FLOWING FORCE OF WUDANG TAIJIQUAN
Flowing force from Wild Horse Charge at Stable of Wudang Taijiquan
Question 2
Internal force from Wudang Taijiquan flows at the deepest level at the bone marrow.
How is the force that is generated and manifested from flowing at the bone marrow level different from the other classic flowing types of force (like Dragon Strength)?
Stephen
Answer
It is not only internal force from Wudang Taijiquan flows at the level of bone marrow; all internal force from any art when developed deeply enough flows at the bone marrow. Hence, any type of internal force, even that from Iron Wire which is usually consolidated and at the muscle level, flows at the bone marrow level if developed deeply enough.
However, if all other things were equal, it is relatively faster though by itself it takes a long time, to develop flowing force like Wudang Taijiquan than consolidated force like Iron Wire to flow at the bone marrow level.
In my opinion and as a rough guide, the descending order from the relatively fastest to the slowest in developing internal force to flow at the none marrow level of some classical internal force practiced in our school is as follows:
Dragon Strength - Wudang Taijiquan - Chen Style Taijiquan - Flower Set - Yang Style Taijiquan - Triple Stretch - Iron Wire
Of the different types of force above, that of Yang Style Taijiquan is the “softest” and most flowing. Why is it, then, that it is not the fastest in its development to flow at the bone marrow level? It is because some form of consolidation is helpful in “sinking” the force deeper at the next level of chi flow.
Take note of the word “relatively”. When we compare a flowing force and a consolidated force in developing chi to flow at the bone marrow level, using flowing force is faster. But it also takes a long time, in a matter of years, if a practitioner is lucky to perform the method correctly.
Ours is an exception. Our students using a flowing force can let chi flow at the bone marrow level in a matter of months. It is because we are very cost-effective.
It is also worthy of note that flowing force is faster than consolidated force in letting chi flow at the bone marrow level, but it is not necessarily always better. In some situation, like developing force to break a brick or someone’s bones, it is more effective in attaining the objective using consolidated force at the muscle level.
Nevertheless, in daily life flowing force usually is relatively safer and more beneficial than consolidated force, though training consolidated force under a competent teacher is very safe and beneficial.
The questions and answers are reproduced from the thread Legacy of Zhang San Feng: 10 Questions to the Grandmaster in the Shaolin Wahnam Discussion Forum.
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