Eliminating clumsy force is an important part of Xingyiquan practice. Its purpose is to nourish qi. It is not easy to eliminate clumsy force, because the human body has accumulated muscle strength through acquired labor. It takes a process to easily let go of this instinct!
What is clumsy force? Clumsy force is muscle strength, that is, the work done by the muscles when doing movements. This will hinder the circulation of qi and blood, so it is also called blood and qi force. What people call blood and qi refers to the clumsy force of youth. It looks very intimidating, but it is actually solid outside and empty inside.
When we practice boxing, we must first find a master who understands it. The most fundamental thing is to understand what clumsy force is, what harm clumsy force has, and how to eliminate clumsy force.
Only in this way can we gradually eliminate clumsy force in the process of practice and get on the right track!
When practicing boxing, put down your heart, put down fame and fortune, and even put down the boxing (concept), establish the three concepts of being upright, neat, and harmonious, and practice them in person!
A big obstacle to eliminating clumsy force is to show off your skills. During the practice, I always want to exert my strength from time to time, so that the breath accumulated by soft and slow practice is emptied for no reason! For the words “change temperament”, the first thing is to change from the heart, that is, to truly “be humble and not compete with the world”, so that the qi and blood can be more integrated, and the whole person embodies a kind of elegance, and loses the roughness of the warrior!After practicing boxing for more than ten years, I have a clear understanding of the cultivation of Xingyi boxing.
In fact, there is no distinction between internal and external boxing. If you can cultivate the qi in Dantian, it is internal boxing, otherwise it is external boxing!In the early stage of practicing Xingyi boxing, I did not understand the true meaning of it. During the practice, I often made the mistake of trying to force the qi in my heart, such as hoping to finish a thousand split punches as soon as possible. As a result, the body and the heart cannot relax and order, which hinders the circulation of qi and blood, and there is fatigue and sleepiness after practice.
After more than ten years of dedicated practice, combined with the teachings of my predecessors, I gradually realized that the connotation of Xingyiquan is nothing more than the neutralization of internal energy, and nothing more than form and fur. So the style of boxing has subverted the past.
The way to practice Xingyiquan is to loosen the shoulders and hips, so that you can form a bear’s arm (shoulders drooping) and a dragon’s body (three-fold posture), and when standing in the three-body posture, you can follow the rules and do loose hips, collapsed waist, chest, and buckled shoulders.
Standing in the three-body posture in this way can make the muscles of the whole body hang on the bones (bone and flesh separation). Standing like this, the blood and qi surge, the breathing is deep, the qi in the dantian is full, and the hands are abnormally swollen.
When the three-body posture reaches the above state, as long as you relax your body and mind a little during the practice of splitting fist, the whole body will be integrated in an instant, the blood and qi will flow smoothly, and it will be extremely comfortable. At this time, the strength of the whole body (muscle strength, that is, the strength of acquired blood and qi, clumsy strength) is unloaded.
Only by practicing to this step can you understand what is to eliminate clumsy strength and what is the true purpose of the internal family!
When you unload the strength of your whole body, the Qi will naturally sink into Dantian. After that, the boxing is completely led by the hips. No muscle strength is needed above the hips. The upper limbs move gently, while the feet are strong and solid. The whole process is natural and smooth, without any drawbacks of Qi and blood obstruction. This is in line with the way of heaven and earth – light above and heavy below. This is the way of Xingyiquan!