Internal Strength

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Silk Reeling, aka Six Harmonies Movement

Once, a Chinese friend and I were discussing the differences between “internal martial-arts” and
“external martial-arts”. He mentioned that in earlier China, many martial arts used the six-harmonies
method of movement that is the hallmark of the so-called “internal martial arts”. Even today you can
find a goodly number of old, pedigreed Chinese martial arts that contain the term “Liu He” (“six
harmonies”) in their full title, but over time many arts have devolved to less pure usage of the use of qi,
jin, and dantian, regardless of the name they use and the classics that they espouse. Today, because
body movement must be completely repatterned, only a small number of arts attempt to use the full six-
harmonies movement principles and of course not everyone practicing those arts fully complies with
traditional requirements.

Many of the admonitions that are included in the “Taijiquan Classics” from the Yang-style Taijiquan are
actually just repetitions of the old lore about six-harmonies movement and are not necessarily specific to
just Taijiquan. However, Taijiquan is one of the arts that use the full six-harmonies movement, even
though they normally use the reeling-silk (chansijin) term.

The “reeling silk” movement of Taijiquan is actually just another way of describing focused six-harmonies
movement. The same apothegms and injunctions found in Taijiquan lore can be found in the traditions of
many other Chinese martial-arts and much of this lore was established back when six-harmonies
movement was the classically correct way to move.

As I understand it, currently all styles of traditional Taijiquan state that they use the silk-reeling forces as
the basis for their movements. All of the so-called internal-styles of martial-arts (the neijia) base their
movement on six-harmonies movement, so the below discussion is applicable to Taijiquan, Xingyiquan,
Baguazhang, etc., with the understanding that of course there are some minor variations of application
within the neijia styles, but no differences of importance.

The Six Harmonies

The six-harmonies are often summed up very tersely as being comprised of the three internal harmonies
(nei san he) and the three external harmonies (wai san he). The three internal harmonies are the essence
of using the “intent”, the “yi”, to bring power from the ground or gravity to a place in the body. The
three external harmonies describe how the body is tied together as one unit controlled by the dantian,
such that the hand and foot are connected lengthwise by the body’s connective tissue. Between these
two sets of three harmonies, the body has to move very differently than the normal mode of movement
we have practiced since we were babies.

The traditional Chinese lore has it that a fetus in the womb (pre-natal or “pre-heaven”) moves with the
‘natural’ movement of six-harmonies, but that after a baby is born (post-natal or “post heaven”) the
movement reverts to what we normally use. To re-learn the proper six-harmonies movement takes
training and practice, though: “this movement is not intuitive; it must be learned” is an old saying.

So, the six-harmonies movement represents the idealized movement of the human body in accordance
with its natural configurations; traditional Chinese medicine’s acupuncture theory adheres also to this
idealization of the natural flow of strength through the body.

To the untrained eye, a person who is moving with six-harmonies movement can appear to be using normal
movement so it’s fairly common to find many people emulating Taijiquan, Xingyiquan, Bagua, etc., styles
using normal movement while focusing on the mysteries of “the form” and missing the point that it is the
movement using six-harmonies which is the important thing. Let’s take a look at some of the implications
of six-harmonies movement in Silk-Reeling.
Basic Theory

Although it is easy to get into the weeds with an analysis of silk-reeling movement, muscle-tendon
channels, and other things, the basic theory is fairly simple. As a matter of fact, the idea of tying various
phenomena of the body and the universe into a simple theory-of-everything is the basis for the ancient
Chinese cosmology, so we should be able to examine some general principles about silk-reeling, fairly
easily.

The basic theory of six-harmonies movement starts with the idea of using the powers of the Earth (gravity)
and the powers of the Heavens (mainly air and pressure) and combining those powers with the personal
developmental -powers of Man’s whole body. Strength and qi always go hand in hand, according to the
traditional perspective, but using strength and qi in the manner of the internal arts still requires
specialized training.

Early Chinese studies viewed the strength of the body as being primarily along connected pathways
involving several muscles, tendons, and connective tissues, using the skeleton as a base. Those pathways
generally go longitudinally up and down the body and some channels (Yin channels) are involved with
weight downward and the Closing aspects of the body; some channels (Yang channels) are involved with
conveying the solidity of the ground upward and outward in the Opening of the body.

