Fa Jing: Explosive Power
By Athos Antoniades
Fa Jing means to issue or discharge power explosively. Particularly important for close range strikes, it is used in conjunction with the Reptilian Brain and Dim Mak techniques.
Fa-jing translates to explosive energy release and it is our way of gaining explosive penetrating power at close range in Tai-Chi and Kenpo Taiji. There is no such thing as long range fighting in real fights and self defence, only in competitions and films does this exist. We must therefore be capable of mastering explosive power at close range in close combat fighting.
Fa-jing is the power of the Reptile Brain, as the energy which we release is the same energy which rises up the back to the Gall Bladder20 (Gb.20) points at the base of the skull to enter the Reptilian Brain.
Fa-jing is also the ‘Engine’ of Dim-Mak as it is the only way to transfer adverse energy into our opponent’s Dim-Mak points causing a k. o. or worse. We gain Fa-jing power which is explosive as well as extremely powerful by combining physical muscle strength with internal energy (chi) making it as much as 7 x more powerful than pure physical strikes, which are only push power and lack the deadly penetrating power of Fa-jing.
It is an explosive shaking of the waist which culminates in a Fa-jing strike. The waist moves violently first, ahead of our weapon and as it moves back the other way our weapon is thrust out explosively with great force. The waist then moves a third time to settle in the centre. However, it is also possible for the third movement to re-bound off the first strike into another strike before settling in the centre.
At the same time the waist is slightly trailing the hips further causing the body to act like a coiled spring thus magnifying the power of the strike.
This torque between the hips and waist squeezes energy up the back, and the violent shaking of the waist squeezes it out of the body.
The action of the hips forces the knee/leg inwards on our toes with the heel pointing outwards further squeezing energy outwards.
The arms, waist and hips are working in opposition but always in total harmony with each other, facilitating whole body connectivity and power.
In executing a Fa-jing strike there must always be weight change, either from leg to leg or, if already weighted, on the front leg, from the centre of gravity point on the foot to the Kidney1(kd. 1) situated between the mounts of the big and second toes on the foot, and back ,at the same time turning the waist to gain centrifugal and centripedal power as opposed to mere push power.
We also claw the ground by scrunching the toes of the front foot under, thus, controlling the energy given by the post leg and received by the receiving leg in changing our weight and as we’re also yinning the foot it is attracting and sending aggressive yang energy up to the waist to be routed throughout body and out of the attacking weapon.
If using a punch, the tai-chi snap punch for instance, the hand remains relaxed, tensing it only at the point of contact in order to first inflict the physical damage and then relaxing the hand in order to input adverse energy into the target. Any energy expended will come in through the Lao-gung point (Pericadium8) of the other Yin hand and other energy input points in the body, as energy is never wasted.
The energy initially gathers at the wrist,and is released into the target by the torque between the wrist and hand as we snap the hand.
The greater the Yin in the attacking hand just prior to the attack the greater the Yang attack will be as there must always be Yin & Yang balance.
The voice is the mediator between the mind and body, therefore making an explosive sound such as “PA” will ensure an explosive strike.
For maximum Fa-jing power we must let go and just give ourselves up much like a sneeze.
When we first start learning Fa-jing the physical waist movement is big whereas the energy movement is small, as we advance the energy movement remain the same and the physical movement gets smaller so that they are equal. At an advanced level the physical movement of the waist is very small but the energy released into the opponent and the effect, is very large.
At this advanced level we would have achieved ‘Sung’ in the lower back. This is the last part of the body to achieve sung, as we do, we will feel the coccyx coil under firmly rooting us to the ground and giving us a solid base and loose upper body, which is how we should be for fighting – the legs are for standing and the hands for fighting!
As the energy rises up toward the third eye,it will cause the chin to go in and back of the head to rise, and coupled with the coccyx coiling under will give us a vertical spine facilitating the centrifugal and centripidal force necessary for Fa-Jing.
As the coccyx tucks under we also feel a slight spiralling of the spine, at that precise moment we capitalise on that by following that spiralling effect and executing the Fa-jing strike.
We can further enhance the power of our Fa-jing strike by making use of the scapulae to access the vast amount of power stored in the heart and lungs.This is achieved by making use of the power band around our shoulders like an elastic band. Pulling the elastic band is done by spreading the scapulae and releasing it.This gives us access to the power stored in the heart and lungs.
The power band also has its own potential power which is released by expanding and releasing it.
The whole action can be seen in the eyes as the energy rises up the back and gives us the ‘C’ back, reptilian brain and eagle vision just prior to the Fa-jing strike.The energy goes past Gb.20 and out through the eyes causing them to widen, sharpen and become alert. Think of a dog or any animal just before it attacks! The eyes then close for a split second upon executing the strike. The eyes are the mirror of the soul, reflecting in this instance the fight instinct as opposed to the flight instinct.
The importance of mastering Fa-jing power in order to defend ourselves on the street is emphasised by the fact that humans are not natural fighters, we do not have the sharp teeth, claws, superstrength or agility of wild animals and must therefore, learn how to make use of our natural weapons – the most important of which is the body itself, which as we have seen can generate explosive penetrating Fa-jing power at close range, which is where street fights happen.
Each individual weapon such as the hand, leg, elbow, head and so on, must be powered by the explosive – penetrating Fa-jing power generated by the body.
Power generated by the various weapons acting independently is just push power.