The Fist Method of Whole Strength

Taiji, Bagua, Xingyi and other representatives of the internal boxing are advocating the development of the whole strength.

This can be reflected in the spectrum of these three fists, "Xingyi" said "waist is quite a four-pronged unity", "Taiji" said "its roots in the feet, hair in the legs, dominant in the waist, shape in the fingers, by the feet and legs and waist, always have to complete a gas", "Bagua Palm spectrum" said "eyes to, hands to, waist and legs to", are said to be The whole strength.

The so-called whole strength, is a unique power skills in China's martial arts, is the most energy-saving method, is the result of a high degree of unity of the body and a high degree of coordination of the body. That is, when generating force, the human body is in a high degree of coordination, so that this force from the whole body passes through all parts without any loss, and then is sent out from a certain point, instead of a single localized force.

The following is quoted from Ma Yuannian's "The Method of Issuing the Whole Strength of Neijiaquan":

The method of issuing the strength is dominated by the waist, and it goes from the waist to the hips, to the knees, to the feet, and from the waist to the spine, to the shoulders, to the elbows, and to the hands.

This method of generating strength is mainly accomplished by the posture of the body. The postural requirements of the internal martial arts are basically the same, roughly containing the chest, pulling the back, sinking the shoulders, dropping the elbows, sitting on the wrists, closing the hips, lifting the crotch, hanging the top, etc. The key is the waist, which is advocated as "the waist". One of the keys is the waist, which is advocated to be "dominated by the waist" and "the waist is the standard". The waist is the standard. When the force is generated, the waist should be held back. The natural physiological state of the waist is bent forward, and once the waist is straightened, it becomes straight from curved, short and straight, and its strength extends up and down. The force extends upward and upward along the spine, urging the spine to pull upward, which is called "pulling up the back". Yang Chengfu said that "if you can hold the chest, you can naturally pull out the back", in fact, the other way around is also correct, if you can pull out the back, you can naturally hold the chest. The power then goes from the back of the spine to the shoulders, mainly the shoulders, elbows, and wrists, and through sinking the shoulders, dropping the elbows, sitting on the wrists, and shuffling the palms, the power reaches the palms and fingers (or the center of the palms). Among them, sinking the shoulders and dropping the elbows are very important, and the boxing manual says: "The power of the body reaches the hands, and the shoulders do it", and "the shoulders drop to the elbows, and the elbows drop to the hands".

Here, I would like to focus on the practice and standard of "chest and back". In "Taijiquan Table Explanation", it is said, "Containing the chest, the chest is slightly contained." "Pulling out the back, so that the qi is attached to the back." The method of containing the chest: the main source of force is to straighten the waist, with the Life Gate point convex at the back, together with the two shoulder blades and the arms being sent forward and outward. The saying of Xingyiquan is: "Both shoulders should be fastened", so that the posture of chest inward will naturally appear. As for the "chest drawn back" how much is appropriate, only said that the chest is slightly contained, how much is "slightly", the book did not introduce. According to years of experience in practicing and teaching boxing, I have found two test standards, one is according to the requirements of Xingyi Quan's "spine should be round, qi to promote the body", check whether the spine is rounded, the method is to look at the back of the spine in the middle of a vertical groove is not there. Round, vertical groove is not, even if the standard. Secondly, it is measured by "gas", and it is said in "Thirteen Positions for Performing Work" that "the gas is attached to the back when it is pulled to and from the back". In "Taijiquan Table Explanation", it is said that "pulling the back makes the gas stick to the back", which are all based on "gas sticking to the back" as the standard. How to check whether the qi is attached to the back? When you take a deep breath, if you hold out your chest, there is a feeling of tightness in your chest, as if a piece of paper has been pasted on it; when you hold in your chest and pull out your back, your back is tight, as if a piece of paper has been pasted on your back, and this is "qi pasted on your back". When you don't hold your chest out or your back in, the feeling in your chest and back is not obvious. When you do "gas stick to the back", the abdomen is quite solid feeling, this is "gas sinking Dantian", can be so that the lower plate is solid, such as the chest is the gas embracing the inter-chest, the lower plate is not stable, otherwise, the abdomen is not such a feeling, which is often referred to as a loose chest and solid abdomen (). This is what is often referred to as the loose chest and solid abdomen (if you can hold the chest and pull out the back, the chest will be loose). Some people say that the chest should be contained into "a bow in the back, a pit in the front", then do "over", do wrong. Containing the chest and pulling the back correctly, not only the lower plate is solid, and the effect of force greatly increased, just as Yang Chengfu said "can pull the back of the force from the spine, the force is infinite carry on". In addition, the internal qi from the spine through, beneficial to expand the dong chi, through the small circumference.

