Notes for 均衡动作 video

 https://www.shiyongquanfa.cn/archives/7745

2020年10月9日星期五上午8:00 (中国时间），何家伟教练带领我们来学习《均衡动作》这个视频。 

要做出均衡的动作，就要有一个不动点。对方的来力从一方进来，自己的回力就要在相对的另一方回去。像推旋转门的一边，另外一边就回来了。前题是不能松，不能丢。

Notes:

要做出均衡的动作，就要有一个不动点。对方的来力从一方进来，自己的回力就要在相对的另一方回去。像推旋转门的一边，另外一边就回来了。前题是不能松，不能丢。

0:40 对方进来多少，我们就回多少。要对准，也要越过不动点去到对方的一边。

1:21 很多时候，对方是从上边来，因为他用上半身的力。这种情况，我们的前跨进去就行。

2:50 练习锁住上半身，无论怎么样，只能动/调节下半身。明白后，加力加速度练。

4:30  留意到陈老师如果他只动右脚绊对方，对方不会被翻。一定要左脚也上步，才能真正完成这旋转。

Master Chen Zhonghua's Online Lesson on Oct 6, 2020

Today, shifu emphasized on how to learn. The first thing about learning is to listen to instructions and then to copy.  Some people tried to copy without listening to the full instructions, and that won't be a success copy either.

To copy, it's to do everything exactly the same by definition.

In today's main exercise, shifu used a stick to represent a line between the right shoulder and the right hand.

1. Hook the loop created by the right index finger and right thumb on the link, and move along the stick.
2. Use the elbow to push the hand out, and use the elbow to pull the hand in.
• Some may think that this is a contradiction to "Out with hand no elbow, in with elbow no hand".  That statement indicates who the leader is.  In "out with hand no elbow", the hand is the leader, nothing can compete with it.  In "in with elbow no hand", the elbow is the leader, nothing can compete with it. What is a leader?  A leader is someone who does something first.  If a number of people have to go through a tunnel that is only large enough to fit a person through at a time, the first person who goes through it is the leader. If multiple people try to go through the tunnel at the same time, there will be a jam, and no one can come out the other end.
3. If we pull the elbow straight into the ribs, the direction of the palm will not change.  If we pull the elbow across (perpendicular to the stick), the palm will start to flip up or flip down.  It is a stick between the middle finger tip and the elbow. There is no bending or twisting at the wrist. The wrist is always straight called "sitting the wrist".

To copy, we must use a stick in this example today. Shifu always emphaizes on being physical in the training.  However, we are not shifu, we can't copy exactly. What is allowed to vary, what is not allowed to vary? Here are some examples below:

1. In this case, the stick can be a broom stick, a waxwood staff, or a long steel pipe. It can be in whatever color. It must be something that you can touch and follow, it serves for the purpose of being a track. At this point, since he used something that was straight, we should use something that is straight as well.  However, he was also demonstraing that there was a specific path that the hand follows. That path eventually may not be totally striaght, it can be a curve.
2. He showed us the right hand set up, we can also train the left hand set up.
3. If he said that he trained that for 3 years, we couldn't just say that I knew why you did it, so let me just jump to the real reason.  Unless we have actually replicated it, we don't understand the real reason, we would be just imagining. We may achieve that understanding in 2 years or 5 years, the length of time it takes may vary.

Edward Liaw had a bar, which was in the shape of a larget hand drill.  If we put it vertically down on the floor, and fix the two ends, we can rotate the middle part that bends out. The bigger the part that bends out in the shape, the more power there is because the distance of that part to the axis farther, it means the lever is bigger.

Shifu also used a rubber band to demonstrate how to lock the two ends denoted as shoulder and hand, and move the middle denoted as the elbow. The power comes from the ability to lock the two ends. The elbow completes a circle longitudinally.

Master Chen asked us to post a video on youtube, and paste a link as a separate post on http://practicalmethod.com. He would make comments. Repeat it once a month.  This is another great opportunity to improve quickly. Don't worry about how good or bad you look.

