I’ve come across two things worth noting about this all-important (but little known, it seems) aspect of taiji, or IMA in general. Here they are.
An excellent bit of advice about sinking the kua can be found here. The following is a quote from that page:
The most basic requirement for doing Tai Chi is song kua, or relax the hips, means that the muscles surrounding the hip joint, i.e. where the thigh bone meets the hip, should not be used to any great degree in supporting your structure. These hip muscles can then be used to adjust the angle of your pelvis so that your upper body can remain relaxed, or direct the jin if so required. If you haven’t achieved a song kua, then everything else is academic. You will not be able meet the requirements for the rest of your body.
In Chen village the term kua is sometimes used to mean the hip joint in general. However the term song kua means that the interguinal crease is bent. The problem is that Tai Chi also requires you to bend your knees. This semi squatting position puts a lot of load on your quads (i.e. the thigh muscles on the front of your leg). Your quads consist of a group of 4 muscles. The bottom of these muscles are connected to the knee cap. The top of 3 of them are connected to the thigh bone. However the top of one of them is connected to the pelvis itself and is classed as a hip flexor.
If you engage a hip flexor, then you are using a hip muscle, therefore violating the requirement to relax the hips. So not only does Tai Chi want you to put a huge stress on your quads, it also only allows you to use 3/4 of the muscles available! This is why standing meditation is so painful, and why you can tell whether someone has begun to achieve some gongfu in their Tai Chi by just looking at how their leg muscles are developed. So what is so bad about using a hip flexor? A hip flexor is a muscle that you use pull your knee towards your chest. Now if you engage a hip flexor in a Tai Chi stance, it will pull the front of your hip downwards, thus making your bum stick out and your lower back arch. To counter this, you will have to engage muscles opposing it, i.e. hip extensors such as you gluts. Now you are locking up your hip joints even more. How can you manipulate your hip if it is so locked up?
The second piece of advice comes from Charles over at EF. Charles practices the “practical” frame of Chen style. Here’s what he had to say in this thread:
“Sit down hip.”
The use of the hip (kua) is basic to the style. I’ll use a typical bow stance, left foot forward/weighted, for illustration. In this bow stance, the rear (right) hip should be sunk and open and the rear leg not completely straightened (i.e. knee not locked). (In Chen style, the rear foot often angles outward more than 45 degrees, often as much as 90, which facilitates sinking the rear hip in lower stances.)
The hips do not generally face directly forward (“squared”) in the bow stance, but, rather, 20 or 30 degrees to the right. With exceptions, squaring the hips with the front leg causes excessive tension/stiffness in the rear leg and lower back, separating the upper body from the lower body/ground, closes the rear kua (inguinal crease) and prevents sinking of the qi.
From the bow stance, if you shift your weight to the rear (right) leg, the left inguinal crease opens as the torso rotates away from the front leg (to the right), closing the right inguinal crease. (Closing the inguinal crease causes your pants to crease; opening it, the crease goes away.) Think of Yang style “roll back”, but on the opposite side.
The opening of the left inguinal crease maintains the alignment of the left hip, knee and ankle. If the left crease is not opened, the knee is dragged along with the retreating hip/torso while the foot/ankle remains in place. Doing so causes the knee to bend sideways (or attempt to), which it cannot effectively do.
As the weight sifts forward to the left leg, the torso rotates towards the left, closing the front inguinal crease and opening the rear (right) crease. As it does so, the right leg spirals inward – the knee rotates towards the left in concert with the turning of the torso, hip and ankle – and the left leg spirals outward (toward the left). Ni (outward) and Shun (inward) reeling of silk. The ankles, knees and hips work together: when one part moves the whole body moves. This is chan si jin, or at least a piece of the puzzle regarding coordinating the joints of the lower body.
I would encourage everyone to follow the advice listed above and try to work this into their IMA practice. This is a significant piece of the puzzle. If you can get this, then you will find many other IMA abilities are opened up to you. Things like peng jing, relaxation, etc. naturally flow from song kua. If you don’t have this, then your development will forever be stuck at a low level and you may waste years of practice time.
Yes, this is that important.
