Loved the explanation. ;) And, yes, it is a challenge to explain it. I used to be a shiatsu massage practitioner, so, like you, probably acquired a sensitivity to the whole body organically in much the same way, it sounds like. I've tried all sorts of ways to explain it as well. I've written a book on aikido (similar in principle to taichi), still unpublished, where I used Gibson's idea of 'ecological psychology' applied to the sense of touch. His idea, as you may know, has to do with the way our senses are hardwired to interact with our environment. In a nutshell, without the environment, and the kinesthetic feedback we get from it, such as in push hands, we don't appreciate our own extraordinary powers of perception. Three examples: 1) airplane pilots can't actually gauge distance without siting (and sighting!) the ground. Turns out, our sense of distance is known only relative to things in the environment. In the open sky, with no obvious props to see, like mountains or hills, the pilot is at a loss to know where he or she is and has to rely on instruments to know that. As soon as the ground is sited, however, such as when preparing to land, the various features on the ground help kick in our innate sense of positioning in space. 2) Most of us can intuitively gauge whether the chair we're about to sit on will be sturdy enough to hold us, fit us, could be used to stand on to change a lightbulb, etc. In fact, we can instinctively know whether we can vault a fence or not (depending on one's own fitness, flexibility and agility, etc ;), differing with each individual). While this feedback loop is built in, so to speak, to our (environmental) sensory perception (-feedback loop... Oh boy, what a mouthful!), we can also improve our capacity to more appropriately fit the demands or challenges we face, even exceeding our previously held limitations. 3) The blind man's walking stick. The walking stick for the blind person (or older person) serves more than just a prop to compensate for diminished balance. According to Gibson, tools such as walking sticks offer us an extension of the 'normal boundaries of our sense of 'touch,' extending past the hand that holds the stick. The blind man is sensing the ground through the information sourced through the tip of the stick. Oh, isn't this so exciting..! (other examples ditto: writing with a pencil or pen (sensing the paper), eating with a knife and fork ('knowing' if you've cut off a small enough piece of steak!), using chopsticks (hmm, a little harder to do, especially with a steak!) Holy cow, we can even do these things blindfolded(!) although with perhaps a little less grace, until we get used to using them...there's a learning curve to everything!). Using the eyes definitely helps! We're also familiar with the loss of accuracy in sensory feedback when we get drunk...sometimes to the extent that we lose our ability to sense the ground through our feet...a normally taken for granted fact!). In short, taichi is one of those arts that ramps up, indeed helps us to recover a major sensory organ, namely a sense for how to navigate the world and a new sense of knowing what balance means through touch..! "Touch" enables us to grasp objects, and 'know' their shapes, gauge temperatures, the textures and pressures of things. We'd recoil if we 'sensed' a slithering snake in a bag! But get the warm fuzzies if we detected instead a cuddly teddy bear. Touch, then, gives us important sensory information about the world we have to interact with. People who are blind from birth report that their world is made up of just such touch-based sensory feedback moments. The wall they lean on is 'the wall' just because their body senses the wall through the lean. They experience the world fusion with it, through a kind of sensory equivalent of the Venn diagram (famously, Helen Keller was no fool!). The wall' is known through the sense of touch and so with every other object. The rest of us are taught 'to know' things primarily through the sense of sight. seeing them). To know the world through touch means that, for to take another example, "an apple," is no longer merely a visual pictogram, or the word 'apple,' but a shape in the hand, a quality of grasp, a certain weight, maybe even temperature, etc. What we gain in distinguishing things through sight, we lose in the senses of proximity and intimacy. But to explore the world anew through the sense of touch, and taichi is one of those precious gateways to it, is to realize that the universe around us may not be as foreign as we had once supposed.
I enjoyed reading all of this. Interestingly, I am a private pilot. I flew an airplane without an electrical system (no radio, no electronics..only stick, rudder, old fashioned compass). My greatest fear was to end up in inclimate weather that involved clouds and no visual reference. Once in this situation, unbelievably a pilot can get so disoriented that they are not even aware they are flying upside down. Can you imagine? Our sensory system is vital for all feedback loops. I have worked with stroke patients who develop left side neglect due to sensory changes both tactile and proprioceptive changes. Their left side neglect is so profound and they are so completely unaware of their left side that they will shave only the right side of their face. Anyway, eventually we can move away from the physical sensory feedback loop and into a less tangible one. That is what I am doing in this video. And once we can establish that we can move past the physical or sensory feedback loop and into the even more ethereal, we can effect the environment or person around us in other ways that do not involve physical touch. Thanks for watching and commenting!
