Six Month Break

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Wishing all the best to my readers in the meantime.

Wondering Taoist

Bamboo

武藝不學不通，雜技不練不精

Martial art skills cannot be understood if not studied, acrobatics are not outstanding if not practised.

勢如破竹

A posture totally like a bamboo¹.

Though a new realm, bamboo naturally follows what was achieved in the locks, starting to learn how to tense the whole body through fascias and muscle relaxation. Therefore, where one had to soften one’s body in straight and round, bamboo is all about hardening it, nonetheless by means of relaxation. Still, bamboo training is also finding means to enhance the spine flexibility as well as to reach deeper fascia webs. Finally, such training deals with ways to improve one’s grip and the flow of vapours.

Aligned Or Connected?

三节不明,浑身是空

When the three sections are not understood,the whole body is empty.

The three sections points to the upper, middle and down parts of the body.

Ice Cold

惟真陽以禦之，則蒸然流遍大千

Because the Genuine Masculin guards against, therefore steam boundlessly naturally flows all over and everywhere.

The text goes on explaining how one becomes impervious to cold in a, as usual, pretty obscure sentence involving a “Genuine Masculin” and steaming. 氣, having the meaning of vapours, steaming seems logical. Still, one can wonder how to train cold resistance. This post will explore some of the possible avenues of research the text leads to and a further one the sort of training linked to cold resistance.

Deeper, lighter

河深靜無聲，藝高不壓身

A deep river is still and soundless, superior skills do not restrain the body.

.

To compare with 功到取成.

Finding Bamboo, Iron and Cotton

筋是功能之本，骸是功能之基，氣是功能之源

Fascias are the origin of capability, the skeleton its foundation, vapours its source.

筋骨之強弱，肌肉之堅脆，皮膚之厚薄，腠理之疏密，各不同

The sturdiness of the bones and the fascias, the firmness of the flesh, the thickness of the skin, the density of the lineaments, are each not alike¹.

Before starting with the Bamboo training, one has to realise where this new realm of training comes from. Being an oral tradition, there are still a lot of training in Chinese martial arts which haven’t been put into writing or systematised. Furthermore, with the decline of such old practices, a lot has been lost, including independent practices, such as animal walks, which disappeared and spread out, becoming a particular training in different styles. Bamboo, Iron and Cotton, BIC, wasn’t an independent practice, just some training for already transformed bodies.

Lean And Sinewy

寧練筋長一寸，不練肉厚三分

Rather train to lengthen the fascias by one inch than to thicken the flesh by one third.

To compare with 外練筋骨皮.

Resilient

夫氣足耐寒，血足耐暑，神足耐饑，精足力綿

One can endure cold when vapours are sufficient, heat when blood is sufficient, hunger when spirit is sufficient, the force is continuous when essential liquids are sufficient.

This passage belongs to the 精神氣息解, “Explaining essential liquids, spirit, vapours and breath¹” paragraph. To the usual trio essential liquids, spirit and vapours, breath has been added, probably to show that it is equally important. In the quote, it is blood which has been added. Internal practices use to pay more attention to what is happening inside the body, the organs and the liquids they produce, the blood… and what is not visible but has an impact on one’s performance, what we call vigour, vitality, which they theorised as vapours and spirit.

Shining Eyes, Light Hands & Nimble Body

内練精氣神，外練手眼身

Inside essential liquids, vapours  and spirit are trained; outside hands, eyes and body are trained.

The concept of internal and external is a basic of Chinese culture.

Posture With A Little Push

A good stance and posture reflect a proper state of mind¹.

把勢、把勢，全憑架式

Skill, bluster, it is all a question of posture².

理是功能之本，法是功能之機

Structure is the essence of capacity, method its crucial point².

Posture used to be one of the cornerstones of internal practices. It served many purposes, but deep body transformation and breathing training were amongst the most important. Nowadays, postures are limited, both in their range and diversity.

Fully Empty

虚則實之，實則虚之，虛實互用

Emptiness then towards fullness, fullness then towards emptiness, emptiness and fullness using each other alternatively.




Another translation would be “False then real, real then false, false and real used alternatively.”

Bamboo, Iron And Cotton, A New Realm

一层功，一层理

One level of skill, one level of intrinsic order¹.

古者謂是采真之遊

This is what the ancients called plucking the genuine wanderings².

Old practices were about constantly evolving, which meant changes, which meant to sometimes reach something totally new with very different rules or principles to be followed.

Genuine Chaos Or Fake Sword

許氏四人所臨摹的原本《渾元劍經》的原稿件，又是從何而來的呢？這對我們都是一個難解之迷。

Where did the original of The Sword of Chaos Classic copied by the four from the Xu family come from? This is a difficult puzzle for all of us¹.

In the realm of self-discovery, writings, because they set in stone, are not the favourite tool used in martial arts. As it has already been mentioned many times in this blog, solving oral enigmas used to be the way to pass on knowledge. Hence, when the first boxing manuals appeared, they were not too comprehensive. It seems a bit odd, for the least, when faced with a detailed internal Taoist martial arts manual dated before most of the others².

One Thought Too Many

能在一思进，莫在一思存

Able in one thought to move forward, not remaining in one thoughts.

This sentence is always seen as the description of the need to be decisive while fighting.

A New Stand

一而不可不易者，道也¹

One but (not un)mutating, such is the Way.

The more technology improves, the less relevant become the old practices. Catastrophic events set aside, humanity is on a verge of a new technological revolution that will not only surpass everything we have known, but may well redefine our own species as we know them.

Cycles, Awakened Application

拳理需靜悟，拳技要勤修

Boxing principles need to be calmly awaken, boxing skills must be diligently cultivated.

功到取成

Fetching when the skill is there.

Even for Chinese speakers, the martial art language seems obscure, if not totally incomprehensible. As far as a being an oral teaching stressing on self-discovery, it seems quite opportune to have such tool, but it has, of course and like anything, many drawbacks. Indeed, before even getting lost in translation, people often end up going astray when using terms having more than one meaning, not applying the right one to the right training.

Surprise!

拳打三不知

Hitting unexpectedly

三不知 literally means the three ignorances.

Cycles, Evolution

理是功能之本，法是功能之機*

Pattern is the foundation of capacity, method its pivot.

One of the reasons, but not the only one, of the versatility of the internal arts’ theory, is that training has to adapt its principles according to one’s body deep transformation. To do so, apart from the hijacking method already described many times in this blog, characters with more than one meaning or rewording a saying were amongst the means used to achieve multi-layer understandings.

First In, Last Out

後發先至，後發三至，後發後至

Shooting after, reaching first; shooting after, three reaching first; shooting from the rear, the rear reaching.

“Shooting after, reaching first” to be linked with “he doesn’t move, I don’t move; he moves, I arrive first”.

Cycles, Versatility

一层功，一层理

One level of skills, one level of principles

Old methods teachings are often compared to a spiral, repeating the same training but at a different level, hence the quote. As to demonstrate such method, the present blog has reached a time to start over, review some of the basics of internal practices with a deeper understanding.

Raging Waters

力如千斤壓頂，勁似利箭穿革

Power is like half a ton bearing down on the top, strength as a sharp arrow piercing leather.

On has to be heavy as well as penetrating.