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Does anyone remember the old discussions with Mike Sigman regarding the peng path in Tai Chi? I’ve always chalked this up as a form of Li. Basically a sophisticated version of structure, alignments, and strength. I thought that was how it was being sold. I’m not so sure that was all there was to it.
This is really a Tai Chi thing. It is how Tai Chi organizes. IMO, it is why you have to be sung: you want to setup a path instantly through the body to the ground and then simply peng from that path. You expand outward from it. This is one of the mechanisms that people mistakenly call chi. It is also the mechanism that makes the whole body a weapon and gives you the ability to express power from any body part.
You can use the same mechanism in Hsing-I, however, it manifests in an entirely different way that is unique to Hsing-I. First there is a very deliberate control of the path and for training, you can coordinate that path back to the corresponding organ that is the primary organ for the fist.
So, in Pi Chuan it goes to the lung, in Tsuan Chuan it goes to the kidneys, Beng Chuan the liver, Pao Chuan the heart, and Heng Chuan the spleen.
The realization is that I can choose and even “design” a peng path. In fact in Bagua, we don’t have to sung into the earth. We can sung to heaven or to ourselves (the central chi). But is it Bagua?
A couple of comments, when you use this mechanism the way Tai Chi organizes, the power almost always originates from the lower tan tien. When you use the mechanism in Hsing-I to target the internal organs, it is initiated by the hands. So, it stands to reason that Bagua’s organization should initiate from the feet and should include everything that Tai Chi and Hsing-I do. It is possible, the organization of sung to heaven and man is the additional material. I’m sure Bruce knows.
Another comment: When you find this mechanism in your Tai Chi practice, this is when the form work will naturally change and become very, very slow. You’ll be aware of sung and begin to feel all the places in the body that aren’t sung. You slow down to notice and attempt to release the binding that is getting in the way of the possible peng paths through those areas.
Also note that Tai Chi generally works to find this in a passive mode. It doesn’t seek to actively choose a path. At touch the path is established. No matter how complex it is or the path it take, you simply expand (or condense) the line to express power.
For anyone in the “Opening and Closings Edition’ of the Training Circle. This has nothing to do with opening and closing the joints, and everything to do with what opening and closing is ultimately about.
BTW, Bagua’s way is inclusive of both Hsing-I and Tai Chi’s methods. And, when you orient to heaven, Bagua becomes a celestial art. This is implies and includes the expansion of your spirit. Martial arts are more or less complete and the art begins to focus on spirituality.
I can’t help but wonder if the 200 postures that Bruce talks about are simply 200 specific peng paths. You stand in the posture, setup the pathway, and if you can expand from it and condense into it at will, you’re all set. Move onto the next one.
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