Use of isolated, “normal” strength dilutes or hinders the flow of ground-support strength upward and
gravity-derived strength downward. In other words, muscular tension blocks the flow of source-power
from the solidity of the ground or the weight via gravity, hence this type of movement training requires
that the body be “relaxed”, but connected.

An illustration of the muscle-tendon channels or of the acupuncture meridians while the arms are up in
the air is very enlightening about the longitudinal aspects of the strength and qi flow of the body, from
hands to feet with the dantian and mingmen in the middle as controllers. If you can find an illustration of
the acupuncture meridians (they derive from the muscle-tendon channels, so they’re just thin versions of
the muscle-tendon channels), take a look at the way the channels run almost completely longitudinally.

Although the channels run basically longitudinally, the longitudinal channels spiral and wind-unwind as the
body expands and contracts because of the natural lay of the muscles, tendons, and joints.

It’s critical to constantly remember that the solidity of the ground is the basis of all upward forces and
that the weight of gravity is primary base of all downward forces. Imagine holding a book on your head:
the body structure should relax so that the weight of the book goes easily through so that it is resting on
the soles of the feet. At the same time there should always be a relaxed tensile connection originating at
the feet and connecting upward to every point in the body.

Since the solidity of the ground and the downward pull of gravity are the two primary forces, it is an
interesting exercise to think through why even movements (or the arms, legs, etc.) to the sides are
actually only aspects of Up and Down coupled with the connective tissues of the body.

What’s not immediately apparent to someone viewing the muscle-tendon channels is that even though not
all the channels go from lower-body to upper-body, the channels can combine in the middle of the body
and sometimes various channels will coordinate with other channels in the course of performing a
particular task or holding a posture. In other words, while some channels don’t appear to go all the way
from top to bottom, by connecting with other channels as needed, the full longitudinal range is
fulfilled. And very importantly, the central dantian/mingmen is positioned to manipulate the muscle-
tendon channels, bridging and connecting the channels that stop at the middle and manipulating the
body-length major channels.

Mantak Chia, in his book Iron Shirt Chi Kung I, did some excellent illustrations of various postures in which
some of the channels are shown forming various frames. Below are two figures done by Chia which
illustrate the body connection via muscle-tendon channels for “Close” and “Open”. There are a number
of other worthwhile illustrations in the same book.
Connections in animals

In the classical sense, the muscle-tendon channels can be looked at as ways to convey the strength of the
ground upward and the closing-inward associated with down-weighting, but there is another view that is
worth considering at the same time, in terms of where the channels originate.

In the physical human body, the front of the body and the undersides of the limbs contract in a way
analogous to the underside of a running cheetah, greyhound dog, etc., as the legs close together and
helped by the sinking weight of the body that is the result of gravity. In other words, the muscle-tendon
channels along the front of the torso and the undersides and inner-sides of the limbs generally reflect a
contraction, sinking and drawing in.

The back of the body expands as the solidity of the ground is pushed into it (mainly up the bones), in the
same manner as the back (and backsides of limbs) of a running cheetah, greyhound dog, etc., at the
widest extension. So, the muscle-tendon channels of the back of the torso and the backsides and outsides
of the limbs generally reflect expansion, rising and extension.

The torso of the body normally reflects expansion up the back and contraction down the front, just as in
the running cheetah example above, so the directions of qi flow for the microcosmic and macrocosmic
orbits can be understood fairly clearly if you think about the expansion and contraction of the body and
the powers of the solidity of the earth and the weight of gravity.
‘Suit’ and Balloon Man models

Reiterating the primary ideas so far, the basic forces of the ground-support and gravity from the earth are
used as much as possible for power and muscle-tendon channels convey the power, with the dantian
manipulating the channels and body as needed.

In order to keep a simple view, instead of using the confusing array of muscle-tendon channels we can
simplify our view of Opening and Closing (expansion and contraction) by picturing a layer or “suit” of
elastic material covering the body. The front of the suit is the contractile side and the back of the suit is
the expansive side.

