Inner

The Water Method Arts Journal

Quest February 2016

Featured In This Issue...

Cultivating Sung:
Free Yourself from
Bindings & Awaken
Mind-Body Consciousness

Paul Cavel, Editor

IQ February 2016

Cultivating Sung
in Water Method Arts
Free Yourself from Bindings and Awaken Mind-Body Consciousness

The Chinese term sung is often translated as

"relaxed", but this is a gross oversimplification of
the actual state being described. A more accurate
translation is "unbound", a state in which the body
loses all unnecessary bindings, all resistances, all
tension.
Understanding the concept intellectually is a good
start, but the aim of Water method arts is direct
experience: that is to go beyond any mental con-
struct and practice for the sake of embodiment. The
ancient Chinese spent hundreds, even thousands of
years tinkering with the internal arts to offer prag-
matic steps for integrating fundamental principles in
their flesh, qi-energy, and minds—in the totality of
their being.
Without sung, strong circulation of blood and qi
throughout the body cannot be achieved, so there
can be no flow. Balanced qi flow is what brings
into harmony the body and mind, making lasting,
vibrant health a living reality. Therefore, to achieve
flow, harmony and vibrant health, sung is the gate
through which you must pass.

Photo by istock/Sohl

© 2016 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved. Page 2
 IQ February 2016

Relaxed Isn't Collapsed

If you make a suggestion to a Westerner to to-
tally relax, they're likely to find a sofa and flop
down, or at least recline back in their chair.
From a Chinese perspective, this is not relax-
ing, it's collapsing. So let's look at the differ-
ence between being relaxed versus collapsed.
Relaxation is the state in which all tension
locked in the body is released. The skeletal
frame does not also need to collapse like a
pile of bones to achieve this let go, but must
remain:
• Connected - via the ligaments.
• Aligned - so the ligaments feel
"sprung" and alive.
• Open - rather than condensing the
space between the bones (i.e. joints) 2010 France, Photo by Heather Hale
via the fluids.
Many people believe it's their muscles that Releasing the Outer Casing to
hold them upright when sitting or standing,
which is not necessarily the case. The liga- Penetrate to Your Core
ments are responsible for holding together Releasing tension in the outer casing of your
the skeletal frame, and therefore aid in keep- soft tissues (muscles, fascia, tendons and liga-
ing the body upright. However, if the liga- ments) is what allows you to penetrate to
ments are not properly aligned and sprung, your core. Initially, the process entails work-
the muscles must come into tension to hold ing from the outside in. As you work through
the body together and upright, which is how the body, from surface to bone, you can fully
most people operate their body. release the blockages you encounter as more
So becoming "sung" is a process of reducing superficial layers of bindings cannot prevent
contractions in the muscles, aligning the skel- them from exiting out of the skin and/or ex-
etal frame and engaging the ligaments to do tremities. Conversely, even if you manage to
the job they are designed to do—with a slow release tension at some great depth, all too
and methodical patience as you forge the often it becomes trapped within bindings
mind-body connections necessary to make in the outer layers and therefore cannot be
the transition. Human beings do not operate fully released. So tension simply relocates
like an on-off switch, whereby you can simply either at a new or, more likely, the original lo-
turn on your ligaments and shut off muscle cation. The Yang style of tai chi is an excellent
activation, so time and practice are required form—a true high-performance vehicle with
to change your conditioned, habitual use of its large, open and fluid postures—for anyone
muscular tension. who experiences a lot of tension in their soft
tissues.

© 2016 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved. Page 3
 IQ February 2016