22 responses so far ↓
Aboroth // July 24, 2006 at 7:20 pm |
Hi Chessman,
Thanks for posting this, the issue of the Kua is a topic that keeps on coming up in internet Taiji talk and one that I am just starting to piece together. I missed that discussion on EF so thanks for bringing it up. Regarding the article on the Chen Village site, I didn’t think that the quads classed as part of the hip muscles, I thought the hip flexors were separate to the quads, but this reference shows me otherwise: http://www.fitstep.com/Advanced/Anatomy/Quadriceps.htm.
My teacher has shown me a similar exercise to the one Charles described, and he says it is an important part in the power generation in certain movements of the Yang long form, such as Grasp Bird’s Tail and Single Whip. It starts with a bow stance with the left leg in front, hips squared. Begin by moving the left hip back (turning the body slightly to the left and closing the left hip), then the right hip comes back (turining the body to the right, opening the left hip and closing the right hip), now the weight is on the back (right) leg. The movement continues shifting the weight forward by first moving the left hip forward (opening it), followed by moving the right hip forward (squaring off the hips, closing the left hip and opening the right hip). What you end up with is a continuous figure “8″ movement of the hips.
So, I understand what the Chen Village website article is getting at. But, how is one supposed to move the torso (relative to the groung) without engaging the muscles of the legs and hips?
wujimon // July 24, 2006 at 8:34 pm |
Hi Chessman.
Great article and good linkage. For me, I often feel it’s harder to maintain “song kua” when I do chen versus yang. Not sure exactly why but I notice the tension more in my chen set. It’s really quite amazing when proper alignment hits and you feel that “burn”.
chessman71 // July 25, 2006 at 8:46 am |
Aboroth,
You have to use the legs in order to move the torso. I just posted about another article that goes much more into detail about how to do that, so you can check that out.
Bascially, Chen style does this kind of stuff in a non-intuitive way. You really have to learn it from someone that knows how to move this way. It’s very difficult to get even then. I post the articles just so that some people can be made aware of the subject and others who are already aware of it can find a different way of explaining it that might help them train.
I guess a basic answer to your question, though, would be to relax the hip flexors as much as possible when moving. That’s quite difficult for people with well-deveoped hip flexors.
chessman71 // July 25, 2006 at 8:56 am |
Actually, I just thought of a short-cut to see if you’re relaxing the kua or not. This doesn’t totally meet the requirements, but one way to check is to place your hand in the groove between the top of your thigh and your torso (inguinal groove?). If you’re sinking the kua correctly, your upper thigh will press on one side of your hand and the bottom of your gut will press on the other. But be careful not to arch the back to create this. Maybe that will help.
internalartsia // July 25, 2006 at 11:21 am |
Hi Chessman,
Nice post, with your encouragement much appreciated:
“This is a significant piece of the puzzle…… If you don’t have this, then your development will forever be stuck at a low level and you may waste years of practice time.”
I’ll concur, based on my experience, practicing 3-4 hours a day, studying from 3 of the 4 Chen Village masters about 7 years (following 20 years of more laid back martial arts and Taiji practice), I certainly stayed stuck at a low level. The problem I encountered is the incredible difficulty of getting a handle on the mechanics and function of correct usage of the kua.
The communication gap is huge, as details of instruction from those teachers are usually conveyed via translators. Frequently you hear things like “open the kua:” which do little to facilitate learning. Also the method of teaching in groups is usually not such as to allow the intensive questioning and time consuming hands on correction, to clarify the subtleties of right and wrong movements. Moreover, even if more precise verbal details are given, it is still very difficult to grasp the mechanics of understanding the process, getting the body parts to cooperate.
Then the next big obstacle is the discrepancies which can emerge from expressions coming from different “recognized authorities”. So my conclusion as to the path, to acquire this crucial “piece of the puzzle” is to do research, find a source who can convey the mechanics clearly, who is totally open and diligent in his teaching methods, who can back them up in clear demonstration of right and wrong, who can demonstrate clearly the applications, and then be willing to show you hands on, showing you the movement and correcting your efforts until you get it right.
