First Grappling Form: Opening Movement

Hi!

I hope you are having a great weekend so far.

Last week I showed you the first grappling form and said that I was going to deal with each of the movements one by one.

So- today we will look at the very first movement. The one at the very beginning.

Yes- I know it does not look as cool as the actual fighting moves, but it is there for a reason. Once you understand this movement you are actually set to go on to the next in the correct manner.

Those of you who know a bit of Taijiquan (It's Tai Chi, but you will never hear me use that term. It's cringy as hell and hurts most Chinese martial artists' ears.) would recognise this movement as the one at the beginning of most Taolu (forms or Chinese kata). You would also know that this signifies sinking of the qi, but for the sake of those who don't know all that- let me go on to explain.

This is probably the first introduction you will have to the internal aspects of this form. At the beginning you stand upright, feet facing forward, and the whole body relaxed. You may want to keep your feet a bit further than a shoulder width apart. Some schools of Taijiquan insist that the feet have to be shoulder width apart, but to me it is more important to feel sturdy and firmly rooted than to copy what others do.

You will now start by breathing in...

1. Breathe in, but don't forcefully suck the air in, but rather slowly pull your diaphragm down and feel your torso expand as it gets filled with air. As this happens feel energy expand throughout your body making especially your arms feel light and ready to float upwards.

2. This is where your arms, straight but relaxed start floating upwards. A ball of very buoyant energy is under each palm that pushes the hands up to chest level as they float upwards.

3. Next- you breathe out. As the air leaves your body feel your body become heavy and dense. The muscles of the abdomen and torso slowly harden as a magnetic force pulls the palms down. The hands become firm as the fingers stiffen and the hips lower with the sacrum being pulled down by the same force. The shoulders stay relaxed. Feel tension and energy going down from your head and shoulders to settle in the dantian- THAT spot right below the navel.

In the final posture of this movement the sacrum now rests at its lowest point right between your heels. If the sacrum is placed to the front your back won't be vertical and you will feel yourself straining to not fall over. If the sacrum is behind the heels you will feel the strain of keeping yourself from squatting down on your haunches.

So- the sacrum rests right between the heels.

The knees gently push away from each other to have your weight press down on the outer edges of your feet. This does not mean that your big toes must now leave the ground. On the contrary- your feet have to feel like they are sucking to the ground.

This is the fundamental posture for all grappling techniques in Wenhsiuquan. The qi- or energy- is now sunk to the centre of gravity.

When we throw someone we start by uprooting the opponent, making his energy rise. This often happens when the opponent is surprised or experiencing sudden pain. It is especially easy to topple a person whose heels are off the ground.

You may have one foot off the ground and the body feeling light as you move to evade attacks or to close in, but when you are actually exerting any force on the opponent, be it pulling or pushing, you have to be firmly rooted in the manner.

In this opening posture the mind is also calm and you are ready to receive and deal with any kind of attack.

So- in the next post we will look at the first throw in this form.

Until then- stay well and train hard!