Two ways to do Double Negative Circle:
- Double Downward Squeeze
- Fist Drape Over Body
Think about how to pass a stick through the doorway. If a stick is 4-feet long, and the doorway is only 3 feet wide, it can’t pass through it. We turn the stick vertically, it can go through if the doorway is more than 4 feet tall. If the doorway is only 3 feet tall, we need to turn it one more time, so that we can poke through the doorway. To the doorway, it only sees a dot although the stick is coming at it. This is an example of changing dimension.
Think about rotation. If you only see that dot, and the dot is not tossing or being displaced, even when it rotates, you will only see a dot.
Fist Protecting Heart
- The right forearm is horizontal and the left forearm is vertical. The right forearm knife cuts/intersects the line created by the left forearm. After touching the line, the right forearm can do a scooping action like using a spoon to scoop tofu/jello, which is called “着法 Zhuo Fa”.
Double Downword Squeeze
- For the negative circle, the hand goes out along a line projected out from the shoulder. As the arm opens, the elbow must stop as it hits the wall coming up from the thigh, then the hand continues going out.
- Hands go out, shoulders come in, dantian goes down, head goes up. Press down on your shoulders to squeeze the power through to your fingers.
- The elbow is always bent, like a boomerang.
- The hand goes out a little bit, and get stuck. The shoulder goes down a little bit, and get stuck. The hand goes out a little bit more, and get stuck. The shoulder goes down a little bit more, and get stuck. Repeat this process until the elbows can come in.
Fist Drape Over Body
- In with the elbowright elbow and out with the left hand, then in with the left elbow and out with the right hand.
- The central axis does not move but rotate, and the elbow is pulled back.
- As an exercise, there can be two people grabbing the two wrists on both sides, giving a little bit of resistence at the begining, and gradually adapting to increase their strength. This trains to use central axis to pull in the elbows.
- Keep the eyes looking in one direction during this move.
When we have a horizontal action, and then a vertical action, the result is a curve. When you have a number of these horizontal and veritical actions going simultaneously, you have a gear box that an opponent can’t stop.
Merge together
- Two parts go on the same track.
- Examples of NOT merging together: In Six Sealing Four Closing, the front hand moves forward, the back hand moves backward, and the center axis does not move but only rotates.
When communicating, speak in the simplest language (lowest denominator), so everyone can understand. For someone who does not understand, he/she will start imagining, and go to the wrong direction.
Master Chen gave me the following correction:
I don’t have a central axis yet, it must be erected and separated from the other actions. Everything must be tied to the dantian, including head, two hands, two shoulders, two kuas, and two feet. As the elbow comes in, the dantian must be activated (like when we do sit-ups), there needs to be a crunch.
