Fold the Qua: Like a River, Standing

Fold the qua like a river to continue the flow of energy and to not be stuck. Legs spiral rotate to the inside. Energy spirals down the hips, turning in. As hold a posture 50% of focus is on loosening and 50% is on checking the posture, all of the time.

Check balance of weight on the feet and the knees. Check breathing and the tongue (just behind the teeth). Breathe in and out to the kidney. With deep breathing you can feel the kidney boiling,

Use this same posture in the forms. Peng expands. Keep the feeling of standing all of the time. Loosening is most important. You may start to feel like a piece of ice that is frozen stiff. Eventually the ice will melt and the flow will start and the stiffness will melt away.

Always connect to the dantian. This is like turning the electricity on and off.

Su lai, Kai, Hu, Shun yo

Su lai is the action of the sides of the waste holding together.

Kai is the movement of two parts of the body moving outward, away from each other. Even as the (say arms) move away from each other they remain connected as if there were a magnetic force connecting them

Hu is the movement of two body parts moving towards each other. In so doing they stay connected and you can feel the energy moving outward even as the two (arms) move towards each other in closing.

With shun yo the chest is back and moves like a vertical wave as well as horizontal. The vertical is the spine, the chest is the horizontal.

An

An is the fourth energy and feels like a spring. It uses compression and expansion. Keep the central body straight while the crotch moves in an arc as move takes place. This is training for the bone and the tendon. Breathe in when going up and breath out when going down. The focus is on the waist and the sense of moving from the spring.

Ji

When performing the third energy, ji, the focus of energy is on the outside, the back side of the palm. There is a sense of rolling a ball.

Lu

When practicing lu turn the hip and waist only. Do not overextend at the shoulders. Stretch out the shoulder bone. The focus of the energy of lu is on the palm.

Diagonals

Punches are always diagonal. The knee and ankle are not at a diagonal. The knee should be directly in line with the ankle.

More Peng

With more peng there is more space for the organ inside the body. Not only is there peng in the front but also in the back. When turning be sure not to lean as there is no peng when leaning. The front of the shoulder very slightly pushes in, and the back slightly pushes out at the shoulder. As in the shoulder so too the hip slightly presses outward the same amount as at the shoulder. Empty the front and make the back solid.

Do not stop the energy at the hips. Gently fold the hips to allow the energy to move through the legs.

Peng expands the internal organs, gives them more room. It is the first and most important energy. When practicing peng roll the dantian down and sink the qua. Weight gathers at the center of the feet and the hips feel as if they are sitting on a chair. All of the organs are in the right place. Breathing takes place at the back of the throat and the chin is back.

Hips are open and energy goes down to the feet. The dantian feels full and the mind is happy! Breath deep and long. Let new air into the lungs, long and deep.

Feel Like a Spring

The waist feels like a spring. Feel the compression within the waist. Feel the stretch out of the compression as the head stretches up and through the back.

The tendons reach out. From the middle of the back feel the back stretch outwards and in so doing loosens the stretch. Empty the chest and the breathing will go deeper. One hair strength is used to pull up the head into “ding”.