When we talk about training every day, it is not so important to go through the routine exercises, such as kicks and punches, but to embody the principles contained within these exercises1. And so the only way you will truly benefit from these exercises is to pay close attention to what you are doing at all times. So from now on when you are training, try to sense you are building balance, coordination, strength and power within yourself, so that you can rejuvenate your nervous system and enhance your health at the same time. Importantly, if balance is not maintained, then defects sooner or later occur.
What I have been discussing on the site highlights a number of ways to practice which I have learned from Martial Arts, Yoga, Tai Chi, and many other fields. However, it isn’t the method that’s most important but how you go about it. This is why I don’t go into much detail about technical aspects, because there is already so much of that around. A repeated exercise isn’t very potent, it is the thought and feeling that goes into it. This is the principle behind Tai Chi, which emphasises how the mind, body, and energy must act in concert. For example, when you are meditating, or going though the Martial Arts routines, it is said that you start with the idea of creating peace and harmony within your circulatory and nervous system. This idea of creating Peace and Harmony has led certain people to believe that the Practices of the Monks, and the more “Spiritual” Martial artists, is for the weak and indoctrinated slaves.
I have heard several Chinese maintain that their society is about Peace and Harmony, which explains why they are not known as conquerors but creators. For example they created gun powder for community celebrations, which was later exploited by the West against them. The thing to remember is that the same energy or material which can be used to destroy can equally be used for good.
When the ancient QI system of energy, and its philosophies, were adopted by the Japanese comparatively recently, it had to fit the War like attitude of the Imperial system, which considered its head of state as a living God. As such, everyone had to bow before the emperor, who, not to be associated with gentleness and kindness, transformed the system into a more domineering war like philosophy. Military leaders of this era would be surrounded by Samurai who would kill themselves by committing Hari Kari, if they failed to protect their leader or dishonoured themselves in some way. The practices of devotion and sacrifice to heaven had already been deeply ingrained into Chinese and Indian culture for thousands of years, which led to the development of Buddhism in China. And so, to develop such devotion to the Emperor, he had to be portrayed as a divinity. This is one theory as to why the Japanese systems are more militaristic than the Chinese ones typically.
If the energy, or as the Chinese call it “Chi” is too high, then meditation can bring the levels down2, if it is too low then perhaps Martial Arts exercises emphasising exertion can restore balance3. Once you have obtained a clear idea of the aims of practice, it is time to feel what you are doing consciously. This idea of feeling the energies is felt through the Chi, which is a kind of bioelectricity running though the body, similar to the neurological system of bio electricity in Western Science. An idea about peace and Harmony doesn’t mean much without this feeling to reinforce it and bring it to a felt physical lived reality. Feeling the correspondences between the breathing and energies of the body is a way to bring this felt sense of training to life.
Often when we get tired, it isn’t because we are training too hard it is because we lack a clear idea of why and what we are doing. So it is important not to just think of martial arts as purely physical labour, and meditation as “switching off”. Instead, both of these practices are a form of effort and concentration, but emphasising different aspects of the same system, work and rest, or night and day. The day time is generally associated with activity, and the night time is associated with rest and recuperation.
The Chi, or the energy, is the power that supplies the machine. The Machine itself is the body. This arrangement is summed up in the Ying Yang Symbol. The Chi is considered Yin, and is associated with the feelings, and the material side of the body, such as the arms, legs, etc., is considered Yang, the physical. The thing to remember is that the Chi energy is used to supply the body with power for Martial Arts practice. In Western training we are used to enhancing the muscles, in other words the outer coating of the body. However, the Western methods, although very successful, often amount to theoretical knowledge driving training rather than hands on experience. This is what one of the main differences between eastern and Western Philosophy is, the Science characterised by the West is associated with Mental Development, whereas the Eastern Knowledge is derived from thousands of years of experience. What you want is work, hands on experience, but with the added intelligence of Science. Personally, I am Neither for or against Western or Eastern Practices, they compliment each other Nicely as I see it. It all depends on how experience is used in light of new knowledge, so that it doesn’t become fixed and empty Dogma.
The way to maintain good circulation and energy within the body is through breathing. Yoga, or the science of breathing, maintains that breath is life, and that it is important to breathe with the whole body. Now, breathing is associated with Yoga, and energy circulation is associated with Tai Chi and Chinese Medicine, but in fact the two schools of thought share striking similarities and are highly compatible.
The Yoga system emphasises two energy channels circulating around the spine starting by the Hara Centre, near the abdomen, and terminating at the Nasal area. This is said to open the third eye, above the nasal area, once the channels are operating excellently. These two channels spiral upwards, crossing over the left and right regions of the brain and body, similar to the double Helix. These two channels are called Ida and Pingala. Without going into too much detail, it is said that breathing through the right nostril (pingala) is related to physical work, and the left Nostril (ida) is associated with mental work. For example, breathing through Ida (left nostril) tends to activate the right hemisphere, which controls the left side of the body. As you can see there is a crossing of channels, forming a spiral. When airflow is going through both optimally, balance and health is enhanced or maintained. This is similar to the interaction of Yin and Yang balancing everything out.
