During the class I was training the following exercise. I stopped now and then to write down what Master Chen was saying.
Instructions for the exercise:
- front arm makes a fist
- at the beginning the front arm is straight, later on we can bend the elbow
- two sticks: one stick from the fist to the front shoulder, one stick from the front shoulder to the rear shoulder
- fold the rear shoulder so much that the two sticks create an acute angle
- lock the two ends: fist and rear shoulder
- move the middle: the front shoulder moves towards the line in between the fist and rear shoulder
- power comes from the front shoulder
- front arm no move
- train close to a wall
– Every part of the body must behave like a fist. Our mind must have control over the body parts
- elbow is the easies, it feels almost like the fist because it’s suspended in the air
- shoulder
- kua is the most difficult
– The idea is to direct the power left/right and top/bottom all the way to the rear foot
-Power in the dantian, from inside. The size of the power is only from the kua to the shoulder
– Shoulder physically moves towards the line, but the energy has to go to the fist
– The body changes direction, but the energy cannot change direction. It is called “off but not off”
– Power goes forward, body goes backward. Power and body are not the same thing (see notes from Master Chen’s class on 10th February 2021)
– Linear move/Rotational move. We have to find the rotational move to cause the line to go in and out. But the line cannot be pulled sideways
