A Basic Intro To How We Train In Our Tempe AZ Martial Arts Classes

Submitted by Ashe Higgs on Sun, 08/15/2010 - 7:24pm

The Three Planes Of Movement

When people first come to train with me here in Tempe, Az there are two common experiences people have when they're exposed to I Liq Chuan. The first is "I don't understand how I Liq Chuan works as a martial art without techniques" and the second is "I don't understand how the basic exercises (jibenggong 基本功), spinning and sticky hand all tie together".

So in this clip I try to demonstrate a quick answer to those questions. Since the second issue is easier to address, I'll tackle that one first.
One of the basic ideas behind tai chi (taiji) principles to recognize and harmonize with nature. When it comes to the human body and how we move through space, one of the most basic qualities of nature we begin to learn is how to move, or propel force / energy in each of the three planes. Later on we learn to combine the three to form a three dimensional sphere, but more on that another time. The three planes are
  1. Horizontal (transverse)
  2. Frontal (sometimes called coronal)
  3. Sagittal


Harmony Of Movement

In the video clip above I demonstrate movement (mostly) on the frontal plane. First as a solo exercise only, where we try to recognize how to propel a full frontal circle, in this case what we call 7th and 8th spin. In this spin the hands are both moving either clockwise or counter clockwise in an alternating fashion. As one of the basic exercises we want to look into the body and propel this movement with the five qualities of unification (i.e. five qualities of unified movement), which brings the whole body together in a unified way. The five are;

  1. Absorb & Project
  2. Expand & Condense
  3. Open & Close
  4. Concave & Convex
  5. The Three Planes (in this case moving frontally)

In addition, we're looking into the body to recognize and train the "Six Physical Principles". I won't discuss them all here, but I would like to mention the sixth principle a little more. In the old tai chi classics they talk about "one part moves, all the parts move", or in some other classics of Chinese martial arts they talk about "the six harmonies". In I Liq Chuan we consider this analogous to the sixth principle which is the coordination of all the joints, or how you use the ankle, knee and hip in coordination with the shoulder, elbow and wrist. As simple as the movement looks I could write much more about the depth and complexity of the practice as it evolves into the nei gong 內功 when combined with the attention, the breath and the feeling of the five energies listed above.

Partner Training - Spinning Hands

After demonstrating the basic movement as a solo drill (i.e. jibenggong 基本功) I move into showing the SAME movements as spinning hands training. As a style of Tai Chi - Kung Fu, the spinning hand forms the back bone of I Liq Chuan's training as a martial art. It can be trained both with light contact, as a sensitivity drill and heavy, as a power training method we call grinding hands (mo shou 磨手).
This practice teaches the student of I Liq Chuan to develop "fullness", or a sphere of offense and defense, like a force field, but this begins simply as a mindfulness exercise as the student begins to observe the point of contact with the opponent and how it changes. Every point has three qualities;
  1. Yin
  2. Yang
  3. Neutral or the tai chi (taiji) point.

Application - Flowing With The Opponent

Learning to observe these changes begins to develop a sense of flow with the opponent. Like the old masters used to talk about their arts being like water, recognizing the three qualities of yin, yang and neutral, one begins to develop the sense that where there is an opening you can flow in and where there is an obstacle you flow around.
This concept of flowing with the opponent like water is the Zen principle of acting without intent. There is no sense of "I think I can do this technique or that technique". Instead, the student simply learns to recognize and act on what they refer to in Zen, as "suchness".
In other words, things are just "this way" and when you can act in harmony with that, what ever you do will be correct. In the case of martial arts, this Zen approach allows you effect some result on the opponent without the need to act on techniques trained into reflexive habits over time in one's past training.

So in the final segment of the clip I show how the same basic movement can be applied to the opponent in any number of ways. Although, by necessity the applications were pre-conceived for the sake of demonstration, I initially "discovered ALL the applications shown "on the fly" during real time sparring. Nobody ever showed me those applications as a specific technique. At the time they all just evolved spontaneously out of my opponents actions and my expressing fullness, offense and defense.

If you're in the Phoenix, Arizona area, and you would like to know more about I Liq Chuan you can call 620-751-7003 or visit http://fallingleaveskungfu.com. Anywhere else in the world should visit http://iliqchuan.com.
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