ok quick background, i study seven star praying mantis kung fu, though havent been studing long, about half a year, im coming up for my second grading, requiring me to complete Kune Nek Kuen (in attention) or (with inner tension) here the problem lies what do i call it i have difficulty understanding my sifu and cannot figure out what he is acturly saying, what im refering to is when you are required to complete the form in xtreme slow motion whul keeping every muscle of you body tense. so anyone who has come accross this term before, it would be helpful, its really buging me.
sounds pretty useless to me unless he's testing your anerobic threshold - else many people will end up fainting! perhaps he's talking about 'intention'? This word comes up a lot in internal martial arts and so could be what he's after. It can be interpreted (albeit badly) to represent tense-body-syndrome (a bad thing), but really is trying to convey a meaning of you shouldnt be floppy/wobbly/easily a push over/etc. Try googling on the term "intent" and "sung" to hopefully give you a clue?
Hi, I do seven star mantis too and know the form you are studying, in english it is known as Power Boxing and comes from Chin Woo. I mainly use it 2 train stances, for example when you do the double punch you can tell if your bow stance is correct or not by the fact of if the fists are in line with each other, if they are not then your hip is not in the correct position. In our tradition we do not do any forms with tension (so far) apart from some dynamic tension in the Lorhan Chi Gung, but this is not to say your sifu is wrong and may well have his reasons within his own tradition for using the tension. I advise posting this question on the following forum which lots of people in a better position than me of advising you www.mantisquarterly.com/forum Good luck with your grading
as far as I understand it, inner tension is like relaxed tension. I think some style learn by doing forms tensed. Eventually you are meant to be able to do the movements relaxed and be able to use your strength whilst staying relaxed. So you are pushing without tensing up.
It seems to me that if he's asking you to do it very slowly, he possibly wants you to apply dynamic tension. AFAIK, only in t'ai chi do you do slow and soft (relaxed) at the same time in form practice. Saying that, I have no idea what your form is so aspects of balance may come to the fore with the slowdown. Rgds, David /me tiptoes away leaving a trail of confusion...
In my opinion, You need to complete the form with focus on your movement, concentrating on moving your whole body in unity - this is something that is very difficult to describe and is learnt over time with a very good teacher. In attention would be a MUCH better description than inner tension, inner tension may also be helpful but not as in solid muscular contraction - more like imagining the energy entering your body. Of course, this works both ways - contraction and expansion. When you practice your form imagine you are working with a partner who is resisting with a small amout of pressure (if you've ever practiced push hands from Tai Chi, or something similar - imagine the feeling you would get from a 'soft' partner). You must FEEL. Other than that, work closely with your instructor - pay attention and, if possible, get someone who can translate for you both This stuff is really about feel and touch. However, having an instructor who can explain things to you in a million different ways until you finally understand is invaluable.
Eventually you can learn to use your body properly and you would be able to excert great force with little effort - that's a start.
Intention is your intention to do something, it is the thought before it happens or before you decide to do it. I intend to hit you, I hit you.
Simon, thanks for your input and yes you are right in one sense, but there is far more to intent than just the act of making the decision. However, lets not steal the thread by discussing it here, ok?
