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Hi guys.
When you absorb and project, is there any physical tucking and untucking of the coccyx, and consequent stretching and relaxing of the lumbar spine?
If so, to what degree are you making these movements?
If there's zero coccyx/lumbar movement, how else do you absorb with the dantian and project with the mingmen?
Cheers.
Hi Ben,
What I mean is when you tuck your coccyx, this 'stretches' the lumbar spine (lumbar spine would be pressed flat against the ground if you were lying on your back)...
...and when you untuck your coccyx, the lumbar spine 'relaxes' (lumbar spine would create a natural arch if were lying on your back).
I know stretch and relax isn't anatomically accurate, but I don't know enough about anatomy to differentiate between the erector spinae and multifidius, even though I know where they are.
So is there any tucking to open the mingmen?
And is there any untucking to absorb down the dantian?
Is there any tucking and untucking movement in ILC at all, no matter how slight?
Cheers.
I'd like to hear everyone else's thoughts but I think the first thing is to not focus so much on the tail bone (not one of the 13 points).
IMO if you focus on the the tucking of the coccyx, you'll get a similar movement but the "energy" won't be in the right place on the back (too low) and the perineum will throw forward a bit instead of pointing down over the balance beam line.
i would say the short answer to your question is that expanding the mingmen is like pressing the low back into the floor, but you wan't to maintain that posture at all times, not relax it (at least when it comes to generating power, breaking off sections to neutralize or duck, etc will "one more another thing") 
.
i'd also like to hear from Ben or Dima, since their functional anatomy is undoubtedly better than mine, but within my own body, i feel that there's also slightly different activation of muscle groups between emphasizing the movement of "tucking th coccyx" which feel like it engages the glutes much more strongly, as opposed to condensing the dan tien and expanding the mingmen which engages much more of the deep core musculature in an around the two points.
Good stuff, Ashe.
I see what you mean by getting the same feeling w/out tucking. For example it's easy to sit on a chair, stabilize the pelvis yet still open the lower back.
What in the world is one more thing another thing? 
that's just one of Sifu's Chinglish-isms.
From my perspective - there must be lumbar movement to maintain the 13 points as height changes.
As to relaxation of the lumbar spine... not sure exactly what you mean. The erector spinae should be relaxed throughout, but the engagement of the multifidus is an important aspect of maintaining the points.