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How important are the 6 Harmonies in a combat situation?

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  • How important are the 6 Harmonies in a combat situation?

    Before we can discuss how important the 6 Harmonies may (or may not) be in a combat situation, we should define what the 6 Harmonies are!

    The 6 aspects that make up the 6 Harmonies are
    1) leg movement
    2) body movement
    3) arm movement
    4) jing
    5) chi
    6) shen

    When these 6 aspects are coordinated, the result is the 6 Harmonies.

    So... how important is the 6 Harmonies in a combat situation? And why is that your opinion?

    -Matt

  • #2
    Interestingly, I would not have the same definition of the 6 harmonies. It may be only semantics, but the first 3 mentioned, in my opinion, need not be "reduced or limited" to movement.

    The external 3 harmonies then become:
    1. Leg (or Foot)
    2. Body
    3. Arm (or Hand)
    The internal 3 harmonies we agree on
    1. Jing (Essence)
    2. Chi (Energy)
    3. Shen (Mind)
    Sifu Andrew Barnett
    Shaolin Wahnam Switzerland - www.shaolin-wahnam.ch

    Flowing Health GmbH www.flowing-health.ch (Facebook: www.facebook.com/sifuandrew)
    Healing Sessions with Sifu Andrew Barnett - in Switzerland and internationally
    Heilbehandlungen mit Sifu Andrew Barnett - in der Schweiz und International

    Comment


    • #3
      Great point, Sihing! Thank you!

      Including "movement" in the definition is certainly limiting. I like your definition better!

      -Matt
      Last edited by Matt F.; 17 September 2018, 11:44 AM.

      Comment


      • #4
        Dear Shaolin Wahnam Family,

        Originally posted by Matt F. View Post
        Before we can discuss how important the 6 Harmonies may (or may not) be in a combat situation, we should define what the 6 Harmonies are!

        The 6 aspects that make up the 6 Harmonies are
        1) leg movement
        2) body movement
        3) arm movement
        4) jing
        5) chi
        6) shen

        When these 6 aspects are coordinated, the result is the 6 Harmonies.

        So... how important is the 6 Harmonies in a combat situation? And why is that your opinion?

        -Matt
        Thank you dear Sidai for starting this thread! I am very interested in the answers to this question as I honestly do not know the answer myself.

        Originally posted by Andrew View Post
        Interestingly, I would not have the same definition of the 6 harmonies. It may be only semantics, but the first 3 mentioned, in my opinion, need not be "reduced or limited" to movement.
        Thank you for your contribution dear Sihing. Your answer arouse in my another question. Apart from movement, what other aspects are included in leg, body and arm that can be useful, for example, in a combat situation?

        With Love, Care and Shaolin Salute,

        Santi

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by sancrica View Post
          Apart from movement, what other aspects are included in leg, body and arm that can be useful, for example, in a combat situation?
          Great question, Santi. Here is a part of the answer -- I'll let others chime in with other parts:
          - Relaxation
          - Stillness
          - Physical structure
          - Lightness and heaviness
          - Flexibility
          - Reflexes
          - Connectedness

          There are more aspects, but that list should suffice for the start

          Sifu Andrew Barnett
          Shaolin Wahnam Switzerland - www.shaolin-wahnam.ch

          Flowing Health GmbH www.flowing-health.ch (Facebook: www.facebook.com/sifuandrew)
          Healing Sessions with Sifu Andrew Barnett - in Switzerland and internationally
          Heilbehandlungen mit Sifu Andrew Barnett - in der Schweiz und International

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by sancrica View Post
            Thank you dear Sidai for starting this thread! I am very interested in the answers to this question as I honestly do not know the answer myself.

            With Love, Care and Shaolin Salute,

            Santi
            Luckily, all of my "combat" experience is limited to sparring. But maintaining the 6 Harmonies applies to so much more than just Kungfu, that I would assume it applies to actual combat in the same manner.

            Much like you can cut something in half, and then in half again, and again, and again forever, the path toward absolute perfection of the 6 Harmonies is unending. You will never reach the point of being 100% right, so the goal is to be less wrong today than you were yesterday. Sifu is less wrong than you or I, and we are less wrong than a beginner. To us and the beginner, Sifu may appear perfect because he is so much less wrong than we are, but he is still not perfect. In 10 years, he will be even less wrong than he is today.

