Back to the Fascias I, New but Old

然而練筋易而練膜难*

However, it is easy to train the tendons but harder to train the membranes

筋有十二經絡**

The fascias are twelve net channels

足太陽之筋***

Fascias of the Foot Great Masculine

Internal practices centre themselves around three notions: fascias, vitality and breathing. If fascias seem to deal with the body power, the external force, vitality with its internal aspect and breathing with rhythm, they are actually intertwined. Indeed, the work on fascias improves one's organs, hence one's vitality, and regulates one's breathing. Vitality, through swifter moves, improves fascias resistance and stronger organs allow a deeper and uninterrupted breathing. Breathing, through relaxation, improves fascias stretching and saves vitality by keeping the emotions under check. One could say the bones, our frame, should be also mentioned as a very important issue. Still, they are a byproduct of vitality through the kidneys and thus included in this one. Since training is often about repetition, it seems opportune to revisit those three concepts from time to time.

The concept of fascias, or connective tissues, which seems to have appeared around the 19th century in modern medicine and became more and more known recently**** is a notion very close, if not alike, to what one of the best known book of Traditional Chinese Medicine, the Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic, describes as 經筋, the fascia channels (a modern fascia line compared to an old Chinese fascia channel). Still, 筋, which is often taken in its meaning "tendons" for a lot of martists, is and has not been the only term used to describe connective tissues. Therefore, it seems necessary to first deal with the terms covering the concept of fascias in Chinese.

Fast and Furious

故身雖疾而心自暇*

Therefore the heart remains naturally leisurely even though the body is swift

故以神為主，形而從利。以形為主，神而從害**

Therefore when the spirit takes control, the body follows for its own good. When the body takes control, the spirit follows for its own harm

電挈昆吾晃太陽***

To wield with lightning speed, Kunwu swings the Great Yang

There is a urban legend about some Japanese soldiers during World War II able while charging to withstand the shots fired at them until they reached their opponents and killed them. Only then would they die. If the Boxers' Uprising taught us to be extremely cautious with tales of seemingly extraordinary feasts performed by Asian martial arts against modern weaponry, this legend remains interesting because it tells about an achievement sought while training fast and in frenzy, "getting out of one's body".

All Along the Watchtower

故氣雖結而神自揚*

Therefore the mind naturally expands itself even though the vapours bind themselves

百拳之法，以眼為網**

All the boxing methods have the eyes as a key link

Moving extremely slow, taking half an hour to execute just one move, was made to further train one's heart capacity to endure by having one's mind even more awake. This is actually the essence of the peeping thief technique.

Taking One's Time

故形氣盛而能縱橫，精神斂而能飛騰*

Therefore one finds great ease when his/her vapours flourishes, may soar when he/she has collected vitality

鬆則活變**

From relaxation comes lively changes

且夫乘物以遊心，託不得已以養中，至矣***

Further still, let your mind find its enjoyment in the circumstances of your position, nourish the central course which you pursue, by a reference to your unavoidable obligations. 

Once one's form and heart were fixed through stillness, moving could be contemplated, normal speed being the first step since it allowed the student to remain relaxed. Deep and uninterrupted relaxation being one of the most important principles in internal practices, adding any kind of pressure had to be done with method and in a progressive way. Therefore, learning motion by beginning at a normal and relaxed pace was the preferred method for internal practices. Normal speed was not only a way to going beyond just memory but also to learn how to use one's vitality.

Still, Keeping at Bay

神寧氣靜

A mind at ease and calm vapours

神非其所宜而行之，則昧*

If one's spirit does not operate properly, it looses its clarity

Following the feminine and masculine principles theory**, the body (the external), and the mind (the internal), should compensate each other, meaning if one is fast, the other should be slow. If this seems quite easy, it gets complex if the concept of vitality and its materialisation (vapours) and the issue of the organs are added.

The Sleeper Must Awaken

心平氣和

A stable heart for harmonised vapours

擊敵有用形，用氣，用神之遲速*
The speeds of one's body, vapours and spirit, all have to be considered when fighting an opponent 

故每一勢之操縱手法，心先，命門為次，頭又次之，手足之次而又次之**

Therefore, when executing each posture technique(s), the heart comes first, the Life Gate (Mingmen) second, then, after, the head, hands and feet being even more ancillary

If one's body speed issues seem complex, the internal part, organs, vitality, mind and their relation to the body is even more challenging in internal arts. Before explaining the impact of the different training speeds on the internal side, it may be useful to first explain, or recall, how the mind and the vitality can influence speed. Indeed, speed is not only a question of going fast in martial arts, it is also a question of having swift reactions. Hence, mind, through its clarity, improves one's reflexes while vitality makes someone more reactive.

Shake Your Body

快而不亂，慢而不斷

Fast but not messy, slow but with no break

快則適時，慢在得位*

Quick then timely, slow for gaining position

凡一身之進退動靜，一心為主**

Forwards and backwards, movement or stillness of one's body are all decided by the heart

Speed is a more complex notion in training, and more especially when the organs, the vapours and the mind are combined with body motion. Hence, the opposition between what you do while fighting (the faster the better) and training does not apply for speed. Indeed, while training, normal, fast and slow speed are all applied, each having their own purpose, the skills obtained through each type of speed being all useful while fighting. 

Don't Come Empty Handed

技巧者，習手足，便器械，積機關，以立攻守之勝者也。*

To become skilled, one shall study hands and feet, which is useful for weapons, accumulating gears, to establish victory in attack as well as in defence.

刀隨身轉，身隨刀行

The single-edged sword shifts following the body, the body moves following the single-edged sword

身不離槍，槍不離身，槍隨身走，身隨槍動

The spear does not leave the body, the body does not leave the spear, the spear goes following the body, the body moves following the spear

槍紥一條線，棍掃一大片

The spear pierces a line, the staff sweeps a wide expanse

In most of the old schools in China, empty handed and with weapons are both trained. If training weapons seems totally logic, It can be useful to dispel the confusion surrounding the notion of empty hands. In the old days, a martist could sleep naked, but certainly not without his/her weapon. Warfare and combat was, in the old world as it is now, mainly a question of weaponry. The weapons have changed with technology, but they always have been a part of human conflicts.

Light Heavyweight

無力優力

No force is the better force

重裏觀輕勿梢留*

Watching lightness inside heaviness, leaving no extremities

練重不如練輕

Training heavy cannot match training light

Weights used to be a very important part of martial trainings, it was, after all, already part of the military exams during the reign of the first Chinese female emperor, Wu Zetian (AD 624–705), as well as later for higher levels examinations when military exams were taken seriously. Therefore, in the old days, training with weights would never have been an issue, just regular practice. Furthermore, it was also a way to further understand some of the meanings of the oxymoron of the first quote, being powerful without using force.