Stage 8: Discharge of Power into the Opponent

Stage 8: Discharge of Power into the Opponent

The spark or bang is now ignited. It makes itself known with a different sensation—a shiver or a spiral in the lower back. The whole structure is impregnated with this force; it is like a sneeze or an orgasm, shaking the back like a dog shakes water from its body. There is no friction or impedance to this force, because the pathway has been laid open by the prior stages of practice, and by the bathing and expansion of the body with Primordial Chi.

The arms find the “straight via the curve,” as in the Tao Yin postures of Bow and Arrow and Dragon Tucks in its Tail and Stretches its Claws. The arm tendons rotate in a particular pattern that follows the jin as it travels through the spine. In the standard Two-Hand Push, C7 goes back, the scapulas rotate medially from their inferior portion as well as spreading out laterally, the elbows drop, and the hands rotate laterally.

Just as the adept’s body is prepared for this final jin, so too is the opponent’s. He has been trapped, his structure is broken, and he is on the point of imbalance. The force or jin connects, and he is thrown 

*The kua are the ligaments connecting the sacrum to the pelvis posteriorly and from the pelvic wings to the symphysis pubis anteriorly.