Start by just doing the best you can to stand,

sit and move with good posture; that is while
Artwork by istock/angelhell

maintaining basic joint-to-joint alignments

and a sense of letting go of all your muscles.
Unless you have a relevant injury (or in some
special cases), you'll likely find that it's much
easier to let go of your arm muscles and much
harder to let go of your leg muscles, but, in
all honestly, most people have a hard time
relaxing any muscle. The vast majority of peo-
ple habitually contract their muscles through
the myriad of activities they do in a day,
from walking, driving a car, typing on a smart
phone or computer, writing with a pen (if
anyone else does that these days!), sports and
more. These contractions are compounded
by physical, emotional and mental tensions
you experience throughout your lifetime, so
it's not going to vanish in one or two train-
ing sessions. You must re-educate your body-
mind from defaulting to reciprocal inhibition
of the muscles and move in a more relaxed
and fluid manner through bend-and-stretch
(see box on p. 5)—even as life continues to
send minor and major stresses your way.
Yes, you’re up against a lot, but regular,
My most common advice to students of all focused and conscious practice can deliver
skill levels is to use less and less and less and the goods. Over time and with a relaxed yet
less effort in their practice because a relaxed focused intent, you can shed layers upon lay-
intent and operation of the body-mind is nec- ers of long-term, accumulated tension, and
essary to shed layers of trapped tension. As actually start reversing the damage done be-
you exert less effort and stop clenching your cause tension is precisely what closes down
body and/or mind in habitual patterns, the the body and restricts qi flow—not ageing
more easily you can release tension and sink per se. In the West, we're conditioned to
into your ligaments, which lie beneath the believe that as we grow old we're supposed
muscles and connect up the skeletal frame. to break down, experience pain and lose
In the West, we call it the "musculoskeletal mobility. Whereas, in the East, ageing grace-
system", lumping muscles and the skeletal fully is regarded as entirely possible. In fact,
frame into one category. The ancient Chinese many high-level tai chi and other internal arts
saw them as two independent systems that practitioners throughout the ages have exem-
integrate into one whole. This perspective, plified this potential to improve in body and
which may require a shift in your conceptual mind even into old age. Finding and being
framework, underlies the methods necessary able to maintain a sung state is a part of the
to cultivate sung. age dodger's secret.

© 2016 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved. Page 4
IQ February 2016

Reciprocal Inhibition versus Bend-and-Stretch

A - Biceps tense B - Triceps tense

Reciprocal inhibition states that muscle groups work in opposition of one anoth-
er: one group tenses while the other relaxes. For example, the biceps tense to
bend the elbow and raise the hand (image A above); and the triceps tense to
straighten the elbow and lower the hand (image B above). This habitual tensing
of the muscle groups pressurises, condenses, binds and deadens the soft tissues
even though there is a distinct let go when the opposing muscle group is
activated.
2016 Spain, Photo by Heather Hale

Conversely, bend-and-stretch techniques operate both sets of muscle groups at

the same time in a four-phase cycle that can repeat ad infinitum:
• Active bend - bending the limbs, which stores energy in the soft tissues
like a bow stores energy in the stave when the string is drawn back.
• Passive stretch - a controlled, slow and relaxed release, which uses the
stored energy from the active-bend phase to begin the stretch.
• Active stretch - softly stretching out all the muscle groups.
• Passive bend - relaxing and releasing the stretch in a controlled manner,
which initiates the bending once again.
This active bend–passive stretch–active stretch–passive bend, four-phase cycle is
what lulls the body into a state of let go, where deep and accumulated tensions
can be accessed and released in a safe, efficient and practical methodology.

© 2016 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved. Page 5
 IQ February 2016

Sung, Standing and the Spine

Standing practice can help get you on the road to dropping the tension out of the upper body,
through the lower body and into the earth. In the process, you'll develop your root, which is an-
other fundamental building block of Water method health, healing and meditation arts. After a
period of tuning in, standing starts releasing the upper body and strengthening the legs, thereby
serving as preparation for moving practices, such as qi gong, tai chi and bagua.
The legs drive the motion of the body and arms in two profound ways:
• Externally - the legs initiate the motion of the form (i.e. stepping,
shifting and turning), the waist follows and physically moves the arms
(up/down, left/right and forward/back).
• Internally - bending and stretching the soft tissues of the legs directly
transfers to bending and stretching the soft tissues of the arms in a
wave-like action similar to the way in which ocean currents below the
surface generate the waves we observe from the beach in continuous
ebb and flow.
Power is generated in the legs, guided by the waist, and applied through the
arms and hands to create genuine internal movement. Therefore, to a large
degree, tension must be drained out of the upper body; otherwise the
upper body remains too stiff to transfer the power from the legs, leaving
the arms to operate independently of the body. Hence the need for sung.
For sung to take hold in the body, the spine becomes the focal point to hold
up the body. The spine gently yet firmly rises to prevent any collapsing of
the upper skeletal frame or tensing of the back and chest muscles with
three important points of reference:

• Pluck up the back - the rising spine carefully lifts and extends all the
way up to the top of the back/base of the neck; there is no hardening
or tensing whatsoever.
• The neck remains empty - the gentle rising of the cervical vertebrae is
soft, although not weak or floppy, all the way up to the skull.
• Hang off the spine - the rest of the body sinks towards the ground and
literately creates a sense that everything inside the bag of skin is hanging
off the spine. Initially, try to get a sense that your arms and chest are
hanging off your spine; later, when you feel your arms are heavy and can
stay relaxed for some period, focus on allowing the pelvis and leg muscles
to also hang off the spine. Always be sure your knees feel comfortable,
Artwork by istock/Eraxion
don't let pressure build up in the knees from the sinking of the body, and
keep the back of the knees open as this transfers the body's weight to the
feet.
Slowly, over weeks, months and years, the muscles will release, the ligaments will take over
and a sense of deep relaxation will settle into your body...a sung state is in the making.

© 2016 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved. Page 6
 IQ February 2016

More Advanced Considerations

What we have covered so far is essential
to build your foundation, without which
what comes next is only a mental construct
and certainly won't help you advance your
practice or attain health benefits. That said,
all Water method health, healing and medita-
tion arts are trained in a circle. So you train
one level for some weeks or months to get
an idea of what is happening, then move on
and train at the next level. Naturally, what
you can achieve at the next level is entirely
limited by your ability in the previous, but
having a look allows you to glimpse what’s
coming down the line and contextualises
your training. Then, when you return to your
appropriate level, you can deepen your prac-
tice with a more complete perspective and
solidify your foundation before returning
to more advanced techniques once again.
It's just another application of stretch out–
release back in–stretch out–release back in... 2016 Spain, Photo by Heather Hale

only this time applied to the mind.

Qi gong and tai chi use a very specific meth- and extend, you are unlikely to experience
odology for generating sung through move- any or very little resistance in your flesh as
ment. The basic message is: don't do too you begin to move. As you continue to open
little and don't do too much. You find the out, all the slack is taken out of the soft tis-
sweet spot by adhering to the Rule of Thirds, sues of the arms, shoulders, neck and upper
which dictates not to overstretch or strain back, and you start to experience a stretch. If
your body-mind in any way. By always leaving you continue, the stretch increases in inten-
at least one-third of your ability or effort in sity and eventually you'll reach a "bite point",
reserve (flipped to leaving two-thirds in re- where you must fight to override your body's
serve if you're compromised in some way), instinct to stop. When you hit the bite point,
you hold the key to unlocking your progress. you get a clear signal that you're trying to
Together with sung, the Rule of Thirds is what push your body beyond its comfortable range
allows you to avoid, reduce and eliminate as the nerves trigger a closing or pulling back
internal resistance or the likelihood of injury, mechanism to prevent damage to the body.
which are the result of forcing yourself to do So you want to stay well behind the bite point
too much—either in the amount of effort and recognise it for what it is: an intelligent,
you exert or the length of time you practice built-in safety mechanism to prevent you
during any given session. from injuring yourself. Hurting yourself trying
The Rule of Thirds is the primary gate keeper to get healthy just doesn't make sense! (I had
to the state of sung, so violating this princi- to work that one out in the early days of my
ple will leave sung as elusive and mysterious own healing journey.) Listen when your body
to you as ever. For example, if you're practis- says "stop", regardless of any external mark-
ing a move like Opening Peng in Yang style tai ers you may deem appropriate for yourself in
chi (the first movement), when the arms raise this and all future moments.