Turning Flowers and Playing With Sleeves

On Monday, Sep 28, 2020, Master Chen Zhonghua instructed on the move "Turning Flowers and Playing with Sleeves" from Cannon Fist during the online class. The requirement was to jump off the left foot, rotate 360 degrees in the air, and land on the right foot. I had so much difficulty doing it during class.  I was tossing all over the place. Master Chen said he would check on us again a week later. This was the benefit of having such a regular class. I had been practicing for four days with little consistency. I could only jump for about 10 mins before I got so tired. I tried to see what was wrong with my posture, and correct my posture. I found my lower back not straight. I was jumping up slantedly. I tried to keep my central vertical rod straight in the air, my head up, look forward during the rotation, and delay the head turn like a figure skater. I broke down the movement. I started to rotate only for 90 degrees a few times, then 180 degrees, and slowly increasing the amount. It helped a bit, and I was able to get to 360 degress sometimes, but not constantly, and the landing was still not stable.

Today, Oct 2, 2020, John Upshaw, Edward Liaw and I got together to focus on practicing just this move as our exam was coming up in a few days. We had a breakthrough this time. We started out practicing the move a bit, and watched each other. A question came up about what the non-pushing leg supposed to be like in the air. We then watched the following video from Master Chen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3HdUIfc4As&t=375s

The video was in slow motion, and it made the jump very clear. It reminded us a few things:

1. We must rotate in the air with a non-moving vertical rod.
2. For the first jump, the right foot pushes off, and the left foot lands on the same spot where the right foot was originally. Shift to right leg totally before pushing off the ground, and jump vertically up. I picked a square on the interlock as the designated spot for the pivoting foot for this practice session.
3. Lift the left knee, and open the left kua without pulling/moving the right knee or right foot.
4. The left knee helps kick start the horizontal rotation.
5. Master Chen reminded us that rotation should be to the left for 360 degrees although this particular video was not showing that.
6. As the left leg drops to prepare for the landing, the right knee will come up to create a vertical rotation.
7. When the left foot lands, the ball of the foot touches the ground first, the left knee and left ankle act as shock absorbers. This makes the landing much softer.
8. The movement never leaves the dantian.
9. For the 2nd jump, the left foot pushes off, and the right foot lands on the same spot where the left foot was originally.
10. Rotate to the right in the air for 135 degrees.
11. After the right foot lands, shovel the left foot out along the 45-degree line.
12. While the first jump is vertical in the landing, the 2nd jump is horizontal.
13. The arm movement also creates a vertical rotation.
14. The two jumps have the same veritcal rod in the air.

We then practiced a few jumps without the movement of the arms, and focused on the vertical rod, and the placement of the foot during the landing of the first jump. I tried to land on the same square on the ground. The idea of not letting the movement leave the dantian really helped. The slow motion video started playing in my head. The turn became quicker, and the land became softer and much more stable. We added the arms later, and they were also in more control, and not throwing the body off the vertical axis. We could also do a full 360 rotation.

This felt like working on moves at the Iowa camp. Totally awesome!

Master Chen Zhonghua's Online Lesson on Sep 29, 2020

Chinese Class

Master Chen Zhonghua introduced Wild Horse Parts Its Mane as a foundation exercise. If space is available, we can do it as a line drill.

Procedure:

1. Put the hands in a half horse stance.
2. Rotate with the central vertical axis until you are so twisted that you can't go any further
3. Lift up on the rear foot, and stand on the front foot only without any wobbling.
4. Shovel out with the foot that was lifted.
5. Shift forward into a half horse stance.
6. Stretch the arms into position as needed.

We must turn very quickly. It's like how to spin a top. The spin must be fast enough for the top to stay rotating in balance.  For us, we rotate quickly, and we are on the other side already.

Master Chen said that the secret was in the procedure. A chef's skill came from knowing what ingredients to put in, how much of them to put in, and when to put each of them in.

For us, it's about what to train and how to train.

English Class

We started with the various foundations. The emphasis was to train a vertical rod through foundations. We used Twisting the Towel, Six Sealing Four Closing, and Fetch Water.

We used the kua to generate power. We wanted to do 3 moves very quickly. Left, right, left. Right, left, Right.  The use of 3 counts is to allow us eventually create a vertical rod. We don't move the arms.

Master Chen showed how to lock one kua, and move the other kua over and go back and forth to create size without the movement of the arm. He mentioned 折叠 zhe die (open and close). This size creates power. The size must be bigger than the size that an external stylist would move the arm. This is the first time that I actually experience how to throw a punch.  Master Chen mentioned that it was a good thing that I moved from one side of the screen to another side in this action.