If we move the center of the torso, we can move the hands or feet as long as a slight tensile connection
exists over the whole surface of the suit, connecting the hands/feet to the center. Moving the hands
or feet without this connection is simply bringing normal muscular strength into play.

As a brief aside, our imaginary suit that covers the body has two weak points: the anus and the
mouth. The integrity of the suit is maintained by closing the mouth while placing the tip of the tongue to
the upper palate; the anus/perineum area is slightly pulled upward.

In the same way that the muscle-tendon channels go longitudinally top to toe, connecting the suit
lengthwise, the tensile connection of the body also goes from the top of the body to the toes, so it is
important to understand that while a movement of the dantian can move the hand, the connection to the
feet insures that the same movement of the hand simultaneously affects the foot -- usually the foot on the
same side, but since most of the muscle-tendon channels are more or less “half channel” (not fully
lengthwise), they can join and cross-coordinate as needed at the dantian/mingmen, the nexus and
controller of the channels and body in the ideal six-harmonies movement.

Because of the lengthwise connection of the body, the winding inward of the elbow (as an example) by
the dantian turning is reflected in a near-simultaneous winding inward of the knee on that side; the
winding inward of the shoulder is matched by an inward torsion at the hip-joint because of the tensile
connection; the inward winding of the wrist is reflected by an inward torsion at the ankle because of the
lengthwise connection of the body. This is what the Three External Harmonies refers to.

If you’ve followed the general logic up to this point, you can more or less imagine yourself as a well-
inflated human-shaped balloon (head lightly held up with a string to assist the elastic tension; feet
glued to the floor) with an elastic skin or “suit”. If someone twists your arm, the twisting tension in
the arm will affect the elastic suit of the torso and legs, all the way to the floor. The idea of one part
of the body having a tensile connection to all the rest of the body is the basis of silk-reeling practice.
The whole body’s elastic connection and coordinated muscles, using the ground support and gravity,
are stronger than “normal” strength.

Dantians

The Balloon Man model gives us a good feel for understanding a connected, global-body elasticity, but it
can also help to understand more about what a “dantian” does, physically. For instance, if we imagine a
well-inflated Balloon man, it’s easy to understand the main/central dantian-mingmen area as being the
logical place to control forces, etc., via elastic connection, to the extremities of the body-whole.

Similarly, it’s fairly easy to see that there is a nexus of control of the Balloon Man’s elastic suit between
the legs: this is where the lower dantian is and it is indeed an area of control that is deliberately
developed in martial training. However, the lower-dantian is itself only a secondary nexus because its
movements are initiated first by the main dantian. I.e., the dantian/nexus inside the perineum area is
“slaved” to the main dantian. The lower-dantian is the lower endpoint of controlling nexuses, but it
connects elastically to the feet.

The central chest the area directly opposite on the back are another secondary area of control, slaved to
the main dantian, and this represents the chest dantian. Flexion of the central body’s ‘suit’ or elasticity
out to the arms, down to the main-dantian and upward toward the head happens in the torso.

The hollow of the throat is also a nexus, or dantian. The upper endpoint of the various elastically-
connected nexuses is the dantian between the eyebrows at the yintang. There is a relationship between
functional dantian-nexuses and the idea of chakras that probably extends far back to ancient times.
The ancient Chinese and Indians view of how the body worked is more complex than just these simple
physical representations, of course, but it has to be understood the full discussion of the human body
using the qi-paradigm, channels, dantians, etc., does include these very functional relationships that
we’re discussing. Once the physical interrelationship of dantians, connectivity, channels, etc., is
understood, the larger understanding is not that far away.

Ni and Shun Windings

An arm or leg (or even a part of the torso) can wind outward or inward. In the traditional view the body
opens and expands upward from the earth while winding outward; the body sinks/closes with gravity while
contracting inward. During expansion and opening, the back of the suit is the main driver with the spine
straightening and the joints like the elbows and knees straighten and wind outward. During contraction
(Close), the front of the suit is the main driver with the spine bending and the all the joints bend and wind
inward. A number of the old illustrations in various internal arts illustrate the two different potential
winding directions by showing spirals on the body going in opposite ways.