© 2016 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved. Page 7
 IQ February 2016

Again, if you’re healthy, the sweet spot is at Playing the Razor's Edge
your two-thirds point. If you're compromised I often get asked, "But doesn't pulsing and/or
in some way, you'll have to be especially sen- yin-yang energy flows produce sung as they
sitive to your one-third zone. In the case of are soft applications of nei gong"? Maybe. If
Peng and all other extending motions, you're pulsing (also known as "opening and closing")
looking for the point where all the slack in is introduced too early, muscular contraction
your body is neutralised and the stretch be- is written into the code of motion without
gins. After some time, you may be able to the practitioner even realising it. From then
smoothly extend the tissues that bit more, but on it’s hard to relearn how to pulse without
you want to stay well behind any bite point. If habitual tension. On the other hand, if the
you hit or bypass it, you'll activate your body's muscles are first released by implementing
safety mechanism to prevent damage, and bend-and-stretch techniques and developing
undermine the trust the body needs to heal sung, then pulsing will amplify the deep re-
and grow its potential. If you habitually blast laxation of your body and the sung state. The
past your two-thirds/one-third zone, you can same is true for yin-yang flows as they are a
guarantee the body is regularly activating its subdivision of pulsing. If you're reasonably
safety mechanism and your efforts are squan- healthy and you never breach your two-thirds
dered. The only thing worse than no practice comfort zone, you might generate superfi-
is practice that damages the body or breaks cial relaxation, but you're unlikely to reduce
down rather than builds up mind-body trust. the accumulated, deeper tensions you have
Unfortunately, I've encountered too many collected over your lifetime. The two-thirds
students in the last 20 years who have not stretch throughout the soft tissues is precise-
grasped this concept and their systems are ly what initiates the release of those tensions.
on “red alert”. As soon as they start to move, So there is a balance point at play: those who
their body is already second guessing their ef- don't put in enough effort never engage and
fort and applying the brakes. If you 've trained release the deeper bindings in their bodies,
this way and “wired” into your nervous sys- and those who do too much totally lock down
tem that practice equates to a sparring match their body.
between your body and mind, you'll have Most students either put in too much effort
to conscientiously and dramatically back off and their forms appear hard, or not enough
two-thirds (i.e. to what you perceive as one- effort and their forms appear floppy and
third of your effort) to re-establish trust with closed. You've got to find the razor's edge
your body again. in all of your forms—not in just one or two
places, but throughout every turn and twist
of the journey. When you extend, feel your
tissues, look for the point at which the slack
neutralises and the stretch begins, and keep
going but not to the bite point. This is what
practice is all about: feeling your flesh and
making micro-adjustments as you go through
your form to keep all aspects in balance with
all others. When you “play” your form just
right, the nerves let go and tissues release. So
the range of your two-thirds at the beginning
of a session can increase to a much larger
2007 France Retreat—Paul with Tai Chi Instructor Jackie Smith,
range at the end. In fact, a growing capacity is
Photo by Michael Mettner

© 2016 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved. Page 8
 IQ February 2016

2010 Crete Retreat, Photo by Jackie Smith

one way to recognise if you were in the ballpark or not. If your body didn't open up and you don't
have feelings of deep relaxation and increased blood and qi flow, then your practice didn't do the
trick. Skip the excuses and next time make adjustments. And, don't get into the mechanical repli-
cation of the form each time you practice because your body-mind can be in very different states
each time you practice. Feel, connect and yield accordingly.
For example, after an extension, a natural recoil or coming back to neutral will be initiated, and
you can develop your sensitivity and precision over time. It's not just a matter of letting go, but
rather how you let go. If you let go suddenly, stretched tissues will snap back to neutral, and you'll
break the connection between body and mind. Conversely, if you let go in a smooth, even and
relaxed manner, you can slowly release the stretch without causing the nervous system to
contract, allowing deeper layers of soft tissue to unwind, and blood and qi to return to your core
from the extremities after the stretch.
Of course, how far you come back in is as important as how far out you go. Only come back to the
point just before the tissues go slack and not beyond. Slack is disconnection and if you disconnect,
you must reconnect on the next move instead of increasing the depth of the let go. Remember:
it's the let go which produces sung. The intermittent connect-disconnect, especially overstretch-
ing or not stretching at all, generates an inefficient form and diminishes health benefits. So you
want to stretch out and bend in within two-thirds of your comfortable effort, always maintaining
unbroken internal energy.
This is the point at which you can enter into what I like to call the “continuum of internal-external
integration”, where the external form and basic internal nei gong unify into one, seamless stream
of continuous motion. Sung is revealed like the waves of the sea gently eroding rock into sand
at the shore. The ebb and flow of blood and qi in the human body is regulated by the form, but
now the bending-and-stretching action of the soft tissues begins to melt the nervous system and
release the muscles too. From this point forward it’s all about depth.
But here's where a lot of practitioners go wrong: doing more complex and deeper nei gong before
achieving a basic level of sung doesn't advance your practice, but stifles it. Until sung is alive in
the body, trying to train deeper nei gong is like trying to do multiplication or division before learn-
ing how to add and subtract. The figures won't balance! Nei gong systematically works from the
surface muscles down to the ligaments and bones. This is where turning and twisting techniques
come into their own, naturally working the body’s tissues deeper and more fully than bend-and-
stretch. Applying the Rule of Thirds, you can slowly but surely release bound layers of tension in
your tissues and deepen sung in your body.

