Page 62 - Robert W. Smith - Pa kua_ Chinese boxing for fitness & self-defense-North Atlantic Books (2003)

1. Move your body naturally. The best rule for this is to follow d. Overturn (fan)—as it descends, twist the right palm
all the rules. Avoid the rudimentary shao-lin and karate move- downward in a counterclockwise strike or grasp.
ments. They are woodenly rigorous and exhausting. This is done as one action, and the great masters could do it like
2. Stretch your arm but withdraw your trapezius muscles. (This lightning. This action can be seen in Figs. 6-9.
is only one example of the apparently antagonistic actions implicit
in Pa-kua.) Another is to lower your waist by "feeling" downward
the small of the back muscles while your sacrum feels as if it will D. THINGS TO AVOID
spring up. The student should avoid three things:
3. Harmonize your vital energy and your strength. Read again 1. Breathing strain. Breathe naturally. Do not hold your
Kuo Feng-ch'ih's remarks on this. breath. This brings exhaustion.
4. Keep your vital energy concentrated below your navel. This 2. Too much strength. This is usually the cause of breathing
refers to the psychic energy center, roughly three inches below strain (1, above). If you tighten your muscles, it impedes inner
your navel, where your center of gravity is also to be found. health and outer pliability. It is doubly detrimental in that it is
Physiologically, this means to "sink" your strength from the upper unnecessary. Stay relaxed!
to the lower torso to gain stability. 3. Arching the chest. In the West the large chest, arched to the
fullest, is considered the epitome of vital health. The strength
should be lowered to the lower torso, breathing should be deep
C. OTHER PRINCIPLES TO MASTER abdominal breathing rather than the shallow intercostal type, and
1. Keep your chest depressed, not arched, so that your ch'i your mind should concentrate on your lower navel. None of these
can circulate. can be done if you arch your chest. You will be unstable and un-
2. Hold the tip of your tongue on your hard palate (the roof coordinated if you do.
of the mouth) and hold your head straight (as if carrying a cup of
tea on it).
3. Expand or open your back by rounding your shoulders and E. TO "FEEL"
dropping them so they are not prominent. This is an important concept in Pa-kua. The mind is intensively
4. Hang your elbows down with strength when extending or employed and the muscles actively engaged at every stage. To the
twisting your arms. extent that the muscles are used properly, there should be a same-
5. Master the technique of: ness in what you feel. But because the mind is an indispensable
a. Rise (ch'i) —start to raise your hand. ingredient in the process, the feeling one person may have (or
b. Drill (tsuan)—as it ascends, turn the palm upward in a evaluate himself as having) as against the feeling another might
clockwise drilling strike. have may be quite different. Where the mind works there will al-
c. Fall (lo) —begin to lower your hand, palm still up. ways be a subjective element present. Irrespective of the nuances

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