Remember that no part of the body winds or moves without all parts of the body winding and moving if
the connection of the body has been practiced and developed. Most beginners who do not have some
development of the body-connection (or “suit”) are reduced to simply coordinating the body until
exercises and breath-training have developed the connection. So don’t be discouraged if you don’t feel
all of these connections at first; as the connections develop it is easier to do everything correctly and
naturally because it is easy to feel that that is simply the way the body works.

Silk-Reeling and the Taiji of Yin-Yang

There are two basic martial-arts postures in Asian martial-arts: Open and Close. In “Close” there is stress
inward along the front of the body and the inward parts of the limbs; the knees and elbows and the joints
bend and are generally under contractile forces of the front. Wing Chun’s basic stance, Uechi Ryu
karate’s basic stance, “Play PiPa” (in Taiji), the closed aspect of “Squatting Monkey” (in Dai Family Xinyi),
and in many other martial arts can be found variations of the Closed position of stances.

In “Open” the expansive forces from the back of the body and the outsides of the limbs pull the knees and
elbows outward and the body lengthens, joints opening. Postures like “Single Whip” exemplify Open. In
classically correct postures there is always a balance of the forces of Close and Open or Yin and Yang.

The body, when moving from the dantian and connected together as a whole, is constantly moving from
Close to Open to Close to Open, and so on, no matter the posture or application.

So, as an example, in the opening of a Taiji form with the raising and lowering of the arms, the arms are
raised by the solidity of the ground pushing up as the back of the “suit” expands, the dantian turns, and
the body Opens. As the expansion of the back and Open reach their limits of power, the front of the
“suit” has been stretched to its limits and is now ready to take over with the Close of the body, the
dantian turning downward, and so on. As the Close of the body reaches its limits, the back’s elastic power
is then once again positioned to begin to Open.

This cycle of Close to Open to Close to Open, etc., is Taiji, just as the Yin-Yang symbols indicate with
their constant cycle of one element increasing to its limits and the other element assumes dominance.

Naturally, the previous explanation is simplified in order to illustrate the general idea; a complete
treatment of all the components of whole-body movement, breath/pressure, weight-shifts, etc., isn’t
needed in order to convey the basic Yin-Yang concept that is Taiji.

When the body Opens and Closes sideways, for instance in “High Pat on Horse”, the same forces of the
solidity of the ground and the downward weight are used, so sideways movements always have an element
of up and down to them. The body naturally winds inward on Closing and unwinds outward on Open, but
if you pay attention, it is easy to see that the expansion of the back of the elastic, imaginary “suit” is
powering unwinding and the front of the imaginary “suit” is powering the inward winding. So the general
rule is “Upward and unwinding/expanding, Downward and winding inward”.
Arm Wave example of Reeling Silk

There are only 2 intrinsic directions in which the body winds and unwinds (the Ni and Shun windings
previously mentioned). One direction of winding is controlled by forces expanding up the back and closing
down the front (the normal direction of movement, as in the Microcosmic Orbit). The other direction of
winding is controlled by forces pushing up the front of the body and then pulled down the back and sides
(the reverse direction of movement).

To illustrate silk-reeling winding within the concept of Yin-Yang (Tai Chi) in an overly simplistic example
of basic reeling-silk movement, imagine waving your straightened arm horizontally out to the side of the
body (keep palm facing inward or frontward) and then waving it back in front to your centerline. Imagine
an elastic ribbon from your mingmen to the little finger that controls the outward wave until the elastic
tension runs out. If you also imagine an elastic ribbon going from the dantian point, up the ribs and out
the inner/under part of the arm out to the thumb, this front ribbon gradually gets tensioned as the arm
swings outward to its limit and is therefore ready to pull the arm back in. So in this simple 2-dimensional
example of two elastic ribbons, one in front from dantian to thumb and one in back from mingmen to
little finger, the idea of Tai Chi as the exchange of energy from one to the other becomes clearer as first
one ribbon’s tension is dominant and then the other ribbon’s tension is dominant in a constant cycle. Of
course, bear in mind that in reality the ribbons would connect from the mid-body down to the feet, but
let’s keep things simple.

Real dantian movements tend to be more 3-dimensional than the above example and involve up and down
components and connections in which gravity and the solidity of the ground drive all movements.

