For those of you who miss Tabby’s Yiquan blog about his month-long intensive yiquan course, you’ll be happy to know that he has another blog up here. The following excerpt from this post struck me as very useful and totally fits with what I’ve experienced lately:
I notice that the “qi” controversy rages on. Actually, The Power Formerly Known As Qi is totally real. It is a latent current of quasi-physical energy in the body. You can feel that easily.That’s beyond controversy. Reality isn’t the issue here. Even within Yiquan, some teachers affirm TPFKAQ, while others do not. For example, Wang Yong Xiang, student of Yao Zong Xun, talks about qi all over his book. But he makes the crucial point that qi is only one single ingredient, among many, constituting a larger scope of power. Something I really had not understood before.
So, qi - just like poltergeists or space aliens or auras - all that stuff is real enough. But - Does it matter? The interesting controversy comes in as to whether qi is actually useful for anything. Now that is a horse of another color. In the case of poltergeists, space aliens, and auras, far as I can tell they exist, they are real, but frankly who cares, they just don’t matter very much.
So then, what about qi? What I’m finding from my (long & hard! … *sweat*) Yiquan work so far is that the YQ training takes TPFKAQ to another level. This other level is called, by the YQ masters: “hunyuanli“, holistic or omni-dimensional power. That has a totally different feel! Amazing.
After all these training decades I thought I’d felt all the weirdo energetic stuff that’s out there (in here I really should say) to feel. But no, this hunyuanli stuff really is a distinct state, just as WYX says, it subsumes qi, mind, and body into something else. It’s as though there’s a strong metal spring joining every pair of 2 cells in your body. Really extremely interesting.
Then once you get that “static” state of hunyuanli activated, the next thing I find can be done is to directionalize the energy, using all the opposite-force and oppositional resistance work in the YQ mojin and shili sets.
And if you do that long enough, at some point each of your cells ends up moving in all directions, at instantaneous speed, simultaneously. And then of course, there is no motion at all, and total silence ensues. Which feels radically amazing.
The difference between qi flow and hunyuanli state is like the difference between a spoonful of yeast and the baked loaf of bread made from it.
But no matter what, the Prime Directive remains: Be Useful for Something! A difference which makes no difference is no difference!
And as to whether this hunyuanli is actually useful for anything - I’ll have to update more on that later this month. I’ll participate in a pushhands session with a lot of good and advanced people in attendance. Usually I’m good at PH. But I want to take this YQ/HYL stuff out for a road test, see if it makes any tangible difference or small improvement (hey I’ve only been YQ’ing for 6 very intensive weeks now!) where the rubber meets the pavement. I’ll report back more on that.
6 responses so far ↓
1 GrahamB // Oct 12, 2007 at 3:30 pm
It’s really, really common to have loads of cosmic ‘Ah ha’ moments when you train on your own too much. Epiphany after epiphany.
However when you try to apply it to a resisting opponent you realise you aren’t quite the martial arts genius you thought you were, so I’ll be interested to read what he says after trying it on someone.
I’ll predict now that it will be some version of “back to the drawing board”
My favourite quote about IMA is:
“Today’s epiphany is tomorrow’s half truth.”
2 Dave Chesser // Oct 12, 2007 at 5:08 pm
Well, that wasn’t what happened in my case with qi. The teacher that has taught the most about fighting with IMA was the one that introduced to me to neigong practices that lead to directly experience my qi. So the two aren’t mutually exclusive.
My guess is that TabbyCat had the same experience at his yiquan intensive.
What to do with it beyond that will be difficult for him, but he seems pretty capable of figuring things out. Let’s see where it leads.
3 thomas // Oct 16, 2007 at 5:59 am
I know Tabby personally. He possesses very good analytical skills and is highly motivated in pursuit of his varied martial arts interests. He’s a published martial arts author. I think his reporting of his training and personal insights while at Yao Chengguang’s school in Beijing merit considerable thought.
I haven’t yet heard about how his “test drive” of his new-found understanding of hunyuanli in the push-hands gathering went. It’s his prerogative on when–and whether–to report back on his blog, of course.
I can safely say, without giving anything away, that Tabby is pretty decently skilled at things martial–in application, not just discussing theory. ;- )
4 Dave Chesser // Oct 16, 2007 at 11:11 am
Thomas,
Thanks for chiming in on this. It’s good to hear that you know him and that he’s skilled. I think his informed opinion comes through quite well on the blog, as do his personality quarks. Why he has such a problem with people discussing what he writes is beyond me. It’s a bit bizarre for an author IMO. If he doesn’t want any discussion of his material, then why does he put it on the web in the first place?
Irregardless, I enjoy reading his material and will continue to do so.
5 thomas // Oct 18, 2007 at 9:43 am
Dave,
I don’t know why Tabby does not dig discussion of what he writes . . . maybe he reads emptyFlower too much. ;- ) I’ve never asked him. Maybe he just wants to get his personal experience and opinion out there without exhausting himself defending and rethinking and responding to all the twits and wannabe Terwilligers (ref.: Angry White Pyjamas) we all know are out there. Those sincerely interested in what he’s experienced or writes about can always e-mail him.
6 Dave Chesser // Oct 18, 2007 at 11:47 am
Well, it really doesn’t matter. His material is very interesting and he posts it anyway. So whatever his personal take on discussing it amongst ourselves, I’ll keep reading it.
Actually, his cantankerousness makes him sort of interesting in an Archie Bunker kind of way.
It’s all good.
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