Tai Chi With Attitude

A modernistic americanized approach to a meditative traditional Martial Art. Holistic, but without the New Age mysticism, Taoist, yet pragmatic. A completely different, real-world approach to an esoteric and difficult art.

Sunday, July 30, 2006

USING THE YANG

I’m speaking here, of the principle of Yang, not the style.

I’ve spoken before of my adoption of small items, when I do my Chen form. I recall a Ren Guan Yi seminar in Sebastabol, and Sifu Ren did the Double Stomp feet (this is a movement, in the 36, 38, and Form One [YiLu], where the practitioner stands, palms facing down, flips the palms and goes up and stomps one foot after the other, in a boom-BOOM! manuever). It’s hard to describe: I felt vibrations from the ground through my feet, and when Sifu Ren did it, it was as if he exploded his root down into the ground. I found it terribly impressive. My Sifu, Dr. Johnny Jang, demonstrated it once, and his was more like a focussed, thin line of force. I watched Mark Wasson do (I think it was the 38) a form, where he did the Beast Head pose at DeAnza college, on a gym floor, and while I was sitting, I could tell how much power was expended. I watched a Chen Xiaowang video once, and he also did a double stomp (form two, ErLu) on Phoenix Spreads Wings. Dr. Jang taught me to stomp when doing Press the Elbow. Now I do two (Press Elbows), instead of one (which confuses some folks, but I’ve been told that was the traditional way to do it, so I adopted it). I’ve been told I shake the floor now.

Short version: I do a helluva lot more stomping than most people do in Chen. And, yes, I’ve limped away from practice more than once: the right foot absorbs a tremendous amount of force in this. But, when I practice in a park, I can hear the sound travel. It’s not quite gunshot loud, but pretty close. Maybe some day, I’ll be able to crack pavement. Probably never.

At this juncture in my development, my form is very, very Yang. This stems from reading and watching. I recall from the Tao of Tai Chi (a truly wonderful book), that Chen YiLu is supposed to be 80% Yin, 20% Yang, and form two [ErLu] the reverse. However, upon viewing Feng Zhiqiang’s VCD on Form Two, the subtitles state it should be a 60-40 variance. So I adopted this (Master Feng was a student of Chen Fake, while Jou Tsung Hwa was more the experimenter). The results are interesting.

On one occasion, as I practiced in class (Sifu Jang), a fellow student approached me after doing form two, and asked where I’d learned it. I said, “From him.” He told me it looked very different. At the Lake Merrit Bart station, another fellow came and chatted me up. He too, remarked that it was extremely masculine (he also was familiar with Sifu Jang). Told me it was the first time he’d seen someone do it like that. Occasionally, I manage to get to a group class, where everyone’s doing the same form. I’m the only one who seems to make noise: everyone else is nice and soft. The flip side is that whenever I was prevailed upon to lead the practice, by the time I was halfway through with YiLu, the rest of the class had finished it.

Most styles (all, excepting Chen and perhaps Zhaobao) have an extreme emphasis on the Yin methodology; the concept here being that extreme Yin will result in Yang.

There are twofold points to stomping that hard: one is that the player should be careful about it. It CAN injure you. Two, is that the movement is actually used to stimulate the ‘Bubbling Well’ meridian point, located in the middle of the metatarsal ridge of the foot (the Double Stomp Feet is a two-fold rationale: one is to harm the opponent, the other to alleviate a blow to the groin). I have heard that it can be injurious, to not only the ankle/foot, but to the brain stem as well. Thus far, I’ve not suffered any deleterious side effects. But doing any form of exercise improperly for long periods can have implications. So if you stomp, try to do it softly, and build it up after time. Also, make the effort to spread the impact along the length of the foot: don’t just hit your heel or upper sole. This is what causes injury (I can speak to that from experience).

There’s only one place (that I know of) in Fu/Yang style where there’s any sort of noise, and that’s in the posture Sweep the Lotus. In Yang Jwing-Ming’s book, Tai Chi Chuan Martial Applications: Advanced Yang Style, he tells a great story, about this posture. In olden times, it was a game played by martial artists. One literally would sweep the kick through a lotus stem, and if that person could break the reed (it’s simply standing, not held), it was a sign of great internal power. So when I practice the 42 compulsory, the 42 Fu, Fu long form (even when I used to practice the long Yang form), I always try my best to smack my palm with my foot [special note: DON’T swing your hands at the coming foot: the hands need to be stationary, the foot needs to hit THEM. Way harder, ain’t it?]. The Cheng Man-Ching variant doesn’t do this – rather, you very softly brush the toe across the stationary palms (way harder still).

Regardless of your style, Tai Chi is about balance, first and foremost. So there is a time for hardness, a time for softness, a moment of explosive movement, a moment of intense stillness, one second of being the wind, one second of being a rock.

You can live without Tai Chi. But Tai Chi can instruct you in that essential ingredient inherent in all good lives:
Exquisite timing.

7 Comments:

  • At 1:09 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I've often wondered, what is the main point of the stomp? Is it really necessary to stimulate the bubbling well point in that manner? I have read that FZQ removed all the stomps from his form due to the damage it can inflict upon the body.

