Question on "shoot the hawk" in 8 pieces of brocad

[floydhuynh]

Hi -

The 2nd piece of Gen. Fei Yue 8 pieces of brocades from Dr. Yang DVD is "drawing the bow and shoot the hawk".

I have a little confused on this piece. My question is how much tension the arm that draws the bow should be. I am not sure if I understand correctly from the instruction/lecture. Should this drawing the bow movement be like isometric exerice that I have to tighten my fist, forearm and the whole arm when drawing the arm to the sides. Also how far out should I draw/stretch the arm. Does it feel like the two shoulder blade from the back touching together at the end of the movement or that is too much far out?!!

THANKS!
Floyd

[Dvivid]

Hi,

Master Yang teaches it like Xingyi. Stay relaxed, and then gradually tighten the arm and fist at the very end of the movement. And yes, bend the bows as far as you're comfortable, the spine and chest. If your shoulderblades are almost touching, that's great. As long as you don't create extreme tension to do so -

Remember, wherever there is tension, there is Qi stagnation.

Enjoy,
David Silver
Director, Eight Simple Qigong DVD