In the normal “circulation” of the energy of movement, movement/qi comes upward out of the mingmen
and returns downward, pulled by the dantian, according to traditional tenets. This theory of movement
also relates to the microcosmic orbit for the torso or to the so-called macrocosmic orbit of movement if
the limbs are involved.

In three-dimensional movement there are four components of the arm-wave: up, across and outward,
down, toward the body. When the arm is brought downward in the circular movement, both shoulders
and both hips relax; the weight from the body, focused at the dantian is being added to the arm to bring
it down.

Everything is either powered with the solidity of the ground going through the body or the weight from
gravity. This simple relationship of cycling tensions controlled by the dantian and the Up and Down
powers from gravity results in the outward swing of the arm actually being Up power from the ground
combined with the back’s expansive unwind; the lower inward swing of the arm is the down-weight of
gravity coupled with the natural contraction of the front of the body.

In the full 3-dimensional arm-wave exercise, the hand flips over twice. Imagine again the two elastic
ribbons, one from the dantian along the ribs and underside of arm to the thumb and one from the
mingmen diagonally up the back to the shoulder and out the upper-outer side of the arm to the little
finger. As you push (with dantian turning) the hand across the front of the body, the ribbon from the back
shortens and pulls the elbow upward, pulling the little finger upward: that’s the first hand flip. As you
pull the arm out to the side (dantian turning controls ribbon) with the back ribbon, you gradually run out
of front ribbon, so the elbow is pulled downward and the hand flips for the second time. At first, it is
important to keep a slight extension in the arm so that the connection from dantian to fingertips is never
broken. The dantian pulling on the connective tensions of the entire body is what drives these particular
aspects of movement and all reeling-silk movements.

In actual silk-reeling there is slightly more winding than the linear Expansion and Close used in the simple
example above. Instead of the linear case of Expand using the mingmen to little finger, the twist pulls
around to the thumb, so in the classical pictures a spiral is always shown. In the close, the pull goes all
the way around to the little finger on the inward winding. The linear expansion and close is referred to as
"pulling silk". The winding open and close is the "reeling silk".

The example of an arm wave can be seen in the embedded video of Chen Bing. John Prince has been kind
enough to provide English subtext to the video which was originally posted to YouTube by
ChenTaijiMilano. All of the limbs and body wind in the same basic manner as the arm wave that is
powered by the solidity of the ground and/or the weight of gravity, through the intrinsic elastic
connection of the body as manipulated by the dantien.
Chen Bing Reeling Silk from John Prince on Vimeo.

Using Reeling-Silk Movement

Reeling-silk movement, where the dantian is physically involved in manipulating the body is different
from the type of movement people have done since babyhood, so it’s difficult for people to grasp that
their movements must be totally changed to dantian-centered movement.

Most people tend to emulate the movements of Taijiquan, Xingyiquan, Baguazhang, push-hands, etc., with
the common strength that we’ve used so long in our lives, but someone who actually does Taiji well, like
Chen Xiaowang and many others, actually has a very strong and articulate dantian and can demonstrate
the windings of the body on a larger scale at whim.

The general approach to learning reeling-silk motion in Taijiquan is to start large in order to learn the
coordination and then the gradually decrease the size of the overt windings in order to further develop
the intrinsic elastic strength of the body. The “Small Frame” forms practices were actually originally
developed by and for people who had developed beyond needing the larger training movements of the
large and middle-frame forms.

Although there are certainly other aspects of Taiji training (holding postures, breath-pressure devices,
physical training, and so on), the major point about silk-reeling/six-harmonies and use of the dantian is
that without accomplishing it, it’s not truly an internal martial-art. As an example, someone can do a
“Tai Chi form” and something resembling “push-hands” and also know some of the pressure-pulse
mechanics varieties that are common in all Chinese martial-arts, but without dantian, body-channel
connections, and silk-reeling, it won’t really be Taijiquan in the classical sense.

There was an incident back in the late 1980’s or late 1990’s when a famous member of the Beijing Wushu
Team came to the noted Chen-style practitioner, Feng Zhiqiang, and asked him to grade her performance.
Feng diplomatically said that he would grade her “C”. The grading criteria in contemporary wushu
performances are different from the evaluations used in traditional wushu by accomplished experts. A
traditional expert is going to look for true reeling-silk movement, jin, qi, and so on.