© 2016 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved. Page 9
 IQ February 2016

Making the Body Conscious Eventually you go all the way down to the
bone (but never into the bone!) in some form
One of the overarching themes of Water or fashion. Now the process of becoming sung
method arts training is making the body con- is nowhere near complete and the body’s
scious. That is to release all that binds you as tissues won't be fully open, but you will have
a human being (of which only a small aspect established a good connection throughout
is covered herein) to literally (not metaphori- your tissues—both in length and depth—and
cally) reclaim the dead spaces inside of you. be on your way to shedding the bulk of the
Both the forms themselves and the internal outer layers of tension that are a legion in the
components they encapsulate are designed modern humanoid.
to elicit this awakening process. When layers
of yin-yang forces (e.g. bending and stretch- You Play the Form and
ing, turning left and right, twisting in and out)
are combined, they amplify and accelerate the Form Plays You
one another—all the time you adhere to the At this stage of play, your forms can be-
Rule of Thirds. This happens because each re- come sublime because the effort that was
lies on the other. For example, a bend might required in the early years vanishes without
release the nerves, allowing the next stretch a trace. The body feels empty yet full at the
to take some tension out of the body. The fol- same time—a paradox on which only direct
lowing twist will take up and use the newly perception can shed light. You play the form
available space, and activate the next layer and, equally, the form plays you. You start by
or depth of stuck soft tissue which, over time following the path of least resistance (this is
and with repetition can: the Water method after all!), never pushing
through tension, allowing whatever tension
• Awaken the soft tissues;
you feel inside to morph your form and be
• Allow them to give up their bindings; determined by the space available inside your
• Release them open; body. The softer you become, that is the more
• Make them soft and fluid; sung you become—without disconnection,
collapsing or laziness—the deeper you can
• Unify them with the rest of the body;
delve in and release that which binds, con-
and
stricts and ultimately causes most of the
• Integrate them into your body suffering you experience...in body and mind
awareness. as neither can be separated.

Tai Chi and the Cultural Revolution

After the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) in China, doctors were scarce and
overloaded with more patients than they could treat. A system soon evolved
whereby any patients who were not imminently ill or injured were advised
to train qi gong and tai chi for six months. They were given a card that had
to be stamped by the local tai chi teacher each day and, if they successfully
completed the process, they could see a doctor. They found that 60% of the
people never returned to see a doctor as most of their ailments were cured
or diminished enough through basic-level training that they no longer sought
treatment.
Source: Bruce Frantzis

© 2016 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved. Page 10
 IQ February 2016

Sung is the underlying quality that allows pulsing joints and absolutely requires the
the basic health benefits and more advanced bulk of the tension be released from the soft
nei gong to take root. Without sung there is tissues before the cavity can fully engage. The
no great advantage to practising an internal rusty hinge
↕ analogy isn't really applicable—it’s
↑
art over an external art. A colleague of mine more like an enormous python rapping its coils

↕
↕
who is a lifelong internal arts practitioner and around you and then asking you to breathe
Fire