            To have success, it is vital that you maintain the 6 Harmonies up to, or beyond, the required threshold. For instance, if I am wrestling/playing with my cat, the required threshold would be a 1. If I'm at a 0 (usually the shen aspect is missing and I'm not paying attention), he might latch onto me unexpectedly and cause a bit of pain or draw a little blood. If I pay attention, and get the 6 Harmonies to at least level 1, my experience is a lot more fun. If I go beyond level 1, it quickly becomes one-sided. However, if you and I were to spar, the threshold for success would be much higher, and it would require that I maintain the 6 Harmonies at a much higher level for the match to be even.

            As you get closer to maxing out your ability to maintain the 6 Harmonies, you have less and less room for error. If the threshold for success is low, say a 2, and your max ability to maintain the 6 Harmonies is 15, there will be plenty of room for error. You will easily notice when and how you have lost the 6 Harmonies, and there will be lots of time to adjust. If the threshold is 12, and your ability is 15, there will be much less time to adjust.

            In a situation where your opponent is static, like bowling, your skill in maintaining the 6 Harmonies will be directly related to your success. Level 1 might be hit some pins, level 5 hit lots of pins, level 10 regularly get strikes, level 15 be able to turn a 7/10 split. For bowling, my threshold of success would be a level 6 or 7. If I do well, I can usually hit a fair number of pins. If I lose the 6 Harmonies, the number of pins drops quickly. If I am lucky, I can occasionally get a strike, but it's luck and not really skill when that happens.

            Sparring is different, though, because your opponent is not static. The threshold for success will be constantly changing. This can be used to your advantage, or used against you. The higher the level you can maintain with the 6 Harmonies, the lower the threshold of your success will be. If you can cause your opponent to drop his/her level of the 6 Harmonies, the threshold of your success will again drop lower. Likewise, if you start to lose the 6 Harmonies, the threshold of your success will rise. Sometimes very quickly!

            The weak link in my chain is the shen aspect. For me, shen often lags behind the others as I try to increase my level of the 6 Harmonies, and is often the first aspect to drop off and reduce my ability to maintain the 6 Harmonies. I should train shen a bit more, to bring it up to speed. And anyone paying attention, will know to target my shen the next time we spar!


            -Matt


            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by Matt F. View Post

              Sparring is different, though, because your opponent is not static. The threshold for success will be constantly changing. This can be used to your advantage, or used against you. The higher the level you can maintain with the 6 Harmonies, the lower the threshold of your success will be. If you can cause your opponent to drop his/her level of the 6 Harmonies, the threshold of your success will again drop lower. Likewise, if you start to lose the 6 Harmonies, the threshold of your success will rise. Sometimes very quickly!



              -Matt

              Thank you for starting this illuminating thread Matt

              If I may, in your sparring experience, what did you use to cause your opponent to drop his/her level of the 6 harmonies? Does it have anything to do with tactics and strategies? Likewise, if and when you found yourself losing the 6 harmonies, what are the causes?

              I think the answers will benefit many of us here.

              With Shaolin Salute,
              Lee Wei Joo
              http://shaolinwahnammalaysia.com/

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by Andrew View Post

                - Physical structure
                - Connectedness

                I just wanted to chime in and mention how important I have been finding these in the last few years. The lesson that was first planted in me by my Sifu didn't fully blossom until I was training with a Wing Chun master for the very first time early in 2014. He told me my elbow was too far out and how it was compromising all my power. I immediately thought "Nonsense, I have internal force!" but out loud I asked him what he meant. He had me stand in goat stance and press a cup fist out from my sternum similar to the cup fist section of One Finger Shooting Zen. Then he placed his hand against my fist and told me to press it out. My arm buckled sideways almost immediately and it was impossible to press his hand away. He gave me a slight adjustment, he pressed my right elbow in until it was in line with my right hip and told me to press again. I immediately felt like the line of force from my right foot to my right hip connected to the line of force between my right elbow and my right fist. Everything was connected and structurally sound. I felt the force flow as I pressed him away easily. He pressed harder with his full weight and I was still able to press him away easily using the lessons of synchronizing waist rotation with arm movement that my Sifu had taught me - and I finally felt like I understood a few years later.