That is a tall order. For my tastes, I found those requirements met in studies with Chen Zhonghua the past 3 years. He is highly skilled, very clear, open, and hands on. The Chen style practical method is very systematic, and always integrates form and function. Everything is always connected with application. Right from the start, in this training. the usage of the kua is given great emphasis. Right or wrong mechanics are always clarified, and usage is tested in applications with partners. This allows for a lot lot more confidence, that with practice focusing on correct principles, one can progress on the right track.
P.S. Just now, on finishing this comment, I noticed your insightful post on part two. Hopefully I can explore that some more in the next day or two. Thanks.
wujimon // July 25, 2006 at 9:27 pm |
Hi internalartsia.
I whole heartedly agree with you about the communication gap! It is very difficult to find people who can explain internal martial arts concepts in either common english, or technical english (physics, anatomy, etc).
I also think you bring up an interesting point on receiving multiple viewpoints from various authorities. If they are are describing the same principle from different experiences and perspectives, then why not get this explanation from a single source in which proper training context has been built and developed? I must admit, I’m getting tired from trying to digest multiple version when a unified version would be more benefical. I’ve seen some videos from Chen Zhonghua, and he does a very good job at showing, explaining, and correcting in a format I can understand.
chessman71 // July 27, 2006 at 9:46 am |
Guys,
Thanks for the feedback regarding the kua. There’s lots of good stuff over at your blogs.
internalartsia // July 27, 2006 at 1:45 pm |
Hi Chessman,
Well, thank you. You are posting a lot of good stuff too. It is very gratifying for me , as a writer, to see how you really grasped the heart of the matter on that kua article. Now, I just finished that followup to your post, as promised. You are featured on my latest post.
Than // July 28, 2006 at 3:06 pm |
The kua is actually the psoas muscle which is linked to the lumbar vertebrae and the femur of the big thigh.If you can lengthen your psoas muscle(more stretches),then the coccyx bone will be able to tilt into the pelvic girdle which allows the lumbar vertebrae to sink which gives more space for the diaphragm to sink and that allows the thoracic rib cage and vertebrae to sink.Then the cervical bones can sink and the shoulder girdle will relax.Skating and skiing activities use the psoas muscle so as the gliding moves of bagua and mocha bu of yiquan.
chessman71 // July 28, 2006 at 4:10 pm |
Than,
Yes, that’s correct to some extent. But my teachers actually refer to the whole area between the hipbone and the butt (for lack of a better description) as the kua. Chinese anatomy terms are rarely as precise as Western. So the psoas are part of that.
One the greatest problems I have with the kua is actually the outer hip. Too much sitting!
Tom // July 29, 2006 at 8:13 am |
All this theoretical talk is fine, but I really think it’s essential to be able to SEE the use of the kua to make any sense of the preceding discussion. For example, this video
http://youtube.com/watch?v=UEoQqHXdrbs
can be compared with this one
http://youtube.com/watch?v=hH2-YfrGCfs&search=shakira%20hips%20don%27t%20lie
to evaluate the openness of the performers’ kuas . . .
chessman71 // July 29, 2006 at 11:30 am |
I approved the above comment by Tom because visual viagara ala Shakira is always appreciated on this blog! What a kua!
Tom // July 29, 2006 at 1:21 pm |
The discussion on this thread thus far focuses on the lower connections to the kua, i.e., hips and thighs down through the knees. I think one of the key differences in MA styles and training methods comes in how the connection between kua and lower back (yao?) is trained and used. There seems to be quite a bit of difference between, say, Dai Family Xin Yi Quan (with a very vertical store/release along the spine, trained in part through the Squatting Monkey exercises) and Chen taijiquan. Even within the same martial art there may be significant differences, e.g., between Hong Junsheng’s “Practical” Chen Taijiquan and Chen Xiaowang’s “Chen Village” approach. In Hong’s approach, the torso remains more of a connected unit (and the kua is driven in connection with raising/lowering of the knees). CXW shows a lot more overt movement within his lower torso and dan tien.
Just an observation . . . I don’t train in either method, so I can’t credibly comment on why there might be this overt difference.
chessman71 // July 29, 2006 at 2:26 pm |
“Yao” usually means waist and refers to the whole area, front and back.
