Candle training

Discuss Taijiquan or other soft styles. Theory, practice and applications. Please stay on topic.

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Postby SunTzu » Thu Mar 01, 2007 12:13 am

scramasax wrote:are you talking about using a whipping motion, or simply directing your qi at the flame?

as for the whipping motion, palms are usually easier because the push more air at close distances, but are less efficient at long distances. this also show that palms have less penetrating power.

for directing the qi, fingers usually are easier because its a more focussed stream of qi.



It's true that palms have less penetrating power than fingers but not in the way you present it.
The reason why the fingers penetrate deeper is because all power travels through a smaller surface than with a palm. Exactly the way why a cranebeak is more powerful than a fist. The smaller the surface with the same force applied, the greater the power that is generated. Thus the penetration is deeper because the amount more power makes it possible for the energy (li or qi) to travel deeper into the target. While with a general palm strike the energy scatters across the surface of the skin, making it red, alike a b*tchslap.

But keep in mind that it is easier to lead the qi through the chakra/qi cavity of the palm because it functions as an exit for qi rather than the fingers making it generally easier to strike the candle out with a palmstrike. Though fingerstrikes are more advanced/difficult, they also create more power/damage.
Last edited by SunTzu on Sat Mar 24, 2007 6:06 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Postby SunTzu » Thu Mar 01, 2007 12:22 am

Another key point in training with candles is that you must NOT pull the hand, palm, fingers, foot etc. back after the execution of the technique. This way the candle will go out because the air is sucked away from the candle, letting the candle die from a byproduct of the technique rather than by the technique itself. Hit the candle and keep the hand (or other) in place. When training with candles you must prevent the candle from going out purely by the stream of air produced by your movement.

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when I punch out a candle, one thing that always occurs with myself is that I experience some form of silence from within.
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Postby Dim Mak » Fri Mar 02, 2007 3:49 am

I have studied martial arts for almost 9 years, and I have studied acupuncture for 2. I believe the reason the qi flow is easier through two fingers is because you only have to activate two channels (LU and PC) and all of the channels naturally end on the finger tips. Basically it's just faster. The palms of the hands are actually stronger in that they utilize all 6 channels of the arms. Are any of you familiar with Mantak Chia or the microcosmic orbit? For me the microcosmic orbit opened up the center of my palms. Candle training, or jin training, is mostly just a novelty, and the ability is a byproduct of the cultivation of actual internal training. I don't mean to knock your training methods by any means; I just mean that jin "training" is a bit of a misnomer, in that you don't really build qi that way, it's just a demonstration of harnessing qi. At close range it is simply a matter of building the snap until the displacement of air is sufficient to extinguish the flame. At 6inches to a foot away you have to have enough penetrating qi power to displace air at that range. This kind of power can be gained through rigorous internal training, or through hard styles like hun gar (iron wire). The best thing for my qi was horse stance (or occasionally the Japanese/Okinawan seuchin stance). Hold horse stance for at least an hour doing standing meditation, it's slow but it works. Anyway, just my opinion.
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Postby witleo » Fri Apr 06, 2007 8:45 pm

Apart from CMA I'm training in the Korean sword art 'Haidong Gumdo'.

The practise of blowing out the candle with the sword happens at all levels.

The basic level is sitting down & stopping the wooden sword just above the flame.
As time progresses so does the number of candles & angles of cuts.

Higher grades have to test with a metal sword.
The sword is mighter than a blunt pencil ........
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Postby Dvivid » Mon Jan 28, 2008 12:23 pm

"Avoid Prejudice, Be Objective in Your Judgement, Be Scientific, Be Logical and Make Sense, Do Not Ignore Prior Experience." - Dr. Yang

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