Being “Song” (translated as a state of looseness, relaxation, devoid of tension etc.) is one of the most important concepts of the internal arts. It is also the most difficult to realise.
One key aspect to achieving whole body “song” as well nimbleness of movements, lies in relaxing the foot, especially the section from below the knee to the foot. If the foot is not “song” your root breaks at the point of contact with the ground. (In tuishou it is easy for your opponent to upset your root). Conversely when the foot is relaxed your root is “the whole earth beneath you”, and proper grounding ensues.
Not only is the desired outcome of practice not realised, failure to keep the feet “song” is the biggest cause of knee injuries. This often happens in the desire to take low stances to impress or having the mistaken view that only low stances mean bitter work. The legs and feet are tensed to maintain balance rather than the internal arts’ method of sinking “qi and blood” into the ground. During zhan zhuang ( standing pole) pay attention to keeping the lower leg and feet relaxed. If necessary gently move (without breaking out of structure) to find the sense of relaxation. “Standing pole is not dead pole!”
Connect to the ground like a falling leaf, do not add extra force to the ground except your own body weight.
Walk gently like a cat, your quiet footfall cannot be heard.
Step carefully on thin ice, do not let heaviness break the ice and fall into the water.
Tread on grass and feel a kind of ascending feeling of the grass towards your feet rather than grinding the grass into the ground.
As in your daily standing and walking , do you deliberately apply force to stand and walk?
No comments:
Post a Comment