Feeling the energy more

         This is a continuation of a previous post.  My training has taken on a new focus in trying to feel the energy in my techniques.  Sometimes this can be feeling the release of energy/power, or simply feeling a connection.

        It feels like a natural progression, and something I probably felt before but just hadn't named it.  Again I have Tai Chi to thank for this.  Slower mindful movements really help with the "feel".  As I go through the sequence of motions I can really pick up on where and when there is Qi and when there is not and why.  Sometimes it is as simple as I have already stabilized in my stance before the whole motion was completed- again something that is translatable across my Kung Fu.  When I'm doing a form like Lao Gar or Da Mu Hsing I have to pay more attention to my transitions and ultimately the release of power at the end.  I find it very hard to follow the energy throughout all the movements like I can in Tai Chi, mainly because I'm going at a faster pace and don't have the same sensitivity at that level.  

        In Tai Chi I can trace the energy as it moves through me from one motion to the next, and I just try to see how long I can hold that feeling for before I lose connection.  When I lose connection I know I need to dive deeper into why I lost it all of a sudden.  A prime example was in class yesterday, I was having difficulty with a particular move.  I could feel the energy throughout till the end when it just disappeared.  I tried to figure it out on my own, but ultimately asked Sifu Dennis.  It was a quick solution.  I had already solidified into my hip too quickly in the cat stance I was in, so the final movements with my arms- the energy had no place to go.  It felt a little strange at first to add that extra movement into my hips, but once I got familiar with it, it did start to feel better and I could regain the feeling of energy.  This takes me into the end of Da mu Hsing V with the sequence of knife hands in a horse stance.  Again, I was too stiff/solid in the stance and wasn't allowing the movement of energy.  I do struggle with movements like these, because they are also supposed to be more "internal", so I sometimes worry if I'm being too "external" with them and kind of limit myself.  Same goes with the Tiger claws near the beginning if Lao Gar 3.  It is that line between too much and not enough.  I'm learning more that sometimes you need to do too much or not enough to find that happy medium.  Feel the exaggeration of "too much" so you know what it is supposed to feel like, and also experience what "not enough" feels like too.  For me, the "too much/exaggeration" the energy is abundant, but it also makes for a lot of wasted movement, where as "not enough" obviously very little movement, but also very little if any energy.

        I'm really excited for this line of training.  I have always loved and been fascinated by energy work, part of the reason I chose the career I did.  Being able to implement it in some form to my training has unlocked a deeper level of understanding that goes beyond the mechanical physicality in our training.