What is Silk-Reeling Energy?

internal arts training silk-reeling energy tai chi energies taiji energies Jul 10, 2013

Silk-reeling energy is one of the unique qualities of the internal arts of Chinese kung-fu, particularly Tai Chi and Bagua, but it is also found in Hsing-I, at least the way I practice it. The Chinese refer to this skill as "Chan Ssu Jin."

Silk-reeling energy is a physical skill. There is nothing metaphysical or mystical about it.

Many people around the world have been fooled by the word "energy," which is a poorly translated way of saying "method" or "power" in Chinese. When we hear the word "energy" being used in this way -- including peng energy or liu energy or any of the "energies" of Tai Chi -- we think that it is referring to a scientifically valid electrical or chemical/physiological energy coursing through our bodies.

If that were the case, Michael Jordan used "slam energy" to dunk a basketball. Babe Ruth was a master of "swat energy" when he hit a home run.

That would be wrong. Silk-reeling "energy" is a physical method of using spiraling movement through the body, connected to the ground, using peng jin, whole-body connection, Dan T'ien rotation, opening and closing of the kua. It requires loosening and extending the joints, including the shoulder, elbow, wrist. The spiraling movement, when combined with these other skills, increases your ability to deliver relaxed power.

The first time I studied silk-reeling, I was taught wrong by a man who claimed to be an internal arts master. Like most Americans, Europeans and many Chinese who call themselves master, he was not. I was told to "imagine" my chi traveling from my foot to my hand in a spiraling wave. I should imagine it moving through my body in a spring-like series of circles.

My friends, you can imagine "chi" all day and never do the spiraling movements of silk-reeling properly. It has nothing to do with imagining anything, any more than Michael Jordan imagines chi when he dunks that basketball.

I teach the concepts of this spiraling method in detail, showing step-by-step movements through 18 exercises from the DVD that shows how to develop silk-reeling movement. The photo at left is from exercise #12 - Diving Palm Spiral. In this photo I am closed into the left kua, grounded from the right leg, and preparing to sink and spiral outward, grounded from the left leg.

It's not easy explaining how silk-reeling works without showing, but it is a crucial element in quality Tai Chi, Bagua, and Hsing-I, even though it is not discussed very often in Hsing-I. In my classes, we make it a vital part of our Hsing-I movement.

Silk-reeling has been lost by some arts -- you can see it is missing when you watch people perform. I see Tai Chi people practice all the time and there is no silk-reeling happening at all because their teachers were not taught properly.

If you are practicing or interested in Tai Chi, Bagua, or Hsing-I, you must have an accurate understanding of silk-reeling, and it must be more detailed than "cultivating" or "imagining" chi. It is a physical skill that involves spiraling through the body. If your teacher is not teaching this, the information is still available to you elsewhere.

--by Ken Gullette

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What is Silk-Reeling Energy?

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