What is a "jin" or "jing"?

[Mr. Nemo]

"Jin" or "Jing" is an intimidating, unfamiliar concept to many. They are rarely talked about, even though the explanation and classification of the different jins takes up a good deal of space in many different martial arts classics. Usually, they deal with generating power.

The concept of "power", when used in a martial arts context, is hard to pin down. Power can come from speed of movement, strength of muscles, and proper technique. Of these three components, proper technique is the most debated.

In the kung fu styles I've studied (baguazhang, some Jia Men longfist, and now Baji), I've come across three basic types of power (often called "jin" or "jing", words which are usually translated as "energy" or "skill"):

Long Power: Emphasized in longfist styles - whenever a movement in a form or drill is greatly exaggerated, I believe it is exaggerated in part to emphasize long power. Long power can also be called "follow through", in my opinion, because that's what it is.

I remember reading somewhere that a good throw expends little energy but lots of movement - my experience agrees with this. Long power also encourages the use of the entire body, down to the hips and legs, to generate force. I believe balance is also a component of long power.

Twisting Power: Emphasized in Baguazhang, where we call it chan su jin (silk reeling energy). I've heard twisting power described as "long power squared" - with twisting power, the range of motion of any movement is multiplied with the twist. When I was doing bagua, I quickly learned that the effectiveness of nearly any throw was increased if I tried to throw the person almost in a circle around me. The circle or spiral followed can be horizontal, vertical, diagonal, whatever.

Heavy power: Emphasized in Baji, it involves dropping all of your weight into the lead foot just as you strike or throw, in effect making yourself "heavier". Similar to the drop step in boxing, but not exactly the same.

I think the three concepts listed above are habits. Long power is getting in the habit of following through, chan su jin is getting in the habit of twisting, and heavy power is getting in the habit of dropping the weight into the lead foot as you issue power.

These are not all the different jins (there are hundreds, including the "short power" that Bruce Lee made famous), but I think that these are maybe the most important (to my style, at least).

I'm interested in hearing explanations of other "jins" that other styles or stylists might want to explain. Even if you don't do a chinese style, does your martial arts have any "jins" (not called that, of course) - that is, habits that run throughout your style? A wrestler's "base" could be called a jin, so could a grappler's method of allowing the opponent as little space as possible while in the top position. Hell, even a boxer's habit of snapping your hands right back to guard after a punch, or constantly moving your head, could be called a jin.

Or am I way off?

[Mr. Nemo]

I think someone's hitting the "private message" button instead of the "post reply" button.

[Ky-Fi]

OK, as I understand it from my teacher.....

martial "Jing"=manifested qi/li.
Every technique has to have some proportion of qi (body's energy that flows through relaxed muscles) and li (muscular strength). There's a lot of different jings--long and short, offensive and defensive, soft and hard, and lots of subcategories. A soft jing, as I understand it, would be an action similar to snapping a towel. There's a bare minimum of muscular strength used, the muscles are hardly tensed at all, just enough to whip back and protect the hand. A soft-hard jing would be keeping the arm as relaxed as possible for a punch, but just tensing the fist at the moment of impact. A hard jing would be like pushing a car--or a strike where you tense the fist and arm well before and after impact and make greater use of the local arm muscles to power the strike. As I understand it, ALL of these jings can be very powerful---they're just different, and may fit differently into the theories of various styles. Taiji, for instance, would use mostly soft and a few soft-hard jings, Tiger Claw might make greater use of hard jings.

But, as I understand, there's so many different types, it's hard narrowing down the definition of 'jing' too much.

[Kune]

Jing, or Ginn.. is an energy that can be used for fighting. Its an energy you channel through a strike, and that ginn will hurt the other person on the other end really bad and mess up their energy and all that jazz. Ever see the HaDoKen? Thats ginn! Well ginn thrown at a distance. Ever see that dood in fatal fury who's fist glow with fire when he punches.. thats ginn! Now imagine the spiffy effects are invisible, well unless you can see energy.. Aand of course different ginns do different things and look different and yada yada.. peace out !

[prana]

actually, I know 2 dialects of chinese but both call it "Ging" or "Ginn", which dialect calls it "Jing" ? just wonderink :)

Anyway, I never thought Ging had much to do with Qi-Gong. Always thought it was energy passed through the tendons as opposed to "dead" power. But then again, I am a dumb8ss

[Buby]

Ging as I've been taught means power. Also, from what I understand every type of fighting art(sport ones included) has it.

Boxer definitly have ging. How else could one explain dropping someone with one punch.