Susan does it again. Another fabulous video. Makes perfect sense but then I know what you are doing. 🙂 It’s definitely more of a felt experience, people just need to give it a go. Also, the table most definitely has an energy field you can connect to, but yes, don’t think, just do. Thanks you again for sharing and making these skills accessible. 🙂🙏🏼☯️
Thank you so much! Ooooooh, I didn't think about it correctly, but I can definitely understand that the table has an energy field. Wow! That opens up a whole new spectrum to all of this work, doesn't it!
Thank you. It is nice that it is appreciated. Sometimes it takes a lot of energy (mental and spiritual) to figure out how to teach these subtle concepts. Comments like yours help to keep me energized and inspired!
Susan, I'm glad you said at the beginning of the video that it's all three - yi, physics, etc. From my experience, I look at the more esoteric concepts like "yi" as a description of how we perceive and experience the physics. "Feeling the feet", to me, can be looked at as adjusting the angle/direction of the force we are applying, wedging past the point of contact and their line of force and using their feet as the pivot point to move their mass, just as you did with the table. Of course, there are the many tai chi principles that need to be embodied to contribute to this. Thank you for the clear information you share, especially in regard to the quality of touch and manipulation of the fascia as it contributes to these concepts. Since I found your channel, I have shared your videos with my teacher, and my class has been exploring this aspect of the art. 🙂
I am so pleased that you are sharing my videos with your teacher and that I am having a wider impact by effecting your class. That is truly exciting and rewarding to me. Yes, it is hard to put the right words to what I am demonstrating and attempting to teach. Everyone experiences and perceives things differently. I am a kinesthetic and sensory learner, so sensing the joints and moving someone from their feet is second nature to me but likely not to someone else. This is why I don't want to get too wrapped up in what it is called, or what it is....just how to do it! Thanks for your great comment and for sharing my work with others.
Sorry, the paragraph below got a bit lengthy and redundant. It's also a kool exercise to try push hands blindfolded. By handicapping our sense of sight, the body becomes much more sensitive to the delicate adjustments its making to stay balanced. By the same token, we get less distracted by the feedback from the eyes and more attuned to our partner's sense of balance and his or her 'tipping point'..! In other words, it's another great learning tool to try on occasion to refine our techniques. It might be an idea to progress slowly though, not to be tried with people who find it difficult to stand with their eyes closed. I'm also a yogi, and, in yoga, we sometimes have to stand on one leg. This, in itself, is a challenge at the start, but eventually we can do it with our eyes closed and for minutes...just enjoying the subtle balancing act of our muscles, ligaments and joints go through...and noticing how the more we practice such a simple action, the mind gets sharper, the body calms down and vice versa! It's a feedback loop, which daily practice makes fonder..!
Thanks for sharing. Tried it on a chair and I had the impression it works. Can't wait to test it with a partner. Once a month I make a trip from Belgium to Holland for a lesson in pushing hands. This teacher tells us that if it is difficult to connect to a person's fascia because you are touching a hard body part, like when they grabbed your wrist in the video, you can use your own fascia to get into the other person's fascia (because when you connect to your own fascia, it is directly connected to the other person's fascia). Does this work for you?
Thank you for the question and for your comment. To answer your question: Imagine a rubber band wrapped around a pencil. Now touch the rubber band. It does not matter where you touch that rubber band, you are touching it and connected to it via your touch (not necessarily your own fascai). Also it doesn't matter whether you are touching the rubber band that wraps around the eraser (soft) or the metal eraser binding (hard) or the wood (in between). The rubber band is the same no matter where it is wrapped. Your awareness is on the rubber band, not what part of the body you are touching or are on. Also your awareness is on their fascia, not your own. Your instructor may be saying things about connecting your fascia to their fascia in order to get you to begin sending energy. They are words that might work, but I am not certain it is an accurate description of the mechanism. I have heard other instructors say this too. In time I might have a different opinion, but for now, I think it is better to perceptualize their fascia as that rubber band and you are touching, connecting and moving them. One more thing: it is never difficult to connect to another person's fascia. Instead they may be employing a technique that blocks your sensation of their fascia, but you are touching and connecting to it. Was it difficult to touch the table? is it difficult to touch someone's skin? The fascia is the same. It is a part of their anatomy. If you are having difficulty it is likely because you are pressing too hard and have not connected to their joints or they are pushing too hard on you and you haven't dissipated their force first. :-) I hope this helps!