                The wing chun practitioner then told me that by having my elbow too far out just by a few inches that all the force from my fist was shooting out the direction my elbow was pointing instead of aligning properly with my stance. It was true, that's exactly what it felt like. I am very grateful to my Sifu and this practitioner for helping me understand these principles.
                Last edited by David Langford; 20 September 2018, 07:30 PM.
                Shaolin Wahnam USA

                "Every morning you are born again. What you do today is the most important thing".

                Comment


                • #9
                  Dear Shaolin Wahnam Family,

                  Thank you all for your wonderful answers. They are very inspiring and contribute greatly to the learning process. :-)

                  Sifu has posted in the Recent Featured Articles section a very illuminating answer that comments on the Six Harmonies. I include it below:

                  "Of course, every pattern should be performed with correct form and effective skills, summarized as the six harmonies, including the harmony of mind, but it is in Dragon patterns that the requirement of mind is most urgent.

                  The six harmonies are the three external harmonies of hands, body and feet, which constitute form, and the three internal harmonies of elegance, energy and mind, which constitute skills. Let us take an example of responding to a common attack, the thrust punch.

                  As an opponent executes a thrust punch, a responder may ward off using Single Tiger Emerges from Cave, then follow with Black Tiger Steals Heart. Even when his hand position is not exact in his warding off, his foot position not exact in retreating to avoid the punch, and his body not relaxed, he can still ward off the punch. Even when his movement is not elegant, his energy blocked, and his mind stressful, he can still ram his close fist onto his opponent.

                  But if he employs Swimming Dragon Plays with Water, he needs to be perfect in his six harmonies. If his hand position, body position and footwork are not in perfect harmony, he would be unable to perform the form well. He must circulate his arm over and brush off the opponent’s attack, slightly rotate his waist to avoid the full force of his opponent, and place his feet far enough to be safe and near enough to strike his opponent.

                  His three internal harmonies must also be perfect. His movement must be flowing and precise, his energy flow smoothly from his dan tian to his fingers to strike the opponent, and his mind must be relaxed and clear to executes all these features. The most important of course is his mind. If his mind is stressful, distracted or full of irrelevant thoughts, he would fail to execute the precise form and skills even if he knows the response. Thus, Dragon patterns are excellent to train the mind."

                  Quote Source
                  So, this answer triggered in me some more questions:

                  Why is so decisive to be perfect in the six harmonies in a pattern like "Swimming Dragon Plays with Water" and not in patterns like "Single Tiger Emerges from Cave" and "Black Tiger Steals Heart"?

                  If it is so decisive to be perfect in the six harmonies for "Swimming Dragon Plays with Water", this technique can be very risky to execute, right?. Why not just using directly "Black Tiger Steals Heart" and avoid the risk of being unable to execute a pattern like "Swimming Dragon Plays with Water"?

                  Looking forward to your answers! :-)

                  With Love, Care and Shaolin Salute,

                  Santi






                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by David Langford View Post

                    I just wanted to chime in and mention how important I have been finding these in the last few years. The lesson that was first planted in me by my Sifu didn't fully blossom until I was training with a Wing Chun master for the very first time early in 2014. He told me my elbow was too far out and how it was compromising all my power. I immediately thought "Nonsense, I have internal force!" but out loud I asked him what he meant. He had me stand in goat stance and press a cup fist out from my sternum similar to the cup fist section of One Finger Shooting Zen. Then he placed his hand against my fist and told me to press it out. My arm buckled sideways almost immediately and it was impossible to press his hand away. He gave me a slight adjustment, he pressed my right elbow in until it was in line with my right hip and told me to press again. I immediately felt like the line of force from my right foot to my right hip connected to the line of force between my right elbow and my right fist. Everything was connected and structurally sound. I felt the force flow as I pressed him away easily. He pressed harder with his full weight and I was still able to press him away easily using the lessons of synchronizing waist rotation with arm movement that my Sifu had taught me - and I finally felt like I understood a few years later.

                    The wing chun practitioner then told me that by having my elbow too far out just by a few inches that all the force from my fist was shooting out the direction my elbow was pointing instead of aligning properly with my stance. It was true, that's exactly what it felt like. I am very grateful to my Sifu and this practitioner for helping me understand these principles.
                    Thank you for sharing your direct experience and realization of physical structure and connectedness as related to the Six Harmonies here with us David It is amazing how small adjustments can make big changes.

