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Back from teaching in the Twin Cities. Three days of training focused on fajin (internal power) and martial applications of Section One of the Yangjia Michuan Taijiquan (楊家秘傳太極拳) form. These students are drilling the Brush Knee Strike, first slow and smooth, then with speed and power.

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The Secret of Heng and Ha

What you are about to read has been passed down from master to pupil for endless years in an oral tradition. A secret practice that was only taught in the depths of the night to true indoor practitioners of the art, and only rarely to individuals outside of the family. Even me talking about this may bring forth the wrath of ancient Chinese ninja assassins down upon me for revealing these deep and hidden teachings of the art. All joking aside what I am going to discuss was once known as an in door teaching that was only known to members of the family. Things have changed over the years and this material has been published before. Though the accessibility of said material is another matter altogether. Not to mention the fact that not many people will actually understand it, let alone teach it. This is not to say that I have a perfect knowledge of this, or are able to impart this knowledge in written form. But I will try. The story goes, and by story I really mean teaching parable more than anything else, the actually truth of the story is tertiary to the lesson, that Yang Lu-chan was a servant of the Chen family. It was widely known that the Chen family where keepers of a great martial tradition that they did not teach to outsiders. Lu-chan, being a immensely interested in the martial arts, attempted to learn the martial art by watching the family members that he worked for. Though he did not manage to catch them during practice. One night, when Lu-chan could not sleep he went for a walk and heard some strange sounds coming from a secluded courtyard. Looking in through a hole in the wall he observed the Chen family practicing their martial arts in secret. While practicing they made sounds of “Heng!” and “Ha!” while they went through the form. The young Yang Lu-chan watched in awe and attempted to learn this in secret as well. Watching from this hole in the wall and then practicing upon his own. Eventually he was caught and was challenged by one of the senior students of the family. When Yang Lu-chan beat him it was found that he had superior skill in the martial arts and was deemed to be worthy of being taught the family form. As mentioned previously, the truth of this story is highly questionable. We all know how difficult it is to learn from watching martial arts videos over YouTube, without any correction. Yang Lu-chan was actually an indentured slave to the Chen family at the time. Further, the actual practice of Heng and Ha is to be done silently as opposed to verbally. But, as I mentioned previously, the truth of the story is largely inconsequential to what it actually teaches. As to what this story actually presents is another matter of debate. Though it can be broken down into a handful of things: (1) The martial arts of the Chen family was fairly secretive. (2) Yang Lu-chan was a servant to the Chen family. (3) The teaching of Heng and Ha is important. (4) Yang Lu-chan was taught the secrets of the Chen family. So what is the secret of Heng and Ha and why is it so important? In the transmission that I received, which comes down from Jou Tsung-hwa, it is an integral method to develop the explosive transference of power – or fajing – that Chen style is renowned for. Other lineages may have different methodologies for developing this sort of skill, I know the practical method as taught by Chen Zhonghua addresses this in a different manner. In short it works on a principle of a cycle of collection and release. An introduction of residual tension and then a release of that tension. It is best likened to a sneeze. During a sneeze you will have an intake of breath, introducing tension and then with the sneeze everything relaxes and releases outwards in an explosive manner. In the practice a punch or strike is chambered with an inhale which is done with reverse breathing and you mentally say “Heng!” Between the clambering of the strike and the reverse breathing where the abdomen is gently pulled in during the inhalation you introduce the tension. Usually also coiling the joints in the body one while while you do so. Then with the exhalation you say “Ha!” Which can be vocalized but is not necessary. As you perform the strike or application of force. Moving into and then through a centered and neutral position. In this manner you can go through the entirety of the long form in this manner. Working through the movements and expressions of power in a slow and controlled manner. Usually when you are performing this sort of thing slowly you want to accelerate into the strike and then slow down into the strike. Working on feeling the connection in the body and the slight elasticness and springiness in the movement. If you are practicing fast at a more explosive level you start out slow and find that centred and neutral position before exploding out of that. Though I would highly suggest against practicing this sort of thing fast unless you have several years of practicing it slow under your belt. Or some similar exercise that works on conditioning the tendons. This exercise effectively goes and takes the movements and forces you to break them down into their component parts: collection and release; yin and yang; tension and relaxation. Some of the basic building blocks that underlie the art of Taiji Quan. Also forcing you to notice where in your body you are actively carrying tension and