This article on grand circulation pretty much sums up the visualisation I do while doing standing practice at Wing Chun training. You can just 'think up the spine' but this method formalises it a little bit more.
I have heard other Wing Chun people describe the 'energy river' within the spine, especially in the context of the feeling they have when they are 'on'.
One thing my instructor mentioned the other day was to 'let the thinking up the spine just be a thought' as that is all it is supposed to be. There will be the inevitable first time you experience the relaxation effect of thinking up the spine. You may experience a more powerful punch, or the ability to move someone with your arm and literally feel no resistance or pressure on your limb.
What I have personally found is that, in trying to replicate these fantastic results, micro-tension may be introduced in your body. This is as a result of trying to replicate the alignment by using muscles. Even minute amounts of muscular tension will not achieve what you want. Hence - let the thinking up the spine be just that - a thought!
Relax, let your joints rotate freely in their sockets, and trust the strength of your physical structure.
Very grateful to my Instructor for telling me this, as it took me off a very unproductive path.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Mate,
I think your blog is cool. I've been learning Wing Chun for a couple of years now, and your question about Focusing is one that I've asked many times, with varying answers (both in substance and in the level of detail), which has been very frustrating.
In particular, no-one at my school really teaches the Tai Gung/Sing principle from the beginning of a student's training, and the level of detail given is poor, typically.
Anyway, I appreciate your work here and hope to hear more about your progress. (FYI you seem to have lost your earlier post on Tai Gong that you have referred to in your focusing post).
Cheers
Tom
Hey Tom,
I totally missed this comment! Well better late than never..
It's been a while since I updated this blog, but I hope to continue with more of a focus on Zhan Zhuang and internal techniques.
Having learned WC in a place that encouraged internal tension, vs one that taught relaxation and tei gung, I can 100% say that the latter is the way to go. Using the body's built in structure, and not stopping the energy flow with tension is massively superior if you want to generate maximum external power.
I would HIGHLY recommend checking out these videos here and adding them to your practice.
Thanks for your comments.
All the best and happy practising!
Joe
p.s. I fixed up that post - cheers for pointing that out!
Hey there. What a gem your blog is. I have been following a similar path and through exposure to chu shong tin's teachings have taken up an interest in zhan zhuang. Thank you for articulating things so well and compiling those useful resources. Davin.
Post a Comment