Friday, November 13, 2009

The Triangle of Balance, Relax, and Structure is the first of the three Wujifa Triangles!

Each one has its own meaning... If you look back to the post I've linked to, you'll see that relax is not limp, structure is not rigid, and balance is not polarity.

Thinking a lot about the words lately, and keeping them in my attention to see what new meaning develops. A little while ago, I had a bit of an "AHA!" moment about balance.


You see... I always used to think balance was about just stacking the blocks (look at the rolfing picture). Then, all of the sudden, we were talking about weebles - you know weebles wobble but they don't fall down, like we have before so many times and how they're balanced and if finally clicked for me - blocks which are stacked up are balanced, but so is a Weeble - in a similar, but different way.



A weeble, in addition to being an undisturbed, vertical structure, with no deviation of one part being precisely stacked above the other parts, also has a low center of gravity. therefor, it is IMPOSSIBLE to tip over.

So in stance, in addition to getting the structure aligned, we're also relaxing to "sink the chi" so that we find balance - Balance, relax, and structure are all interwoven in this definition - and that's the key to the Wujifa Triangles.
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6 comments:

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  2. Weebles wobble but they don't fall down!

    I remember when I first heard this and I laughed... and the Gongfu Master said it again to me. He wasn't the kind of person who talked about Qi but shared concepts like this with functional and practical examples of the concepts he wanted to share.

    Weebles wobble but they don't fall down is one of these concepts that is so very important for people to grasp when it comes to shinking the weight. Also in how the weeble yields and bounces back. People aren't weebles yet they can learn a thing or two from a simple childrens toy.

    I love the YouTube video... thanks for posting this and the content you share here. I always love to see good functional information being shared, and what you share here Rocks!

    Rick from http://wujifaliangong.com

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  3. I thought you might like this Video too!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0F35enewQc4

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  4. Nice post, Dan!

    In my early Taichi days, the "weebles wobble but don't fall down" was manifested as the spineless, noodley, gumby man style of push hands.

    Thank you for discovering and sharing the true nature of the Weeble, the "undisturbed, vertical structure with no deviation..."

    Mike from http://internalgongfu.blogspot.com

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  5. Great thoughts on paying attention to new meanings...opportunities, if you will (haha)...inherent in words! The wobbling but not falling down is especially relevant to me after today's "push" session (good times btw) in which one must remain connected, able to "wobble"(coming from one understanding of the word in this instance), but without losing that connection which gives strength to everything...

    Thanks again for the post!

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  6. Thank you everyone for the wonderful responses!

    IRT Rick- that video is awesome. Bounce around, keep it tight, I can go all night. With pushhands? A New Wujifa Dancing practice? Haha, thanks brother.

    IRT Mike- As another former Gumby Guy I can appreciate how much this distinction means. Keep up the good training, I've been really amazed with all of our school brothers' progress lately:)

    IRT Aho- I had a good time doing some push hands too, really helped me notice some areas my structure can connect even more. Keep up the stance work, I know I will!

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