I've been noticing, with some help from my buddy Rant, that you can get significant gains in power by segmenting the body when you move it, letting the top coil and then the hips follow
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Yeah thats kind of how i hit..Thats more of Shaolin fajing. Kind of stuff you can find in white crane, or anyone who knows how to utilize the waist and upper body. What about coiling of the legs? From the way you describe it, it seems like they use the rooting of the legs...to coil the upper body and shoot it out like rubber band. Its effective, but not as effective as IMA in my opinion. The same thing happens in the internal arts, only the lower body is coiling, compressing, etc. and releasing along with the upper body as well. Kenpo does kind of steal most of its concepts from shaolin, and simplifies it...I would say its not as good as the real deal..its just that in CMA it is alot harder to develop.
WC people use similar concepts. The chest cavity for example. But IMO IMA is superior because if you were to use the chest cavity to strike (contract and expand like rubberband), you would also be doing a similar movement with the legs and waist, doubling your power. The most important thing is to let it feel natural...as if in the wave of force moves through your body and shoots out your hand. If you feel it restricted or segmented in any way, then you are forcing it or thinking too much.
I wish i could see a video of this idea. It seems like the "one inch punch" stuff that WC guys do because of Bruce Lee showing off fajing in the 60's. It might hit hard, push someone away, or even knock it far away. But it is a very shallow concept of what fajing is IMO.
This kind force exists in bagua, only it is very complicated and way more advanced. Try applying similar force in the 8 step routines (you know the linear xingyi type ones). I think you will develop it in bagua then.
Last thing, I think I know what you are saying now. That is definitely very shaolinish. Try doing this, get in a horse stance, sink kind of low...then move into a gong bu (sideways). So if you were facing N in ma bu, facing W in gong bu. This is common in shaolin. It is a typical way to develop waist force. Because your body twists to your left (or right). As you move into gong bu, rooted, sink your center of gravity a bit, and then as you are turning to the side in gong bu, use your waist to shoot out your arm like a cannon. Very powerful and crisp. Now this is a "big movement" the same concept applies to small movements, or punches...
Remember the first punch in our chen form?..its similar in power generation, only it is more complicated. There is coiling, rising and sinking, etc.
No matter which martial art you are doing, your arm should never lead in power generation, if you are moving your arm first, AND then your body/waist..that is very segmented. It should all move together. Now it doesn't mean in same direction, bagua for example can move legs and waist in different direction and still be connected.
And your description of the shield knocking sounds awesome. This is why i love IMA. Cus I think of sword apps using fajin all the time. Like if you block someone's sword from the outside, inwards kinda, you are then "spring" loaded to swipe/hit them outwards.
I've been doing weighted horse stances a lot recently. Other than a subtle feeling of extra flexibility and easier low stances, I've noticed a bad thing: ever since I've started doing them, by root has become more unstable. Jia keeps saying that even though I'm low, i'm not sinking my chi enough, so I'm easier to knock over.
I guess I'll have to do a lot of standing practice without weights to try to fix this.
interesting. You got to make sure that all the force goes into the ground, it helps you with "rooting" try gripping the ground with your toes a bit when you do horse stances. Maybe its the posture? I dunno, that is interesting to me. Horse stances are supposed to help you sink it :)
WC people use similar concepts. The chest cavity for example. But IMO IMA is superior because if you were to use the chest cavity to strike (contract and expand like rubberband), you would also be doing a similar movement with the legs and waist, doubling your power. The most important thing is to let it feel natural...as if in the wave of force moves through your body and shoots out your hand. If you feel it restricted or segmented in any way, then you are forcing it or thinking too much.
I wish i could see a video of this idea. It seems like the "one inch punch" stuff that WC guys do because of Bruce Lee showing off fajing in the 60's. It might hit hard, push someone away, or even knock it far away. But it is a very shallow concept of what fajing is IMO.
This kind force exists in bagua, only it is very complicated and way more advanced. Try applying similar force in the 8 step routines (you know the linear xingyi type ones). I think you will develop it in bagua then.
Last thing, I think I know what you are saying now. That is definitely very shaolinish. Try doing this, get in a horse stance, sink kind of low...then move into a gong bu (sideways). So if you were facing N in ma bu, facing W in gong bu. This is common in shaolin. It is a typical way to develop waist force. Because your body twists to your left (or right). As you move into gong bu, rooted, sink your center of gravity a bit, and then as you are turning to the side in gong bu, use your waist to shoot out your arm like a cannon. Very powerful and crisp. Now this is a "big movement" the same concept applies to small movements, or punches...
Remember the first punch in our chen form?..its similar in power generation, only it is more complicated. There is coiling, rising and sinking, etc.
No matter which martial art you are doing, your arm should never lead in power generation, if you are moving your arm first, AND then your body/waist..that is very segmented. It should all move together. Now it doesn't mean in same direction, bagua for example can move legs and waist in different direction and still be connected.
And your description of the shield knocking sounds awesome. This is why i love IMA. Cus I think of sword apps using fajin all the time. Like if you block someone's sword from the outside, inwards kinda, you are then "spring" loaded to swipe/hit them outwards.
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I guess I'll have to do a lot of standing practice without weights to try to fix this.
Now where the heck am I gonna find the time? :)
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