Silk reeling
Original Poster: bamboo
Forum: Kung Fu Styles, Chinese Martial Arts
Posted On: 30-08-2005, 20:51
Orginal Post: bamboo: To Wuming/Jbotaryor perhaps one of the other seasoned IMA people:
I'm using my imposed time off (read injury) to do some research into silk reeling. I'm not looking for how to do it but rather what type of "feeling" you may or may not get from this practice.
I find the principle very interesting and have seen/felt the effects of such things in a physical sense, I'd like to know how you feel this principle affects your practice or if at all.
I know I'm fairly vague with my questions gentlemen, I'm not really sure what I'm looking for quite yet.
Thanks,
bamboo
Post: nbotary:
Silk reeling... Well, it's not hard to describe, but the sensations that you will get from it are different. My definition of it will probably be different from Wumings, Bloodybirds or anyone else who does the internal arts, but I will do my best to describe what it is I'm trying to achieve...
Have you ever watched a spider spin a web in nature? I know that sounds like a cheesy cliché, but it has relevance to my point. If you ever watch a spider cast its thread, watch how it flows in the wind. It's slow and very gentle. As strong as the thread is to the spider, it's actually quite delicate when it blows in the wind and can snap at any time.
In order to understand what it is you are trying to accomplish, you need to practice your internal arts as if you have a single strand of silk (spider web) attached to your fingers. Move to fast and it will break. Move to slow and it won't flow in the wind. The idea is to keep the thread "alive" and moving at the same pace from start to finish. If you breath properly and focus on what you're doing, your chi flow will move throughout your body and into your fingertips. This should result in a light "tingly" sensation in your hands and fingers. You can also try and heighten this feeling by focusing on the air that flows between your fingers.
I know that this sounds a little weird, but once you start to do it and beging feeling the sensation, it's actually quite a rush. As far as how it affects me personally, I feel a heightened sense of awareness in all five of my senses due to the large amount of chi circulating in my body. My wife has told me that my hands become very warm and that I seem very "hyper" or "wound up". As far as it affecting my overall practice, I don't think I notice it really. There are times that I do come away from practice and I can feel my chi making my want to bounce off the walls, but I try to just relax in order to bring it back down again.
Hope this helps! :)>
Post: bamboo:
thank you.>
Post: Bloodybirds:
A couple of things to add to Nbotary's great analysis, although I am risking entanglement in this web. One thing to remember after practicing silk reeling is that it is part of the yin side of nei gung practice and thus will help balance out an overabundance of yang external energy. Think of silk reeling as enticing the bug into the web with your energy and fa jing as the explosive opposite to destroy the creature once in. Silk reeling and fa jing combined will help in balancing out the practice and allow your stored chi from the silk reeling to be expressed. It is very important NOT TO HOLD THE CHI IN BUT EXPRESS IT OUT, OTHERWISE DAMAGE AND ILLNESS MAY OCCUR FROM MERIDIAN BLOCKAGE, ETC. Think of the Willow tree. The branches move subtlely in the wind and absorb it while the root (trunk) remains steadfast and stays to the ground. Hope this elaboration helps. Fa jing expression is a whole othe topic. Happy training.>
Post: nbotary:
Yeah, what Bloodybirds said!! :wink: :lol:>
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