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Killing the Dragon – some fun

March 1, 2010 By Leave a Comment

This is the article we have been waiting for!  Finally here are clear instructions for appearing to be cultivating the skills needed for effective Jiulong practice, but doing as little work as possible. If you have been wondering how to participate in the art without actually having to practice, this is the way to achieve it. If you follow these methods you are assured of remaining in the art while not actually doing anything. It all comes down to preventing the Dragon from appearing. To this, you have to kill the Dragon.

For those who missed my article “What is the Dragon?”, the Dragon was defined as “an imprinted mind/body pattern of feeling that spontaneously reacts to the needs of the moment with correct force, angle and speed without conscious control”.

It appears without warning and is the result of having practiced the skills outlined in my previous article. The problem is that if the Dragon starts to appear and teach you something, you might be stuck with a lifetime of exploring its lessons. This entails a lot of work, some of which can be fun, but some of it can be difficult. So rather than start down this road, it’s better to kill that Dragon right at the beginning, but still enjoy being in the Jiulong arts.

Stop practicing

This is obvious, but needs to be approached with caution. Remember that the Dragon comes out on its own as a result of properly set mind/body patterns (engrams). So practice of any kind will generate patterns. You must be diligent about practicing such that you can perform the outward appearance of Jiulong skill without any chance that patterns go deep enough into the mind/body system to come out spontaneously.

To accomplish this there are some simple steps you can take. First, make sure you have no regular practice schedule. Regular practice at the same time on a daily basis tends to set engrams automatically. You know this from other aspects of your life. You perform many tasks in exactly the same way each day and as a result, can perform them without thought. For example, you probably brush your teeth with same angle, pressure, speed and number of strokes every time. This regular repetition locks in these features. As a result, you can think about other things while brushing, and be confident those brushing patterns are doing the job. In the same way, regular practice of Zhan Zhuang Standing will, with enough repetition, create the various elements needed for automatic effective movement. Elements like rootedness, stability, relaxation and correct connections which lead to whole body movement need to be kept from sinking into the unconscious.

A good and simple way to achieve this is to skip Standing altogether and only practice high speed movements. This will ensure that you will be able to perform the movements, but no internal skills will be contained in them. Also, you will still have the benefit of looking like you know Jiulong.

Only attend workshops to collect notes.

Another excellent method for avoiding engram creation is by only attending workshops to take notes. By diligently trying to write down everything you hear in a workshop, you will have a record of the knowledge. Then you can say you learned all this material in a workshop, thereby giving the impression that you “know” all this stuff. One warning, though. Be sure not to read the notes later. And, don’t fool around with the methods shown. Playing with ideas and methods in a relaxed, casual way can allow engrams to start being created without being aware of it.

Only work on the physical.

Of course, in order to participate in the art at all you have to develop a little bit of skill. It is possible to do this and still kill the Dragon. This is because there are two primary components to the patterns which create him:  the physical and the psychological.

The psychological components are the attitude (Xin) of the movement and the all important intent (Yi) which provides motive power to the movements. By focusing only on the physical aspects of a movement, you starve the Dragon of the feeling and intention that make the movement a powerful martial skill.

Let’s take Rolling the Pearl as an example. To get the full benefit of this posture, you would try to feel the expansion of the lower arm and the projection of the upper arm while filling and expanding the entire body. Since these components are the prime sources of the power of the Dragon, all you need to do to deny him these is to perform the movement of Rolling the Pearl as a purely physical action. By holding the posture simply as a physical position, devoid of any image, the posture will be weak and able to collapse quite easily. More importantly, it will have little martial effectiveness and will not be practiced repeatedly, thereby preventing an engram from being created.

So if you must practice in order to show your skills, make sure it is only physical, empty of imagination and feelings of power.

Intellectual analysis to recreate spontaneous action.

If the above steps still result in the Dragon appearing, you need to look at ways to stop him as he starts to reveal his lessons. Remember that experiencing the Dragon can lead to exploring his possibilities. This will easily lead to work having to be done, and we want to avoid work, right? You still want to kill that Dragon, don’t you?

