DYNAMIC BALANCE IN YIQUAN!
These series of post are mainly
my own LIMITED thoughts and experience from practicing Yiquan and should be
taken with a HUGE DOSE OF SALT.
Standing appears to be one of
the easiest things to do. Yet, as I progress in the training, there are subtleties
that now become apparent as compared to previously. The most apparent discovery
is that standing is not a static exercise but rather a dynamic one. Just as the
‘monkey’ mind continuously jumps from thought to thought, so does the body
shift ever so slightly with each breath even when one ‘thinks’ one is standing
still.
As the feet are firmly on a
flat ground, the dynamic shifting of this center of gravity goes unnoticed as
it is too subtle to affect one’s balance. However, this changes immediately
when you change the nature of the surface you are on. Try standing still on a round
log, most of the time you will immediately roll off. Why is that? If you place
a brick on this log and balance it perfectly upright, it will stay there
indefinitely. Why then, when you stand on it, you fall off almost immediately?
The reason is there standing is a dynamic exercise!
At any point in time, the body
is in a constant motion. Even when the body appears absolutely still, there are
still subtle imperceptible bodily shifts that might not be apparent at first
glance. However, dig deeper and you’ll find the body dynamically shifting at
all times.
After a period of sustained
practice in Zhan Zhuang, we must apply our focus and intention on this center.
We must have a very fine understanding of how our center of gravity is shifting
all the time and how to exercise a subtle degree of control over it. Standing
on a log or unstable surface can be a useful tool to aid us in this. With
unstable surfaces, even the slightest imbalance or movement can topple us. This
makes us more sensitive and aware of our bodily postures. We can more easily
perceive where and how our body posture is imbalanced and how best to correct
it. Even more important, when we are imbalanced are we able to apply the subtle
counter-force to regain our balance? Too much counter-force and we are liable
to tilt in the opposite direction and also fall.
And at a higher level, try standing
still on a moving bus or train. Every time the bus/train decelerates or
accelerates at each bus/train stop, you can feel the shift in gravity. It
becomes difficult to maintain one’s balance as there is an outside force
attempting to uproot your center of gravity. Take this opportunity to practice
maintaining your balance.