Ging in it's most simpliest form to us would be luk ging (proper body mechn.). I think this is where the difference comes into play as far as the generation of power is concerned. I think some some systems use more body parts to generate power than others. Luk ging consists of 6 body parts working as one to get the power out. Once you have the proper body mechns. then you can move on to different types of ging. The list below are a few that can be found in YKM.

Buil Ging - Thrusting power. This type of power will usually send someone flying back off their feet.

Chum Ging - sinking power. Usually just drops the person straight to the ground or makes them feel heavy. Like when getting hit in the stomach really hard. You just hunch over and can't move, well it's similar to that.

Fa Ging - used to redirect your opponents energy in circular fashion.

Tarn Ging - spring power. Energy that springs out and comes back...mainly used to develop short power.

Chuck Ging - Explosive power. It's like getting hit by a truck.

Tung Ging - Swallowing and spitting power.


""Jin" or "Jing" is an intimidating, unfamiliar concept to many." - So true! I for one thought it was some mystical type of power, until sifu broke it down for me.


Take care,

Buby

[Chang Style Novice]

"Gin" is distilled juniper berry juice. I recommend Bombay Sapphire, if you can afford it. To correctly use gin, pour two liquid ounces of it over ice, add one liquid ounce of dry vermouth, and a dash of angostura bitters, stir, strain into a wide-mouthed glass, and add a ****tail onion.

Alternatively, pour one part gin to three parts tonic water over ice and garnish with a slice of lime.

Perhaps other forum members can supply further applications.

I hope this has been helpful.

[prana]

no I think Jing actually means something else in Chi Gong altogether, and Ging and Jing are different. I know what they are in Buddhism but not in Chinese martial arts. Anyone care to clarify ? Ging itself is not so special as the control of Jing, we are talking shoes verses aeroplanes.

[Buby]

"Ging itself is not so special as the control of Jing, we are talking shoes verses aeroplanes." - Can you please explain this further.

Thanks in advance.

Buby

[count]

Here are a few to get you started;)

Peng Jing (Pushing Power)
Peng is the very basic "power". It is the ability to transmit power, strength, energy, etc, thru an "extremity" (one of the 7 stars : head, shoulders, elbows, hands, hips, knees, feet).

Ding Jing (Listening Power)
Peng is considered also as the audible energy because it is through peng that one can listen to the opponent's body. As the studentdevelops the core peng strength, work is begun on building a good connection and communication between student and opponent. Through the aid of practice to increase sensitivity, the student can precisely detect the opponent's power, center of gravity, direction, pressure, etc., as if actually hearing the vibrations. Understanding Power (Dong Jing) motivation, one can continue developing and advancing listening ability to the stage of under standing power. In other words, the mind becomes able to analyze and measure the pressure, direction character, speed, force, etc., of the opponent's movements in order to be able to cope with them properly. In most chinese martial arts this Power is trained thru Tuishou (pushing-hand) drills (f.e. called Chi sao inwingchun).

Zang Lian Jing (Sticking Power)
Through Rolling Hands Practice, Pushing Practice and practice in reversing the transfer of power process, the student develops the sensitivity and controlling ability known as sticking power. In other words, the student should be able to stick with an opponent in order to control him, attack, or defeat his attack. Usually with the initial contact between two people in a free-style fighting situation, the student can use peng to sense the opponent's hand (with advanced students the sensitivity will encompass the entire body) and there is an almost magnetic feeling. That is, the opponent feels as if he were stuck to the student almost like chewing gum can stick to the body. The special application of sticking power is the slowing of an opponent's speed and also the redirection of any kind of energy emitted by the opponent (a straight push get deflected without any apparent reason. This Power is also involved in the "unpushable man" trick).

Zuo Jing (Following Power)
By combining all of the previously described types of power, one can advance one's ability further and develop following power. This type of power allows the student to follow the direction of the opponent in all situations and respond accordingly.

Hua Jing (Neutralizing Power)
With neutralizing power the student is able to guide their following power in a yielding manner, in order to counterbalance or make ineffective the attacking and defending ability of an opponent.

Ce Jing (Borrowing Power)
Through borrowing power, the student is able to utilize an opponent's power by adapting it to purposes that are beneficial to the student's own designs. When an opponent attacks with, say, ten pounds of force, the student not only neutralizes (yields) but also borrows that force into his foot and reflects it back to the opponent, often at such an angle that the opponent is tossed away by largely his own power. In Luohan Quan this power is used at "An Jing" level for every move that appear as a block at "Ming Jing" level.

Ying Jing (Drawing-up Power)
Should an opponent refuse to transfer power, the student is in the situation of having no power to borrow from. In such a situation it is up to the student to cause the attacker to yield his power so that it can be utilized for reflection back to the opponent. This process is known as drawing-up power from an opponent. A lot of this may just be psychology and reflex.