                    With Shaolin Salute,
                    Lee Wei Joo
                    http://shaolinwahnammalaysia.com/

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Greetings to all of you.

                      I would suggest first to aim to get good coordination of the body in whatever you do. Especially during movement, for beeing able to move fast, solid and balanced in whatever way the sitiuation requires is one of the most important skills you can learn. Be able to block, strike or evade at any given moment. For that to happen you have to have very good control over your body. That is more than just over legs, body and arms. The entire body has to act as a harmonius unity. To practise that I can strongly recomend shadow boxing in a western boxing style manner. Just use Kungfu techiques. Train your balance all the time. Aim never to be outbalanced by yourself. Spacing is another huge aspect. Get to know your ranges of attack exactly. Very important as well. Become competent in defensive fighting, in blocking and evading which like mentioned before needs a lot of good balance if you are dealing with powerful attacks.
                      So I would summerize the first for harmonies into one, which is good and balanced coordination of your entire body. In a combat situation this is a huge skill to have because your body is the machine doing the fighting. You have to be able to handle it competently to rely on it.

                      Now there is chi and shen, which is more complicated to harmonize in a fight, because you are likely to be scared when you are in a combat situation, which is completly normal because your well being is at stake. The body will prepare for the fight in its own manner, that I myself find a little contraproductive to be honest because it will have impacts on the calmness, coordination and stamina needed to face the situation at its best.
                      Personally I'd say being able to handle the stress a combat situation induces in you is the most crucial factor to have the best possible outcome. If you can be calm in the face of danger (harmonious shen) the chi will be harmonious to. At least that is my experience so far. I have to add that I have not been in many situations where I had a real combat situation but I think you can train yourself to be more calm while having your adrenaline up. There are some excersises that involve spinning yourself until becoming dizzy and so on that simulate the feeling you encounter when having a real fight, but I would not recommend doing them to often because they can put unnessesary stress on you. The thing is in my oppinion you will become calmer in a real fight if you face that feeling a lot of times and your body does not react to the stimulus as much as before, but that would mean to put yourself in danger often, which is clearly not a good advice.

                      I have much more experience with free sparring, which will put you under pressure in the beginning and have the effects on your body and mind mentioned before but in a less drastic way. You might look away from punches or notice that you are out of breath quite fast. But the more you do it and the more competent you become in defending yourself the less nervous you will become and the more will your shen be calm, which harmonizes every other aspect as well. And you will be amazed after a while how much more relaxed in general you become while free sparring.

                      To summerize:
                      All six harmonies are very important in a combat situation. Get your body moving as a harmonized unity and keep relaxing both physical and mentaly again and again. The better you are at this the better the outcome.

                      Benedikt
                      Benedikt Vennen
                      Shaolin Wahnam Germany

                      ______________________

                      May I be firm and resolute. may I be kind, compassionate, and friendly. May I be humble, calm, quiet, unruffled and serene. May I serve to be perfect. May I be perfect to serve.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Dear Shaolin Wahnam Family,

                        Thank you all for contributing to this thread. Many great answers! :-)

                        When I was doing sparring with a high element of threat, I could clearly feel how my Six Harmonies were greatly affected. Some of the things I experienced were the following ones:

                        - Chi was rising up to my head. That affected my mental clarity tremendously. Therefore, I made more mistakes and got slower in my responses.
                        - Getting tired more easily so after 3-4 minutes I felt exhausted and my fighting capability was greatly affected.
                        - Less rotted to the floor (Light legs and heavy upper body). I was losing balance, felt my body disconnected and became less solid. My opponents could push me easily.
                        - Less control of my movements. I became less precise and many techniques that I was using weren't effective anymore.

                        Have you experienced similar things in a combat situation? How did those things affected to the way you were fighting? Have you been in a combat situation where you felt you were perfect in your Six Harmonies? If so, what was the result or the benefits you experienced?

                        Looking forward to your great answers! :-)

                        With Love, Care and Shaolin Salute,

                        Santi

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by sancrica View Post
                          Have you been in a combat situation where you felt you were perfect in your Six Harmonies? If so, what was the result or the benefits you experienced?
                          Yes when I was winning

                          The result was I won

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