When learning to use reeling-silk movement, the first problem is keeping the channels relaxed for the
propagation of “qi”. If you don’t use the dantian to move the channels, you cannot, by definition, be
allowing the optimum flow of power because without the dantian doing the work, local muscular motion
must be in use. Remember that many channels stop at the dantien and it is the dantien that connects
channels as needed for strength and qi propagation.

It takes a lot of practice for using the dantian and whole-body connection to become the natural mode of
movement, but it does happen. Doing a thousand forms using the dantian, ground-support jin, gravity-jin,
and the whole-body connection, though, is much more effective at learning to move with the dantian than
to do a thousand forms without reeling-silk movement. Once the mode of moving with reeling-silk is
learned, though, there is a beautiful complexity in the feeling of the surface and deeper windings of the
body as you move through the form.

Posted by Mike Sigman at 4:42 PM

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20 comments:
Mike SigmanOctober 13, 2012 at 6:16 AM

I've noticed on a couple of websites there are some discussions about this article, but they're nothing
more than opinions with no logical exposition. Everyone has opinions, but the idea of this set of articles
(more are coming) is constrain the discussions to demonstrable logic by bona fide martial-artists who
aren't afraid to argue their position, using their real names.

As I've said, I doubt that most people who claim to do internal martial-arts can demonstrate a
developed control of the body with the dantien. That's why the first post is about 6 Harmonies
movement, etc. If someone has a different idea of how six-harmonies movement works, formulate
your thoughts and articulate them... and post them (if it meets the standards of being a well-reasoned
piece, I'll be happy to publish it here as a full-blown article).
 "He's missing things" was an oblique shot I saw on one web-site. Let me first say that I have no intention
of posting everything I know for the enjoyment of the peanut gallery. I'm going to publish a few articles
on basics that should have been clarified and investigated 20 years ago. People are welcome to
critique, rebutt, question, etc., on this same forum because that's what it's all about. If you can't run
with the big dogs then stay on the porch and bark behind an anonymous handle. ;)

Best.

Mike Sigman

1.

Mike SigmanOctober 13, 2012 at 3:14 PM

Note that I editted the blog-post by adding in a paragraph that I left out in the confusion of many
different versions floating around my Dropbox. I didn't reconcile them as accurately as I should have,
so there was one paragraph that I left out of the final draft in regard to the arm-wave example.

For people using Dropbox to manage a single document over several computers, let me mention
something that has caused me a lot of grief and inaccurate updating: you have to be sure Dropbox is
turned on in all computers each time you switch back and forth so that the versions synchronize
correctly.

2.

ScottOctober 13, 2012 at 4:55 PM

Excellent description. Really happy you are writing a blog. I posted a link and some comments here:
http://www.northstarmartialarts.com/blog1/2012/10/13/basic-theory.html

3.

Mike SigmanOctober 14, 2012 at 7:16 AM

I've had a number of separate emails, etc., and once again I'd like to encourage people to post
questions, critiques, etc. to the relevant blogs (there are more coming). The reeling-silk article was
a general overview of reeling-silk and the principles involved. So far, on a couple of websites that I've
checked, most people avoid that discussion and try to point to peripheral topics that weren't in that
blog or which were only mentioned as background or en passant.

The next topic will be a general treatment of jin forces, so I encourage people to constrain comments
about the reeling-silk blog to reeling-silk.

Best.

Mike

Replies

1.

Haim ShvarzmanDecember 26, 2013 at 12:34 PM

Could you please explain in more detail the Shuan Shou Xiao Chan Si (small reeling
circle) exercise.
In Chen Zhenglei video clip in Chinese he explain it detail (11:10 minute) the link :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWL8tYhqpvY

4.

Mike SigmanOctober 14, 2012 at 8:21 AM

In relation to the Reeling-Silk blog, someone emailed me asking about how Myers'thesis in his book
"Anatomy Trains" fits in with the muscle-tendon channel theory.
 Just to give an opinion, I don't see much of a relationship other than the fact that Myers' analysis of
fascia and connective tissue appears to be somewhat based on the Muscle-tendon channels. However,
even though fascia and connective tissue goes throughout the body, connecting and cross-connecting,
fascia and connective tissues aren't really contractile (to any appreciative degree). So while fascia
sheets can connect, that's not the same thing as muscle-tendon channels which are chains of muscles
connecting via tendons and fascia to muscles further up the chain, and so on. Channels purely of fascia
wouldn't do too much.