While you are working with a partner in any way in Jiulong, the chance that a fascinating martial application, or energy-feeling may be discovered is present. When we work with someone, our actual level of ability is revealed to us through seeing our responses to various situations. For example, when playing with the “Two Dragons in the Clouds” game, it is common to experience winning and losing from moment to moment. When you are bested in any way, you may experience an immediate desire to do the same move against your partner. It feels like by returning the experience to you partner will even the score in some way. This is, of course, revenge. And it happens to most people in this game. It reveals your level of control over your responses. Without some measure of control, you will constantly be reacting to your partner, thereby giving him the upper hand. While you are seeking revenge, he is knocking you down.

Of course, to get better at this control, you simply return as quickly as possible to the present moment of the game. The problem is that this places you back into the stream of spontaneity, which is obviously the land of the Dragon. So, to avoid this we disrupt the spontaneous flow. Here’s how:

When a really cool moment happens, say an unexpectedly effective martial technique, or a moment of seeming to lose your balance and recovering it “magically”, rather than instantly return to the game, stop to attempt to recreate the technique.

When you stop in order to examine what just happened, it stops the flow of forces out of which that technique appeared. A moment ago you were walking, turning, deflecting, attacking, neutralizing….now you are thinking. This is an excellent way to kill that Dragon.

By analyzing a technique you will be attempting to isolate all the elements that went into that moment. This is a comparatively slow process since you have to identify everything one element at a time. Figuring out where your arms were, which way you were walking, how fast the turn was, the exact impact point, and the level of power you put into the movement, etc., takes time. In addition, you have to do the same thing for your partner since he was 50% of the equation. This takes more time.

Then you will both try to set up the move as it was, and apply as many of the components you identified as possible. The result is usually a similar version of the movement but it will be unsatisfying somehow. It will not quite work the way it did in the original spontaneous moment, so you will spend some time adjusting this part and that part, always trying to get that same effectiveness.

In a few cases you can actually recreate the technique. But the good new is that you will have prevented the Dragon from forming. He IS that moment of sudden effective movement. By stopping the flow of movements in order to think about them, you leave the Dragon behind.

Doubt

This is another excellent Dragon killer. And it is so easy! All you have to do is doubt the methods and the concepts behind them. What could be easier than just telling yourself things like “What if this is not true?” or “How do I know I am not imagining the effect I just experienced?”. These kinds of questions place you in a position of being unsure of what you are learning. This can negate any attempt to practice correctly as you will have the sense that perhaps this is a waste of time. Talk about an excellent Dragon slayer!

Since the Dragon appears after the mind/body patterns (engrams) have been established, it is a good idea to circumvent the patterns before they form. Doubt does this by injecting unresolved uncertainty into the learning process. If you can’t practice whole heartedly, the practice will not go far into the mind/body so the patterns are much less likely to take root. Here are a few nice doubt-creation ideas:

Interpret all feelings of energy or “qi” as illusions. The simplest way is to tell yourself that you made up the sensation.

Adopt the position that all thoughts and intentions are isolated events within the brain. They have no effect on the body. This ties in well with the above idea in that you can decide that any effect is an illusion that you made up. Be sure to ignore all evidence to the contrary. When you launch someone across the room, tell yourself he let you do it.

These methods will have you doubting the ability of the methods to generate any skill or power. That way the Dragon doesn’t get any fuel.

Be fickle

This will have you jumping from one technique to the next, one practice to the next, one style to the next. The idea here is to always be looking for the “flavour of the day” be it a method, skill or whatever. If an arm bar worked for you in the last class, decide that you “know” how to perform it and start looking for a better technique to handle that particular situation. As I’m sure you have guessed by now, this hopping from one idea to the next will prevent any one idea from taking hold.

The beauty of this method is that by cherry picking from various techniques you not only remain on the surface of each one, you also won’t string them together in any kind of flow.

Don’t meditate

This might be the single best way to kill the Dragon. Although it is best used in conjunction with the above, on it’s own it is very effective.

