the rum soaked fist: internal martial arts forum

my simplistic understanding

center = earth
always maintain the center
no leaning or falling over

advancing = metal
when you advance (attack)
its hard and sharp like metal

retreat = wood
when you retreat (go backward)
you can not just go back- otherwise you will not maintain the center
you need to go forward -- or grow (reach out (with intention)) in the forward direction
then you can maintain your center
(and you can also change -- no momentum involved-- its not a back peddle)

look right and look left = fire and water
to me the left and right aren't the important thing
they both talk about the same thing but different qualities to use while doing it
left and right are turning movements
basically transforming the opponent's attack (energy) or lateral movement to dodge/get out of the way
both can be done to the left and the right
one is using energy like water-- transforming and slippery
the other uses energy like fire.. lightly clinging (or adhering) and light (not heavy)


after some years of practice -- this seems like a very good way to describe usage
or the way you should be using the art
(difficult to do-- but simple to describe)



Franklin

So gaze/look mean nothing

wayne hansen wrote:So gaze/look mean nothing

What's the difference between a lion and a leopard? When a

- lion turns the head, the body turns with it.
- leopard turns the head, the body does not turn with it.

The difference is since leopard is smaller than lion, it's more careful about the environment. A leopard will turn his head, look around, make sure it's safe, before doing anything.

May be gaze/look have "look before move" intention.

Lion on the left
Leopard on the right

wayne hansen wrote:Lion on the left
Leopard on the right

Not when surfing

wayne hansen wrote:So gaze/look mean nothing

Awareness, relaxed but focused, just as when surfing

Goofy or natural

wayne hansen wrote:Goofy or natural

oragami_itto's posts had some practical applications in fighting.

Over the weekend, TJ Dillashaw used switching stances as a strategy to became the UFC Bantamweight champion.

How is the goofy and natural stance applied in the martial context?

Só, the lion is fire and the leopard is water,and one sees near and the other far?

marvin8 wrote:

wayne hansen wrote:Goofy or natural

oragami_itto's posts had some practical applications in fighting.

Over the weekend, TJ Dillashaw used switching stances as a strategy to became the UFC Bantamweight champion.

How is the goofy and natural stance applied in the martial context?

I think in skateboarding it makes more difference than surfing because it's not just which foot is forward, left or right, but potentially which foot is kicking, front or rear. THAT has some implications with regard to balance since you'll need to be able to balance on either foot at any time. Otherwise in solo sports it's just ambidextrous provided the equipment accommodates, IMHO.

So in regards to the topic at hand, left and right are immaterial, and as we see in the text "gaze" and "look" aren't really all that meaningful either.

Unless we're talking how in a right foot forward stance turning right is fundamentally different than turning left, in which case this could become a forehand vs. backhand discussion.

Incidentally, I don't think that the simple "left-right" interpretation is necessarily wrong, but that it's just one dimension of the information encoded. Just like "advance" and "retreat" don't simply mean "forward" and "backward" or "attack" and "defend".

It's good to keep things sunday school simple, but there is some monastery depth to these things, IMHO.

The differentiation between gaze and look makes more sense if you consider a multiple opponent situation. If you have one opponent in front and one to the side, do you turn your body slightly without shifting stance or do you turn your body in the other opponent’s direction?

wayne hansen wrote:Goofy or natural

Goofy on a board, natural(mostly) when spar.....interesting, in Kenjutsu and other sword arts goofy seem to be "natural" , but in other sports such as boxing "natural" seem to be the norm for most, in ice hockey and similar most are "natural" but I'm goofy there too , in golf the stance is "natural" but holding the club goofy is the norm where I follow. When writing or drawing with a pencil or painting a painting I'm left hand(goofy I think) but eating my food with the chopsticks I'm right handed as well as hammering with a hammer......to do all this left and right stuff fairly good a good sense of once Zhong Ding is helpful.

Trick wrote:

wayne hansen wrote:Goofy or natural

Goofy on a board, natural(mostly) when spar.....interesting, in Kenjutsu and other sword arts goofy seem to be "natural" , but in other sports such as boxing "natural" seem to be the norm for most, in ice hockey and similar most are "natural" but I'm goofy there too , in golf the stance is "natural" but holding the club goofy is the norm where I follow. When writing or drawing with a pencil or painting a painting I'm left hand(goofy I think) but eating my food with the chopsticks I'm right handed as well as hammering with a hammer......to do all this left and right stuff fairly good a good sense of once Zhong Ding is helpful.

Sometimes I like to belt my right arm to my body for a few hours on the weekend just to screw with my brain.

Gaze and look change with natural and goofy is you go backhand or not
Grasp sparrows tail is the key
It contains the five without moving the feet if we do it with the right foot forward the lion becomes the leopard

Explanations for the 5 steps will vary depending on if one includes 1) turning, 2) shifting weight &/or 3) actually stepping.

If one stands in the common bow stance, then one leg will be forward and turning to the open side will differ from turning toward the closed side (thus two different terms are appropriate).

More commonly referenced is actual stepping, but it can refer to diagonally stepping rather than just directly to the “east” or the “west”. Stepping forward diagonally, as in many attacking movements, is different than stepping diagonally backwards, as in many defensive movements. Thus, again, two different terms are appropriate.

I agree with others that the difference between “right” and “left” are more about “orthodox” stances and is rather arbitrary – these steps can be done with either leg.