Yes, in a way. When you spiral, you use that spiral to shear the fascia. (Take a look at my vidoe on "Why We Spiral in Tai Chi" ua-cam.com/video/ggrX55pnef0/v-deo.htmlsi=tga9xea6_gLKk8HK. You can also shear the fascia along a straight line. It is easier to feel but less effective. The spiral rules! That is why it is a constant presence in Tai Chi movements.
Hello Susan thanks for the video. So does that mean this is something non tai chi practitioners can also do? I'm new to tai chi so I'm trying to understand if this is something that experienced practitioners can do only after years of training or something newbies should be able to pick up easily?
Absolutely beginners can do this. In fact it is one of my favorite things to pick someone random (non Tai Chi ) and teach them on the spot. I think it takes less "training" and more sensing, and connecting. If you lived close by, I'd teach you in ten minutes or less. :-)
Thanks for your comment. In my opinion it's not about root though. It is about being expanded and in Song. I guess some could define that as "root." although I try to avoid using that term. Instead it's about having the same quality I have when delivering or issuing as I do in this video, but getting there sooner than the opponent. Whoever gets there first "wins."
Spiraling is certainly one of the "secrets." The more subtle we can make our spiral (hide it) the higher the level results with smaller output. Here is my video on Why We Spiral in Tai Chi: ua-cam.com/video/ggrX55pnef0/v-deo.htmlsi=OU6aoZRtxLpd-boH
Loved the explanation. ;) And, yes, it is a challenge to explain it. I used to be a shiatsu massage practitioner, so, like you, probably acquired a sensitivity to the whole body organically in much the same way, it sounds like. I've tried all sorts of ways to explain it as well. I've written a book on aikido (similar in principle to taichi), still unpublished, where I used Gibson's idea of 'ecological psychology' applied to the sense of touch. His idea, as you may know, has to do with the way our senses are hardwired to interact with our environment. In a nutshell, without the environment, and the kinesthetic feedback we get from it, such as in push hands, we don't appreciate our own extraordinary powers of perception. Three examples: 1) airplane pilots can't actually gauge distance without siting (and sighting!) the ground. Turns out, our sense of distance is known only relative to things in the environment. In the open sky, with no obvious props to see, like mountains or hills, the pilot is at a loss to know where he or she is and has to rely on instruments to know that. As soon as the ground is sited, however, such as when preparing to land, the various features on the ground help kick in our innate sense of positioning in space. 2) Most of us can intuitively gauge whether the chair we're about to sit on will be sturdy enough to hold us, fit us, could be used to stand on to change a lightbulb, etc. In fact, we can instinctively know whether we can vault a fence or not (depending on one's own fitness, flexibility and agility, etc ;), differing with each individual). While this feedback loop is built in, so to speak, to our (environmental) sensory perception (-feedback loop... Oh boy, what a mouthful!), we can also improve our capacity to more appropriately fit the demands or challenges we face, even exceeding our previously held limitations. 3) The blind man's walking stick. The walking stick for the blind person (or older person) serves more than just a prop to compensate for diminished balance. According to Gibson, tools such as walking sticks offer us an extension of the 'normal boundaries of our sense of 'touch,' extending past the hand that holds the stick. The blind man is sensing the ground through the information sourced through the tip of the stick. Oh, isn't this so exciting..! (other examples ditto: writing with a pencil or pen (sensing the paper), eating with a knife and fork ('knowing' if you've cut off a small enough piece of steak!), using chopsticks (hmm, a little harder to do, especially with a steak!) Holy cow, we can even do these things blindfolded(!) although with perhaps a little less grace, until we get used to using them...there's a learning curve to everything!). Using the eyes definitely helps! We're also familiar with the loss of accuracy in sensory feedback when we get drunk...sometimes to the extent that we lose our ability to sense the ground through our feet...a normally taken for granted fact!). In short, taichi is one of those arts that ramps up, indeed helps us to recover a major sensory organ, namely a sense for how to navigate the world and a new sense of knowing what balance means through touch..! "Touch" enables us to grasp objects, and 'know' their shapes, gauge temperatures, the textures and pressures of things. We'd recoil if we 'sensed' a slithering snake in a bag! But get the warm fuzzies if we detected instead a cuddly teddy bear. Touch, then, gives us important sensory information about the world we have to interact with. People who are blind from birth report that their world is made up of just such touch-based sensory feedback moments. The wall they lean on is 'the wall' just because their body senses the wall through the lean. They experience the world fusion with it, through a kind of sensory equivalent of the Venn diagram (famously, Helen Keller was no fool!). The wall' is known through the sense of touch and so with every other object. The rest of us are taught 'to know' things primarily through the sense of sight. seeing them). To know the world through touch means that, for to take another example, "an apple," is no longer merely a visual pictogram, or the word 'apple,' but a shape in the hand, a quality of grasp, a certain weight, maybe even temperature, etc. What we gain in distinguishing things through sight, we lose in the senses of proximity and intimacy. But to explore the world anew through the sense of touch, and taichi is one of those precious gateways to it, is to realize that the universe around us may not be as foreign as we had once supposed.