Meditation as practiced in Jiulong is described as sitting quietly, waiting for the mind to settle. This process is one of patience and on-going practice, with one of the results being a naturally quieter mind. In other words, the thought process is less active (although still functioning) so one’s perceptions are less filtered through thoughts. Perceptions requiring a physical response that are not filtered through the screen of thoughts allow for faster and more direct responses. In other words, when your mind/body system operated with less interference from thoughts, it functions more efficiently and allows for more immediate spontaneous reactions. Oh, there’s that word, spontaneous. As you now clearly know, this is that fertile ground in which the Dragon thrives. So by avoiding meditation, you can keep your mind busy and this prevent the mental flexibility inherent in spontaneous actions.

Conclusion

So now you have some very concrete ways to kill the Dragon. Remember that this will ensure that you don’t gain any real skill in the art, thus preventing you from making any of the personal discoveries inherent in Jiulong practice. This way you avoid all the work that is involved in allowing the Dragon to guide you to higher levels of a ability. To get there required on-going effort. And that last thing you need is an exciting discovery that will urge you to work at learning more about the possibilities the art offers you.

Of course, if what you want is to actually develop skills, then just do the opposite of what has been said here. Then the Dragon will develop and you will be stuck with fun and self-knowledge. And who wants that?

Filed Under: Lessons

3 Days at the Gompa

January 29, 2010 By

Sounds like an exotic journey to a far off land doesn’t it? In way that is exactly what members of the Toronto Study Group experienced during a training session a few years  back. We found ourselves in a martial arts heaven. I hope a brief story about our trip will be an enticement to others.

Due to our flight arrangements, we landed quite late on a Wednesday night, arriving at the Gompa at 1:30AM. Even at this late hour, Shifu Painter had arranged for us to organize our sleeping arrangements so as to get to bed as soon as possible after our arrival. This was good since we knew the day was going to start at 8:30 sharp.

Thursday began with an hour of meditation and Dao Yin yoga with Shifu Painter. There is no adequate way to describe this experience other than to say that it was peaceful, healthful and a completely delightful way to begin our training. We all went to breakfast after this and enjoyed discussing the coming three days of training.

The first martial training session was in Master Jou’s garden. This is an outdoor training space dedicated to the late Master Jou, Tsung Hwa, author of several books and a pioneer of Taijichuan in the west. The garden itself consists of several sections, each with different training tools and environments. There is a wooden deck used for multiple purposes such as meditation, stepping patterns, qigong etc. Beside this is the famous Baguazhang Nine Post Training area which involves nine wooden posts arranged in three rows of three posts, all situated on a surface of loose gravel. You need to step carefully since the gravel slips out under your feet. Next is an area of raised stone steps arranged in a circle so one can practice stepping onto very specific targets. If you miss, you fall over. There is also a place for practicing light body skill. If this was not enough, there are also lengths of narrow beams on which two people can stand and play push hands games. There are practice dummies for arm work, and space to swing weapons. The largest area is a patio with a beautifully inlaid yin/yang symbol surrounded by the eight gua of the Yijing. (I Ching). Here there is plenty of room for combat games with multiple opponents. And there is one unforgettable piece of equipment; a 12 foot length of 4 inch PVC filled with concrete, weighing about 150lbs and hung from a high tree branch so it swings far and wide. This thing is a challenge to one’s walking and rooting skills that has to be experienced to be understood. Does all this sound cool or what??!!

We spent the day in the garden working on our body structure. This involved fine tuning the various alignments that are needed to produce whole body power. This is not a mysterious force, but rather the effect of the various muscles and bones being used in a synchronized way to create more force than any single muscle or group of muscles by themselves. To accomplish this, one must spend time finding the weaknesses in the way the body is held and make the necessary corrections. This we did for the entire day with well-timed rest periods.

After dinner we had some free time and chose to spend it once again in the garden, just lightly playing a game called “Two Dragons Circling Among the Clouds”. The garden is lit at night via well placed lamps, consisting of subdued white light in waist high stands, and blue spotlights overhead which have the effect of moonlight. It is quite magical to be in that place at night playing sensitivity games. We did this for the entire evening until we were just too tired to continue. A fabulous fatigue!

The next day started once again with meditation. After breakfast we spent the morning with Shifu Robert Castaldo. He is one of the official Gompa instructors and he had made some discoveries about stepping that he wanted to share with us.

