for this particular body part. The term refers to the entire area, not only the rectum itself. People commonly misinterpret this to mean they should suck in and seal the anus (contract the sphincter muscle). This technique is unhealthy, interferes with movements and will not enhance sexual ability. Beginners should follow the advice from the previous section: Don’t stick out the buttocks, keep the spine straight. Don’t pay any extra attention to the anus. Instead you should try to remain relaxed so that the ligaments, muscles, and tendons can be fully stretched out.
A heaviness or sinking should be felt throughout the entire area, including back and upper arm.
Later on in the training, you should chert dang, meaning sink down. Open up, stretch out, expand the groin area-with some intention to push the buttocks down toward the ground. This will help to stretch the legs wider and reach out with a bigger step. Eventually, the ming dang can be done correctly: the entire genital and rectal area elevates upward.
Elbows
In everyday life, people have a natural tendency to raise and open up their elbows. Therefore, you must pay special attention to drop the elbows and avoid opening them up or stretching them outward. Later on in the training, you should attempt to achieve the sensation of weighted elbows. They must feel as if something is pulling the skin down from under the elbows, causing them to drop. Eventually they must attain a sinking or heavy feeling, not only at the elbow but throughout the entire area including the back and upper arm. While moving or shifting posture, the heaviness will also shift so that the area facing the ground will feel the sinking.
Hands
First, the wrists must be relaxed throughout all movements, maintaining a feeling as if resting. The palms should not be stretched out but held in a naturally open, relaxed manner. The fingers should be extended, but not over-stretched. In the mind, all five fingers touch; but in the actual posture each has a little space in between.
The hand is at the tip of the body’s neural network, and it is very sensitive. The hand has been a foundation of our human civilization, and it is our primary tool of action. Instinctively, the first part of the body that begins to move in reaction to an outside stimulus is the hand. For kung-fu, not only must this habit change, it must be reversed. Kung-fu movements must begin with the body (spine and waist), followed by the arms and legs. The shoulder must lead the elbow, the elbow leads the wrist, and the wrist leads the fingers.
If the wrong kind of focus is directed to the hands, interesting reactions such as a nice trembling, heat, or a kind of fullness could occur. Tempting though it may be, you shouldn’t jump to congratulate yourself because this is not really the qi, or internal energy. In fact, these sensations are quite easy to get and to call them qi is misleading, especially while the major body part—the torso— remains inert and untrained.
Knees
The knee, strategically located at the middle of the leg, is a joint of major importance. Even though a human’s natural impulse is to pay most attention to the hands and arms, primary focus must shift to the legs. The legs set the pace, propel the action, choose the direction. The arms make their adjustments and move in response to orders from the legs.
The knee, however, is extremely complicated and quite weak. According to an old Chinese saying, “The knee is made of tofu.” During training the knee is worked very hard, most of the time in a bent position, putting it under a great deal of stress. The knee’s flexibility and degree of movement are limited. It can bend in only one direction and can shift left or right only to a small degree.
Certainly the knee and leg have less flexibility than the elbow and arm, but it occupies a key position in creating the body’s foundation. In addition, the arms can rest while they dangle from the shoulders awaiting the next command to act; but the legs are continually at work even while the body is standing still.
Author (at the home of Sifu Liu Yun Chiao in Chang county, China) holds the unusually short section whip which his teacher used as a child.
Relaxation can make it easier for the knees to perform their duties. The legs and ankles should coordinate and cooperate completely. In addition, the knee itself must learn to expand beyond its habitual way of moving in daily life-bending, closing, straightening-and incorporate twisting, grinding, and rotating into its repertoire.
Feet
The ankles must be straight and relaxed to cooperate with the feet. Foot movements are usually divided and distributed to the heel, toe, side, and arch. In a single step those areas move in a certain order. The key to controlling the foot, however, is correct ankle management. It is not simply a case of plunking down one component and then the other moves. The ankle moves the foot.
Kung-fu principles instruct you to arch the sole or create some space under the foot. The foot must be relaxed, and not overly straight or artificially flattened. It is a mistake to raise the arch deliberately, contracting and tensing the foot to create some room under the sole. In addition, the toes should grab the ground, but this must also occur in a natural and relaxed manner. You should not intentionally tighten your feet, clench the toes, and force them to grab at the ground. Even without the impediment of shoes and socks, the earth’s floor remains beyond the grasp of human toes! More seriously, you can place yourself in a precarious situation because you are robbed of proper balance and leverage needed to create the correct movements and postures.
Follow the basics
The principles outlined in this article are general and basic. Quite naturally, various styles have devised different ways to help students progress to higher levels. Rather than aiming straight for the goal, an indirect route consisting of three to five steps might be employed. Whatever the route, any training that contradicts these basic constitutional principles is wrong.
Kung-fu styles like taijiquan have become widespread and popular. It is important for all practitioners to understand a major weaknesses in the transmission of traditional Chinese arts: a lack of basic training. In fact, step-by-step training programs, standardized terminology, clear explanations, and correct interpretations are either entirely missing or woefully scarce. Chinese painting, music, Beijing Opera, even gourmet cooking all share this condition.
Be on the alert when learning the general rules and movements of kung-fu. Even more importantly, keep an open attitude toward different ideas and interpretations, be willing to compare and experiment, and have the courage to help uphold the kung-fu constitution.
Stance Training
A common feature of kung-fu fiction and movies is the scene where the novice students are diligently practicing their horse stances, silently facing a wall and not daring to make any movement. In fact, this depiction is so common that the Chinese created an expression to characterize this tradition: “Three years for the horse stance.” The idea behind this expression is that the practitioner must spend several years auditioning for the instructor by practicing he horse stance.
Stances characteristic of baquazhang help practitioners advance within the framework of the style.
This expression need not be taken literally today. It does represent he proper attitude necessary for any aspect of kung-fu training, however, and implies that the student must be serious and devoted to the art.
The traditional
