The Jings of Pushing Hands

The understanding of pushing hands (Tui-Shou) is extremely important to the vital forces and practical principles that influence the yin/yang schools and to those who adhere to the “Five Element” principles. One of the foundations of tai chi chuan is called the “Eight forces,” or “Eight Gates,” or “Eights Jings.”

pushing hands
Sifu Saleem Alamudeen practicing Push Hands with his Sifu, Grand Master Wing Lam

The Eight Jings are: peng,  ward off; lu, roll back; ji, press; an, push; ca, pluck; lie, splitting/rend; zhou, elbow stroke; and kao, shoulder stroke.  The first four Jings are directional and recognized as the four main energies protecting the directions of North, South, East, and West.  The “Song of Four Directions,” is a concept that reflects the principle of the four main jings.

These eight forces/energies or Jing, all combine with the following five active movements which are step forward, retreat backward, look left, and gaze right, as well as hold the center.  Combined together the Eight Jings and the five active movements are called the 13 postures. They are the concealment of possible strategic initiatives and conceptual realism’s dealing with absorption and expansion.

These eight powers act as a multiple value function and conceal energy techniques and theories in harmonic progression.  This conjugates the principle theorems of yin soft energy and yang hard energy into a body of energetic density.  In turn, it agitates the capacity to store energy within every movement, making tai chi chuan the containment of energy in motion.  This containment is in the posture and alignment and the gathering of the principles, while linking them into a shape in which they can be expressed.  The focus will be as clear as its opposition, meaning that the movement will reflect both the imminently real or probable, and the imaginable.   It will be direct yet the concept will exist in a state of fluidity.  However, the motion isn’t primarily external, it generates internally and resonates and is expressed externally as a type of conceptual realism.

Within the study of the governing concepts of the Eight Jings, there are three more jings (ting jing, hua jing , and fa jing}, which are very important in the learning and development of Push Hands.  Jing translates to mean force/energy, and it’s the expressive energy that is embedded in the mechanics of proper technical skills and understanding of the principles and concepts as they should be performed.  All movements can be expressed within a certain concept, at will, with jing power.  The combination of “yi,” mind intention, and “shen,” spirit/mind, and “chi,” vital energy, should permeate and gather internally and be felt and seen externally. Ting Jing” teaches the skill of listening not merely with the ears.  However, your entire skin must come alive and be elevated to a heightened state of sensitivity. “Hua Jing” teaches the skills of redirecting/neutralizing the opponents force, and “Fa Jing” teaches the skills of issuing energy.  A reasonable amount of time should be given to developing a relationship with each of these concepts to assure proper development.

 

20160425_090335“Peng Jing” translates as ward off.  It’s an explosive outward energy of expansive mind/body connections.  Energy is expressed upward and outward, disrupting the opponents center and using one’s whole body/posture, unified, through gathering, strengthening, transforming energy and returning it back to the opponent explosively. “Lu Jing” translates as rollback.  The challenge is to receive and lead the oncoming force into the emptiness while dissolving into the void.  “Ji Jing” translates as press and the idea is to squeeze energy by collapsing and gently squeezing inside the elbow while collapsing and concentrating the force of energy into a small area.  “An Jing” translates as push.  The goal is to merge with the opponent’s force, either pushed downward or upward received, and return force pushing into the earth.  “Cai Jing” translates as pluck, and implies disturbing the opponent’s balance/structure by executing a quick plucking/pulling motion downwards, and usually on an angle uprooting the opponent.  “Lie Jing” translates as rend.  Here, the purpose is that while one limb or body part pushes or pulls, another moves in the opposite direction in a kind of ripping or tearing action.  The responding energy should balance out the action splitting opponent’s energy.  “Zhou Jing” means elbow.  Usually the use of the elbow is an advanced technique and is within the form, hidden within the general movements of the form itself.  The use of the elbow is very forceful.  It has penetrating power when combined with intention and proper alignment of the body using full body weight behind it.  Elbow, forearms, shin and knees are used with this jing.  The striking surfaces execute penetrating force when used properly against the opponent. “Kao Jing” translates as shoulder stroke.  As mentioned above, the entire body is used in tai chi as a weapon.  Tai chi also uses the back, stomach, waist, and body bumping which uses the entire body to strike or block. There’s an old saying that describes the concepts of expressing energy in tai chi chuan, it states:

Energy is rooted in the feet, absorbed by the legs,

directed by the waist, then manifested in the hands/fingers.

