wujimon tumbling

When pushing hands, the static peng should be eliminated entirely to avoid telegraphing ones movement. At a very advanced level the peng can be performed without the opponent realizing it is a peng … It was a very odd feeling because apparently he was moving directly against my forward push, but my hand did not feel anything to push on or resist, yet I was still moved backward. Although I have not achieved this level of skill I trust my teacher’s advice that that move in particular can only be achieved though softness not strength. That is the peng of no peng, or a force-stopping move which itself does not stop its flow.

I learned something new about how when doing standing meditation, the body will move from stillness to natural movement on it’s own. The secret to feeling this is being aware and observing it instead of letting your mind drift from observing your body and breath.

trying to emulate the application before putting in the necessary work of form practice to viscerally understand the principle is putting the cart before the horse.

A big problem for me when practicing Zhan Zhuang has been the habit of “zoning out” or “trancing out”; a feeling of dissociating kinesthetically from my body, of being “out there” instead of “in here”. (This entire experience begs the question of ‘Who is “I” ?’ if “I” am not “my body”.)

In ‘The Adventure of the Empty House’, Holmes recounts to Watson how he used martial arts to overcome Professor Moriarty and fling his adversary to his death at the Reichenbach Falls. He states that ‘I have some knowledge, however, of baritsu, or the Japanese system of wrestling, which has more than once been very useful to me.’ The name ‘baritsu’ appears to be a reference to the real-life martial art of bartitsu.” – wikipedia

So what has jie jin [borrowing force] got to do with the BLH [“Beautiful Lady’s Hand”]? In this style of Taiji, the ability to borrow the force of others is dependent upon 1. being able to sense the movement intentions of others and 2. not giving away your own intentions through subtle or unsubtle tension in the hands.

Keeping a meditation Journal:
Keeping a journal helps you to find patterns in your life and during meditations. A journal can allow you to better judge how a particular practice effects you. Journaling can also help you to develop a habit of practicing . By Journaling you also get used to being aware of events in you life and how they effect you.

Last night in my meditation, I was considering what it means to be a student, and how maintaining the student mind seems to open up a great relational dynamic … I think it’s a really good thing to be able to doubt properly. If I’m not able to question the assumptions and first steps I have made, how will I ever be able to see when they are no longer useful to me?