About FIVE ELEMENTS:
"What we mean in boxing arts when we talk of the five elements is actually a “strength” of metal, of wood, of water, of fire, of the earth:
The sinews and bones throughout your body are as hard as iron or stone. This is the nature of metal, and is therefore called the “strength of metal”.
The four limbs and hundreds of bones have everywhere the same quality of bending and extending as a tree. This is the nature of wood, and is therefore called the “strength of wood”.
The movement of the body is like a spirit dragon swimming through sky, or a mighty serpent wading through water. Like the flow of water, there is no set path, just the liveliness of following the course of circumstance. This is the nature of water, and is therefore called the “strength of water”.
When you shoot out your hand, it is like an artillery shell exploding, a sudden action that is like a fire burning the opponent’s body, so alarmingly fierce. This is the nature of fire and is therefore called the “strength of fire”.
Your whole body is filled with a sincere sense of weight, as though as heavy as a mountain, and every part is like a pointed peak. This is the nature of earth, and is therefore called the “strength of earth”.
With every action, always have these five kinds of strength.
This is the method of the “five elements merging into one”.
Whenever you are not moving, your whole body has consistent strength, but whenever you are moving, there is everywhere, large and small joints alike, a duality of contending strength above and below, forward and back, left and right. In this way, you can gain the combined strength of your whole body".
by Wang Xiang Zhai
"What we mean in boxing arts when we talk of the five elements is actually a “strength” of metal, of wood, of water, of fire, of the earth:
The sinews and bones throughout your body are as hard as iron or stone. This is the nature of metal, and is therefore called the “strength of metal”.
The four limbs and hundreds of bones have everywhere the same quality of bending and extending as a tree. This is the nature of wood, and is therefore called the “strength of wood”.
The movement of the body is like a spirit dragon swimming through sky, or a mighty serpent wading through water. Like the flow of water, there is no set path, just the liveliness of following the course of circumstance. This is the nature of water, and is therefore called the “strength of water”.
When you shoot out your hand, it is like an artillery shell exploding, a sudden action that is like a fire burning the opponent’s body, so alarmingly fierce. This is the nature of fire and is therefore called the “strength of fire”.
Your whole body is filled with a sincere sense of weight, as though as heavy as a mountain, and every part is like a pointed peak. This is the nature of earth, and is therefore called the “strength of earth”.
With every action, always have these five kinds of strength.
This is the method of the “five elements merging into one”.
Whenever you are not moving, your whole body has consistent strength, but whenever you are moving, there is everywhere, large and small joints alike, a duality of contending strength above and below, forward and back, left and right. In this way, you can gain the combined strength of your whole body".
by Wang Xiang Zhai
Tutto il tuo corpo è permeato da un profondo senso di pesantezza, pesante come una montagna, e ogni parte è come una vetta appuntita. Questa è la natura della terra ed è per questo che è chiamata la "forza della terra".
In ogni azione queste cinque forze sono compresenti.
Questo è il metodo dei "cinque elementi che si fondono in uno".
Ogni volta che resti immobile, il tuo corpo è pervaso da una forza consistente. Ogni volta che ti muovi, percepisci questa forza ovunque, nelle grandi e nelle piccole articolazioni, un dualismo di forze in opposizione. Sopra e sotto, avanti e indietro, sinistra e destra. In questo modo, si ottiene la forza combinata di tutto corpo ".
di Wang Xiang Zhai
Tradotto da Mauro A. D'Angelo
In ogni azione queste cinque forze sono compresenti.
Questo è il metodo dei "cinque elementi che si fondono in uno".
Ogni volta che resti immobile, il tuo corpo è pervaso da una forza consistente. Ogni volta che ti muovi, percepisci questa forza ovunque, nelle grandi e nelle piccole articolazioni, un dualismo di forze in opposizione. Sopra e sotto, avanti e indietro, sinistra e destra. In questo modo, si ottiene la forza combinata di tutto corpo ".
di Wang Xiang Zhai
Tradotto da Mauro A. D'Angelo