www.Longfei-Taiji.co.uk	Longfei Taijiquan Association of Great Britain
		Longfei Newsletter Volume 6 Issue 3

Yiquan: Power of the Mind

In the last issue we reported on Karel Koskuba's visit to our Friday class and I promised to include some of his work in a future newsletter. We begin the review in this issue, like lan Deavin's Models for Internal Development and their Application in Martial Arts publicised in previous issues. These ideas can be thought provoking and good insights to the way forward to improving our understanding of taijiquan and its application. Should you have any thoughts or queries on these ideas why not air them in these columns.

Visualising movement turns off your habitual tendencies, allowing your mind to select more efficient movement patterns.

Throughout the body there are strength muscles and stabilising muscles:

The strength muscles produce movement they are large muscles and they can produce tremendous power.

The stabilising muscles are much smaller and deeper, and do not generate great force but rather produce continuous, low-grade forces over long periods providing support and protection.

Without good stabilising muscle function to support the body, the physical stress from everyday activities can cause damage. The vital stabilising muscles of the spine weaken following an injury and do not necessarily, automatically re-strengthen once the pain of the injury has gone, making you vulnerable to re-injury and chronic pain.

Core Stabilising Muscles

Hold the body in an upright position.

Prevent poor postural patterns/habits such as stooping, permanent slouching and rounded shoulders.

Support the stabilising muscles by holding the body in optimal alignment.

When core stabilising muscles work properly:

It takes minimal effort to contract them.

They provide stability to the central areas of the body by preventing movement

Dynamic Muscles

Provide movement. They propel the arms and the legs through space. They allow you among other things to walk, run and swing a tennis racquet, and to do press-ups.

Rely on the stabilising muscles to provide support. This frees the dynamic muscles to work to their full potential.

Use mind, not strength (yong yi bu yong li). These exercises strengthen the inside of the body. They can be tiring. Cotton on the outside/iron bar on the inside.

Gripping your trousers

Purpose: To feel the effect of spontaneous arm movement; the feeling of stillness in movement; the intention transformed into action without your taking a conscious role.

1. Grip the sides of your trousers and pull the arms sideways. It is a good idea to think of the insides of the thighs trying to move together, rather than the arms pulling outwards. Do this for a considerable time, until the arms tire.

2. Let go!

Rolling fists

Step out to a shoulders width stance. Turn to for example, your left, and, as you do so, block across your front with your right fist, turning it gradually so that the palm faces you. Simultaneously, your left fist (with palm facing you, and with arm angled downward), moves across your front at the height of your pelvis/groin.

When you reach the left side, allow your left fist to travel out to your left with the palm turning down and with the arm rising. Your right fist meanwhile circles down to pelvis/groin height. This is like silk reeling, and is the reverse of Wave Hands Like Clouds.

Spine flexing

With your feet a shoulders width apart, rock slightly forward and backward. As you do so, feel the movement of the spine, observing it as it flexes. Gradually rock less and less and observe the flexing diminish also.

Basic exercises

1) Holding Cotton Balls (Gripping your own wrist)

Purpose: To feel the function of the stabilisers.

Stand in a relaxed stance with your feet a shoulders width apart. The legs dont need to be bent.

a) Grip your own wrist as tightly as possible, for as long as possible. The object is to tire the mobilisers so that they are unable to function efficiently.

b) Almost-moving: Without opening the hand that is doing the gripping (or at least, opening it as little as possible), remove your wrist.

c) Then almost-open the hand: Have the intention to open the hand but, before you actually make any movement, stop the action. Then almost-close the hand. Repeat these actions for as long as possible (before boredom sets in). The longer you do it, the better the effect. This stimulates the stabilisers, and will enable you to be able to feel them.

Mental Imagery: Make the bone move without moving the skin.

d) Very slowly, try to open your fingers to an open hand position. The hand will feel as though it is set in cement; and the sensation of the stabilisers in action (the holding muscles), will be very apparent. As they let go, eventually, the fingers may spring open, or may open in jumps. You may find that there is a kind of sticky sweat on the fingertips. Take as long as you can in the almost open/close part, as this will strengthen the sensation.

