Body bow shoots arrow, feet parallel, right side view - 08/9/10 (Summer)
Here is one of the most incisive, informative statements about the martial applications of abdominal breathing that I have ever come across throughout my several decades of tai chi research:
ZHENG MANQING'S UNCOLLECTED WRITINGS ON TAIJIQUAN, QIGONG, AND HEALTH, WITH NEW BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES
by Douglas Wile
"The Martial Spirit and Dantian Power in Taijiquan"
By Zheng Manqing
p. 107
"... the more you train the more closely they become related so that the dantian and the body's movements become unified. They open and close together and arrive together. When it comes to issuing energy, it is like a camera flash that disappears in an instant. Before issuing energy, the whole body is relaxed, and after issuing energy, the whole body is relaxed. But during that instant of issuing energy, the dantian and every cell in the body are like a bomb that explodes and shoots out in all directions. Of course, this must be coordinated with the breath. In general, issuing energy is on the exhalation, and gathering energy is on the inhalation. During inhalation, the qi gathers in the lungs (this includes the qi inhaled through the nose and the internal qi that is raised up). During exhalation, it is also divided into two streams: internal and external. The external is exhaled through the nose or mouth; the internal rushes to the dantian and is transmitted to the whole body."
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On pages 25-26 of T'AI CHI CH'UAN FOR HEALTH AND SELF-DEFENSE, T.T. Liang translates, then comments on this famous line from the Tai Chi Classics:
"To store up energy is like drawing a bow; to release energy is like shooting an arrow."
"In attacking, the intrinsic energy reserved within your body is as full as the energy of a bowstring, drawn to the fullest extent, ready to shoot... You are like a bow, and your opponent is like an arrow. Your attacking energy is so strong and fast that your opponent is cast out like an arrow shot from a bow."
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In this video I am demonstrating the martial power of REVERSE ABDOMINAL BREATHING. I am propelling a projectile away from my body by rapidly expanding my abdomen during an exhalation.
Like a powerful sneeze - - "aaa-choo!" Aaa = draw the bow. Choo! = release the arrow.
It's not just the expansion of my abdomen which sends the projectile several feet away from my body. The rapid expansion of my abdomen coincides with the release of total body power (fa-jing), which starts in my weighted foot's connection to the ground and involves all 5 bows of my body - - 2 bent legs, 2 bent arms, and my elastic spine. All these springy elements help propel the projectile away from my center.
The same elastic, tensile, sinewy total body power I utilize to send a projectile shooting out of my expanding belly during an exhalation could also be used to propel an opponent away during tai chi push hands practice, or form applications.
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These are notes to myself when I practice total body power / fa-jing:
"Find all those elastic, tensile components inside your body which behave like a bow releasing an arrow, and integrate them so they all function together, reinforcing each other. Tendons, muscles, fascia, bones knitted together by ligaments, sinews, cartilage, tissues, etc. Unify them with mind-intent into one 'body bow,' so the entire body behaves like a bow releasing an arrow at the moment when total body power is released. Make sure this unified, elastic tensile energy begins at the weighted foot's connection to the ground, continues all the way to the crown of the head, and extends to the tips of the fingers."
Once the bow is drawn, various parts of the body can release this energy. "Body bow" energy can be released through the hands, wrists, elbows, shoulders, hips, knees, feet, etc.
Draw the bow. Release the arrow.
Aaa-choo!
ChiGuy396
ChiGuy396@yahoo.com
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How to breathe, full lung exercises, oxygenate your cells by deep breathing. Pastorstrawby pastorstraw33,863 views
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