↕
↕
highly respected medical professional is fond
of saying: “Without relaxation, there is no
Metal
in! Not much chance...all your effort and
focus is totally consumed by resisting suf-
point in practising internal arts. People would focation. Pulsing is one of the most yin of
be better off going for a stroll in the woods the yin nei gong components, and when
than trying to do complex exercise that in- you've truly grasped the ability to pulse, all
↓
creases their tension”! So you invest some
time into creating and developing sung, then
you need is the intention to pulse and you’re
away. That's not possible if you have layers
you can delve into nei gong. When tended, a upon layers of tension preventing the motion.
fertile ground produces a good crop. So sung must be developed to a significant
When the bulk of the tension in the outer cas- degree for the pulse to truly come alive in the
ing has been shed, the effort to implement cavity. The same is true for yin-yang length-
the next nei gong components becomes a ening techniques, which flow from the spine
natural extension of your practice. Converse- to extremities and back to the belly. Without
ly, trying to pulse a joint or cavity that lies sung, much effort is required to create little
under the muscular frame before releasing movement in the flesh; with sung, the intent
muscular tension itself is like trying to open flows through the body and carries the soft
a door when the hinges have rusted shut. You tissues with it.
either have to exert a lot of muscular force to I get more requests for pulsing courses than
achieve your goal or you don’t open and close any others, but I selectively teach the sub-
the joint/cavity/door! Now a joint is one thing ject for the reasons outlined above. If there's
as it’s made up of bones and soft tissues, so one message I'd like to share with my fellow
if you move the soft tissues the bones/joint energy arts enthusiasts it's that trying to
below will move to some degree (and this is train advanced nei gong when you haven't
exactly what most people are actually doing sorted out issues you encounter with foun-
when they think they're pulsing). However, dational techniques is an unfortunate waste
pulsing comes directly from the energy gate of time and effort. Many people don't know
at the centre of the joint and operates inde- how to take care of themselves properly: the
pendently of the surrounding tissues. When media, cultural conditioning, busy lifestyles
activated, the pulse can either coordinate have created a great ignorance in the modern
with the movement of tissues or operate at a humanoid. But an even greater shame is hav-
completely different rhythm to those tissues. ing cut through all that nonsense only to do
To do the latter, an intermediate level of skill— yourself in because you want to reach for
both operating the soft tissues and pulsing— the stars when you haven't found out what's
must be developed independently of the in your own back garden. So my most heart-
other. There's a progression at play. felt advice is to focus on fundamental nei
A cavity is a whole different story because gong and developing a sung body, which can
it doesn't have any bones: it's comprised of deliver an experience of health that is quite
soft tissues imbued with interstitial fluid. So beyond most people's vision of themselves.
to pulse a cavity, you must directly perceive Then, higher levels of nei gong will naturally
and manipulate the qi of the fluid in the unfurl in the appropriate time and space for
cavity. This is a much finer process than you...no mental projection required!

© 2016 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved. Page 11
 IQ February 2016

The Tai Chi Space London

1-2 Leeds Place
Tollington Park, Islington
London N4 3RF 2012 Rennes-le-Château, France
Photo by Heather Hale
+44 (0)7411 418 018
[email protected]
web. www.paulcavel.com To Advance, First Retreat
blog. www.circlewalking.com If you have a genuine desire to take your practice to the moon, get
rooted here on Earth: go back to the beginning and refine every
component you've ever learned—embodying sung along the way—
2016 Retreats in Spain: before moving forwards or upwards. Continue this strategy through
8-19 May every stage of development, leaving no stone unturned. Then and
Soft Tissue Therapy & Energy only then can you achieve the full potential of Water method arts
Cultivation in Qi Gong & Tai Chi training—not clutching at straws or chasing rainbows. You can
28 August-2 September certainly generate real solidity to your practice without a bunch of
Dragon & Tiger Qi Gong fancy moves or techniques simply by devoting time and energy to
Energetics cultivating sung.
4-8 September
Water Method Stillness
& Moving Meditation Share Your Thoughts...
I could write further about the unique ways in which qi gong/tai chi
versus bagua apply the principle of sung. If you'd be interested in
Health + Safety Notice: this topic, please drop me a line by email. I always appreciate your
Any mind-body-energy exercise
may carry risks. Do not attempt
thoughts and feedback.

∞
any exercises presented in this
publication if you have any
physical, emotional or mental
conditions that may make you
susceptible to injury without first
seeking the advice of your health-
care professional.
"Each of you is perfect
the way you are...and you can
© 2016 Paul Cavel
All rights reserved. Reprinting use a little improvement".
or sharing any portion of this
publication without expressed —Zen Master Shunryu Suzuki
written consent is strictly
prohibited.

© 2016 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved. Page 12