It was a very detailed examination of the way one’s foot is placed when walking and the effect it has on the ability to deliver power while maintaining balance and root. You may wonder how we can spend so much time on something so seemingly small and specific. Yet we easily filled up the entire morning on this and could have gone on longer. Questions were posed and examined; ideas were tossed around and experiments designed to explore those ideas.

For anyone interested in really exploring body mechanics and their most efficient use, I highly recommend that you try to spend some time with Shifu Castaldo.

After lunch came our session with Shifu Alan Marshall. He asked us what we were working on as a group in Toronto, and we mentioned the “Two Dragons” exercise we had done the evening before. So he graciously spent the afternoon sharing his ideas and approaches to this game. It was eye opening to say the least. It must be said that the Gompa teachers are very adept at assessing where you are and then working to fill in any holes and subsequently adding information to move you forward. Shifu Marshall saw right away where the weaknesses were in the way we were playing and was able to make very specific suggestions for improvements. And, of course, he demonstrated his meaning with each and every suggestion and we learned a great deal about how to improve our practice and make progress. The time flew by and when were just getting started, it was time for dinner. The evening was spent watching a movie and just relaxing with Shifu Painter. It was simply pleasant and relaxing.

The next morning was Saturday. This is the busiest day there as there are classes running all morning. Once again we spent the morning in the garden, this time with Shifu Andy Garza. And once again he wanted to know what we were working on and we told him “Two Dragons”. He watched us play for several minutes and, as with Shifu Marshall, he had some ideas and suggestions for us. But here is the best part, Shifu Garza had different ideas to show us with this game than Shifu Marshall, none of which were contradictory and once again we were shown information which would elevate our practice, yet in different areas.

So we again found ourselves being taught in ways that enhanced our practice without losing any of what we already knew. The reason for this is that the Gompa teachers focus on principles, rather than specific techniques. Principles can be adapted to various specific situations while specific techniques are only applicable to the situation in which they are effective. Also, the focus on principles allows each teacher to share their understanding from a personal standpoint without contradicting the other teachers. In this way each personality, and they are quite different, can be freely expressed while the information is complimentary. If this sounds too good to be true, keep in mind that they have been refining their approach for many years. We are the happy recipients of these years of work.

Saturday afternoon was spent once again with Shifu Painter….hmm, we have come full circle…..going over more details about various aspects of our practice. Circle walking, ba step turns, more alignments, ideas on using weights (water filled balls) to enhance practice etc. etc. This story is already long enough without attempting to get into all that detail. After dinner, we returned to the Gompa for a final in depth discussion with Shifu about various aspects of the art. He clarified and confusions, told some illustrative stories, shared more ideas, and this went on until after midnight.

Here is the bottom line: The level of generosity and care with which each of the Gompa teachers approaches one’s learning is evident and inspiring. How you are doing really matters to them. Nothing is held back and every effort is made to be sure you are learning what you need to learn. Going to the Gompa is like stepping into an isolated training compound, with the feeling of a being a world apart. This is so conducive to focused learning that I felt I was picking up information without being directly taught anything. Just seeing some of the equipment at hand give one ideas for practice. Each of us is naturally drawn to different aspects of practice, and since the environment totally supports all these aspects, one only has to be there to get some inspiration.

The best thing about the Gompa is the Gompa. The word means “place of quiet study” and that is exactly what it is. So if you are in any way considering experiencing this unique place, do your utmost to make it happen. You will be unbelievably happy you did.

Filed Under: Lessons Tagged With: , ,

Water Dragon Turns

December 17, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Ever wonder about the ways you can use that Jiulong Ba Step? Well wonder no more. Here is a video from Shizi Orchard showing us that invaluable sequence of solo practice to practical applications. If you want to discuss what you see here, head on over the to Jiulong discussion group.

Discuss this video here:



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Matter in Motion: The Physics of Jiulong Baguazhang

December 7, 2009 By 1 Comment

Jiulong instructor Barry Solway in Colorado offers a very impressive analysis of the physical properties of the Nine Dragon methods.  This is a fascinating exploration which helps us understand the Jiulong movements from the perspective of physics and provides a clear explanation of what happens when we correctly apply the methods. There is no need to use confusing mystical language when explaining the way Jiulong works and Instructor Solway’s article is a testament to this fact. Take some time to read and re-read this. It is worth it.  Enjoy!!

