Stage 2: Yin Formation of Iron Shirt Structure

Stage 2: Yin Formation of Iron Shirt Structure

Stage 2 correlates to the yin stage of Iron Shirt training, where an opponent’s force is used to open and lengthen the adept’s structure.* This yin stage can also be described as activating the empty force— the extra power that is generated at the end of exhalation with the sucking in of the Ren channel. This yin stage is separate from the yang stage, which involves inflation of the lower tan tien and packing of the structure. This division of Iron Shirt structure into yin and yang aspects is not described in the original Iron Shirt text but is a key element of discharge power.

The fundamental characteristic of this yin aspect of Iron Shirt is relaxation, called fang sung in pinyin. As the opponent’s force enters into the body, relaxation and sinking must match this force exactly. Yang energy from the opponent is guided down to the earth with the sinking of the mind’s awareness. This relaxation includes the elongation of muscles, rather than just becoming like a dead fish. It allows the arms, neck, and legs to lengthen.

In other words, the body relaxes within the specified structure. To sink does not mean to simply bend the knees, but means to sink by opening the kua and the Ming Men while tucking in the coccyx. Along with these changes, the shoulder blades round, the sternum sinks, the neck becomes long, and the Crown Point (Ba Hui) is lifted. Wu Yu-Hsiang tells us that “this is called the suspended head top.” Throughout the body, the muscles are elongated to their optimum length. There is a sense of fullness and openness that is obtained through relaxation by allowing the whole body to be filled with chi.

In many respects, this yin stage of Fa Jin is just an extension of Iron Shirt training and pushing. The incoming force is borrowed and utilized to lengthen the spine, open the channels, and connect with the empty force. Often but not always, the breath is also emptied and ceases for a moment.