2) Inflating a Ball

Stand in a relaxed stance with your feet a shoulders width apart. The legs dont need to be bent. Your arms hold a ball in front of you. As you rock your weight slightly forward and backward, almost-move your arms with the feeling that a balloon is glued between your arms and body. The balloon expands and contracts; as you rock forward, it expands and tries to open your arms; as you rock backward, it contracts and tries to pull your arms inward. The arm position looks very like the arm position in embracing the balloon (or tree) posture.

3) Supporting the Sky

Stand in a relaxed stance with your feet a shoulders width apart. The legs dont need to be bent. Your arms are on either side of you at the height of either you shoulders or your ears, with palms up. Using the rocking motion again, as you rock slightly forward, feel as though you have elastic bands between your finger which are pulling your fingers closed so you almost-close them. As you rock slightly back, almost-open the fingers. I found that it was a better analogy to imagine that my fingers were set in cement, and then try to open and close them.

4a) Lifting the Sky

Stand in a wider stance with the knees bent. With your palms up again on either side of you, stand up and lift your palms, feel as though you are pushing up, or lifting a weight. Relax your arms and lower them as you bend your knees. You can also do this exercise without moving at all.

b) Pressing the Earth

Stand in a wide stance with the knees straight. With your palms facing down this time on either side of you, lower your palms with the feeling that you are pushing down, e.g. pressing balloons into water, or lots of little springs under your palms, each finger, your elbows, etc. You can also do this exercise without moving at all.

c) Lifting the Sky & Pressing the Earth

Stand in a wide stance with the knees bent. The above exercises combined: Turn your palms up and stand up; Turn your palms down and bend your knees.

NB: In all 3 movements above (a, b, & c) the arms do move, this is not an almost-moving exercise. However, in all 3ee, you attempt to feel as though you are pushing something.

5a) Pushing through the Current (Forward)

Stand in a relaxed stance with your feet a shoulders width apart. The legs dont need to be bent. Your arms are on either side of you downwards at 45 to your sides, with your palms facing forward. As you rock slightly forward, feel as though the arms are pushing against a wave, or against the current in a river. You dont need to move the arms, as the movement of the body will move them forward. If you have moved your arms (in addition to the movement forwards of the body), as you rock backward, bring your arms backward. Just relax on this backward movement.

b) Pushing through the Current (Backward)

Stand in a relaxed stance with your feet a shoulders width apart. The legs dont need to be bent. This is the same as above but instead of pushing forward, you feel the backs of your hands pushing backward. This is like standing with your back to the current.

c) Pushing through Waves (Forward & Backward) Standing in the Swell.

Stand in a relaxed stance with your feet a shoulders width apart. The legs dont need to be bent. This is a combination of (a) and (b) above; having felt the current as you push the palms forward, feel the current from behind. (My preferred visualisation is that of standing in the water of a narrow tidal inlet where the water pushes into the inlet, and then is sucked out again). You can also do this with no movement, but imagine the water moving against your body this uses pure stabiliser power. You are therefore almost-moving with the palms. After a while the arms will start to feel heavy and full. Your arms may well be sore later, though not painful.

6) a) Leg Stretching a Spring (Elastic)

Standing on one leg. Lift the other foot off the ground as high as you are able. NB Lift the toes up on the rising foot. As you stand slightly straighten the supporting leg. Lower the sole of the foot to the ground, and, as you do so, bend the supporting knee.

Mental Imagery: 1 ) As though a spring is attached to the sole of your foot.

2) As though your foot is through an elastic strap attached to the floor.

3) As though there are 2 elastic straps, one over your foot, and the other over the top of your thigh. (I found the 3rd one to be best).

b) Leg Pressing a Spring

Standing on one leg. As (a) above, but the mental imagery is to feel as though you are pushing down on a spring. You can also feel as though your thigh or foot (or both) is suspended by an elastic strap from above.

c) Pumping with the Leg

Standing on one leg. This is a combination of (a) and (b) above. You can also do this without moving the leg at all.

Karel Koskuba

Longfei Newsletter Volume 6 Issue 3 Table of Contents