releasing it. Learning to move through relaxation and releasing of tension as opposed to from gross muscular contraction. As Ian Sinclair always said, “Relax harder!” Also as my gongfu uncle Ed Cooper always used to say, “When in doubt, release the tensed spot.” Which is an extremely odd and counter intuitive way of moving and applying force, but it works. By practicing in this manner you are also working on isolating one of the stages of the six harmonies which go as follows: The hands harmonize with the feet. The elbows harmonize with the knees. The shoulders harmonize with the hips. The heart harmonizes with the qi. The qi harmonizes with the yi. The yi harmonizes with the power. The first three lines refer to the three external powers. Effectively explaining how the body should move in a coordinated fashion in order to express whole body power. The last three lines refer to the three internal powers which are something a little bit more subtle. Which is what we are largely working on her in this exercise. By controlling and modulating the breath in time with the movement you will settle the heart which allows the qi to flow more freely. Where the yi, or intent, goes so will the qi. This in turn harmonizes with the power and allows you to put everything together. While doing all of this another important point to note is that the breathing must be smooth, deep and not held. There is usually a tendency to hold the breath somewhere between the collection and release phases of the movements. This builds in unnecessary and unneeded tension that should be avoided. Further reverse or Daoist breathing is recommended where the abdomen slightly comes in upon the inhalation as opposed to going out on the inhalation as is typical in most deep diaphragm if breathing exercises. Though even though the abdomen is moving in, you are not breathing from an expansion of the chest. The diaphragm must lower to expand the lungs. You can also gently pull up and contract the huiyin, a point between the generals and the anus, alternatively called the pelvic floor or the pubococcygeus muscles. Though if this particular breathing pattern does not make much sense to you, or it causes an undue amount of tension then do not use. Just breathe naturally and focus on coordinating the movement with the inhalation and the exhalation. This particular exercise is also often paired with with various visualization exercises where you are imagining energy of a specific colour coming from a particular organ and then going out into the strike. Coming this with a particular sound. Which is something largely associated with the wuxing, of five elements, theory. Discussion on that goes well beyond the scope of this article. Now if you have managed to read this far you will probably be able to notice a great similarity between this practice that I have just described and the Japanese concept of kiai. Rightfully so as the two are rather deeply connected to one another. Kiai being the Japanese interpretation of the secret of heng and ha. Though very often I see it misconstrued as just a yell or a battle cry. Something to raise your spirits in battle and batter down the spirits of your opponent. Which is something that it very well can be. When a master performs fajing explosively in this manner and vocalizes the strike it is something that is extremely piercing and visceral. If you are not expecting it you very well may jump in a startle reaction. You will usually feel it in the gut. Yet all too often when I see kiai being performed it is just yelling. Usually doing so in a fashion that is just a meaningless waste of breathe. You will usually see someone practicing a kata and they are yelling continuously throughout the whole form. Often for prolonged periods of time. Which, I will admit, would probably take a considerable amount of lung capacity and aerobic fitness. Though it misses the mark. Very often I worry that they are going to go blue in the face and pass out from oxygen loss that they are yelling for so long. On an even worse level you have those so called kiai masters that purport to be able to stop their opponents with the power of ki and their voice. Having experienced that visceral reaction to this sort of practice in the past on multiple occasions I can somewhat understand how one could come to this conclusion. Though that whole no touch kiai thing takes it to a whole ‘nother level that is fuelled by a shared delusion and a very bad master-student relationship. When you see a kata that is performed slowly where you can hear the inhalation an exhalation. In addition to the coordination of the breathe with the movement does this particular principle stand out. In cases like this the kiai will only be vocalized once or twice, usually near the end of the form. More as a punctuation point to stress the importance of a particular technique than anything else. As always: practice at your own risk. Performing the exercises contained within many result in nausea, discomfort, spontaneous combustion, enlightenment, levitation, and sore abdominal muscles and joints. Please consult a physician before embarking upon a new training programme. Also, if you get attacked by ancient Chinese ninja assassins, you didn’t hear this from me. I hope you enjoy objectively.

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The Mind Inside Tai Chi – Review 4

Continuing with the review on 2.3 Qi.

The author wrote that “The first element of mind approach in practicing taijiquan is qi.” I find this very strange. Shouldn’t the first element to using the mind be intention? We always say “no Yi, no Qi” but never “no Qi, no Yi“. I feel that the author has not explained Qi ……click here to continue reading.

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