A Question of Size, a Question of Time

筋道不舒長，欲伸而筋不能伸*

When the fascias channels are constrained and short, one cannot stretch at will

手屈而不伸者，其病在筋**

He whose hands are bent and not extending, its illness is in the fascias

To furthermore understand what is sought for in the search of straightness, and even elasticity more generally, it may be interesting to explain furthermore the first quote, from the Fascias Change Canons, more known as the YìJīn Jīng. Indeed, it contains a few keys to understand what is sought for when working with fascias. As it has been mentioned in a previous post, martial enigmas always hold more than one meaning (hence, the above translation of the first quote was meant to illustrate a former post). Then, from a basic understanding, one can try to expand certain characters.

Basic

Choosing whether 筋道 is one or two words, the sentence can either point to the need to be "firm without being hard" in internal practices or simply stresses on qualities searched for fascias lines.

Firm but not Hard

"When one is robust but not at ease and long, wishing to stretch and yet (one's) fascias (are) not able to do so."

筋道: robust

不: not

舒: at ease 

長: long

欲: desire, which for

伸: stretch

而: and yet

筋: fascias

能: able

Such statement stresses the fact that having a strong body cannot come from hard contracted muscles. Indeed, one has to find how to become robust through relaxation, not contraction. Otherwise, hard contracted muscles hinder the fascias they contain, keep them from stretching and overtime this may even cause their shrinking. Fascias shorten and kept from stretching by harden muscles, one will become, without even noticing it, restricted in one's motion range because of a lack of flexibility. In this sense, the need to be long also refers to the outcome of having long and thin muscles when training using fascias elasticity, as opposed to the short and compact ones when working with muscle contraction. Maybe the difference between sinewy and sturdy.

Fascias

"When fascias channels are not spread long, wishing to stretch and yet the tendons cannot stretch."

筋: fascias/tendons

道: channel

舒: spread

The two words translation could be understood as the internal version, the one word being the external, what's visible to the eye. Therefore, there is a need to have one's fascias lines as long and relaxed as possible. Hence, the second quote which links the incapacity to extend the hands to a problem of fascias, not muscles. 

The first part of the statement gives a hint about what is also sought for in stretching, long, 長, and at ease, spread and relaxed, 舒, lines of fascias. Hence, one of the aims of extreme stretching is gaining through extra length the capacity for the limbs and the body more generally to execute larger motions. Therefore, the less long and relaxed are one's lines of fascias, the more restrained one is in one's motion, like, simply, how high can you lift up your legs or your arms. 

Such restraint has more than a motion impact, it also slows if not totally obstructs the flow of vapours since fascias are to vapours what piping is to central heat. A simple example is the presence of heat in the hands if one relaxes enough and long enough or, opposite, cold hands which can often be improved by a correct stretching of one's shoulders. Indeed, a better flow, more heat. In this sense, the joints, because of their hardness as far as fascias are concerned, are one of the main issues to be dealt with whoever trains, hence the "wishing to stretch and yet the tendons cannot stretch."

Expanding

A few characters deserve more explanation:

舒

It is most probably no coincidence that the first meaning of such character was "to stretch.", relaxed, spread and at ease came as an extended meaning. Then comes the need to "stretch long", which is not only a question of size, but also time. Indeed, traditionally, one would start by keeping a stretching posture for long periods of time, hours. For example, one of the old ways to train kids was using their capacity to fall deeply asleep whenever they needed and in whatever position, forcing then them to sleep in a stretching posture.

長

Its original meaning was not long in size but in time, supporting the need described to train lengthily a stretch. 

欲

Meaning to desire, this verb introduces the possibility to stretch at will, hence a process similar to contracting the muscles. Indeed, stretching is not just a question of posture and angles to be taken. Once one's body is flexible enough, one has to learn how to give the muscles the exact opposite instructions than those for contracting: relax and extend. In this sense, the hands are a good place to find out if a person is using muscle contraction or fascias elasticity. Indeed, to tense one's arm using muscle contraction, closing one fist is the usual motion while it is opening one's hand as big as possible if one wishes to tense the same arm using fascias elasticity.

伸 and 縮

Old practices work on the complementary opposition between 伸, to stretch, and 縮, to shrink. Therefore, there is a statement echoing the quote, which could be something like "筋道不棉柔，欲縮而筋不能縮", "When fascias channels are not soft as cotton, wishing to shrink and yet the fascias cannot shrink."

One has to keep in mind that elasticity is not only a question of stretching, but also a question of compression. Indeed, when the string of a bow represents elasticity through stretching, the inside part of its wood, the part which actually shrinks, deals with the spring part of elasticity.

Stretching and extending are actually the easiest part of elasticity because it is quite opposite to muscle contraction, while retracting, working on the spring skills, is a fine, delicate and hard process to master. Most of the exercices aimed at improving one's compressing elasticity, such as putting a young student in a bag full of a homeopathic prescription and beating him in a certain way, are definitively lost. Still, massages where the body is pressed are what can remain to improve this kind of elasticity in some schools. Indeed, there is a pun between 柔, soft, and an homophone almost written the same, 揉, meaning to rub, to roll, to knead. More generally, the allusion to coton, 棉, as a quality to search for, the "needle in the coton" being often mentioned, is what also remains of the other side of elasticity, the spring factor.



To reach a extremely elastic body, young teenagers, or even from early childhood, would train the same kind of flexibility acrobats have, be submitted to intense beating and/or deep tissues massages. Most of those training, when not definitively lost, are not suitable for adults*** and/or leisure, one has to adapt training, keep the trend but readjust the goals.

*Fascias Change Canons, Stringed Together Vapours Secret, Training the Shape Discourse, 易筋經，貫氣訣，練形論. 

**Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic, Magic Pivot Classic, Ending and Beginning, 黃帝內經，靈樞經，終始.

***Neither are a lot of trainings for kids in our modern society, way too violent and which would certainly classified as child abuse nowadays.