I enjoyed reading all of this. Interestingly, I am a private pilot. I flew an airplane without an electrical system (no radio, no electronics..only stick, rudder, old fashioned compass). My greatest fear was to end up in inclimate weather that involved clouds and no visual reference. Once in this situation, unbelievably a pilot can get so disoriented that they are not even aware they are flying upside down. Can you imagine?
Our sensory system is vital for all feedback loops. I have worked with stroke patients who develop left side neglect due to sensory changes both tactile and proprioceptive changes. Their left side neglect is so profound and they are so completely unaware of their left side that they will shave only the right side of their face.
Anyway, eventually we can move away from the physical sensory feedback loop and into a less tangible one. That is what I am doing in this video. And once we can establish that we can move past the physical or sensory feedback loop and into the even more ethereal, we can effect the environment or person around us in other ways that do not involve physical touch.
Thanks for watching and commenting!
Thank you very much for this so clear demonstration on yi and facia .its a very good explanation. Thanks again Susan.
Thank you for your continued engagement of watching and commenting!
Susan does it again.
Another fabulous video.
Makes perfect sense but then I know what you are doing. 🙂
It’s definitely more of a felt experience, people just need to give it a go.
Also, the table most definitely has an energy field you can connect to, but yes, don’t think, just do.
Thanks you again for sharing and making these skills accessible. 🙂🙏🏼☯️
Thank you so much! Ooooooh, I didn't think about it correctly, but I can definitely understand that the table has an energy field. Wow! That opens up a whole new spectrum to all of this work, doesn't it!
Love the way you explain things. Thank you
Thank you. It is nice that it is appreciated. Sometimes it takes a lot of energy (mental and spiritual) to figure out how to teach these subtle concepts. Comments like yours help to keep me energized and inspired!
Susan, I'm glad you said at the beginning of the video that it's all three - yi, physics, etc. From my experience, I look at the more esoteric concepts like "yi" as a description of how we perceive and experience the physics. "Feeling the feet", to me, can be looked at as adjusting the angle/direction of the force we are applying, wedging past the point of contact and their line of force and using their feet as the pivot point to move their mass, just as you did with the table. Of course, there are the many tai chi principles that need to be embodied to contribute to this.
Thank you for the clear information you share, especially in regard to the quality of touch and manipulation of the fascia as it contributes to these concepts. Since I found your channel, I have shared your videos with my teacher, and my class has been exploring this aspect of the art. 🙂
I am so pleased that you are sharing my videos with your teacher and that I am having a wider impact by effecting your class. That is truly exciting and rewarding to me. Yes, it is hard to put the right words to what I am demonstrating and attempting to teach. Everyone experiences and perceives things differently. I am a kinesthetic and sensory learner, so sensing the joints and moving someone from their feet is second nature to me but likely not to someone else. This is why I don't want to get too wrapped up in what it is called, or what it is....just how to do it! Thanks for your great comment and for sharing my work with others.
Sorry, the paragraph below got a bit lengthy and redundant. It's also a kool exercise to try push hands blindfolded. By handicapping our sense of sight, the body becomes much more sensitive to the delicate adjustments its making to stay balanced. By the same token, we get less distracted by the feedback from the eyes and more attuned to our partner's sense of balance and his or her 'tipping point'..! In other words, it's another great learning tool to try on occasion to refine our techniques. It might be an idea to progress slowly though, not to be tried with people who find it difficult to stand with their eyes closed. I'm also a yogi, and, in yoga, we sometimes have to stand on one leg. This, in itself, is a challenge at the start, but eventually we can do it with our eyes closed and for minutes...just enjoying the subtle balancing act of our muscles, ligaments and joints go through...and noticing how the more we practice such a simple action, the mind gets sharper, the body calms down and vice versa! It's a feedback loop, which daily practice makes fonder..!
Thanks for sharing this, Susan! Have a great day!
Thank you, Charles. You too! Thanks for commenting and watching.
