Understanding Structure

Forever sinking, forever rising!

"In training a proper stance you should imagine yourself like a bust on top of a pillar."
-Sifu Dave Cial

​Where the pillar is your legs and the bust your upper body. The upper body should be light and fluid, whereas the lower body should be sunken and relaxed as if deeply entrenched in the ground!

This is an atribute particularly important to the practice of Shaolin Kung Fu, however, I've found many parallels in Silat, Systema, Tai Chi, other internal arts, etc. It usually isn't spoken of in the same vernacular, although the meaning is similar. In silat they call it your base, in Kun tao or kempo I've heard it referred to as your triangle//triangulation, internal arts including Tai Chi we speak of alignment, and structure, Kwa, ming min, etc. most of these terms flow over into Kung Fu, but I have heard others.

Various arts have various methods to train and articulate the particulars on how to achieve solid base, structure etc. They all strive to achieve the same thing, solidity with mobility. Adaptability w/ ease of footwork for transitions to seamless application.

To accomplish all these things two things must always be present, forever sinking, forever rising!

The only question remaining is how?

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How to forever sink, forever rise?

To answer this question I feel it's important to note what should forever sink/rise and to what direction. These all differ based on the art. I'll illustrate a few basics of Pentjak Silat Serak, Systema and Tai Chi then we'll be focusing particularly on the requirements of a correct stance and structure in Kwan Yin Chuan Kung Fu.

As a rule of thumb the hips should always sink down and the head should always rise up. In Systema, Cheng Man Ching Tai Chi, and Kwan Yin Chuan Kung Fu the direction of the spine is generally the same, sacrum should sink down with the crown point rising up w/ spine perpendicular to the ground at all times. In some techniques this differs as far as what leads and even at times there is a slight tilt added in parts of Kwan Yin Chuan dependant on the original system a technique comes from, i.e. drunken fist, preying mantis, Xing Yi, Ba Qua, and others. In Silat Serak and various indonesian styles a forward tilt is emphasized w/ triangulation of the legs and the striking/grappling tool being used. In traditional Yang Tai Chi as well as Wu style a forward tilt is also used, more in Wu than in Yang but the structure is similarly applied for grapples and throws.

For today we'll be focusing on the basic alignments of sinking and rising and looking at some similarities as well as differences between systems... A picture is worth a thousand words so lets start with some illustrations, and follow with video. =)

Systema

Systema, for those of you who have never heard of it, is a russian martial art that is built on 4 pillars, relaxation, breath, structure, and movement. Systema is a free flowing martial art that focuses on spontaneity and natural movement. As such there are no direct 'techniques', forms, or inherent postures taught, instead Systema focuses on free flowing drills, exercises and how to react and deal with various situations by adhering to the pillars and principles listed above.

Natural movement is key and being able to respond fluidly without interrupting or breaking down any one of your pillars is paramount in its practice. My illustration to the Left holds some concepts I've learned in the practice of Systema that helps you move more efficiently.

The crosses should be seen as fluid constructs being able to respond to pressure and movement, fluidly responding, the arms and legs should be very heavy and completely relaxed. Footwork should be agile, light, and relaxed keeping the hips level and heavy as though the legs are strings. The head should be suspended like a string and the spine relaxed hanging from it able to pivot turn etc. with ease... There are many more things in play than what I'm illustrating here but all these are good starting points to understanding movements of Systema. In closing the arms, sacrum and legs should be heavy and forever sinking, with the hips leveled, body relaxed, head forever rising.

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Pentjak Silat Serak

Pentjak Silat Serak is an indonesian martial art which places a great emphasis on base, and triangulation. In Silat Serak they focus primarily on training Jurus, or short forms, to build and develop various movements on the foundation of base and triangulation.

In Silat the timing of sinking and rising should be placed on the hips, where the spine is slightly tilted to triangulate force and develop a connection with the opponent. The main focus of Silat is keeping a strong connection using triangulation of footwork, base, strikes, locks etc. to effectively cut, split, throw your attacker by simply not being where they need the support after the initial off balance. They have a very fun and precise way of looking at these things, if you haven't tried this art it's very much worth it.

The video below has many great illustrations of how this is applied and the picture on your left should be taken lightly as a simple variation to show some aspects of triangulation in the body. In closing the hips, tilt and point of contact should sink into the base and connection point with the head rising up at an angle.

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Cheng Man Ching Tai Chi

The foundation of Cheng Man Ching Tai Chi, as in all Tai Chi, is Yin and Yang. Understanding this it is also important to outline what should be yin and what should be yang I've done various other blog posts on this (TCC an art of principle, The supreme Ultimate Exercise, 10000 lbs w/ 4 oz, Solid footing regardless of ice or snow), therefore, in this post we'll focus on how exactly this affects Tai Chi's solidity and fluidity.

In our practice of Tai Chi Chuan, yielding fluidly is of utmost importance and a prerequisite for solidity/fajin. To be honest and by the book, my teacher turned his back on "solidity" and issuance of force because, in his view, all forms of resistance and 'yang' energy outwards undermines Taoist principles of Tai Chi, i.e. "Soft overcomes hard... the way is in returning... double weightedness... etc." but our outlook is a very small piece of the pie, looking out across the landscape of Tai Chi. There are many other tai chi schools which hold fa jin in high regard and their whole goal is to get there. So, that being said, we'll illustrate how our focus and our way helps achieve fa jin, in the long term, with more success in a combative environment.

In short this training brings more success because it helps you find opportunity. The principles we practice are meant to help you relax, by relaxing more you can follow better, by following better you can easily find openings to fill... or not, depending on your constitution. The principles offer a base to follow while yielding, which keeps your structure, it is this same base which offers you solidity should you want to direct your force somewhere. Solidity is required to issue force(fajin), fluidity is required to yield and find openings. The foundation for both are the same principles. This foundation is the ability to relax, either to feel and react or to touch, connect and emit force. So, whether seeking fluidity or solidity the principles are the same, the only change is whether your intention is to go inside or expand out.

Although I don't exactly explain the Yang side of the practice you can find it applied in my push hands introductory video below. Feel free to comment or msg me with questions =)

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Kwan Yin Chuan (do)

Kwan Yin Chuan/Do is a branch of Shaolin Kung Fu that is an amalgam of Choy Le Fut, Hung Ga, Long Fist Mantis, and many other styles. Like most branches of Kung Fu it works very heavily on a foundation of solid mid-low stance work and moves using external strength founded on internal alignments. The art of Kwan Yin Chuan is as much 'external' as it is 'internal' in the ways of its practice...

My inspiration to write this came to me on training temple stances and working various types of footwork within Kwan Yin Chuan. I cover Temple stances in depth in my e-book, but here I'll cover some foundations that are within every stance and how these make each stance solid and secure for movement.
​These foundations are as follows:

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• Lead up w/ the crown point extending the spine keeping the upper body fluid and mobile
• Sink the sacrum to plunge the Dan Tien into the ground and keep the spine straight
• Expand and open the Kwa so weight is taken into the legs
• Push the knees out and grip down and in with the feet
• When moving it is better to sink  than to rise
• Whenever you move always dig and take the earth when stepping.
• Stance always hits a split second before the strike/throw etc.
• Generally Dan Tien for strikes, weight shifts for controls

In the video below you can see an overview of all I've covered here, and a direct application of the principles listed above.