 20160425_090054In the studying tai chi chuan, these concepts should be studied and expressed in all thoughts /movements. The Eight Jings are visually simplistic wrapped in intricate complexity.  Becoming acquainted with concepts such as Ting Jing, Hua Jing, and Fa Jing will increase your ability to execute the concepts within the eight forces.  However, you should spend time with understanding the concepts that are so deep and rich within the soil/strata of yin and yang and are infinite in the combinations that may be expressed.  Limitations exist upon the individual’s lack of understanding of the Eight Jings.   Having a better understanding of the three jings, Ting, Hua and Fa, will elevate the concepts of join, stick, and follow.   Join reminds and teaches us to forget about the self and to join as one with the opponent in all of his moves.  Stick brings to mind the concept of becoming one …no separation.  It reminds us that there should be no separation between us and the opponent.  Follow teaches us and reminds us to stay in the moment and adapt every minute motion that is executed by the opponent, then change it immediately to shadow the opponent.

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

The Journey to True Self

jpg-EarthHands372x340At the same time as the internal Self begins its collective organization of knowledgeable principles, the Five Senses along with the emotions, have begun to establish elementary relationships and connections with both the material elements and how the senses perceive them. The Self becomes aware of Self and the physical world by way of interaction of senses. This interaction causes stimuli of the emotional intelligence, creating a reciprocal effect with powerful psychological influences and imprinting on the perceptions and sensory cortex. This establishes a foundation of the development of schema, which will become self-perpetrating within one’s self, if patterns, exposures, and habits remain.
So true is the description : “creatures of habit.” The early self is attracted to the pursuit of self gratification. Inspired by pleasure principles and curiosity, this early influence that the emotions have on Self can evolve into an internal emotional struggle for self-awareness, expression, and self-identity. This is the stage of consciousness expanding, of heightening of perception and awareness. Self proceeds to search for True Self, and emotional balance over negative influence and distorted sensory retrieval. Perception, one of the traits of the senses, allows the Self to mentally capture an image and imprint that image within the mind, giving the Self the ability to experience it. We dwell within an ocean of sensory and emotional stimulation. The Self operates as a combined conscious/sub-conscious receiver of data. It’s the interpretation of this coded data, and the emotional relationship and the degree of sensory sensibility that shape us into the Self we become. Self is always going through different degrees of metamorphosis. The Five Senses, or Five Perceptions, of hearing, smelling, seeing, tasting, and touching, along with the primary emotions of Love, Joy, Anger, Sadness, and Fear, resonate within our body’s energies at extremely deep degrees of acceptance. As they clash and merge into a synthesis of expressions of Self, the Self will become what Self chooses and attracts.
The journey to True Self is filled with successes and failures. The Self aspires to acquire knowledge and experience, and to store away such knowledge and experience to use as a compass to guide an individual through life. True Self is your mental image of Self, and resides in conscious awareness of Self.

Save

Am I Body, or am I Mind?

Stepping Stones
…Oh Ye who sits high on the throne, I bow my head to your creation of perfect imperfection called Man. …Am I Body, or am I Mind?
When I look into a mirror, is the image looking back at me really me? … or am I just a product of that twisted ladder-like DNA arrangement that transforms genetic characteristics into all life forms. The self is an organic biological combination of systems internal, and external that intertwines metaphysical principles and sensory distinctions to express original existence and individuality. The subjective mind and objective body exist in a harmonious unification able to operate independently within the self. The external self and body is the collector of, and interpreter of sensory information, and recorder of physical worldly influences through absorption and interaction.
The physical characteristics that you receive isn’t the true You, it is a combination and reflection of your ancestry (chromosomes), building material merging X’s and Y’s through a creative process called Life. We experience life from inside-out (mind to body) and outside-in (body to mind). The body gives us independence to go and conquer, discover, build and destroy. The body also gives us the ability to control physical elements in our world, and have dominance in it.
The body, the great “Crafter,” instrumentally molds into existence and physical reality, ideas, dreams, and strategies that are requirements for our assured, secure intellectual sensory awareness expansion. The external self is dependent on Nature’s support to sustain and attain superiority in the natural social order. We can never arrive at the nature of things from without. The internal self is the center of Psyche, making Man the wearer of the Crown of Creation. How and what a man thinks internally will be mirrored externally. The internal self is formless contemplation that is nurtured through mental interaction and conceptual imagery within a creative electrical storm. This conceptual framework can become the foundation for your mental schema and your internal self.
The internal self exists outside of space-time, not being subject to the Universal Laws regarding space-time, while generating a creative vortex of energetic realities. This independence is absolute. The internal self operates in a mental and physical liquid vortex that is influenced by conscious intelligence, which provides nourishment for growth of the internal self. The oneness of self lies within the unifying of conscious and subconscious mind into whole brain thinking or one mind bonding. The self is always striving for perfection. The subjective mind and the objective body operate as one integrated whole within the self, and yet in a state of contrasting cognitive equilibrium.
I am Harmonious in Mind and Body.