Matter in Motion: The Physics of Jiulong Baguazhang

© Barry Solway

Mr. Solway can be reached at info@spiralpatharts.com

What does the study of physics and Jiulong Baguazhang have in common?  Both disciplines are a study of matter and motion, a look from different perspectives on how the world around us behaves.  Taking a glimpse at the general principles of physics as applied to martial arts striking can more deeply inform our practice of Jiulong Baguazhang. The dynamics of the human body during movement and under stress are complex and varied and do not lend themselves to simple analysis.  For the purposes of this article, many important considerations are put aside (such as the visco-elastic nature of the human organism, and the ways in which complex forces are dissipated and absorbed throughout the body). This limits the applicability of the models under discussion in the real world, but should provide a sufficient framework for useful discussion.. In particular, we shall attempt to derive some insights into our practice and reveal how Jiulong Baguazhang is rooted in natural principles.

Basic Physics

We start with a basic refresher in physics, the equation for generating force. This equation is F = ma (1), where m is the mass and a is acceleration.  This equation indicates that a force is acting on a body only when it is accelerating.  A body moving at a constant speed does not require a force to act upon it to maintain that speed. The body is said to have momentum, as expressed by Newton’s First Law of Motion.  This occurs in the natural world in a vacuum, and is demonstrated by objects in space that move at high velocities for long periods without any external forces acting on them.  For moving objects in our everyday experiences, we have various forces (such as wind resistance, internal and external friction, etc..) that act to slow objects down. In this case, there is a negative force acting on the body and we need to apply a counter-acting force in order to maintain a constant velocity.

When striking, a more useful way to express the forces involved are to look at the momentum of a body.  Momentum is expressed as p = mv (2), where p is the momentum, m is the mass and v is the velocity.  Momentum can be thought of as a measure of the difficulty of stopping an object in motion.  We shall see in a moment why this equation is more useful than the equation for force above to our understanding of delivering power and force during striking. This gives us a second way to express force, as F = p/t (3), where p is momentum (kg*m/s) and t is time. One way to think of Eq. 3 is that it  describes the amount of force necessary to bring an object of momentum p to rest.

Power is another useful concept in martial application.  Power is work over time and is expressed as P = W/t (4), and given in units of Watts.  Work occurs when we apply force over a distance, W = Fd (5). Power is proportional to the amount of work we do (i.e proportional to the force and the distance), and inversely proportional to how quickly the work is done.  So the faster the work is done, the greater the power. Since work is force multiplied by distance, then (4) can be re-written as (6) P = Fd/t.  The second part of this, d/t, is the equation for velocity.  So P = Fv (7).  To increase the power of a given movement we either have to move with more force or with more speed (or both). If we move with more speed, then the force will be transferred to the object we touch in a shorter period of time, resulting in a higher impact force, as we shall see below.

Collisions

Now, let’s look at the most basic of collisions.  An object that weighs 1 kg is traveling at 10 m/s (meters/ second).  This is about 21.6 mph (miles-per-hour).  Since it is traveling at a constant velocity, there is no appreciable force acting on the body.  A useful equation to express what is going on is the momentum equation (2), p = mv.  This yields p = 1 kg * 10 m/s = 10 kg*m/s.  Assuming an inelastic collision (the objects “stick” together), then when the objects collide, energy is transferred  that may cause deformation to one or both objects. The force of impact is described by Eq. (3), F = p/t. In this case t is the duration of the collision.

Now the first important lesson is revealed.  When a collision occurs, an major consideration is the velocity of the object right before impact.  The method of achieving that velocity isn’t as important as the velocity achieved.  At high velocity, the body has high momentum, resulting in a great impact force when the object collides with another object.  In addition, we are interested in t, the amount of time it takes to stop the object.  This translates into a negative acceleration,.  From equation (3) above, we can see that if the object stops. a force must be acting on it.   The quicker the object stops, the more force is acting on it.   In our example, if the object stopped in 1 second, it would have a force of F = p/t = 10 kg*m/s / 1 s = 10 N acting on.  If the object stops in 1/100th of a second (10 ms), then the force acting on it is F = p/t = 10 kg*m/s / 0.01 s = 1000 N (about 224 pounds). Another way to think of this is that the faster the object stops, the quicker it is de-accelarting, and the higher the force is, as given by Eq. (1).