Master Chen Zhonghua's Online Lesson on Sep 28, 2020

We started with the various foundations. Master Chen Zhonghua mentioned that we must be able to copy the external shape first, e.g. he must be able to recognize which foundation we were attempting to do.  If we were doing the yilu, others must recognize that we were doing a Chen Style Yilu, and then a Practical Method Yilu.

Master Chen checked each person's double positive circle, as that was where we focused on the previous foundation class.  We need to continue to train to use the kuas to initiate the action without the movement of the arms and hands.

We then moved on to double negative circle. The first one was with the two arms in synchronous motion (Double downward squeeze). The hand never came back, and must stay outside. The elbows must come back over the top, and the hands go out from the bottom.  The two hands are driven by the dantian being pull downward. As the elbows are pulled in, the dantian also comes up. We also added the turn of the waist. As the elbows come in, turn to the left. As the hands go out, turn to the right. Those directions can be reversed.

For the second double negative circle (Fist Drape Over Body), we must not move the arms. The boomerang shape of the arm must be kept. Master Chen instructed to add power on each elbow-in, while the kua is also required to meet the elbow without collapsing the knee on the same side.  A common mistake is that the elbow becomes a horizontal move, where the forearm is going across the chest.

With Gora and Zeela's help, Master Chen instructed them to show an application with Fist Drape Over Body. It is very difficult to make sure that kua goes forward while the knee goes backward.

We also practiced "Turning flowers and playing with sleeves" from Cannon Fist.  We have to turn 360 degrees, jump off the right foot, and land on the left foot on the same spot.  I was spinning out of control. I later found out that I had my lower back not straight in the air.  Master Chen will check on our progress on this move in the next Monday foundation class.

Notes for 香港16-2 video

https://www.shiyongquanfa.cn/archives/52743

2020年10月3日星期六上午8:00 (中国时间），何家伟教练带领我们来学习《香港16-2》这个视频。 

陈老师谈论了活的东西跟死的东西的差别。

Notes:

1:06 在跟对方接触后，我们要偷偷加一点。加的地方对方是不知道，或是不介意。加了这一点以后，我们就有两点实的，一点虚的。虚的就有力了。加这一点一定要过到另外一边。

2:37 对方以为没有用的，其实是最有用的。

3:50 所有动作都要从中心（丹田）开始。

8:00 活的东西跟死的东西的差别。死的东西很简单，只有一层东西。活的东西很复杂，有皮肤、血脉、筋、骨、筋膜。我们学东西要从简单开始，学大纲。

Master Chen Zhonghua's Online Lesson On Sep 30, 2020

Master Chen started today's class with a story and a method people used to remember things precisely.

The story was about how the Secretary was corrected by an old person on the details of an event. The Secretary referred his speech to a document. However, it turned out that the document was incorrect, and the audio recording had the truth as pointed out by the old person. In today's society, we rely on a lot of documents instead of trying to remember things in our heads. If the documents were actually recorded in correctly, we would have the facts incorrect.

In the old days, information was passed down through chants, or poems with rhyming words. People recited these chants or poems. It would be more difficult to be incorrectly passed down as the meaning of the text and the sounds of the words have to make sense.

In the Chinese culture, there was a famous 3-character poem.  There are also other forms, e.g. 5-character, 7-character poems.

The following people received yilu corrections:

Sergey Schepin

Candra Lo

Chris Martinez

Felicia Fong

Gora Nebulana & Zeela

One important catagory of movements was emphasized: Pumping down to cause a horizontal expansion.

This was illustrated by "Fist Covering Hand Downwards (Xia Yan Shou Chui)".

The right arm must maintain the boomerang shape. There is no movement in the hand and elbow, there is no punch (in the normal sense).

We need to open the right kua, and the right armpit.

For the beginners, we must segment the movements, similar to writing block letters instead of cursive.

In general, the steps of learning yilu are:

1) Getting the external shape and choreography correct (Others looking at this form must recognize that it is the Practical Method Yilu).

2) Once the external shape is solidified, more restrictions will be added over time.

Ultimately, nothing moves, there are only rotations.

A physical advancement is created by locking one end of a stick and rotation the other end over.