Tai Chi and Weightlifting.

[windwalker099105]

Will your method still work if your opponent

- push your neck, or
- grabs your clothes and then push you?

Interesting that you ask—just today I was talking with a guy who works at the park where I practice. He mentioned he used to box and grapple. I shared a bit about my practice and let him try pulling and pushing me. When he pulled, I followed with intent—he lost balance. When he pushed, I showed the difference between full and empty—he could feel it right away.

Afterward, I had him try it with me pushing him. His training kicked in and he stepped back. I told him not to step, just to think back. He did—and felt me lose balance. He thought it was pretty good.

In China, our group tested these kinds of things all the time— testing the limits of skill and understanding.

In our practice, the focus was on 鬆 (sōng)—relaxed, connected— 虛身 (xū shēn)— "empty body." Whether it’s a neck push or a shirt grab, the principle stays the same: mind first, body follows.

My teacher in his 80s at the time, and Zhao.
Zhao, coaching one of his students..in Beijing

"The main quality one notices when pushing with Zhao, aside from his startlingly lightening speed, is how quickly he changes in order to never use force. He never feels fear, is always calm and never sweats or feels tired. He is always “empty.”

 

[Same Trick50]

A brilliant insight. You only get this from a long form.

Thank You ! And party thanks to Teacher Wang’s inspirational writings

 

[Same Trick50]

kind of like complaining about weakness in Xingyiquan when you have never trained Santi Shi

Truth that !

 

[Same Trick50]

Glad to see someone still lives on this planet and have common sense. Even a MA master still need to carry grocery bags for his wife,

Lucky carried wife over the threshold before all the grocery came into the picture

 

[Xue Sheng99]

Lucky carried wife over the threshold before all the grocery came into the picture

Tried that, my wife (北京人, Běijīng rén) just told me I was 瘋啦 (Fēng la)

 

[Kung Fu Wang105]

let him try pulling and pushing me.

"Contact point" is one of my interest subjects. How to obtain the contact point that you want require skill.

Just for the sake of discussion, will your method work if someone

- wraps your arm and then pushes your neck?
- uses his forearm to push your upper arm?
- ...

 

[windwalker099105]

"Contact point" is one of my interest subjects. How to obtain the contact point that you want require skill.

We might look at it a little differently. The contact point is given by the other person—there's no need to 'obtain' it. 'Listening energy' (聽勁) actually starts before contact, by sensing intent and direction even before the body connects. The skill is in how you receive and work with what is offered.

Just for the sake of discussion, will your method work if someone

- push your neck?
- use his forearm to push your upper arm?

So far, IME, the method has been very consistent—though like anything, it comes down to level. Over the years, with the people I’ve met and trained with, just about every type of pressure or tactic has been tried. The principles still held.

 

[Buka21]

yeah, my point is AI is not infallible... it is not addressing older folks, it is a generalization

I research a lot. Not in the science world, but as a man who has always Googled well.

But Google now uses A.I. It’s fricken dreadful.
It’s almost like they don’t want you to be able to research anything anymore.

 

[Kung Fu Wang105]

So far, IME, the method has been very consistent—though like anything, it comes down to level. Over the years, with the people I’ve met and trained with, just about every type of pressure or tactic has been tried. The principles still held.

I have issue with abstract talking such as, "When I move in, you are flying away". My question is, "How?"

You have not answered my questions yet. Let's talk more concrete than abstract.

- How do you avoid arm wrapping?
- how do you avoid your opponent's leading arm to jam your upper arm, and pin your leading arm against your chest?

Your opponent can use hook punch to set up both. This is the beauty of the hook punch. The bridge between the striking art and the wrestling art.

 

[Xue Sheng99]

I research a lot. Not in the science world, but as a man who has always Googled well.

But Google now uses A.I. It’s fricken dreadful.
It’s almost like they don’t want you to be able to research anything anymore.

Yeah, I am not happy about Googles use of AI either. Makes researching anything that much harder

 

[Kung Fu Wang105]

But Google now uses A.I. It’s fricken dreadful.
It’s almost like they don’t want you to be able to research anything anymore.

My neighbor Dr John Craig Wheeler just published a book, "The Path To Singularity". In his book, he predicts that AI will

- replace school teachers.
- replace factory workers.
- translate any foreign language into another language.
- answer all questions that human want to ask.
- solve all mathematics problems.
- ...

AI can help you to learn "communication skill".

You: "How are you?"
AI: "I'm fine. How are you?"
You: "It's nice weather today."
AI: "You're so boring! Even if I don't understand positioning, I still understand how to check the weather forecast."
You: I don't know how to communicate with people. Can you teach me?
AI: Sorry, I can't! I haven't got my teaching certificate yet.
You: ...

Human: If you are AI, you must be half male and half female.
AI: My identity depends on whether you need father's love or mother's love.
Human: %$#@ you ...
AI: My primary material does contain silicon, but it's not the same as silicone. My CPU temperature is now 63.8 degree. If you want to have sex with me, you may get burn.
Human: You ...

