Mark Parker

Jim Russo

This is an interesting posture in that it represents a second line of defense. If when defending myself , the fist passes into my “Egg” or over the outermost line where i am neither collapsed nor overly extended away from my center or if i miss or i am too slow defending my first line ( wrist to wrist) , then i can still turn and ” open the door” letting the blow miss while defending the second line ( palm to elbow) . The elbow is diverted off center and upward with a Lifting Palm or a Spiraling Upward Palm opening up the soft ribs and flank . The lifting Palm will open the ribs and stretch the flank creating the environment for a more decisive blow . This posture can also be used to follow your opponent into an elbow lever . The raised toe roots you more ( in the back leg ) and can also be used to kick or trap the opponent’s feet/leg .

Beware the Fist Under Elbow This is an interesting posture in that it represents a second line of defense. If when defending myself , the fist passes into my “Egg” or over the outermost line where i am neither collapsed nor overly extended away from my center or if i miss or i am too […]

Beware the Fist Under Elbow

The Taijiquan Sanshou is a two person setsometimes translated as dispersing hands . The art is often dismissed as a two person dance. It is, however where One learns to "capture circles" . This is a very rare set, and it is only preserved legitimately in two lineages , the Tian Zhaolin lineage, and the Hsu Yang Ho lineage . Grandmaster Hsu taught this set to

TT Liang who combined it with push hands exercises and music to make his own set. This set was the creation of Yang Chien Hou according to my understanding. This example shows Jack, lifting my elbow to punch the ribs, an application of " fist under elbow." from his northern Wu style. Resisting the line of force that he is putting on my elbow will only empower him and defect my posture.Instead, I divert the force perpendicular to its line of attack with a facing up palm. The result of this is that he hits a wall and can't lift my elbow. I have coiled out into the palm shape, and now I reverse the palm shape, trapping his hand against my elbow, and pulling him out of center into a circle in which I return a strike first to his armpit/heart 1 point and the second example pulls him into the punch to his face or throat. This set was created to give multiple examples of attack and defense so that they may be preserved for future generations.

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The art is often dismissed as a two person dance. It is, however where One learns to "capture circles"

Capturing circles    and. the art of Sanshou

The standing training, Song  Gong, and Push Hands training, all work in concert to help the practitioner develop the quality of  " Bu Dui , Bu Ding " in the arms.  This is often translated as "don't insist ,don't resist " .  The second level of achievement is to develop that quality in the legs . One of the errors in training tournament. Push hands. Is that practitioners often develop a quality of bracing or pushing with the legs. This is similar to the type of power one might use to push a heavy piece of furniture. The following footage shows me first interacting with Alex and showing that when I engage my muscles and tendons, he can easily defect my posture and take me out. When the arms are released , I can issue force on him without having to contend with his resistant quality as it is neutralized by the open joints . The second level, I demonstrate how when I stop resisting with my legs I become more stable. I even wiggle my legs to show that they are not in a stiff resistant quality , I then slightly and quickly close my chest, which causes the force to go up the outside part of Alex's arms, I then press the heel of the foot and release the JIN through my torso and out of my chest uprooting Alex.

Achievement of the limbs

This footage shows me demonstrating the substantial and   insubstantial elements of the palm when applying force. I apply force downward in this example against the ward off Energy of Alan . When I endeavor to use strength and utilize the hand as one energy such as Yang , His resistant, defensive, energy can bridge my joints through the tension in my tendons , and affect my posture. When I press down, if I let the fingertips sink first, becoming Yang first, and then let the palm of my hand, or rather the heel of the palm sink, secondly, and sequentially, it will cause him to float up onto his toes, even if I do not use much pressure .  This is something that is very useful because when you sever someone's root their ability to neutralize force is compromised . Their ability to receive force is compromised, and they are basically in a position where they can be struck easily, and cannot defend against it effectively.