Chin na techniques are designed to control your opponent’s energy. If we manipulate our opponent’s energy, we can predict and control his movements. The methods used to control energy are jen mai, bi qi, fen jing, cuo gu and din xue (also referred to as dim mak).
* Je mai involves the extremities and the interruption of an opponent’s chi flow to create an opening in a defensive gate.
* Bi qi stops qi flow in the torso, which includes the head.
* Fen jing works on separating the tendons, but involves the muscles, skin and even the opponent’s hair.
* Cuo gu destroys the skeletal structure
* Din xue uses pressure points to inflict paid.

The location and intensity of usage (as I will refer to this principle in the future) can cause serious harm (even fatality), as well as temporary or permanent disability.

Chin Na’s Hidden Meanings
Many martial artists describe chin na as locks and holds. This short-hand definition works in some situations, but also creates a great deal of misunderstanding because of the information that it excludes. A sanda tournament judge once said that in 20 years of being an arbiter he had never seen anyone successfully use chin na in a tournament. While I understood his intent, I also knew that most throws that most effective throws are cuo gu; a sidekick to the thigh can cause jen mai; and a blow to the solar plexus is an example of bi qi.

While fen jing and dim mak may be harder to employ when wearing a 16-ounce gloves, I suspect the judge in question has seen successful chin na during his 20 years in the ring and has failed to recognize it as such.

The Chinese term chin na 擒拿 can be analyzed as follows: 禽-bird 扌-hand (in radical root) 合- together and 手- hand (in formal writing). The best way to convey the meaning of these characters is to look at the act of catching a chicken. First, you need scare the chicken as you approach it. Then you have drawn the chicken closer to you. When the chicken is near, quickly steer the chicken one hand toward the other hand. Bring your hands together to clench the chicken.

The best place to catch a chicken is the its wings so it can’t fly. To maintain control bring the chicken’s wings backward so it can’t flap its wings. If the chicken struggles, dig your fingers into the area at the root of the wings near the chest. This will paralyze the bird.

Setting the Trap
It is easy to see how one can look at the end result and say that is chin na. However, unless the chicken is caught it is impossible to apply a lock or hold. Chin na’s true value depends on understanding how to lure the chicken into the trap. At the risk of sounding like John Paul Sartre, we are luring the chicken into a trap of its own creation.

I recently read a book called Shi Qu Di Wulin 逝去的武林 , a compilation of a series of interviews with the xingyi master Li Zhong Xian. Li was asked about dim mak. He answered by quoting his teacher, the famous Shang Yun Xing: “You don’t look for the pressure point; the pressure point comes to you.” On the surface this is a pretty simple concept—one needs to seize the opportunities.

But this is only a part of the meaning. If I apply pressure to my opponent’s arm, he only has to flex his muscle or bend his arm to obscure the pressure point and make my movement ineffectual. On the other hand, if an opponent extends his arm in my direction and I divert his energy, then I can apply pressure at a time when it is more difficult for him to counter the effects of dim mak.

Balancing Yin and Yang
Shang is referring to the yin and yang proximity theory, which states that when your opponent employs yang energy, there will be a yin point along the meridian line involved by his offensive movement. That yin point will be vulnerable to yang power. The penetrating pressure of dim mak is a form of yang power that I can then employ to defeat his original attack. Controlling of an opponent’s energy greatly relies on an understanding of when, where and how yin and yang energies manifest themselves; how to balance an opponent’s yin or yang energy with his own opposite energy as a means of neutralizing his attack; and how to control an opponent through manipulating his energy.

Chin na employs a number of theories, which can be used to defeat an opponent. One of the most interesting is the whirlpool theory, the idea of which is to use your opponent’s yang thrust to create a vortex into which he is trapped. If we think about the aforementioned chicken, we may have used our left hand to turn him to the left, at which point our right hand would turn him further to upset his balance and make it easier to grasp his wings near the roots. This turning creates the whirlpool. Similarly, if an opponent punches, the outside of his punching shoulder is yang and the inside of that shoulder is yin. To create a whirlpool, I can bend his arm toward his opposite shoulder (I look to the point where that arm is likely to contact the shoulder and that point is also a yin point). Or given the opportunity, I can employ a variety of chin na techniques.

The whirlpool theory makes your opponent’s energy implode rather than explode. While many martial arts emphasize centrifugal force for throws and takedowns, the whirlpool approach emphasizes centripetal force. Explosive power is yang power while implosive power is yin. A successful movement uses a balance of yin and yang power and this makes it incorrect to state that one's energy is used exclusively. The result of the throw appears different to the extent that one has the explosive yang quality and the other the implosive yin quality.

Great Escape
As a general rule, it is more difficult to escape from the situation into which one is placed by a yin (implosive throw) than the yang (explosive throw), which makes it a better choice if you want to control your opponent. (If you catch the chicken and throw it out of the cage, it may fly away. If you catch the chicken and take it to the chopping block, you’ll have it for dinner.)