As I was saying, this is similar to the Chinese System of Meridians. In the Chinese system, the Chi flows along different channels up and down the body, and proper balance of the mind and body (mental and physical) promotes good circulation. For example, there are certain exercises in Chinese Martial Arts which promote grabbing and making a fist, with the elbows pinned to the sides, to promote vigour and will power. This can be observed in certain Historical statues, and postures practiced in Chinese Systems of Gong fu.
Importantly, the fist clenched promotes inner strength and also hand and forearm strength. In Chinese medicine they say that the Chi of the hand is strongest in the thumb, which turns the hand, and manipulates objects via the grip. Similarly, you will find that holding the hands at this level promotes good balance, and if you move the up and down, this causes a swaying forwards and backwards. This area of the waist is associated with the physical centre5, but as you can see by maintaining good circulation and energy, balance in the Mental Centre is also developed. In Tai Chi, the left hand when outstretched in a punching motion with the thumb facing down, rotates the body clockwise. The reverse is true in the right hand. When the left hand is palm up and you try to rotate something in your hand, you will find that it also rotates things clockwise. This relationship is revealing and is worth meditating on.
In Yoga, applying pressure within the arm pits, such as when the elbows and pinned to the sides, promotes powerful air flow from through both nostrils. This airflow travels in a spiral fashion through the central axis which is the spine, or the Sushumna as the Yogis call it. When the two forces, fire and water3,6, that is to say horizontal and vertical, are maximised, then the two become one as they converge at the Centre. In Yoga it is common to sit in the lotus position with the right hand held in the left hand both palms facing up and with the thumbs touching. This created a good connection between the thumbs at the level of the Hara Centre, and also brings the arms in applying gentle pressure to the arm pits. From positions such as this, the two differentiated forces, Ida and Pingala, Yin and Yang, overlap and unify. As I have already said, this convergence at the centre is the Hara Centre, which is the chief energy storehouse of the energies in both Yoga, Tai Chi, and Martial Arts. From here the two differentiated forces overlap and unify.
Here we see that good energy flow and air flow are mutually dependent and are brought about with the same kinds of exercises. From the samurai holding his sword at hip level, to the Karate man holding his tight firsts at waist level with elbows tucked and back standing in Horse riding Stance. Interestingly horse riding stance is considered a way of rooting to the ground, to receive energies from below. By rooting to the ground, the Martial Artist applies his weight through the floor and is able to use gravity to create a resistance against his muscular system, to generate potential energy, or Chi. The breathing exercises raise this Chi. One school, Yoga, focuses on breathing. Whereas the other, Tai Chi, has the aim of circulation of energy, but in fact both achieve the same goal. In fact, this energy in Yoga is called Prana, or universal energy, but they are talking about the same reality.
And even in Western boxing this pinning of the elbows to the sides is emphasises as protecting the flank, and maintaining a good centre of gravity. So, as you punch for example, there is the impression that you are holding one arm in defensively, or to maintain balance, whilst the other stretches out to maximum reach. There is then a counter balance to the extended arm6. Martial Arts practice is simply using the breath and energy to enhance physical powers, and when you breath you are more or less effectively circulating the energies around you system. This is why your thoughts must be centred around achieving Harmony, so that you mental energy can direct and interact with the Chi and breathing exercises to productive ends. Otherwise the mental cannot work on the physical directly, it needs an intermediary, which is the Chi energy and the Breath. This is the way to link the immaterial to the material so that they act as one.
References
1 See Embodying the technique https://intuitivemartialarts.com/2020/08/09/embodying-the-technique/
2 See Active Relaxation https://intuitivemartialarts.com/2020/04/27/active-relaxation/
3 See Covergence at the Centre, the Solar Plexus, Fire and Water, and The Hara Centre https://intuitivemartialarts.com/2021/03/04/convergence-at-the-centre-the-solar-plexus-fire-and-water-and-the-hara-centre/
4 See How do you know if your Martial Arts works? https://intuitivemartialarts.com/2021/01/12/how-do-you-know-if-your-martial-arts-works/
5 See Stay in the Centre https://intuitivemartialarts.com/2021/01/28/stay-in-the-centre/
6 See The General and the Troops https://intuitivemartialarts.com/2021/04/02/the-general-and-the-troops/
7 See Spreading the Wing https://intuitivemartialarts.com/2020/10/25/technique-spreading-the-wings/
8 See Alignment and Tension Exercises https://intuitivemartialarts.com/2020/03/22/alignment-and-tension-exercises/
