Iron Wire vs. SomBoJin

[samson818]

How do you think Southern Mantis SomBoJin and Hung Kuen's Iron Wire Form are similar or different?

They both seem to emphasize much dynamic tension, iron body training, various heigung concepts....

Do they originate from a similar source or am I completely off base?

[cjurakpt]

speaking in very general terms, I'd say that it is not unreasonable to suggest influence from Taoist health / longevity practice in terms of use of organ-specific vocalizations (e.g. - Six Healing Sounds), and yogic influence in terms of the balanced tension "static" postures and agni (fire) breathing (reverse breathing)

this serves to activte via breathing mechanism and ground reaction force interraction the core link structures (soles/arches of feet to pelvic diaphragm, to respiratory diaphragm, to thoracic outlet, to cranial diapragm) and neuromuscular / fascial / connective tissue matrix, resulting in both structural and autonomic changes that allow for a greater degree of cortex based control during a sympathetic / adrenaline response...

[samson818]

Interesting....

I am sure somewhere along the lines, cross pollination occurred.

Interesting you bring up the sympatho-adrenal response.
I thought much of Iron Wire and SomBoJin involved the manipulation of hormone production. Epinephrine and in turn growth hormone facilitation.
This could be the cause of such a euphoric feeling after performing those sets correctly. It could also be the reason some pratitioners feel aggressive.

Much of this stuff is probably way over my understanding, but it helps to view it from a scientific perspective.

[cjurakpt]

I think it's largely a question of using ground reaction force to stimulate the connective tissue matrix in the body, coupled with optimal neuromuscular useage: that is, having agonist / antagonist groups work in concert (all horses pulling in same direction) versus oppositional (driving with foot on gas and brake simultaneously); also, freedom of the breathing mechanism (full diaphragmatic / costal excursion), meaning that breath responds primarily to changes in things like autonomic tone / blood gas levels versus holding patterns in the body / mind; when the breath is free, the neuromuscular system optimized you get a core-structure pumping effect (again, arches of feet, pelvic floor, resp diaph, thoracic outlet and cranial diaphragm - tentorium cerebelli - see below), which allows efficient transfer of GRF in concert with breathing and neuromuscular action, resulting in optimal power production; not to mention the effect on autonomics from doing things like a controlled Valsalva (what we do when bearing down to defecate) in the form of reverse breathing: thinking about the impact on abdominal viscera alone, in terms of effecting microcirculation, also in terms of "squeezing" the guts to push out venous blood / lymphatic fluid (I think this is why you acan feel crappy after doing this sort of thing at first: if you are "wringing out" the organs, you release stored up toxins into the system that need to travel out)

an interesting thing about the endocrine aspect: the pituitary gland sits in the sella turcica, a saddle-like structure on the superior aspect of the sphenoid bone; what connects to this structure are the two main projections of the cranial dural membrances (also referred to as the reciprocal tension membrane by some): the falx cerbri, which is a sickle-like structure that cuts the cranium in half lengthwise and attches anteriorly to the sella turcica, and the tentorium cerebelli, which is a horizontal membrance that lies at the level of the temporal bones, that attaches directly to it;
here's some pictures:
http://www.osteodoc.com/sutherland.htm
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://anatomy.yonsei.ac.kr/image/CH4-PI21.JPG&imgrefurl=http://anatomy.yonsei.ac.kr/scripts/home/pic_view.idc%3Fname%3DCH4-PI21&h=314&w=400&sz=29&hl=en&start=32&tbnid=Xa_oqyjkhlgYmM:&tbnh=97&tbnw=124&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dfalx%2Bcerebri%26start%3D18%26ndsp%3D 18%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls% 3Den%26sa%3DN
http://infodoctor.ru/handbooks/images/mozgovye_obolochki4.jpg

so if you can vibrate these membranes via either breath and GRF (as described above) and / or with sound (such as found in the Wire set, also some of the other sets out there), I think it has an effect on the pituitary, somehow impacting its function (no proof, this is conjecture); also, the falx cerbri is very analagous to the described pathway that occurs when you do microcosmic orbit practice: it almost looks like a literal pathway for "qi" (whatever that is...:rolleyes: ) to "travel" along from back to front...
just some observations...