Di Jing (Uprooting Power)
The ability to cause an opponent to bounce backward and upward, thereby making him lose his root to the ground, is known as uprooting power. When used in a more moderate fashion, i.e., by keeping peng in an upward direction to the opponent's center, this power will cause him to float. In Luohan Quan this power is used to prepare counterattacks and throws, usually combining the power of the arms with the power of the stance / hips.

Chen Jing (Sinking Power)
By reversing the practice of uprooting power the student is able to develop the ability to sink using it against an attempt to uproot him. Success in sinking power development can cause one's opponent to feel that it is impossible to uproot the student. The relaxed, connected body is the source of this.

Na Jing (Controlling Power)
Controlling power is applied during Rolling Hands practice or Free Hand practice. The student will try different methods to take over control of the situation and eventually lock the opponent into a position which will defeat him. The constant and skillful use of peng and connection are what power this skill. In Luohan Quan we all call this power the "trapping power" as it allows to lead the opponent in a way / posture that is uncomfortable and unstable.

Kai Jing (Open-up Power)
This is the application of internal power in such a manner as to cause an opponent who has maintained a defensive position for an extended period of time to open up his defenses and thus be defeated. Psychology and reflex in relation to the opponent are vital for this.

He Jing (Close-up Power)
In this case the student directs his internal power inward in such a manner as to cause an opponent to react by closing-up toward his center as a means of defense. In the process of closing-up, it is possible to trap the opponent because he is so drawn in toward his balance point that there is no way that he can move outward; thus the student is able to control the situation and defeat him. This is the perfect power to use against a bully opponent, attracting him to a "unprotected" area and then let him crash against a hard part of your body (knee, elbow, shoulder, ...)

Po Jing (Deflecting Power)
This is a specialized development of internal power. In applying deflecting power the practitioner is able to bounce an attacker to the side, or divert his force, to bring the student out of danger. Here the skill of controlling not only your own peng but the opponent's force vector (whether he uses peng or not) is critical.

Zhou Jing (Rubbing Power)
This transfer of power is achieved through a rubbing motion of the hands or other parts of the body. The motion used is similar to that of rubbing clay between the palms to form a long rope or coil. Often, qinna are applied with this for attacking opponent's muscles.

Fa Jing (Exploding Power)
This transfer of power is achieved through a burst of energy, releasing power suddendly and "overloading" the opponent. At "ming jing" level, this power is used for every "attacking" moves of Luohan Quan.

Ce Jing (Twisting Power)
When applying internal power in this manner, the student twists an opponent in an action similar to that of wringing out a wash cloth. This type of power is used to lock an opponent into a position where he can be easily defeated or just keep it secured. The internal version of this well known move different in that it relies on physical law rather than muscle power.

Zhuan Jing (Spiral Power)
Because of this screwing motion, this type of power transfer is sometimes referred to as screwing power. It is the base of Chan si Jing (silk reiling power)Mainly use in Baguazhang this power is used in every turning move of Luohan Quan, transforming a possibly weak posture into an even more powerful motion. Of course a good grounding and lower body strength is required.

Ci Jing (Cutting Power) or Heng Jing (Crossing Power)
This type of power transfer, is a clean, sharp cutting type of motion which is applied to an opponent from the side in order to disable or interrupt an attack. Used with Zhuan Jing this can produce extremely powerful moves which can inflict heavy damages.

Duan Jing (Interrupting Power)
Interrupting power usually refers to the skill of "leaving the jing in the opponent.... mainly so no return which borrows" your power can be used. This skill is very hard to train and requires a very trained mind.

Cun Jing (Inch Power)
Sometimes called short-power.... the ability to release great power with very little motion. The most famous martial artist using this power is of course Bruce Lee (the famous one inch punch), to achieve the maximum power, Zhuan Jing, Fa Jing and Ying Jing are required.


Zuo Te Jing (Folding Power)
Folding power usually implies the skill of folding the body and hitting with the closest body part, using fa jing. For instance, if an opponent holds your wrist, hit him with Elbow using fa jing or cun jing; if he holds your elbow, hit him with shoulder (Kao) or hip, etc.

Ling Gong Jing (Distance Power)
This is the power of supposedly hitting without touching from a distance. I've personally never experimenced this power, but I've felt "energy projection" (perceived as warm feeling moving accordingly the expert's will and motions). BTW before even reaching that level there is a lot of work with all the previous Jing.

[Xebsball]

Count, everytime someones posts that i save it on my computer and forget reading it, this time im reading
:)