Alan Armstrong Posted January 8, 2017 Posted January 8, 2017 Are you teaching Yin Yang concepts in class?How important are Yin Yang concepts in your chosen style?We in the West have a saying "Every action has an equal or opposite reaction" how do you apply this to martial arts?"I Ching" The book of changes, is a classic Chinese way of understanding Yin Yang with trigrams and hexagrams. Is this relevant to your martial art style or system?
Nidan Melbourne Posted January 9, 2017 Posted January 9, 2017 It's not really a Saying Per Se but one of the laws of physics. However I teach Yin and Yang in a way with students, where they learn to minimize the levels of effort, and instead use your opponents energy against them. Purely because I hate wasting energy when i could be using it for something more fun.
sensei8 Posted January 9, 2017 Posted January 9, 2017 It's not really a Saying Per Se but one of the laws of physics. However I teach Yin and Yang in a way with students, where they learn to minimize the levels of effort, and instead use your opponents energy against them. Purely because I hate wasting energy when i could be using it for something more fun.My feelings exactly; solid post!! I'll reference the aspects of Yin and Yang, but my approach to it is more of a passing notion. I understand and believe in its theory, and I speak about it as it might relate to what I'm teaching at that very moment. Other than that, Yin and Yang stays in the recesses of my mind, and not always on the floor. **Proof is on the floor!!!
Alan Armstrong Posted January 9, 2017 Author Posted January 9, 2017 I belive that having a great working understanding of Yin Yang concepts can improve any kicking or punching technique making them more efficient and effective. Not limited to just kicking and punching but all martial art techniques can be enhanced.The boxer, Mohammed Ali's saying of "float like a butterfly and sting like a bee" is a direct correlation to using Yin Yang concepts in his boxing style.Human body mechanics combined with Yin Yang concepts is how to make the most out of the least.Bruce Lee's saying of "Be like water" is about adaptability and change "I Ching" is the book of changes, that is based on Yin Yang understanding.
bushido_man96 Posted January 9, 2017 Posted January 9, 2017 I don't teach it. I don't really focus much on it. Its an eastern thing, and I'm a westerner, so I tend to stick to more western approaches. https://www.haysgym.comhttp://www.sunyis.com/https://www.aikidoofnorthwestkansas.com
Alan Armstrong Posted January 9, 2017 Author Posted January 9, 2017 I don't teach it. I don't really focus much on it. Its an eastern thing, and I'm a westerner, so I tend to stick to more western approaches.Yin Yang isn't Western or Eastern it's Universal and within this realm the laws of nature apply to all of us.The Yin Yang is symbolic of how balance is a way of attaining harmony.Bruce Lee used the Yin Yang symbol in his JKD logo; why? JKD is American and not Eastern.
bushido_man96 Posted January 10, 2017 Posted January 10, 2017 I don't teach it. I don't really focus much on it. Its an eastern thing, and I'm a westerner, so I tend to stick to more western approaches.Yin Yang isn't Western or Eastern it's Universal and within this realm the laws of nature apply to all of us.The Yin Yang is symbolic of how balance is a way of attaining harmony.Bruce Lee used the Yin Yang symbol in his JKD logo; why? JKD is American and not Eastern.It is born out of eastern concepts. Do we have similar ideas in the west? Likely we do, but no terminology comes to mind. Perhaps the idea of the "Renaissance Man" is the closest I can think of in Western aspects. https://www.haysgym.comhttp://www.sunyis.com/https://www.aikidoofnorthwestkansas.com
Alan Armstrong Posted January 10, 2017 Author Posted January 10, 2017 I don't teach it. I don't really focus much on it. Its an eastern thing, and I'm a westerner, so I tend to stick to more western approaches.Yin Yang isn't Western or Eastern it's Universal and within this realm the laws of nature apply to all of us.The Yin Yang is symbolic of how balance is a way of attaining harmony.Bruce Lee used the Yin Yang symbol in his JKD logo; why? JKD is American and not Eastern.It is born out of eastern concepts. Do we have similar ideas in the west? Likely we do, but no terminology comes to mind. Perhaps the idea of the "Renaissance Man" is the closest I can think of in Western aspects.Many Eastern concepts have been incorporated in to the West.Fire, Earth, Metal, Water, Wood.We know or have heard about the five elements on how they interact and complement each other.Chinese martial art styles draw insights from studying there interaction and it is a way to keep things in order.In ancient China, the five elements were how societies were kept in order, not much different than today. Water Dept, delt with everything related to water and so on for the other four elements, a type of system that could be separate and also interact; in the USA it is called "The Pentagon"The American railway was built with Chinese labor.Another idea borrowed from the East and used in the Western Europe was crop rotations. We in the West owe alot to the East by borrowing from them.Italian spaghetti is Chinese noodles.In health care, vaccinations and psychotherapy are Chinese originally.The Renaissance man is a good description of a balanced person of today that is intelligent and physically fit.Leonardo Da Vinci as a Renaissance man was heavily involved in developing military weaponry.The question on the equivalent of Yin Yang for the West is very easy, as we have been borrowing from the East for centuries.The reason we have needed to borrow insights from the East is because we wiped out all of those insightful people in the West with witch hunts and inquisitions, something the East never endured.The five elements were considers evil (in the dark ages) in the West, while in the East it was a way to understand and live in harmony with the surrounding world.
Alan Armstrong Posted January 10, 2017 Author Posted January 10, 2017 Yin Yang terminology for the West, starting with synonyms and antonyms or Sesame Street favorites such as "Near and far" "High and low" and so on ... Art classes are full of Yin Yang terminology as nothing can be visually described without reference to something else.Ironies and predictabilities.Everything contains Yin and Yang this is what keeps everything simultaneously together and apart.Opposites attract.Relationships that are both Yin or both Yang cannot produce or reproduce or contribute in the Yin Yang cycle naturally or harmoniously most of the time but with all things exceptions do happen.Pessimists need optimists as one cannot be defined without the other.The Chinese character for disaster is the same character for opportunity."Birds of a feather stick together" as with people that congregate that have similar interests; such as here on KF.Com."The best defence is a good offence" As the solution is part of the problem."Hair of the dog" As another alcoholic drink will cure a hangover, that was originally caused by drinking to much alcohol.Murphy's Law is full of life's ironic Yin Yang twists of fate "If anything can go wrong it will"There is no escaping this world of Yin Yang on this planet, like it or not; in contrast with the movie "Avitar" with floating mountings isn't apart of our world but there was a very strong connection with the original inhabitants with the land, plants and animals, something we could all be more like and mindful of, as we go about our Yin Yang daily lives.
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