Flat Stomach Improved Vitality, The Method Behind It, Intertwined But Body Comes First

玲瓏變化布周身

Exquisite changes arrange the whole body.

法是功能之基

Method is the foundation of capability.

脾藏營，營舍意，脾氣虛則四肢不用，五臟不安，實則腹脹經溲不利

The spleen stores the reconstruction, in which abides the will. When the vapours of the spleen are empty, the four limbs are then of no use. When the five organs are not at ease, it makes the stomach distended and inhibits urine and defecation¹.

As far as the machine, the body, was concerned, deep transformations were sought after in internal practices. The goal was to make it more efficient and better suited to the needs of combat. The nurturing of vitality targeted the former. The method acknowledged the fundamental intertwinement between the body and the mind, the former actually being the lead. 

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.

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.

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.

Writing And Chaos

一層功，一層理

A  level of skill, a level of theory

沉肩墜肘

浮肩昂肘

Sinking shoulders and dropping elbows.

Floating shoulders and soaring elbows.

以氣為主，以力當先

以氣為主，以理當先

Vapours direct, strength must come first.

Vapours direct, theory must come first.

There is a fencing manual, the Sword of Chaos, which embodies the internal arts influenced by the Taoist theory. It has already been quoted in this blog but it may be interesting to develop parts of it as examples of themes often recurrent in internal practices. Still, before doing so, following the last post on the Lady of Yue, one has to further understand what kind of writing is mainly found as far as martial arts are concerned and the issues brought along. 

Voiding The Lady, Martial Arts Writing

彈歌
斷竹，續竹；
飛土，逐宍。
Song of the Pellet Bow
Cutting bamboos, joining bamboos;
Flying mud, chasing meat.*

性是功能之本，命是功能之基。
Nature** is the essence of capability, lot its foundation.

十里不同音。 
A different pronunciation every five kilometres. 

Voiding the interpretations of the Lady of Yue is actually quite simple, the text is coming from an historical novel. Furthermore, the method used, deciphering enigmas, is certainly not a way to translate Classical Chinese. Still, it had to be done because this text is used as a reference in book compilations and some television series about martial arts, often introduced as one of the first martial arts writing.

Many a Little Makes a Mickle

一日練一日功，一日不練十日空

A day spoil for a day training, ten empty days for a day without training

藕斷絲連

The lotus root snaps but its fibres don't break

An old saying states that Taoists avoid violent exercises. This is often confused with intense exercises. Violence actually refers to something too harsh for one’s body and/or health.