     
  • At 2:57 PM, Blogger Krystalline Apostate said…

    wujimon:
    I've often wondered, what is the main point of the stomp?
    I believe it's a manifestation of Yang power. It's also a great technique (stomping on someone's foot during combat is very distracting).
    Is it really necessary to stimulate the bubbling well point in that manner?
    Well, I've been at this for some time now, that's the only active method I've encountered.
    I have read that FZQ removed all the stomps from his form due to the damage it can inflict upon the body.
    I hadn't heard that. I heard about the damage it can cause from Sifu Jang. I think in some circumstances (old age, for instance), it may not be advisable. I overheard a rumor that Xiowang has to rest up for some time if he fajings (but that's hearsay, don't quote me;)).
    A lot of Chen generationists tone it down as they get older, as I understand it. Ma Huang (or so I've heard) still practices in deep stances, but I don't know if he still stomps.
    FZQ, from the VCD I have, doesn't do a lot of the shaking movements (the firecracker sequence in ErLu, for instance).
    Or perhaps, as in a lot of movements, it gets quieter & smaller w/usage. First you go big, then it gets small by degrees. I find a lot of my movements get smaller w/the years, but I have to teach the students to go bigger.
    I've run across a few references (1 on the net, another in a recent Jet Li flick), where an internalist w/power can stomp on a mat, and a tea cup should rise straight up in the air. Probably apocryphal. I'd like to see that, before I lend it credence.
    FZQ, as I understand it, does a sort of hybrid art (Huanyin?). Chen & Hsing-I?
    Anyways, I'm pretty confident I can break some bones w/it, at this point. But, as the adage goes, 'Use it or lose it.'

     
  • At 3:06 PM, Blogger Krystalline Apostate said…

    wujimon:
    Found this just now:
    http://forum.kungfumagazine.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-3967.html -

    "He points out that 'Stomping' the foot and 'fa jing' movements, that are common
    practice in Chen tai chi, can cause all kinds of maladies, even leading
    to brain damage. If this is the case I would ask Mr Meehan to bring
    forth even one Chen stylist who suffers brain damage from stomping their
    foot or using fast explosive movements in their tai chi practice, or in
    any daily activity.
    The fact is, the practice of stomping the foot in Chen style tai
    chi actually has a number beneficial effects on the body, especially in
    women. It has been shown in medical tests, on football players in the
    NFL, that all the hard hitting they take during a game actually triggers
    the bones to secrete bone building material to those areas that are
    under stress thereby building up the added bone in that area of
    activity. In countless other studies regarding women and osteoporosis
    it has been shown that hardy activity actually fights off the
    deterioration of bone material as the body ages.
    Before anyone jumps up and says, wait a minute, you can't expect an
    eighty year old woman to practice fa jing movements at the same level as
    say Chen Xiaowang, the answer is, of course not. Chen Xiaowang, who is
    my teacher, has commented on this very issue many times while teaching
    seminars all over the world. His reply is that the amount of fa jing
    that one uses in his practice is determined on his/her health and energy
    level on any given day. Fa jing movements actually stimulate the chi
    flow throughout the body, and enlivens the spirit, or shen. You do as
    much as your body tells you is ok. If you start to feel your energy
    depleting, then you back off and go softer."

    I defer to Mark as both a friend & a higher level practitioner in this matter.

     
  • At 10:04 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Hi Cloudhander. Thanks for the link on the article. I am somewhat familiar with Mark via mutual connections.

    Even after reading his response, I still question things as I have heard, though not confirmed, that Chen Xiaowang has knees issues that may or may not have stemmed from the stomping during forms training.

    I would go a bit further and reference a post I wrote about the perceived energy in taiji. If taiji is about using an opponent's force, then why stomp? Where is this energy coming from that results in the stomp? Or even further, in practicing fajing, where is the energy coming from if one of the main principles is to use an opponent's energy? In form's practice, I have no energy coming at me and no opponent?

    Please note, this is not directed as an argument, but a discussion. I am a chen practitioner but have been questioning some aspects of chen training that I am trying to explore.

     
  • At 5:54 PM, Blogger Krystalline Apostate said…

    wujimon:
    Even after reading his response, I still question things as I have heard, though not confirmed, that Chen Xiaowang has knees issues that may or may not have stemmed from the stomping during forms training.
    Hmmm...I'll email Mark, & ask him to join the conversation. maybe he can clear up some thoughts.
    I would go a bit further and reference a post I wrote about the perceived energy in taiji.
    I actually read it.
    If taiji is about using an opponent's force, then why stomp?
    Well, I think there's a bit of a misnomer there.
    At some point, the player does have to manifest energy of his/her own. At least in the earlier stages.
    Where is this energy coming from that results in the stomp? Or even further, in practicing fajing, where is the energy coming from if one of the main principles is to use an opponent's energy? In form's practice, I have no energy coming at me and no opponent?
    In the form practice, no. In direct combat w/someone, there would be some exchange of energies, so to speak. A simple chin-na movement, would require the player to expend some personal energy.
    Please note, this is not directed as an argument, but a discussion. I am a chen practitioner but have been questioning some aspects of chen training that I am trying to explore.
    Hey, fang shung, dude! ;)
    They're all good questions.

     
  • At 5:49 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I do agree that some energy is required by the taiji player, even if that's just enough to maintain the structure of one's form. As you site, even in push hands, some energy is required in order to deflect an incoming energy, but I think the level of energy required to maintain/deflect is a small percentage compared to the level of energy produced via various fa li techniques.

    I have a post on my site covering the same topic and Silkreeling made an interesting association, that is:

    "... Now stomping in chen style means also there is a sudden change in shenfa (body method)from high to mid, and from mid to low, co-ordinated with the change in substantiality. I think it is because of this sudden change in tempo that neccesitate dispersing qi via stomping as the most effective method."

     
  • At 10:08 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I think too many people take out of context the meanings behind many postures and their expression and applications.
    In the real world "stomping" has the effect of braking the hold (someone grabbing) and stomping the toes! This qi stuff is beyond my own intellect (I admit this freely) but whether we stomp or not, we still will possess qi.
    One uses force when necessary and if one is grabbed as forcefully as if being grabbed by a bear, then the stomp plus the subsequent loosening and application of following the release is within the realm of chanssujin or qinna.

     

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