Principle when meeting a strong resistance
Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 13 min. In: English Year: 2014 Difficulty:2/5 At:Berlin
“Bypass strong point” Online Video Trailer
Previous post: Iowa Workshop Clip
Next post: Fall 2014 Classes (Fredericton, NB, CANADA)
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I have heard phrases like “go around it”, “3-way split”, “trust the system” multiple times in Master Chen Zhonghua’s workshops and videos before, but I am enlightened by this particular video. It is such a gem. No one should miss this.
Notes:
1. 2:10 – We can understand how a lever works, but to make it work in the body is highly difficult. I have trouble recognizing the lever, needless to say to use it.
2. 2:30 to 3:35 – Find the strongest point, go around it.
3. 5:45 – Master Chen Zhonghua talked about that we had to reverse our thinking. He emphasized this over and over in his teachings. The participant was saying that Master Chen controlled the powering point, in contrary, Master Chen moved everything else but the powering point, and that caused the participant to forget about the powering point. Master Chen used the powering point and did not control it. The result might seem to the participant that it was controlled.
4. 6:55 to 8:00 – We don’t look for the point, we triangulate. I look up what triangulation means, it means if we have one side and two angles for both ends of the line, we can locate the third point of a triangle. Master Chen said he didn’t need to look for the (third) point, he just needed to perform the demonstrated action, one point went here, the other point went the opposition direction, the third point had to be there. The fact that people looked for the point, it was the reason taiji was lost. The opponent would not be standing still to let us find the point, something must be done by us to cause the point to appear.
Diagram: http://practicalmethod.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/TaijiTriangle5.png
With the A-B-C triangle in the above diagram, A and C are the two points that are being moved in opposite directions along the A-C line, B is located through triangulation because it is connected to both A and C physically. In Master Chen’s demo at 6:55, the participant’s right hand was point C while the participant’s right foot was point A, and point B (the dot) was created somewhere at the participant’s waist, and it would come to the A-C line.
5. 10:15 – We need to trust the system. The form and foundations are the methods. We need to build confidence in the system, such as that we will keep using it and make our actions better and better.
6. 11:24 – Master Chen drew the above diagram in the air explaining 3-way split.
7. 11:49 – Each part can only do its designed job. It cannot go into another place. A, B, and C each has its own job.
You can’t follow your feelings, your instincts. You must just follow the method, use the formula.
This is great advice but so hard to do, we always want to add more force, use everything at once.
Good lesson.
I agree with Kelvin and Kim. This video clarifies many points. Kelvin details them well. I now see a new focus for training. As Master has said, we must take the human feeling component out and move like a machine following the formula.
Shifu Chen has taught these skills in several ways. Instruction in this video is particularly lucid. There are some great questions the answers to which are enlightening. Proficiency in these skills is essential for push hands and very different from the way push hands is commonly taught.