This principle applies to large scale combat too - you can't entice your enemy to commit if they don't believe they have a chance of winning, and you want them to remain "attached" to the idea of potential victory, so that you can use their intention against them. Love your videos. Thank you
That makes a lot of sense! I don’t have a lot of experience with large scale combat beyond some paintballing ha ha. I can see how the principles are totally related though! Thank you for highlighting that! 😃🙏
@@phoenixmountaintaichi I mean, I'm mostly drawing connections between this and things I've read like the Art of War, or 36 Strategies of the Martial Artist. It's this channel that is helping me see such connections. Thank you
Great video Sifu Chester. I remember watching another taichi sifu saying when you do push hands the objectove is to feel their feet. I didn't know how you could ever access someone structure and get all the way down to their feet but it looks like the trick is to use your fascia control technique. Still feels almost mysterious as a concept, until you spend 1000s of hours practicing.
You are definitely on the right track! It does not take 1000 hours though. I can usually teach a total beginner well within one hour! It’s a shift in mental target. Because besides all the things you’ve thought about and tried that has not worked yet, what will finally be the change that you have not tried that will lead you to feel the ground in a new way? You’re almost there! 😃👍
It will be interesting Sifu to observe the fascial-feeling technique in situations where the one on the one applying is being manhandled like in a grappling situation and is on the ground.
Amazing work, Chester! I like the cat analogy. I've been taught "humans are programmed to finish their actions, so long as nothing gets in the way." Have a great day!
Amazing, I was just playing this out in my head last week, wondering how I'd make contact and establish fascia control in a fight or under pressure testing. This is pretty close to what I came up with. I haven't had a chance to try it yet, but I may get to later this week.
Good thoughts! Fascia mastery is easiest to apply when you are already in contact with holds from one or both parties. So that’s a good starting point to play with! 😃🙌
Good question! There are multiple levels of sticking skill. At the 1st level of Fascia, the opponent perceives you as being under their control and they think they can maintain it so they hold on. They can easily let go but it doesn’t occur to them. At the level of Song Mastery, the 2nd level, they begin to depend on you for balance and rooting, they will instinctually stick to you by leaning on you, and be reluctant to let go unless they’re willing to lose their balance. At the 3rd level of Qi Mastery, they become very dependent on you for a sense of stability and orientation because you are disrupting their sense of force alignment and they will actively seek to align with you, thus sticking to you. In this one they will generally not let go unless you move them too far out of their base. The 4th and 5th levels beyond Qi Mastery have similar characteristics. Does that help clarify it a bit? Thanks for asking the interesting question! 😃🙏
@@phoenixmountaintaichi Yes, this helps a lot! The more I delve into Tai Chi, the more I see how each stage stacks and builds on top of each other to form a truly profound martial art. Much appreciated.
@@GreyTacticYou’re totally right. And much of the confusion in Tai Chi occurs because masters and students of different stages of training speak in absolutes about what must be done or how it will be done, which is true for that stage but may not be true for another stage of training. And when you understand the whole picture and see the natural progression to ascend this journey, it will be much much easier, will it not? 😃🙏
I was just searching to see if you posted anything haha, I guess I missed learning from you and your great videos. Would you be so kind to elaborate more on what you mean by “you feel it in his shoulders, now in his legs”. How can you feel his shoulders by feeling his arm. I mean the only metaphor that comes to mind is like feeling the floor while sitting on a chair by feeling the chairs feet, but I don’t understand how one would actually feel. Thank you for the new upload 🙏🏼
@@highdefinitionarchitecture8208 Oh yeah thanks for pointing out the question! You are right about leaning or sitting on a chair and feeling the chair's feet on the ground. Inversely you can be dragging something, like a chair across a room and feeling the chair's weight dragging on the floor. It's your mind's awareness, the Yin aspect of your Yi, traveling along the other person to see what's beyond the point of contact, all the way to the ground. Does that help? 😃🙏
@@phoenixmountaintaichi it helps a lot! It also created new questions in my mind haha. I guess true understanding will come while training. Thank you!🙏🏼
Yes you are right to say this is Na Jin, in which you cause the opponent to hang on to you and lock up their body in a way that is susceptible to your manipulation. Often times called Nina Jin sticking Jin in Tai Chi. This is the first and easiest level of Na Jin, using Fascia Mastery. As you master Song, the Yin and Yang or Qi, and further stages of Tai Chi internal skill, you will unlock more profound skills of Na Jin that are more difficult for the opponent to counter. Does that answer your question? Thank you for asking the interesting question! 😃🙏
None! Tai Chi was developed before Chinese Anatomists had a term for Fascia. Today fascia is called 筋膜. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that in any classical text. The old phrasing of 刺皮不刺骨 helps to illustrate the concept of not penetrating the force deeply beyond the skin. Does that help? 😃🙏
