Friday, September 18, 2009

The importance of "Kua"

The "Kua" is the connection between the upper part and the lower part of the body. The post on Back Power analyses the importance of the back and its key role in the upper part of the body. Activating the upper part alone is not sufficient. If the coordination with the lower part is not possible, exercising "coherent force" is an unattainable dream.

Many people talk about the principle of the "Three External Coordinations" without knowing what exactly it is. The "Coordinations" as emphasized do not simply mean different parts of the body doing things together. It is the transfer of power from the lower parts to the corresponding upper parts that counts.

To achieve the "Three External Coordinations", one should know the precise answers to the following questions:

1. Where is the "Kua"?
2. How to "loose" the "Kua"?
3. How to motivate the "Kua" to coordinate the upper parts and the lower parts of the body?

The saying that "There is no hand in Taiji" has highlighted the importance of this coordination through the "Kua".

The "Kua" is usually considered as the "big fist" in human body - we use the power coordinated by the "Kua" to hit, the hand is just part of the medium in the power transfer process.

2 comments:

Dan said...

John, hope you will develop this post and answer the three questions. I appreciate your insights and sharing what seems to be a very genuine and profound understanding. There is a lot of repetition of common place and misundertandings in the Tai Chi literature in English, probably from early mistranslation and misinterpretation of the Chinese texts. It is important to receive new fresh understanding and proper translation. I not always understand all that you write and this is due to my limitations. Therefore I hope you can sometimes elaborate. Best regards, D

John said...

Hi Dan,

The three questions can only be properly answered by your own teacher. These are something which should be handed down in person.

Taiji is a personal interest. I am not a Taiji teacher. What has been written down are notes on what I have learned / discovered / achieved.

You are welcome to visit my blog.

Cheers.

John