Tai Chi, Xing Yi & Bagua each use the center in different ways. Xing Yi fortifies the center, Bagua moves the center, and Tai Chi dissolves the center. Of those three, dissolving the center is usually the toughest for folks to wrap their heads around. It’s also by far the most difficult. When it’s done properly the effect is like trying punch a towel that’s hanging loosely from a clothesline. Trying to push someone who can dissolve their center is quite interesting. You can place your hands on their body and feel their clothing, or maybe the surface of their skin but you can’t find anything solid to push against. By comparison some who is fortifying their center is quite easy to find & try to push. You might not be able to move them but there is something solid to try and push against. Someone who is moving their center is also different. You can often find their center but every time you try to push, it slides out from under your fingers or it’s not quite where you thought it would be. With fortifying and moving the center to learn some drills and exercises to help start building these skills. Truly dissolving the center is tough to learn how to use softness to dissipate incoming force, and of course learn how to hide your center. We practice this concept often with good results. Has anyone had any experience with this, and if so did it work for you ?
What do you even mean by dissolving the centre ? If you're defining the centre as a physical location or maybe describing the dan tien or core of the body, it's not lke you are David Copperfield making it dissapear into thin air. You mentioned concealing or hiding the centre - this is closer to it.. In my opinion.. By doing this in combination with yielding and neutralizing movements makes you very hard to control and move, where if you have the skill advantage you should be able to control and move the other. Concealing the centre describes skill where you are redirecting force away from it whilst at the same time angling the centre to where it is safe (against incoming force) and provides an offensive platform and advantageous position.
Mirroring what the above noble gentleman has mentioned I think the sort of language used is not very user-friendly and makes understanding this concept a bit complicated, though maybe it’s just what people are used to. Personally, I think more technical explanations are more useful. There is something similar in ILC, but its described quite differently. The way I understand it is that the best angle for a pushing force to affect a person’s centre of mass, is a contact point at 90 degrees relative to the centre of mass, or in other words, you want your force angled in such a way that it intersects the middle of the centre of mass. To prevent your centre of mass being moved one needs to change (rotate) the angle of the opponent’s pushing force contact point to 45 degrees relative to your centre of mass, thereby not allow it to intersect your centre at all, this way the pushing force slides past the centre of mass without affecting it. I think it’s worth mentioning that for this concept to work optimally, roundness of structure is very important. The way the above forces and angles interact with a round object and a square one is quite different. The smaller/tighter (more centered) the horizontal turning of the vertical axis is, the smaller one’s centre of mass feels. The less flexible the horizontal turning of the vertical axis is, the larger the centre of mass appears. The flexibility of the vertical axis can be as a result of lack of flexibility (excess tension) or deliberate action in order to produce a varying effect from the 45/90 degree angles. The same basis applies to any given centre of mass (and/or contact point as long as it can be round/rounded), in all three dimensions, though with certain force trajectories this may be more difficult to achieve as the stability of the spine and resulting trained vertical axial movement make manipulation of force traveling on a more horizontal trajectory easier.
What is the point of using that terminology though? You're not "dissolving" anything. The terms you used like changing or moving or the terms hiding or concealing are much more descriptive of what is actually happening in relation to the centre of mass. You cannot make your centre of mass "dissolve", so it's superfluous and pointless terminology. It just serves to 'sound fancy' and esoteric and in the process serves to confuse and obfuscate what actually happens.
What I'm trying to get across it's your center of gravity or your centre of mass, maybe dissolve is the wrong term, but it's a deliberate action of your center not being there when pushed. Always hiding your center of gravity from your opponent so it's like pushing jello.
What sort of drills/exercises do you practice to develop this and how do you apply it during,for example push hands
So really youre talking about rooting ,lowering your qua and using your stances and sensitivity to absorb your opponents energy and redirect it-fairly standard procedure. Im curious why your previous post was censored/edited. The video doesnt seem to add anything to explain the actual process of the "dissolving the centre".
Have just checked out reason for censoring/ban-answers my question.didnt sound like you were speaking from experience
You have mentioned - punch, and - push, but you have not mentioned "pull" yet. How will you hide your center if your opponnet pulls you? The center of a snake is very hard to find. If you drag the tail of that snake, the whole snake body will be dragged by you. I just don't see "hide center" has any meaning in the case of "pulling". Here is an example of "pulling". You can see the center is moved along with it (you can't hide your center). [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XA7Qv7_mfTc&feature=youtu.be"]YouTube[/ame] Also if your opponent just punches at your head only, will the term "hide your center" still have any meaning? There is a good reason that both wrestlers and boxers don't want to talk about "hide center" because they all know it's impossible (against pulling) and useless (against head punch).
Against someone as big and experienced as you, I would not hide my centre of balance, better to find a weak point and strike e.g. upper chest/throat area or shoulder/elbow joints or if possible low kick to ankle. Against someone smaller, I sometimes get away with projecting my centre of balance and momentum into the opponent's pull and collapsing their balance. In both cases, it wont always work a) it has to be faster than the opponent's reading of the counter and b) there is always the risk of counter-counter.
Destroying the opponent's centre of balance is always a good strategy - easier said than done. Joint attacks when well and timely executed, can really attack the opponent's central nervous system e.g. simultaneous opposite direction elbow and wrist locks and small push into opponent's centre line.
You can change your centre of mass all the time and upon an incoming force your centre of mass also changes. Therefore you need to establish your centre of mass before you can dissolve it. Tai Chi Chuan speak of adhering and following, and you need to establish the direction of force before you can alter it. The concept of hiding your centre is only a strategy some practitioners would use. It works when there is only one impact on the body but it is not the case when there are two points of impacts such as grabbing both of your upper arms and push or pull, etc. The jello idea does not work when being pull as well. I think dissolving is a better term than neutralizing, as most the time we can utilize the income force to push back.
If your opponent - only pushes at your right shoulder (1 contact point), you can yield and spin to your right. - pushes your right shoulder and hook your right leg, if you can pull your right leg back, you can still spin to your right. - pushes your right shoulder and hook your left leg, you will need to spin to your left in order to pull your left leg back. Since you will also need to spin to your right to yield the right shoulder pushing, you will get stuck. When your opponent pushes one side of your upper body and hook the other side of your leg, there is no way that you can change your center.
One can lean (Kau) on the pushing of the right shoulder and relax the left hip joint or kick forward. If you look at the video you will find an example of an one legged stance by leaning on the opponent. However, if you sweep the forwarded leg from the out side and pull the arm of the other side you might have your opponent stuck.
This depends on what the response is to pulling. If the other person follows your pull you havn't got their centre, so you havn't effectively found it It's the same as if we were on two sides of a rope and you pull. If i give any resistence at all you will feel me and by extension my centre. If on the other hand I move towards you as you pull this will not happen and you will feel nothing, untill maybe I run you down. You have to take the slack out of the limb before you get the connection to the rest of the structure including the centre. This is a window to follow the pull. Seeing as tcc is an art that is couched in following the other persons lead, then this is an appropriate response to being pulled. ie. 'stick and follow' - no doubt you have heard of this before. If this response is ideally executed you will not find and control the centre from pulling alone, it will still remain "hidden" from you, so to speak.