Mantak Chia is/was an anatomy illustrator, IIRC, and he took the time to draw a number of illustrations
showing how the various muscle-tendon channels engage (although he doesn't show the dantien
engagement very well). I highly recommend that people buy the book "Iron Shirt Chi Kung I", if for
nothing else than for the illustrations.

Also, bear in mind that the muscle-tendon channels, etc., are part of the theory and lore of all of the
Chinese martial-arts, not just the internal arts, so when you see a discussing about channels, packing
breath, etc., the delineating factors are probably going to be (a.) use of the dantien to move the body
via the channels and jin and (b.) complete relaxation, slight stretching and rounding, in order to train
the type of strength associated with the actual internal arts.

Replies

1.

schwajMay 10, 2014 at 12:56 PM

Thanks for the insightful series of blog posts; they're very helpful for a beginner such
as myself!

Regarding "Anatomy Trains", it appears to me that your opinion is based on a very

incomplete understanding of the content of the book, and that there is a deeper
correspondence with muscle-tendon channels than is therefore apparent to you (just
an observation, not a criticism... nobody can read every book).

Your primary misconception is manifest in your statement that "channels purely of

fascia wouldn't do too much". In fact, although "Anatomy Trains" does talk about the
uninterrupted matrix of fascia/muscle/bone that makes up our structure, there is no
hint that uninterrupted fascial connections between distant body parts play a primary
role in force-transmission.

As one counter-example of many, the book observes that (if a dissection does not
capriciously excise them) the tendons joining the two heads of the gastrocnemius in
the calf to the biceps femoris in the hamstring are evidently just as strong as the
tendons that attach them to the skeleton. This connection is part of the "Superficial
Back Line", which starts at the underside of the toes, and extends up the back, over
the top of the head, and terminates at the brow. The gastrocnemius/biceps-femoris
link is just one of many musculo-fascial connections that comprise the SBL.

Although the focus of the book is on such long musculo-fascial "trains", the introductory
chapter describes some anatomical observations that are strikingly analogous to your
excellent "balloon man" and "suit" metaphors. For example, there are remarkable
images of intact dissections of a whole-body subcutaneous fascial layer. The same
chapter also cites recent research that (some types of) connective tissue are more
contractile than previously understood. Taken together, these suggest to me that your
metaphors might be more literally accurate than you intended... cool!

Thanks again! I hope that you are able to find some insight in the above, and also hope
that you continue to post.

2.

Mike SigmanMay 11, 2014 at 11:42 AM

Thanks for the comments and input, Schwaj.

Reply

5.
 Mike SigmanOctober 16, 2012 at 3:22 PM

So, Bao on Rum Soaked Fist... if you're a martial artist make your arguments here and let's see how it
goes. You seem to have something of a better idea how things work than most people on RSF, but
you've tied your reputation to the guy who posted just before you. ;)

Make your comments here. If you don't want to, email me personally. I make my email publicly
available on this Blog. While I agree with many of your comments, I have always felt that you confuse
your opinions with being final fact. But... that is what a debate is about and I don't needlessly attack
anyone.

Best.

Mike Sigman

6.

Mike SigmanOctober 17, 2012 at 12:02 PM

Note: Deleted a comment from a "Chris"... no last name after waiting for a half-day. People are
encouraged to post in relation to the topics of the blog. I've tried to encourage a little activity from a
couple of other web-forums in some of the above comments, etc., in the forlorn hope that they would
engage in a reasoned debate. However, no luck so far. ;)

7.