Back to the Real World

How does this theory apply to our common understanding of martial arts?

We have already seen that the important element in striking is velocity.  This is an intuitive observation.  Since velocity is related to momentum, we can see how Jiulong Baguazhang uses the principles of physics to achieve high impact by maintaining a high momentum through constant movement. [3] gives values on the order of 3 seconds for sprinters to achieve 98% of maximum velocity.  In martial application, we have only fractions of a second to execute a movement, and would like to maximize velocity prior to the strike.  Constant movement is important, because it takes time to break our inertia from standstill. It is therefore possible to achieve a higher velocity in the same amount of time if you are already moving then if you are standing still.

Secondly, we see that if we are moving at speed x, then if we can add a sudden burst of acceleration directly before impact, we can increase the final velocity of our bodies before striking, and increase the force of the strike.  This is the essence of how fa jing can add a tremendous amount of speed to our strikes, creating maximum energy for deformation on impact or throwing. As an example, [1] shows that karate practitioners can accelerate a standing forward punch from standstill to maximum velocity of 6 to 9 m/s in 200 ms.

Additional insights are revealed by research on the breaking of objects such as boards and blocks by martial artists. A summary of results are presented here without elaboration, please see the references for details.

The first interesting observation is establishing a baseline reference when talking about impact force.  [2] gives a table that compares the force necessary to break wood, concrete and living (wet) bone.   It takes a force of  670 N to break a wood board, dry white pine of dimensions 28 cm x 15 cm x 1.9 cm.  It takes 3100 N to break a concrete block of dimensions 40 cm x 19 cm x 4 cm.  Interestingly, living human bone is stronger than either wood or concrete, requiring up to 5400 N to break a wet long bone of 2 cm diameter and 30 cm in length.  These numbers assume the ends of the object are held firmly in place, such as during a board break. This insures that the collision is inelastic, collision times are minimal (< 10 ms) and all the force will go towards deformation, not pushing the object away.

And how much impact force can we generate in Jiulong Baguazhang?  Derivations by  [1] and [2] reveal that karate experts could be expected to generate in the realm of 5000 N of force for a standing forward punch.  Velocities of 7 to 9 m/s are common for this type of strike, with instances of 14 m/s being observed.   Since only the arm is involved in the strike, the mass is considered to be the hand and arm, estimated at 10% of total body weight or ~7 kg for a 70 kg fighter.  Impact times of less than 10 ms are recorded in [1] (with observed times of 5 ms in [2], with de-acceleration in excess of 3500 m/s2).   Assuming the 10 ms impact time, yields a total force of F = 7 kg * 7 m/s / 0.01 s = 4900 N.  This is sufficient to break a long bone of diameter less than 2 cm.  However, placement is important. It was observed that when subjects failed to achieve proper breakage, a frequent reason wasn’t that the force was too low, but that the placement was not correct.  The power levels described here assume the object was hit in the center.  Hitting slightly off-center changes how the forces are applied to the object being struck and can reduce the effectiveness of the strike considerably. The area of the strike is important also. The force per square centimeter is higher if we focus the strike on the heel of the palm, as opposed to the entire palm. So choosing the striking area is important to the overall effect of the strike.

However, this is not the way we apply techniques in Jiulong Baguazhang.  This example is of a standing fighter drawing an arm back to the hip and throwing it out in a forward punch.  In Jiulong Baguazhang, we are constantly moving and the force comes from our legs and waist, not from the arm.  This more resembles the speeds and forces generated from sprinting.  From [3], we have typical maximum sprint speeds in the range of 11 m/s.  Typical walking speeds are in the range of 1.5 m/s (about 3 mph).  In Jiulong Baguazhang, we normally walk at fast walking speeds, in the range of 3 to 5 m/s.  Using fa jing directly before a strike could theoretically lead to velocities upon impact greater than 10 m/s, likely exceeding the values given for a standing forward punch.

