…class was a part of the online Zoom ‘Make it Real’ series of lessons, focusing on the double-positive circle…be sure to check out the posted video this review relates to…
- imagine a Kua to heel long screwdriver & imagine the heel is the handle and by turning the handle properly you affect the ‘biting’ end of the screwdriver, turning the Kua by turning the heel, in a 1 to 1 gear ratio & try to do it with your body
- he noted that unfortunately we all move other body parts than the specific ones he
- GM means all PM students go through various developmental stages including, being unable at the time of instruction due to physical limits to be able to accomplish an instruction, and finding it hard to follow instructions to the letter (we all seem to have to add or subtract some physical moves outside of the specifics taught)
- when GM gives specific detailed instructions it is his expectation that we become diligent in trying to make those precise movements our own, that we practice and study assiduously, every single day, engaging our intellects and imaginations in attempting to understand and develop an increased command of our body segments, he expects us to continue to practice these moves for the next 3 mths and then 3 yrs, etc, etc…
- the upper body must be one piece
- in doing the double-positive circle one must ignore arms allowing core/kua area to do the work
- think of the blades in the bottom of your blender, imagine that is what you must work towards in how the arms relate to the rest of the body, the arms only move because the gears inside the body move them as part of the upper body lock. let the blades/arms swing freely as you drill jibengong to craft this capacity within your body
- there is a set time pattern to all PM beginning students in the development of their knowledge, physical resetting, and ability to apply skills in push hands, and then in fighting: the first segment of time and body/mind changes is about 2 wks into training, next major segment occurs at about 3 mths, next is at around 3 yrs plus
- genuine body change is often unnoticeable to the student, the instructor will almost always see before the student notices
- change occurs gradually much like how a tree grows, very gradually, very incrementally, no stage of growth is skipped as trees grow
- improvement in PM is often so micro-level and so dependent on daily knowledgable practice that missing even one day can interrupt skill progress
- do not learn to breathe in particular ways as beginner, until very skilled and senior one should just breathe normally during practice
- GM offered that many students will eventually go through the experience of being so mentally/physically exhausted that you do what you’ve been instructed to do, exactly and thereby make a change in your body moves without conscious awareness
…learning to live a breath at a time…
