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Ling Kong Jin Explained:
Wu Tunan was trained in scientific method, and seems to make a point here of using terms like “matter,” and speaks of the skill in terms of accute sensitivity of ordinary sense organs (in distinction to imagining or pretending, or extra-sensory phenomena). When applying taijiquan, on the whole there are two ways of making contact. One is where the two hands and two arms come in contact with the opponent—this is the same as in most sparring. If two people have not yet come into [physical] contact, yet one is able to prevail over the other, this belongs to a different category. This is the so-called higher level, or lingkong.
The first step in lingkong is to train skill (lian gong)—it is a product of training. A person’s jing and qi are two kinds of matter; the combining of the two produces shen, which is the most crystallized [product of training]. It is incredibly subtle—“where the yin and yang cannot be fathomed, it is called shen” (‘yin yang buce wei zhi shen,’ a quote from the Xice). You say it is yin; it is not yin. You say it is yang; it is not yang. Since it can be either yin or yang, it therefore transforms into yin-yang. So this matter that is produced by the conjoining of these two things, yin and yang, is shen.
Although on the surface one may only see arms moving and legs moving, the reality on the inside is the marshalling of the function from the brain up into the vital organs, directly to the blood circulation, to the breathing, etc. Therefore, taijiquan entails the integrative function of the body. One could also say it is taking the original taiji principles of the Zhouli (Book of Changes) and applying them in our bodies
Once we’ve penetrated (toukong) the entire body in this way, we are then able to understand the situation at a glance (yi mu liao ran). In such a situation, when we set out to engage the opponent, there is no place with which we cannot engage. Far-distant sensing can also be called remote control. Using shen, we can control the other from a comparatively distant position. This kind of transformation is to become one with nature. Therefore there is no need for shape or form; in the midst of shapelessness and formlessness you are already united as one body.
“The enemy wants to change, but does not get to change; wants to attack, but doesn’t get a chance; wants to evade, but has no escape.” To put it more simply, it is the highest stage of gongfu. If it’s just a matter of carelessly striking and randomly improvising (manda manpin), that’s not taijiquan
Words from Great Master Wu Tunan