Self-Defense Applications of Internal Martial Arts?

[scotty1]

"the muscles are reduced to only supporting the body not in direct power or force generation."

Doesn't your power originate in your legs?

[bamboo_ leaf]

You legs are the point of contact with the ground. They can compress and release but should have no tension in them. That is muscle tension as in pushing against an object.

Your head, and feet are 2 points with the dantain acting like a ball directed by the awareness of the mind. The body follows this.

Try it, push some one using your legs, then try it by just shifting your dantain allowing the momentum to travel out and though them reaching the person being pushed.

[Kaitain(UK)]

I take your point Leaf, but I think that it is more about mind intent than what happens physically.

Ask a beginner to turn their hand over (as in Lui) and they think they are moving their hand. What they're really doing is rotating their forearm around it's axis (the hand can't actually rotate itself) - the hand is merely stuck on the end of it. Once someone understands this, their movement becomes much quieter.

Although you're intent is moving from the dan tien, in pure physical terms the same muscles _have_ to be used to elicit the same movement as when someone moves from their legs. There are differences in the degree of tension used, and in my experience the final result of the movement is wildly different, but the same muscles are being used, albeit with different mental emphasis.

I'm not in anyway arguing against moving from the dan tien - it builds something that wont come from anything else. I'm just not sure I could define what that something is It feels really good though.

[bamboo_ leaf]

(I take your point Leaf, but I think that it is more about mind intent than what happens physically.)


there are things that i cant express well in words, and maybe some things dont express well in words. yi, mind intent is one of them.

happy T-day

[scotty1]

I understand both your points, I would agree it's a difference in intent perhaps.

"You legs are the point of contact with the ground. They can compress and release but should have no tension in them."

Compression and releasing will produce tension. I can see how your ideas from your post would reduce that tension to a minimum though.