The way we respond to stimuli, both neurologically and psychologically, are major theories in the practice of chin na. Pain increases exponentially when the same spot is repeatedly hit. A wrestler who is repeatedly thrown to the ground will lose his will to get up and continue the fight. Feeling as though he is beaten, this will increase the likelihood of his failure. We are constructed in such a way that our conscious acts tend to be slower than our automatic (reflexive if you will) acts. A strategy that makes an opponent think about his movements is likely to slow the opponent. Take applying and then releasing that force, for example. If force is applied and suddenly released, a moment’s hesitation occurs as the conscious mind asks, “What happened?”

That moment’s hesitation means the gate is less closely guarded and more vulnerable to infiltration. Other methods of creating conscious mental activity are to change sides; change up and down; change directions; or varying tactile, visual, audio and other sensory perceptions, all of which create a disturbance in your autonomic system.

The autonomic system needs to be trained to detect an opponent’s energy. The detection process is like the sonar and radar systems we see used in ships and aircraft. The autonomic system communicates through our intuition during a fight. When it becomes disturbed, the conscious mind will attempt to take over and this delays the reaction process.

One with Nature
Another theory is to make an alliance with your environment. The environment is unlimited. It can include the ground, a nearby tree, a stream, a metal object, the sun, another person or whatever else seems to appropriately fit the circumstances. Scientists estimate that only five percent of the universe is composed of matter; the remaining 95 percent is energy. If we know how to collect and utilize energy from our environment, then we can increase our own energy potential proportionally.

Many people dismiss this idea as being primitive and perhaps romantic. But, no one denies that we need the environment to breathe and eat. In both instances, we derive energy from the environment. Similarly, we absorb Vitamin D from the sun. At the same time we know

Modern science tells us that all matter is composed of a molecular structure and that the molecules are held together in part by a type of magnetism. Because there is space between the atoms that make up the molecules and even between the molecules that combine together, there is a level of vibration emitted by any given material substance. If we can teach our bodies to resonate at the same frequency as a given object, then we can either receive energy from or give energy to that material object. This type of thinking underscores the importance of 5 element theory to martial arts.

Those familiar with the bagua trigram know that the solid lines are yang energy and the broken lines are yin energy. You further know that 4,000 years ago people were saying that the five essential elements that compose this planet (fire, water, earth, metal and wood) are combinations of yin and yang energies in groups of three.

Harnessing Energy
Mixed martial arts utilizes ground energy as a means of fighting. In northern China, people used the long pole while doing stances to allow them to feel the wood’s vibration and thereby increase their wood energy strength. Training in metal weapons will also increase metal energy. Training by water (beach, mountain spring, waterfalls) allows access to an increase in water energy. Walking in a circle around a camp fire results in one absorbing fire energy.

The final theory the theory of change. The I-Ching or Book of Change is a major work in Chinese philosophical thinking. We begin with the premise that life contains only one certainty. That certainty is that things will change. The martial artist copes with change by developing the “constant heart”. We develop a constant heart by learning to perceive change and accepting its inevitability. Likewise, this training includes perceiving yin and yang in all situations and anticipating the direction that yin and yang forces will go in any situation.

Part of developing a constant heart is to devote oneself to the commitment of balancing yin and yang. The whirlpools can be different shapes and sizes; they also keep on changing and the energy that a person has to contend with may come in different forms and levels of intensity. Regardless of the situation, the martial artist in a fight needs to focus on balancing his opponent’s yin and yang energy and thereby neutralizing this energy.

When training you need to spend some time with an imaginary enemy. Keep changing this enemy and keep changing your techniques to correspond to the opponent and to the psychological and neurological responses that you wish to educe. The five elements also change. You need to use different energies at different times. Five elements relate to both an internal organ within the body and an external body part. Five internal organs can be accessed for energy in much the same way as one can access an ATM machine when one does not have time to go to the bank.

A Chinese martial art adage states that when you are training solo, imagine an enemy; when you are fighting, imagine that no one is there. If you imagine changes for long periods of time, you will build a constant heart.

If you truly understand the broader meaning of chin na, you will find that the art is effective, powerful and readily available.

A former columnist with Inside Kung-Fu, Jason Tsou teaches external and internal Chinese martial arts in Southern California. He can be reached at www.chikung.net.

Did You Know?
Jason Tsou was asked to teach martial arts to the Taiwan Air Force, Fourth Division.

Up Close
Name: Jason Tsou
Birthplace: Taiwan
Birthdate: 1949
Started Kung-Fu: Age 11
First Style Northern Long Fist
Came to U.S.: 1974
Schools: Move to Los Angeles in 1977
Notes: Established a kung-fu club at UCLA
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