics was postulated long ago and their approach was different from the current western view of movement and physiology. Let's look at some of the major differences. First of all, strength was seen to follow various routes through the body. For example, if I hold a glass of water in front of me, there is a traceable path from my hand, along the top of my arm, over the shoulder, down the back, down the back of the leg, to the outside of the foot. They thought generally in terms of routes of strength, or "channels". Secondly, if I am holding a glass of water in front of me, the force/tension path must ultimately end at the ground at my feet. Conversely, if I was pulling something downward, the path would be along the front of my body and would end at the center of my weight in the abdominal area. So, a path of strength will draw some of its power from either the solidity of the ground or the dow...
IMAGERY AND DESCRIPTIONS (referring back to the post at: https://6harmony.blogspot.com/2021/06/qi-in-general-using-face-as-example.html ) I used imagery in the above-styled post of "trying to breath air through the cheeks like pulling air through wet neoprene". Traditionally, the words would be more simply "breathe qi in through the cheeks". The operative idea, though, is a "pulling in" of tissues accompanying an inhaled breath, usually a reverse-breath. The point, though, is that I got a physical response, controlled by my subconscious mind, by imagining a situation that might result in the pulling-in of tissues. So, it was my imagery plus my breathing, although not all reactions require an accompanying breath. The traditional idea of "breathe the qi in" is very common and it usually implies a "pulling in" at a certain area. For instance, if I am going to move a focused pressure area up from the perineum to the mingmen (to st...
QI, IN GENERAL, USING THE FACE AS EXAMPLE 6/26/21 Generally speaking, the qi-paradigm is an attempt to explain how strength and movement happen, particularly in the human body. The qi theory has a lot to do with the involuntary-muscle systems of the body, the subconscious mind that controls those systems, and some guesses made long ago about a mysterious energy that accompanies the workings of the involuntary-muscle/fascia/subconscious systems. "Jin", which has many different attempted definitions, is considered to be a 'refined force skill' that is the result of actions by the qi-tissues and the subconscious mind. So, in other words, jin is essentially just one of the skills of the involuntary-muscle/fascia/subconscious-mind systems. Jin is fairly simple to do, in a rudimentary way, so it is like a first step into developing the qi-tissue systems of the body. The qi systems of the body can be developed, but it takes some time and effort to do it. Various qi-sys...