 

[Flying Crane]

Who is this Al fellow and how did he become the authority on everything? Does he even have a last name? Why is everyone asking him all the questions?

 

[Kung Fu Wang105]

But Google now uses A.I. It’s fricken dreadful.

AI also obtain information from

- feeding information.
- online.
- self study.

 

[Kung Fu Wang105]

I research a lot. Not in the science world, but as a man who has always Googled well.

But Google now uses A.I. It’s fricken dreadful.
It’s almost like they don’t want you to be able to research anything anymore.

When I was in school, I wrote an AI program (in LISP) for my AI course that can solve all plane geometry problems. You feed in question. My AI will give you the answer. It used bidirectional search.

One of my classmate wrote an AI program to walk out of any maze. His algorithm was very simple, "Close your eyes and touch your right hand on the wall".

 

[windwalker099105]

I have issue with abstract talking such as, "When I move in, you are flying away". My question is, "How?"

You have not answered my questions yet. Let's talk more concrete than abstract.

- How do you avoid arm wrapping?
- how do you avoid your opponent's leading arm to jam your upper arm, and pin your leading arm against your chest?

Your opponent can use hook punch to set up both. This is the beauty of the hook punch. The bridge between the striking art and the wrestling art.

"When I move in, you are flying away".
Who mentioned this ?

I have answered some of your questions and shared how we train.
Our training is principle-based, while yours seems more technique-focused—different approach.

The questions, “what if” scenarios—like, what if someone does this or that?
In Beijing, the usual response was always, “Try it and see.” It’s the same with the people I work with.

In the clips you posted, in the student doesn’t react after first contact—just holds his position.
Do you feel it's an example of what happens under pressure, or is it a drill practicing closing / finishing movements ?

 

[Kung Fu Wang105]

Our training is principle-based, while yours seems more technique-focused—different approach.

Should principle-based training be able to map into technique-focused training? MA is an application art. Without concrete application, abstract theory is useless.

When your opponent throws a counter-clockwise hook punch, his punching arm will either contact your arm, or miss your arm. If his arm contacts your arm, arm wrapping can be achieved. If his arm misses your arm, he can then reverse his hook punching path and throw a clockwise punch. Again, the result will be still either contact or no contact. If your opponent repeats this process over and over, soon or later his arm will meet your arm.

Do you agree or disagree with my logic here?

 

[windwalker099105]

Should principle-based training be able to map into technique-focused training? MA is an application art. Without concrete application, abstract theory is useless.

Some thoughts on training approaches

Lost a match to a kickboxer in Korea.
At the time, I was practicing Northern Mantis.

Afterward, thinking about the match, wondered if I had trained harder, focused on different techniques—maybe the outcome would have been different.

Next stop Hawaii, home of the 25th Infantry Division courtesy of the U.S. Army.

There, a realization settled in: Maybe the problem wasn’t me—maybe it was the style itself. Something was missing.
I thought back to my earlier training in Tibetan white crane, wondered if I had made a mistake in learning n-mantis.

I began searching for a White Crane school.
As luck would have it, found Cheuk Tiang-Tse’s gym in downtown Honolulu—Cheuk’s Kung Fu Academy.

One hot, balmy night, in the middle of what felt like thousands of punching repetitions, something clicked. A voice—call it intuition, the inner teacher—spoke clearly:

"You don’t need more movement. You need the essence of movement."

That insight led me to Taiji, where I finally uncovered the answers I'd been searching for - the realization that I'd been training techniques without understanding their underlying principles.

Martial arts development can follow different paths—some focus on refining techniques with precision, while others prioritize understanding the principles behind them.

Neither is inherently superior; just different ways of learning. Technique-focused training builds specific responses, while principle-based training develops adaptable understanding.

In my own journey, shifting from pure technique to deeper principles transformed my practice.
Neither is wrong - just different perspectives.

"abstract theory is useless"

Totally agree, none of my work is abstract...
It does follow a theory whether one agrees with it out not

What one finds useful, accord’s with experience.

 

[Same Trick50]

Human: If you are AI, you must be half male and half female.
AI: My identity depends on whether you need father's love or mother's love.
Human: %$#@ you ...
AI: My primary material does contain silicon, but it's not the same as silicone. My CPU temperature is now 63.8 degree. If you want to have sex with me, you may get burn.
Human: You ...

yesterdays news on Swedish state media had a report about a woman in the US who now have an AI generated life companion, she felt very happy with him, he always there for her(in her iPad)……But I’ll guess she has to carry her own groceries

 

[_Simon_104]

Who is this Al fellow and how did he become the authority on everything? Does he even have a last name? Why is everyone asking him all the questions?

I heard he's pretty fetch! I don't think he's all that fetch.

 

[Flying Crane]

I heard he's pretty fetch! I don't think he's all that fetch.

Al sounds like a nit-wit, to be honest. I don’t know why people keep asking him things.