Exercise your biceps and after a while you can proudly flaunt your muscles. Cycle a bit against the wind every day - or buy an exercise bike - and soon the size of your thighs will have increased considerably. This 'what you see is what you get' approach is also appropriate for a six-pack, balloon calves and tight buttocks and chest. In sports practice and sports education, it is convenient if the body part in question is visible and touchable. It can then be perceived by consciousness, and activated and relaxed as desired. Visibility and touchability are also determining factors within anatomy study. Parts of the body that lie in the shadow of consciousness tend to attract less attention, lagging behind in everyday use.
In the dictionary, the Chinese character 胯 'kua' is translated as 'hip' on the one hand, and 'crotch' or 'groin' on the other - two notions that are totally different from each other in location, function and place in our self-image. The 'hip' is touchable and visible, located on the outside of the body. It is by far the largest of the human body's many joints. It marks the transition between the trunk and the legs, and its stability and mobility are crucial to our overall health. There is little doubt about its 'how, what and where'.
However, the second translation of 'kua' takes us into a twilight zone. 'Crotch' and 'groin' have nothing to do with the massive and material character of 'hip'. Rather, they seem to denote negative space - folds rather than bulges, the absence of anatomical mass rather than its presence. 'Groin' and 'crotch' do not lend themselves very well as subjects for contemplative anatomy teaching, also because of their connection with vulnerability, shame and sexuality. As a result, they do not get the place they deserve within our body awareness and motor skills.
For gravity to reach the ground through the body, it has to pass the 'kua'. And for movement initiated from the feet and legs to reach the torso, the 'kua' must let the force play through. Relaxation is the key word in both cases, were it not for the fact that a total lack of tonus in the region of hip, groin and crotch. the body cannot keep itself straight. We must therefore look for the right ratio of tension and relaxation in the 'kua'.
The 'kua' is also actively involved in every physical movement: it is either more stretched or more bent. In tai chi and chi kung terms: the 'kua' is alternately opened and closed. Once more when the visible physical movement is internalised, the mastery of opening and closing the 'kua' is crucial. The initial broad tai chi movements then become more compact and less extrovert - the pronounced chi kung movements (shi li) retreat to around the core of the body.
It is important not to see the 'kua' in isolation from the rest of body and its environment. When as initiation for movement the feet press against the ground, the generated force passes through the successive parts of the body. This trajectory starts between the ground and the ball of the big toe, and continues through the medial arch of the foot, the talus, the inner ankle, tibia and femur, and then passes through the 'kua and further on through torso and upper body.
The energetics of Chinese medical and martial tradition teaches that the upward forces - generated by increased pressure between body and ground - find their origin around the ball of the big toe. This is surrounded by three main energetic points: 'yong chuan', 'tai chong' and 'tai bai'.
The quality of any push-off through the ball of the big toe is determined by these three points. All three lie at the beginning of guideways that accurately reflect the course of the interplay of forces. Since the ground is referred to as 'yin', these conduction pathways carry this term in their designation: 'shao yin' meridian, 'jue yin' meridian and 'tai yin' meridian.
The forces that take their start in the body at 'yong chuan', 'tai chong' and 'tai bai' run along three more or less parallel conduction paths or meridians across lower and upper leg, converging at the crotch and groin. The groin or perineum in this context is called 會陰 'hui yin': 'yin convergence'.
The three pathways are commonly referred to as 'kidney-', 'liver-' and 'spleen-meridian' within Chinese medicine. These designations cause constant confusion, because in this context of movement physiology and movement energetics, there is no direct connection to organic functions. To avoid this unnecessary complexity, it is better to think of the three conduction pathways as belonging to 'yin' - the ground or earth where every body movement has its origin.
In the 'middle' of the groin, the three yin meridians also meet. That intersection is called 'chi chong'. Whereas 'hui yin' can be understood as a centre of integration and structure, 'chi chong' can be considered a centre of activity and explosiveness. 'Chi' means 'energy' (written with the same character as in 'chi kung': 'energy cultivation'). 'Chong' can be translated in English as 'flush'. Therefore 'flushing chi'. Like a dammed river finding its way through an open sluice - like water accelerating as the river is forced through a canyon.
The focal point for 'opening and closing the kua' is therefore 'chi chong'. While doing this, always keep in mind that no movement is possible without the ground. Bending and stretching the hip while the body floates in space does not lead to anything. The 'kua' and the dynamics around the ball of the big toe are both part of one energetic phenomenon.
In the practice of tai chi and chi kung (and, in my case, zhan zhuang and yi chuan), there is always an intimate interplay between the 'kua' and the ball of the big toe - between generating force around the ball of the big toe and passing and multiplying those forces in the groin. 'Tai chong', translated as 'greater flushing' is located between the metatarsals of the big toe and the second toe, in the middle of the adductor hallucis. An antagonist of the adductor hallucis is the abductor hallucis. This lies on the medial side of the big toe and in its course there is 'tai bai'. The balance between 'tai chong' and 'tai bai' resp. adductor and abductor hallucis, determine the alignment of the big toe. Compare this to the alignment of the wheels of the car; the push off against the earth and the direction of movement must be in harmony. Any good tai chi and chi kung teacher will give a lot of attention to this part of the foot in addition to clarifying and clearing the 'kua'.
To be continued ...