Ullrich LorenzOctober 17, 2012 at 12:44 PM

Just a small comment to the video embedded: Last weekend Chen Bing gave a seminar in Berlin and
he actually explained this very basic silk reeling exercise rather detailed (well, he skiped that with
the intention). For me during practising it was "eye opener" to exagerate the relaxing at the turning
point between opening and closing (aprox. min. 2 in the vid). At this stages it migh help others too,
to really relax and let drop externally the arm, to "bounce" deeper into the legs while exhaling. Of
course you are immediatly reminded by Chen Bing to keep structure. He always uses 4 points: neck,
lower back, dantien and root (=feet). Ok, the relax "bounce" should be with structure... the third step
was just to internally feel or imagine this relax bounce and indeed, at least for me i had a feeling of
a heavy dantien region and very strong connection to the ground. But what was even more surprising,
the hand (and arm) was automatically correct (or at least more correct than before and definitly with
less intention to have it in a position). This sensation of a real heavy (and warm) arm was surprising
but gave sort of understanding what are "open joints" and a horizontal structure (if this term is
understandeable). "Such an arm" can be nicely steered by dantien... not alsway easy to reproduce in
other movements and maybe just an intermediate step.

8.

Mike SigmanOctober 17, 2012 at 1:47 PM

Hi Ullrich:

Good points. There's actually a little more detail involved in that particular movement, but it's beyond
the scope of this blog. I just wanted to hit the basics and hopefully the information will be a useful
addition for someone attending a workshop by one of the experts from Chen Village.

Best.

Mike

9.

Mike SigmanOctober 20, 2012 at 9:37 AM

I had a suggestion to clarify some of the joints and relationships, but the more I think about it, the
less I want to go there. The blogs on this site are aimed at people trying to get foot-in-the-door
information about the general theories of movement in "internal strength". Too much information
makes the blog-site something different.

It should be sufficient to note that there are various "dantians" that are nexuses and that in order to
 avoid impeding flow from the ground-support or weight, you have to avoid muscular tension.

For instance, a shoulder should be relaxed so that the channel-flow of strength is not impeded by
localized muscle and thus the dantien can control the hand, rather than the shoulder. The same idea
is true with relaxing the hip-area (kua). However, once you get into those topics, a more complete
treatment of the joints (including the body "bows") introduces more advanced elements ... and that
gets us into discussions that rapidly devolve to minutiae. Also, there are some areas of knowledge that
I think are best handled by a competent teacher in person; an internet discussion never successfully
describes many things that need a hands-on "feel".

10.

tanthalasNovember 13, 2012 at 12:42 AM

Thanks for the awesome write-up and video link. I am so glad to have stumbled onto this blog. :)

I take it that as someone who is starting out on IS training, working on the reeling silk form (as
demonstrated by Chen Bing above) is a nice starting point? Is it worth trying to do these without an
expert to provide guidance?

11.

Mike SigmanNovember 13, 2012 at 6:38 AM

Hi Tanthalas (Calvin):

You really need someone to show you what some of the things are and then there's a reasonable
amount of stuff that you can do yourself. It helps to have a good teacher, but in my opinion it's
really difficult to find a valid expert in "internal martial arts" in the U.S.

The commentary in the blog is meant to give enough basic information to help someone understand
what a qualified teacher is talking about in terms of the theory why's and how's.

I can remember when I used to host Chen Xiaowang occasionally in Denver that a number of Denver
"teachers" would tell their students not to go because Chen Xiaowang (head of the Chen-style and
very skilled) didn't know the "Real Stuff" like they did. I figured I'd put this stuff public for public use
and it would also give some of the "experts" a place to explain to me where I'm wrong in my
thinking... but they have to put their name in public, too.

So anyway, use the info as you can and try to meet up with someone who can show you legitimately
good jin skills, etc., and I think you'll at least be started down a good path. Good Luck.

Mike

12.

cityApril 7, 2013 at 10:53 PM

thanks for sharing...

13.

Lan & Andrew MilesJuly 10, 2013 at 11:05 AM

This is brilliant. I look forward to reading more of your work in the future.

14.

eightpoisonhandsNovember 24, 2013 at 6:26 AM

I have many more questions, but I must verbalize them first,lol. I just wanted to thank u for this blog
Mike. Either my sifu doesn't really undestand the six harmony/ silk reeling movement or he is keeping
it from me. I really feel it is the latter. While alot of this info is available for anyone, Mike Sigman
puts it in practical, logical wording that I can understand. ...and for what it's worht illustrations are
truly worth a thousand words!