Is was recently asked on a popular discussion forum ... comparing what visually appear to be different things. On some examples of videos, very little APPARENT movement of the Dantien is happening, and the torso behaves more like a TOMBSTONE, with power generated mostly from the hip joints and the ground, and in contrast, some other videos show a very active Dantien, and the question speculates that the Dantien powers the movement.
My answer: The body is not a “tombstone tablet”. I know that isn’t exactly what they meant, but I wish we can find a different metaphor. This is, I believe, the crux of the conversation.
I prefer diverse terms to describe the absorbing, gathering and sometimes (the less preferred thing) spending energy.
The two terms that have to be reconciled are ELASTICITY and STRUCTURE.
The “tombstone tablet” metaphor alludes to structure and it is true to a certain point; what point is that? Every elastic material has an ability to store potential energy by being coiled to a certain point and return it basically without loss if the material resistance point isn’t broken or exceeded. This is the general structure that shouldn’t be broken, expressed in concepts like the 3 harmonies (shoulders aligned with hips, elbows aligned with knees, wrists aligned with ankles). These are not a straight jacket, but general principles of structure.
Examples: the range in which the arm as a whole can absorb force without being compromised is a range not to be exceeded by allowing your elbow to go behind the plane created by your shoulders and hips on one side, and not allowing it on the other hand to cross past the center line defined by your sternum.
How do you enhance the range in the real world? by spiraling, of course.
How do you absorb and issue? Imagine the concept of a theraband flexbar and project it into three dimensions.
Ideally, you have the ability to coil and absorb a certain amount of energy by being relaxed and sensitive to the energy coming into you, and converting its vectors into vectors that enhance your root and connection to the ground. This requires both structure, relaxation and an active Dantien that acts as a "gyroscope" of sorts, transforming any vector of energy into a mix of two vertical energies, going down each leg into the ground.
In a less demanding pressure situation, all you need to do is use this three dimensional spiraling to get behind the oncoming energy and help it succeed in going into its intended direction, without being in the way yourself.
If you must return energy (less preferred because it involves issuing, spending), then you can use the stored energy to return to a specific point and into a specific direction by using your clean structure AND full relaxation to minimize energy waste in other places or directions. You crack the whip, so to speak. The handle of the whip would be Ming Men, the Dantien truly is a “transmission” and the real force is the reaction of earth to gravity, rather than your own power.
This is what the very advanced masters do, in my rudimentary explanation.
He isn’t violating either the structure nor the flexibility; he has them controlled and he uses it to project with structure, relaxation and elasticity. The projection is NOT from the Dantien, it is rather THROUGH the Dantien, which again, acts as a gyroscope that takes earths reaction to gravity and transfers it through the rest of the body into a chosen set of vectors in three dimensions.
Summarizing, the Dantien is NOT the source of power, for the Chen TaiJiQuan system; it MANAGES and TRANSFORMS vectors of force. The force truly is gravity and you use earth's reaction to that action, carefully eliminating energy flow leaks, returning to the point of contact.
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