But you’re right to point out the differences, even within Chen style. I’m wondering just how much the “practical” Chen guys move the torso as a unit. I can see some benefits to that, but also some potential stiffness as far as expressing chansijing. After all, the vertical chansijing expressed in stuff like Dai Xin Yi and some Yang styles can be combined with more horizontal silk-reeling movements of basic Chen. The resulting diagonal chansijing has a nice whip-like quality that might get cut short by seeing the torso as one solid unit that moves on a vertical axis.
Or perhaps I’m reading too much into an aproach I don’t know much about.
wujimon // July 29, 2006 at 10:55 pm |
Hi Tom. I’ve often wondered about the “kua driven by connection of raise/lower knees” thing when I see performers of the practical method. However, I’ve often heard accounts that most tend to “shift side to side” instead of “moving from the kua” and Hong’s approach is supposed to assist in cultivate originating movement from the kua. I don’t personally practice the practical method, but have considered exploring yet, but still have some reservations in regards to movement qualities. For some reason, it just appears a lot more “external” to me without too much emphasis on what chessman noted about diagonal silk reeling.
Perhaps internalartsia can jump in and bring some light on the points above.
wujimon // July 30, 2006 at 5:33 am |
Let me clarify a bit, when I said “most” I mean most taijiquan practitioners as a whole. And by “external” I am referring to just the quality of movement, for instance the execution of white crane with the step back in execution. Just thought I’d clarify a bit.
wujimon // July 30, 2006 at 5:36 am |
Also, I’d like to add that I don’t necessarily think considering the notion of the torso as one whole connected unit as bad. See my thoughts on the torso method.
internalartsia // July 31, 2006 at 7:51 am |
Hi guys,
Referring to comment 13-17,
Rather than speaking authoritatively myself as to what I perceive as some misunderstandings of principles of Hong’s Practical Method, (I hope to elaborate more on these distinctions in a future post at my site) please consider the words of the founder of the practice, Hong Junsheng:
“The torso is responsible for activating the stance and hands to move in response to the opponent’s actions. The rule it adheres to is uprightness in motions. It cannot be static uprightness. The whole body movement of Chen Style Taijiquan is based on spirals, and the torso is not an exception. As long as the eyes are fixed on a target and the torso turns left or right, there will be spiral movements.
……..The torso rotation should be coordinated with the upper and lower body……Of course, with the movement of the stance, the torso will accordingly rotate more.” (This is quoted from Hong’s “Chen Style Taijiquan Practical Method”, Volume One: Theory. This book has just been published, an excellent translation by Chen Zhonghua. I believe it will come to be recognized as a new Taiji Classic.)
By the way, the youtube from Tom in comment 11 is actually quite instructive for distiguishing between “flexibility” in kua and hips, and “openness” of the kua. The dancer is quite flexible and coordinated (and certainly more could be said here). However, that does not indicate that her kua is “open”. The movements of the “sinking kua” require skill of isolation and coordination of a whole set of muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascial tissues, etc. on the underside of the kua and dang area. Especially, the unique skill of joint rotation, to be coordinated with the direction of upper body movement from the kua. The sinking ability must be cultivated with focus on those lower kua and dang areas. The dancing she is doing does not necessarily indicate any skill with the type of movement necessary in Chen Taiji. In fact, many wushu trained artists have a hard time breaking habits of “noodling” waist movements and horizontal knee action, when they try to cross over to traditional taiji.
wujimon // July 31, 2006 at 8:54 am |
FYI:
it appears that internalartsia has written a post more fully addressing some of the points above. It has a link back to this post but for some reason didn’t generate a “linkback” in the comments section. Perhaps something is wrong with the wordpress.com server.
chessman71 // July 31, 2006 at 1:52 pm |
Internalartsia,
That’s a pretty good response and goes a bit further to addressing moving the torso as a unit, but not being stiff about it. Actually, in beginning students, some stiffness may be desirable until they can get the waist movement down. It’s a bit difficult to get people to power their arms by using the legs, kua, and waist. So some stiffness at the beginning may be good. But progressing to the spirals (which implies more 3-D chansijing IMO) is where the real power lies.
Formosa Neijia - Exploring Taiwan’s Internal Martial Arts » Song kua pt. 3: kua squats // October 16, 2006 at 10:06 am |
[...] Song kua pt. 3: kua squats By chessman71 The first part of this series is here, the second part is here. [...]
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