What is kua?
by Shang Lee
Kua is the link between your hips and your thighs. That’s my basic understanding of it. But a good test of a relaxed kua is when you can’t find your kua! The tension between thigh and hip disappears. I’ve actually felt this in a teacher. But I can’t reproduce it myself. Only very rarely that i can reproduce it in a high stance (you don’t need a low stance for a song kua) and the rest of the legs hurt like hell! The good thing about that is you can feel the whole of the feet “grabbing” the ground (全脚抓地). Rooted, if only for a few seconds. I’m in the process of extending the time I can do this, and hopefully, I’ll be able to do it in other wider and lower stances as well. I’m still in the high stance.
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[...] The answer to this is a seemingly unrelated aspect, SONG KUA! A lot of body pains can be related to this “song kua” but we’ll focus on the knee in this article. It’s not the knee which is pointing the wrong direction, it’s the kua that’s not relaxed enough resulting in a wrongly pointed knee! (This was such an epiphany for me at that time!) By relaxing your kua, your knee is automatically allowed to move wherever feels natural, and the natural position is the same direction as the toes! Correcting the knee itself is actually the wrong approach to solving the knee problem. Relaxing the kua is. But correcting the knee is easier to understand and teach. Because, how would you explain what the kua is? Maybe this post might help. [...]
Oh yah. I just figured this concept out 2 days ago, and wow does it put pressure on your quads! I swear every time I think my legs are getting into good form I learn somethign new that requires more strength. Ah well. Glad to see we’ve had the same experience though.
I’m a taiji student from Kuala Lumpur, i’ve read your articles on relax, kua..etc. Well let me share my experience of what i’ve learn in taiji.
I’ve learn taiji for at least 2 years, i’ve started to learn in the year 2004 mid July, my 1st instructor who thought me the basics and the principles of taiji quan.
Loosening exercise it’s a must in my practice and training, for it is to loosen up all the joints in my body.
The training on strengthening my legs are terrible, i’ve injured my left knee during a training session though is not a serious one, but during practice or training time i can feel my left knee is weak.
In order to continue my study in taiji, i had to see a ‘tit da’ doctor, luckly it took me a week to recover. After the recovery, my legs becomes much stronger, than i started to learn the meaning of “Song Kua” but not really deep into it yet. He also taught me how to stay alert and focus while in relax situation, and keep my mind empty.
In the year 2005 1st week of April, i left my 1st instructor for another instructor, my 2nd instructor told me my 1st training is still far from perfect and there is a lot of correction must be done, so he corrected my posture and my 37 short form set, this time my legs are even more rooted than before, and on top of that he taught me don’t move my hands to much use my kua and waist to lead my hands, not my hands that lead the waist.
And he had also taught me this, the more slower the better, with this training i can feel which part of my body is not co-ordinating, espiacally my breathing, it is heavy, due to my legs are not strong enough. If breathing and movement is not co-ordinating the chi will not be balance. Same goes to praticing a form, when the form is not smooth, the flow of chi will be broken.
This year my 2nd instructor, wanted me to improve even more, took me to see a more experiance instructor who had 30 yrs experiance in taiji quan.
I hav not started a proper class with him yet, he taught me how to stay more focus, use my heart and my mind to move my body, he also taught me how to co-ordinate with my hands and legs together.
He also solves the problems of students why their knees hurt during training. He told me students when doing ” ho jing” students must not use the knee the push the body rather the foot that pushes the body and guest wat it really works.
( All students in Huang Style taiji are taught “ho jing” in early stages for it is important, so far i’ve not seen other schools had done this)
Hope my experience ( there are much more to wrtie but i plan not to share everything in here) will help u in your training.
Thanks Seth for sharing your thoughts. I have to ask, what is “ho jing”?
Its the energy of keepin’ yo bitches in line.
” Ho jing” back power, rather than using hands/ arms strength we uses our foot to execute the force, its like screwing your foot into the ground or use as a re bounce force. Taiji is known for its cotton fist, and one must need to know where the force comes from, the answers are the legs, that’s why they always said be rooted to the ground. Taiji and all neijia Martial Arts emphasize more towards the bottom rather than the top, that is sink your chi to the dantian. I’ve notice many people that learn taiji has not known this, they are more towards hands and chest movement rather than the legs, waist, and kua.
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