Again, "sinking shoulders and dropping elbows", these two are also interdependent and mutually restraining. Elbow lift the shoulder will be shrugged, shoulder sinking and prompted the elbow fall. Shoulder movements should include three elements: sinking, buckling, spreading. Sinking the shoulder is sinking the shoulder downward, so that the force of the back of the spine is transmitted to the elbow through the shoulder, which is "the shoulder urges the elbow". "When the shoulders hang down, the force is pushed in front of the elbows. Sinking the shoulders also prompts the qi to sink into the dantian. If the shoulders are lifted (called "cold shoulders" in the Eight Anti-countermeasures - the phenomenon of people shrugging their shoulders when they are cold), then the qi floats upward, and the whole body is not powerful, so of course, the power is not whole. Shoulder buckle, that is, the two shoulders forward outward buckle, can make the back round, chest contains, assist in making the power of the shoulder to the elbow. In Xingyiquan, it is said that "when the shoulders are fastened, the power goes to the elbows". Shoulder open, is the big arm root of the humerus head and scapula between the gap between the open, to play the purpose of the long hit far. After pulling it open, you can feel a small groove at the connection between the shoulder and the arm. My teacher, Xiao Gongzhuo, could put down a small wine glass at the opening when the shoulder was spread. Sinking, withholding and spreading at the same time seem to contradict each other and are not easy to do, which requires the shoulder to be loose and soft, slowly to realize, and never be stiff. The so-called "falling elbow" is also called dropping elbow, and the direction of dropping is both downward and forward at the same time. According to the martial arts manual, "when the elbow drops, the energy reaches the hand". However, if the elbow is only falling and there is no forward movement, then it will not be able to bring the energy to the hand.

The power of the waist and the downward movement of the hips is called "the waist urging the hips". Because the hips and buttocks are connected together, so generally do not say hips but say buttocks, called hips, hips, hips, hips, but I think that hips, hips, is not too accurate, it is easy to be understood as a forward translation, but no downward force, which can not play the role of the hips catalyze the knee. Only when the hips are both down and forward can the power of the hips be pushed downward, and then push the knee, and then the knee pushes the foot, which is the transmission method of "hips push the knee, knee pushes the foot".

The waist is straight, the waist is straight, the hips are down and forward, the original waist of the horizontal groove is gone, with the hand from the waist down to touch, the hips and waist is flat, do not feel the buttocks protruding. The waist should be carried through the whole process of boxing, but in the force, to increase the strength of the waist. At this point when you place your hands on the waist of a trained boxer, you will have the sensation of the vital points protruding outward. When you put your hands on their hips and back next to their waist, you will feel the hips running downward and the back having an upward movement.

Straighten the waist, chest and back, buttocks ...... several essentials are both constraints and complementary, like a machine on several meshing gears, a move all move, a stop all stop, to achieve the "a move there is no immobility, a static there is no static". Falling crotch can not only achieve the purpose of "crotch catalyzing the knee", but also promote the "crotch lift", so the boxing recipe says "crotch lift to collect the buttocks for high", on the contrary, the buttocks do not collect and back protruding, the crotch will be On the other hand, if the buttocks are not closed and protrude, the crotch will naturally fall. The crotch will naturally fall down, and the fall will affect the hip collection. Closing the hips and lifting the crotch can also encourage the dantian to sink and develop strength. Hip closing and back lifting are also interactive; if the hips are correctly closed, the chest will also be correctly contained. If the hips are not closed but protruding, the chest will inevitably be lifted, as the saying goes, "Puckering the buttocks will inevitably lift the chest". Although these are interactive gears, but the "active wheel" is the waist, the other "driven wheel". Therefore, the key is in the waist, "waist for the standard", "master in the waist", "pay attention to the waist gap".

This method is mostly used when sending out the inch strength, when close to the enemy, the waist is straight, can suddenly send out explosive force. This is the "inch strength".

Saying that the method of internal boxing, can not be separated from the gas. Boxing manuals and predecessors of the qi of the discussion is quite a lot. For example, "the heart of the line gas, gas transport body", "gas throughout the body without a little stagnation", "the seedling of the gas, the gas of the root of the power" and so on.

When the force is released, the route of the gas and the transmission route of the force is basically the same, the gas from the dantian to the "life gate point", "life gate point" to the back of a convex, the gas from the waist to the upper and lower parts, upward, upward, along the dushi chakra, through the two shoulders in the size of the arm, and finally to the laogong point, the last to the arm, and then to the body, and then to the body, and then to the body. It goes upward, along the Directing Vessel, through the two arms, to the large and small arms, and finally to the Laogong Point or the fingertips. Downwards, it passes through the "coccyx" and "huiyin", along the legs to the Chungquan in the center of the feet, and then returns in the same way, joining with the upward qi and arriving at the palms of the hands at the same time. This process can be completed in an instant. This is how the Dantian strength is released. The key to the use of qi is "to have qi", "in order to seek the fullness of force, we must first seek the fullness of qi". The method of getting gas is inseparable from the posture of the body, which is called body adjustment in the three elements of qigong. In the three elements of qigong, posture is called body toning, such as holding the chest and pulling out the back and closing the buttocks. Posture is both a method of gaining qi and a method of using qi. The other is relaxation, using the mind without exertion, which is called "mind adjustment" in qigong. Refining qi is the main way to gain strength in internal martial arts. Methods are boxing, piling, Xingyi, Taiji, Bagua have piling method. Such as Xingyi Quan's three-body style. In addition, the bagua palm "circle" itself is walking stakes. Taiji sets of intention not force, but also in the refining. Boxing spectrum in the "to the heart line gas, gas transport body" explains the method of gas and gas function. Therefore, the internal fist pays special attention to "gas", emphasizing that "if you want to seek the fullness of the force, first seek the fullness of the gas", "if the gas is not full, then the force is not enough", and if the gas is not enough, then "if you take it as a If the gas is not sufficient, the power is not enough", and if the gas is not sufficient, "if it is used as a method, it is like the defender's city is empty, and if it is used as a method, it is like the warrior's soldiers and horses are weak". When you are full of gas, you can also achieve the "use it, not use it", and you don't have to think about how to use the gas and the route of the gas.