This week in class we were working on Peng Jin (Ward off energy), the fundamental Yang energy (Jin) of Tai Chi Chuan.

A lot as been written and debated about Peng Jin in Tai Chi circles, but I think the following quote sums it up pretty well, for me at least.

From the classics:

“The Song of Peng

There's more to the Dragon Xing in XingYi than I posted in my previous article. That was about the physical aspect and how the Dragon helps to make up the fundamental San Ti Shi posture of XingYi. Dragon in XingYi does relate to the mind too - its has a kind of 'spiritual' quality that goes along with the phrase that has been passed down from XingYi teacher to student - "the human spirit wants to rise up" - that is, to seek our most noble nature, ascending beyond our animal nature. Finding out what it means to be a human being.

I often think that Tai Chi Chuan called be called "boxing with the legs" because movement originates in the lower part of the body, rather than the upper. According to the Tai Chi classics, arm movements are generated by "turning the waist like a wheel", but also, "The jin [intrinsic strength] should be rooted in the feet, generated from the legs, controlled by the waist, and manifested through the fingers."

As soon as you train a style of martial arts you inevitably become fascinated by the way other styles do things, and why you do them differently to them, or they do them differently to you.

Most people know XingYi Dragon (Long Xing) as the move where you rise up and drop down in a crossed legged low Pi Chuan posture. A lot of schools seem to use it as a warm up because it's incredibly cardiovascular if done repeatedly, although the jury is still out on whether this is any good for your knees - probably not!

Here's an example of a typical XingYi Dragon performance.