Save

Reality 101

reality

 

I exist to be manifested in all things.
I am indisputable.
I belong to the Past, Present and the Future.
…I am Reality. (Sifu Saleem)

Ideas, attitudes and perception all have a role in our assumption of reality. One of the most misconstrued states is the state of reality. A mountain of inherited myths adds to the clouded perception of what reality is. Over a period of time, one begins to reflect their external environment far beyond their internal understanding of reality. Reality requires knowing, … knowing requires experience, and experience requires reason. In order to have understanding, you must be able to place a “thing” into a category. To have knowing, you must have experience with that thing or knowledge of that thing. Reason is the filter which allows taking certain steps to arrive at a conclusive interpretation of reality.
Reality is birthed through ideas. When an idea is adopted, at that very second, your degree of reality has been adjusted. The adjustment could impact your entire perception and interpretation of reality. So, what is reality? …It is anything and everything that we assume to be real. In other words, reality is whatever we believe, from the monster under the bed, to having the ability to fly to the moon. Limit your dreams, ideas, and influences, and you limit your reality.
The mere thought of having, doing, or being creates a level of desire that activates a vibration that attunes us to a reality. This vibration of the desire stimulates our creative soul and arouses within us not only in the physical, but also mental, emotional and spiritual levels. It also arouses energetically in our external environment for a means to accomplish and express itself as a possible reality. Just a thought can draw the physical body into relationship with sensory information and conceptual imagery that craves to be expressed. All great accomplishments are a product of our conceptual imagery. Conceptual imagery has a direct connection to our sensory receptors, the absorption from which feeds our realities. With an idea, your physical body will respond as though it is a reality. To name a thing is to categorize that thing, which also places that thing into a certain idea/reality which eliminates or solidifies and magnifies the possible reality of the thing. This process of categorizing gives us the ability to create the reality we desire. We believe and focus on reality. Reality is ever adaptable and can be totally submissive to our expectations, understanding and needs.
Because of the potential for possible multiple realities, man will forever strive to understand or comprehend his place in reality and to reach an elevated knowledge and acceptance of the universal multi-dimensional truths and realities that are outside of the acceptance of possibilities.
Therefore, man must gradually elevate his acceptance of what is true in spiritual existence and vibrational energetic reality. Man must break out of physical perceptions and go beyond his bondage of physical containment. The mind must be elevated to the realities of Oneness and energetic unity that permeates the entire Universe in pure consciousness.
Reality is a complex, yet simplistic network that overlaps in layers the thought process of an individual based on his acceptance and interpretation of his experiences. The duality of self is one reality that man must explore. Such things as social realities or physical, or functional realities impact our social consciousness nudging us on the path of growth and development through a perceived interaction of mental, physical and emotional stimulation of our interpretation of life’s experiences. Life experiences are waning and waxing. In this sea of conscious/unconscious state of metamorphosis, the battle for reality is fought mainly by the conscious mind. This is sometimes called the logical mind. Reason must find its intellectual equilibrium in order for reality to manifest and be used to estimate the relative weight of importance of the stimulus.
The conscious mind is alert and interactively discerning in all the thought processes which give birth to our comprehensive actions. You can decide if you want to focus your attention on an action or not. However, keep in mind that all outside activity that is witnessed has a subliminal impact on your inside activity (mind) to the degree of your understanding. This means all things you witness will shape or reshape your reality, truths, and perceptions, to assist you in finding balance in your mind’s comprehensive digestion of reality. Some believe that reality, truth, and perception are all the same, yet reality reflects an individual’s experience and acceptance. Perception is an individual’s viewpoint, which is supported by clear vision, knowledge of the subject, and belief in the subject. Perception can exist without it being based in reality. Reality can exist without the understanding of truth. Truth is.

The Elevated Mind

We exist in a universe that is constantly expressing itself micro-cosmically. The multitude of energetic elevated mindvibrations, some which we are aware of and some which we are not, are in tune with the expansion and contraction of life itself and is therefore connected and expressed throughout our entire mind/body being, to the degree that we could probably say that the mind/body is a receiver and transmitter of information on several levels. This energetic interaction gives the body what we could call an inherent intelligence connection and expression that teaches us through existence and experimentation. The plasticity of the mind/body reflects inwardly and outwardly the microcosmic impact of the universe. This however, is based on the ability of the mind/body to receive energy and resonate energetically with the cosmic universe, giving us the ability to receive as well as to give off information energetically.

Every living thing has the ability to give off energy, yet, energy falls into two main categories: generating energy and non-generating energy. Generating energy reflects giving and receiving, while non-generating energy can only receive energy. As a living, breathing energetic unit, it is of utmost importance for each of us to strive to give and receive the energies that we come into contact with physically, and also those we create mentally. An example of this is how we create a relationship between the mind and body with Qi cultivation. We must spend time performing certain meditational breathing techniques, and focus turning our senses (mainly through “listening”) inwardly, so that we can develop a connection with the elusiveness of Qi.

The effects of these energies have dramatic impact upon us. They can reshape our minds, which in turn, influence our soul and spirit, which will bring us back home to the Oneness. When a martial artist is able to elevate his or her thought processes and in turn be able to tune into a higher divine level, the mind has the ability to capture thoughts that have existed on that level, and fuse with the higher divine thought process.

Save

Save

Save