My New Theory of Internal

[Fu-Pow]

Ok....here goes from a western physics perspective.

The natural "line of gravity" of the body falls through the middle of the body from the crown of the head down through 2 vertebrate of the neck through the middle of the shoulder joint, then through the lower vertebrate and so on.

In internal arts the sacrum is tucked and the spine is straightened so that the line of gravity falls directly from the top of the head through the spine. This lets the muscles around the spine relax because the bones of the vertebrate and connective tissues are holding up the structure.

Ok...so this is one axis of the "dan tien."

In addition the human body has a "center of gravity" located 1 1/2" below the navel and about half way back (sound familiar.) So lets imagine that you shish kebab'ed the human body through this point either from the front or the side and suspended it in the air. This means that the upper and lower body would be in balance. It would not "flip over."

So those are the other two axises of the "dantien."

The goal of internal arts (aside from fighting, of course). Is to maintain this "center of gravity" at the dan tien. And also to keep the spine stretched out along the "line of gravity." (A side note: This is why a big buff upper body is undesirable, it makes you top heavy and raises your center of gravity. Internal weight lifters take note.)

This is the most relaxed and stable configuration of the human body.

It also means that in WuJi stance the body is doing a balancing act along these axises. WuJi is stagnant and yet not stagnant.

This has several consequences that help explain many of the seemingly cryptic messages in the classics.

For example, if you lift the arms and tense your shoulders your "center of gravity" suddenly comes up. To use the shish kebab example again, this time shish kebabed from the side axis. If you lift the arms and tense the shoulders your center of gravity suddenly comes up. You would essentially flip upside down.

Anyways more to come. But these are some pretty interesting revelations.

Oh BTW, I'm not saying this explains everything in Internal MA's but its a good starting point.

[108kuen]

good post..I never really thought about it that way.

[D15062]

Good thoughts. Never really thought to look at it like that. Thanks!

Dan

[Daredevil]

"The goal of internal arts (aside from fighting, of course). Is to maintain this "center of gravity" at the dan tien."

I like the thinking of the post, but I think that statement is taking it a bit too far. We were kinda talking about this in class a few times ago and "finding the dantien" was said to be a goal for us -- on a lower level -- but that later on we could place it anywhere.

What I mean is -- I'm not saying you can just defy physics -- but that a certain amount of movement and juggling will be developed, as demonstrated by high level taiji players being impossible to push since you can't find their center.

Ahh .. I hope I'm being clear on this, even though I'm not explaining it very well.

[Daniel Madar]

Fu,

I enjoy reading your posts, but they tend to fail to take into account the leaning stances of Wu Jien Quan, and the fact that not all practitioners use sinking the Qi to the Dantien as the core of their methodology.

The center of gravity theory is also a bit flawed, btw. Men and women have a fundementally different center of gravity based on their physiology. In fact everyone does, and yet the Dantien remains in the same location.

You have recently begun to feel some sensation in your hands when you practice. I will be interested to see how your perceptions change as you begin to feel changes in the location of your dantien.

-D

[crumble]

Originally posted by Fu-Pow
Ok....here goes from a western physics perspective.

...For example, if you lift the arms and tense your shoulders your "center of gravity" suddenly comes up.

Well, consider this: if you tense up, the center of >gravity< will not change.

What will change is that you will have become one long "lever". Therefore any effect of gravity will now affect your pivot point, which is your feet.

(Did I use e/affect correctly. I think so. I'm such a geek.)

You get what I'm saying? If you are loose and I tug your raised arm, there will be some give. But if you are tense, I'll pull you right off your feet.

-crumble

[Scarletmantis]

Fu-pow, I'm an "internal weightlifter", and I'm "taking note". I am often amused with people who don't wieght train believing themselves to be experts on what effect it will have on thier martial art practice. I'm hoping you are not one of those. The fact is that if you develop any section of your body to the exclusion of another, you will be causeing imbalances in the body. It's why wieghtlifters train all parts of the body, just as internal masters perform thier movements on both the left and right sides.
I like your fresh thinking, just not that tired, old fashioned argument, "wieghts bad for kung fu". According to your reasoning, women and the overwieght should also "take note".:rolleyes: