Intent Yi (意)

[windwalker099]

So, motion creates the breath, breath rides the motion. Thus, the faster we move the faster we breathe. No need to control it. However, in Tai Chi Chuan practice we try to stretch the breath out to match the speed of the form since we don’t turn the waist as much as the hip.

An interesting perspective, thanks for sharing it.

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

No answer is still an answer.

At the time, if one had been offered, would you have understood or accepted it?

You’re starting from your own premise and asking me to validate it.

From my own direct experience, “internal” skill works with a living body’s balance, nervous system, and structural tension. Those factors don’t exist in dead weight or act the same way in an animal, so the effect won’t be the same. It’s not about raw mass — it’s about how that mass is organized and responsive in the moment.

100% agree with you here.

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

I presume you mean internal skill refers to the one performing the technique, not the one receiving?

Ie. it's YOUR nervous system you talk about right? not your opponents?

This internal synchronisation of nervous system, muscles and balance and structural tension is to me another description of the balance between mind, body and spirit. It is like the generalisation of the "mechanical" kinetic linking, but involving the whole nervous system and mind to make it happen.

Or do you have some other meaning of Chinese Yi? If it is some magic or spiritual stuff, I might not understand it. But synchronisation of mind, body and spirit having the same a unified "intent", can be understood scientifically.

Not magical, nor spiritual, more a state of being, and a state of mind within the framework of action. How one may express this can be somewhat independent of the technique itself and also individualized depending on how one finds this place. My best description is like finding a muscle you didn’t know you have. Try feeling your fourth toe, can you? Can you move it independently of the others? Can you wiggle your ear?

 

[JowGaWolf]

Don’t think about it, don’t force it, don’t try to practice it… all the same things my teacher said. As far as breath, in my Gung fu practice, the body motion creates the breath, and the breath rides the motion. No need to exhale or inhale, when I turn the waist the breath goes out, when the waist returns to neutral, the chest will recoil, expand, and inhale on its own. This is why we only do chest compressions in CPR, we push down on chest but it recoils on its own. So, motion creates the breath, breath rides the motion. Thus, the faster we move the faster we breathe. No need to control it. However, in Tai Chi Chuan practice we try to stretch the breath out to match the speed of the form since we don’t turn the waist as much as the hip.

I always try to match my movement with my breath if I want to move slower then I have to control my breathing more.

 

[isshinryuronin]

This is “sense of opponent” and not necessarily the same as Yi intent, which is more nuanced than what you describe. “ doing it like you mean it is important but that is “trying” which is purposefully not included in developing “Yi”.

I understand this is a bit different from the physical/philosophical "yi" in CMA, but there is still an element of this "nuanced" factor in my view of intent:

an abstract boost on an unconscious level

It's not a "trying" in that once your spirit is committed to the intent, the body will act in accord with it without consciously trying, sort of like being on autopilot. While I haven't delved into the deeper CMA yi, it sounds like my "intent" shares a couple of elements with it.

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

I always try to match my movement with my breath if I want to move slower then I have to control my breathing more.

I don’t match it in gung fu, I let it happen. Motion CREATES the breath, breath RIDES the motion. In Tai Chi Chuan, the breath matches the speed of the form, so there I am matching and trying to lengthen the breath and slow everything down, but not so much that I focus on it.

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

I understand this is a bit different from the physical/philosophical "yi" in CMA, but there is still an element of this "nuanced" factor in my view of intent:

It's not a "trying" in that once your spirit is committed to the intent, the body will act in accord with it without consciously trying, sort of like being on autopilot. While I haven't delved into the deeper CMA yi, it sounds like my "intent" shares a couple of elements with it.

I don’t think it’s necessarily a stylistic component as such. CMA does not have a monopoly on it. I don’t think of it as philosophical, although I might try to describe it in such a way. Catching a fish with bare hands means not grasping too hard or trying to will it to happen.

 

[marvin8]

I'm not familiar with "intent" at least I don't think so.

More about intention from that website...

How to Push-Pull in Taichi - Part 1
5energies
Jan 19, 2025

How to use the intention Yi in Taichi (part 1)
5energies
May 26, 2024

In this video master Zhang Haisong is teaching us how to use the intention Yi when pushing in Taichi. In the first exercise he is using a leaf that is like a bridge that connects the two bodies. When you pull the leaf the two bodies connect and become one. When you push the leaf the two bodies stay connected. He said there is written in the classic treaties of Taichi that "when the body moves, the hands don't move". This is the first method of practicing Taichi and pushing hands. The second method is "When the hands are moving, the body doesn't move". In both methods it is important to use the eyes to direct the intention where you want the energy to go.

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How to use the intention Yi in Taichi (part 2)
5energies
May 26, 2024

In this video Master Zhang Haisong is teaching how to use intention in a point outside the opponent body. When the point is going out far away the opponent is driven towards the point of intention

You are the ship I am the water
5energies
May 1, 2024

The lesson I received about pushing in Taichi. This is not about muscles or bones, is more about setting the intention and listening skill, "being like water".

 

[windwalker099]

In this video master Zhang Haisong is teaching us how to use the intention Yi when pushing in Taichi. In the first exercise he is using a leaf that is like a bridge that connects the two bodies.

good post

I use a twig, with those I work with, illustrating the same
points.

 

[JowGaWolf]

when the body moves, the hands don't move".

This is how I push open doors.

 

[Same Trick]

You might try finding the link to this clip..in China,
It's not the same but along the same lines

The use of the fingers to help focus one’s intent is common in certain Taiji lines.
It’s a way of avoiding getting around using the body directly or stuck at the contact point.

The OP video explicitly demoed this aspect.

You might find it similar to Aikido’s “unbendable arm,” where ki is projected beyond the contact point so the body organizes without local effort.

In Taiji, the finger is used to as though pointing, to extend the yi (intent) joined with qi, expressed through the body acting as a conduit. At first, the body’s role is emphasized to help you align the structure creating a focal point. Over time, it becomes the integration of yi, qi, shen — the three internal harmonies (nei san he) — working together with the three external harmonies (wai san he) so that intent, energy, and structure act as one.

A skilled practitioner would not need doing specific hand gestures/signs in any confrontations , relying on such hand signs sounds as trickery attempts that just some might fall for

But example-
the “hex” hand in sword play is another matter that actually fit to balance the swordholdinghand - while solo exercising