Thank you very much for your sharing ! This is the same way in aiki 🙏
You are welcome. It is fun to see the overlap of martial arts principles and techniques, isn't it!?
Thank you for another awesome and practical insight. God bless you!
You are so welcome! Thank you for watching and commenting. Helps keep me inspired.
Thanks a lot. For the first time i understand what is chi kung!! It is very kind of you to share your knowledge about a very secret science
You are welcome. Thanks for watching, commenting and sharing that it helped you understand Chi Kung more.
Good job, really
Thank you!
Thanks for sharing. Tried it on a chair and I had the impression it works. Can't wait to test it with a partner.
Once a month I make a trip from Belgium to Holland for a lesson in pushing hands. This teacher tells us that if it is difficult to connect to a person's fascia because you are touching a hard body part, like when they grabbed your wrist in the video, you can use your own fascia to get into the other person's fascia (because when you connect to your own fascia, it is directly connected to the other person's fascia). Does this work for you?
Thank you for the question and for your comment. To answer your question: Imagine a rubber band wrapped around a pencil. Now touch the rubber band. It does not matter where you touch that rubber band, you are touching it and connected to it via your touch (not necessarily your own fascai). Also it doesn't matter whether you are touching the rubber band that wraps around the eraser (soft) or the metal eraser binding (hard) or the wood (in between). The rubber band is the same no matter where it is wrapped. Your awareness is on the rubber band, not what part of the body you are touching or are on. Also your awareness is on their fascia, not your own.
Your instructor may be saying things about connecting your fascia to their fascia in order to get you to begin sending energy. They are words that might work, but I am not certain it is an accurate description of the mechanism. I have heard other instructors say this too. In time I might have a different opinion, but for now, I think it is better to perceptualize their fascia as that rubber band and you are touching, connecting and moving them.
One more thing: it is never difficult to connect to another person's fascia. Instead they may be employing a technique that blocks your sensation of their fascia, but you are touching and connecting to it. Was it difficult to touch the table? is it difficult to touch someone's skin? The fascia is the same. It is a part of their anatomy. If you are having difficulty it is likely because you are pressing too hard and have not connected to their joints or they are pushing too hard on you and you haven't dissipated their force first. :-)
I hope this helps!
Great explanation 😊 for Alex, it must be like to him ??? 😀
Thank you! Can you clarify your question for me please? Do you want Alex to say what it feels like to him?
Is shearing the same as spiraling? Thanks, great video
No, you could shear straight or in a spiral. Two different things.
Yes, in a way. When you spiral, you use that spiral to shear the fascia. (Take a look at my vidoe on "Why We Spiral in Tai Chi" ua-cam.com/video/ggrX55pnef0/v-deo.htmlsi=tga9xea6_gLKk8HK. You can also shear the fascia along a straight line. It is easier to feel but less effective. The spiral rules! That is why it is a constant presence in Tai Chi movements.
Hello Susan thanks for the video. So does that mean this is something non tai chi practitioners can also do? I'm new to tai chi so I'm trying to understand if this is something that experienced practitioners can do only after years of training or something newbies should be able to pick up easily?
Absolutely beginners can do this. In fact it is one of my favorite things to pick someone random (non Tai Chi ) and teach them on the spot. I think it takes less "training" and more sensing, and connecting. If you lived close by, I'd teach you in ten minutes or less. :-)
So how would one neutralize or prevent this from happening?
The person with deepest root energeticly is unaffected
Basically you have to be in a state of Song...relaxed, expanded, loose and open. I'll try to make a video of this in a few weeks.
Thanks for your comment. In my opinion it's not about root though. It is about being expanded and in Song. I guess some could define that as "root." although I try to avoid using that term. Instead it's about having the same quality I have when delivering or issuing as I do in this video, but getting there sooner than the opponent. Whoever gets there first "wins."
Nop, it makes no sense but it works - that's Tai Chi 😁
Lol ....so true.
Not much here, but more than Rasmus.
The stuff that is happening is that which one does not see. Subtle, discreet. Thanks for watching.
There is a tonne there if you know how to watch and listen and do.
Go find a partner and give it a go. 🙂🙏🏼☯️
@@InternalTaiChi The secret to Tai Chi is spiraling. Lai Hai Ba Fa is superior spiraling.
Spiraling is certainly one of the "secrets." The more subtle we can make our spiral (hide it) the higher the level results with smaller output. Here is my video on Why We Spiral in Tai Chi: ua-cam.com/video/ggrX55pnef0/v-deo.htmlsi=OU6aoZRtxLpd-boH