New Year’s day, a beautiful sunny day in Phoenix, Arizona. Today’s training theme is Yin and Yang split.
The training of Yin Yang split requires both mind and body. The mind: you need a clear intention; the body: you need to stretch in both (opposite) direction. If the tailbone sink toward the ground, the head must push upward (torso Yin Yang split). If the arm is extended, the fingers have to stretch outward while the shoulder has to pull back. There are so many parts of the body need to be stretched. It’s truly a fun class.
When master Chen first mentioned “not on, not off” when come in contact with the opponent, I could not understand it. With the Yin and Yang split, “not on, not off” is no longer a mystery. With the yin and yang split, you can move one part of the body without disturbing other parts. This comes to our further understanding of the principle of “don’t move” in our Practical Method system. Another thought I said in the class was “be free, but don’t be loose,” which is related to the yin and yang split. (The above is my brief today’s teaching notes.)
