Dear Family,
It's been a while since I posted here! I figured I could share a few fun experiences I've had lately.
Fun with Baguazhang & Hoong Ka
As a few of you know, I've been virtually partner-free for the past two years, just practicing things from the basic syllabus and Baguazhang. At my sifu's recommendation, and with hilarious timing given the recent Summer Camp, I found a school that teaches Hoong Ka kung fu here in Peoria in order to get more "hands on" practice with live partners.
After assessing my basics, e.g. knowledge and ability to perform stances and footwork, the sifu let me join in on his school's sessions of free-form Asking Bridges and free sparring (no pads or gear is used, and the students here have all shown very good control while maintaining a good level of threat). I have to admit that I've been doing pretty well with closing my partners' guards, threading away incoming strikes, and even using my Baguazhang footwork and stances to get to my partners' sides and back. I'm doing as well as, if not better than, some of the students here who have been regularly practicing Asking Bridge for the past two or more years. The sifu complimented me on my stances and footwork, which have been my best defense against my taller and stronger partners.
I've also been greatly enjoying the free-form aspect of the exercise and the free sparring; sometimes stuff just "comes out" that I've never considered before, such as stepping to my partners' back into the Unicorn Step and drawing him into a headlock (a modified form of Control a Rushing Horse in the Swimming Dragon Baguazhang set).
While the sifu has been utterly trouncing me in Asking Bridge and free sparring, I've been lucky enough to be on the receiving end of a lot of patterns and strategies, especially from his Tiger-Crane set. Suddenly having access to so much hands-on practice, after two years of almost nothing, reminds me of my favorite quote from Confucius:
Luckily, I'm not too bitter about kung fu training at all. It's fun as heck!
Joint Expansion, Contraction and exploding force with One Finger Shooting Zen
This morning, I had a lovely time with One Finger Shooting Zen in my new apartment. As I let go and went deeper into the exercise, I noticed that there was a peculiar tingling around my knees and elbows that eased off when I exploded force.
I played around with this and realized that my joints were slightly compressing and expanding during the set, compressing as I consolidated force and expanding as I exploded the force. With a few slight motions and attention paid to my joints, this compression and expansion action really seemed to enhance exploding force with the fist, thrusting palm, and mirror hands. I didn't notice much difference when I used the One Finger Zen hand-form or Tiger Claws.
I didn't know what was going on with this thing, but I discussed a little with a friend of mine who does Ma Weiqi Baguazhang and Taijiquan in another school and he mentioned that his school emphasizes the joint contraction and expansion as a way to enhance absorbing, redirecting, and exploding force. I thought it was pretty neat. I played around with the contraction/expansion a bit more and I felt as though I could explode force even in awkward positions like sitting cross-legged on the floor (still don't have chairs in my new apartment, haha). This confused and excited me, since I always thought that I needed larger movements to explode a noticeable amount of force; now I feel like I momentarily shrink and then shoot the force out. It makes the passages I've read from (translated) kung fu classics make more sense to me, especially the ones that describe exploding force as bending a bow and letting it shoot out like an arrow.
Anywho, hope things are going well! If anyone has any advice to share, I'm all ears.
Sincerely with Shaolin salute,
-Fred
It's been a while since I posted here! I figured I could share a few fun experiences I've had lately.
Fun with Baguazhang & Hoong Ka
As a few of you know, I've been virtually partner-free for the past two years, just practicing things from the basic syllabus and Baguazhang. At my sifu's recommendation, and with hilarious timing given the recent Summer Camp, I found a school that teaches Hoong Ka kung fu here in Peoria in order to get more "hands on" practice with live partners.
After assessing my basics, e.g. knowledge and ability to perform stances and footwork, the sifu let me join in on his school's sessions of free-form Asking Bridges and free sparring (no pads or gear is used, and the students here have all shown very good control while maintaining a good level of threat). I have to admit that I've been doing pretty well with closing my partners' guards, threading away incoming strikes, and even using my Baguazhang footwork and stances to get to my partners' sides and back. I'm doing as well as, if not better than, some of the students here who have been regularly practicing Asking Bridge for the past two or more years. The sifu complimented me on my stances and footwork, which have been my best defense against my taller and stronger partners.
I've also been greatly enjoying the free-form aspect of the exercise and the free sparring; sometimes stuff just "comes out" that I've never considered before, such as stepping to my partners' back into the Unicorn Step and drawing him into a headlock (a modified form of Control a Rushing Horse in the Swimming Dragon Baguazhang set).
While the sifu has been utterly trouncing me in Asking Bridge and free sparring, I've been lucky enough to be on the receiving end of a lot of patterns and strategies, especially from his Tiger-Crane set. Suddenly having access to so much hands-on practice, after two years of almost nothing, reminds me of my favorite quote from Confucius:
Originally posted by Confucius
Joint Expansion, Contraction and exploding force with One Finger Shooting Zen
This morning, I had a lovely time with One Finger Shooting Zen in my new apartment. As I let go and went deeper into the exercise, I noticed that there was a peculiar tingling around my knees and elbows that eased off when I exploded force.
I played around with this and realized that my joints were slightly compressing and expanding during the set, compressing as I consolidated force and expanding as I exploded the force. With a few slight motions and attention paid to my joints, this compression and expansion action really seemed to enhance exploding force with the fist, thrusting palm, and mirror hands. I didn't notice much difference when I used the One Finger Zen hand-form or Tiger Claws.
I didn't know what was going on with this thing, but I discussed a little with a friend of mine who does Ma Weiqi Baguazhang and Taijiquan in another school and he mentioned that his school emphasizes the joint contraction and expansion as a way to enhance absorbing, redirecting, and exploding force. I thought it was pretty neat. I played around with the contraction/expansion a bit more and I felt as though I could explode force even in awkward positions like sitting cross-legged on the floor (still don't have chairs in my new apartment, haha). This confused and excited me, since I always thought that I needed larger movements to explode a noticeable amount of force; now I feel like I momentarily shrink and then shoot the force out. It makes the passages I've read from (translated) kung fu classics make more sense to me, especially the ones that describe exploding force as bending a bow and letting it shoot out like an arrow.
Anywho, hope things are going well! If anyone has any advice to share, I'm all ears.
Sincerely with Shaolin salute,
-Fred
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