More importantly, however, is that fact that the Baguazhang player will attempt to strike with the full weight of the body.  The hand and arm contains 10% of the mass of the body.  By using the full mass of the body behind the strike we increase the effective mass up to 9 times the values calculated above.  In practice, this will be hard to achieve, and possibly undesirable.  It may not be prudent to commit all of one’s mass into one strike, possibly off-balancing oneself. However, the increase seen in the force generated is intriguing.  The theoretical force of impact of a 70 kg sprinter hitting a brick wall at full speed is in excess of 40,000 N, see [5].  This would give us an upper theoretical limit.  A force in excess of 10,000 N (~2400 pounds) would seem realistic for a Baguazhang player of similar mass, where the velocity on impact is 7 m/s (2/3 of a sprinters), only 1/2 of the mass was involved in the technique, and the impact distance is equivalent to trials as described in [2] (in the range of 8 cm).  Note that the impact velocity of 7 m/s is conservative as empirical evaluation in [2] shows speeds of various martial arts strikes up to 14 m/s, thereby doubling our estimate above.  Our estimate of the total mass involved is also conservative.  However, there is no direct empirical research to validate the higher claim, and it remains unresolved as to whether such forces are attainable in practice. The closest analogy is [4], suggesting impact forces of 9000 N or more in collisions involving football players at similar speeds (6 m/s). In this case, the stopping distance is likely longer due to the properties of the padding the players wear, implying targeted combat strikes could have more impact force. Obviously, the application of the technique would heavily influence the maximum force attainable. For example, more force would be generated if the opponent was moving towards the strike as opposed to moving away from the strike.

Jiulong Baguazhang training adheres to natural principles to achieve tremendous forces for striking and throwing. Continuous movement establishes a high baseline momentum.  Fa jing allows us to generate power to increase velocity over short distances directly prior to a strike or throw.  Together, these methods allows the trainee to achieve maximum velocity. Using “whole body power” puts more mass into play.  Proper structure is necessary to direct the force into the opponent at the moment of collision and insure that the force is not absorbed by the joints of the body.  Greater velocity and mass leads to maximum momentum and higher impact forces.

Theory can help inform and clarify the purpose of training methods, but cannot replace the need for constant practice.  Subtle increases in velocity, mass and form can lead to dramatic differences in the effectiveness of a technique. This requires patience and hard work, but the player is rewarded with an intuitive understanding of the underlying physics of movement in the natural world.

Mr. Solway can be reached at info@spiralpatharts.com

Bibliography

[1] Karate Strikes, Jarel D. Walker, Physics Department, Cleveland State University, March 24, 1975 from The Physics of Sports, 2nd Edition, 1993

[2] The Physics of Karate, S.R. Wilk, R.E. McNair, & M.S. Field, Department of Physics and Spectroscopy Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, September 28, 1982 from The Physics of Sports, 2nd Edition, 1993

[3] Physics of Sprinting, Igor Alexandrov and Phllip Lucht, Department of Physics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah; American Journal of Physics 49, 2t4-247(1981); © American Association of Physics Teachers

[4] Tackling Physics By Rhfonda Hillbery, Caltech News, California Institute of Technology, from Tim Gay’s The Physics of Football.

[5] Visit http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/carcr.html#cc3 for a simulation of a car colliding into a tree allowing the user to change parameters. Example in article uses mass = 70 kg, velocity = 11 m/s and collision distance = 0.1 m (about 4 inches)


Filed Under: Philosophy

Video – From practice to application

November 30, 2009 By 5 Comments

In this 4 minute video, Shizi Orchard shows us a particular movement being practiced on his own, and then some uses of it in combat. He is offering several variations of the same movement and it should give you a sense of how adaptable it is.

No situation is predictable so one needs to be able to change as needed. So watch closely to see the various angles he uses with the same basic posture. You will see him move up, down, inside, outside (the attacker’s punch),  etc. In fact, no two responses are exactly the same since no two attacks are exactly the same.

Filed Under: Video Tagged With: , , ,
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