Greetings ChiDragon and DP!
Well, the object of the game is not to let the partner to feel your physical strength; rather, you want to feel the strength of the partner. That is only when the partner had made a mistake by issued a force(勁，jin). Then you will sense the jin by ting jin.
My practice and understanding are different from this and much more in line with what DP has described.
For me, “sticking” means to have mutual pressure. Pivoting, rolling, and coiling are necessary to change the orientation or placing of the point of pressure, but sliding is not permitted. For us, pressure that is too light is just as bad as pressure that is too heavy.
You could say that one starting point is with becoming song 松/髤, which is loose and relaxed. To do this you must consciously lengthen the limbs and focus more on the tendons than the muscles. It is like pulling on the ends of a chain to bring the individual links into contact. You don’t want to pull so hard that you get a stiff feeling or so soft that the links do not connect. Some schools focus on maintaining minimal muscular exertion, but we do not. For us, it is the quality of action that is much more important than the quantity of effort.
From being loose and relaxed, you will obtain the feeling of Peng energy, which is a feeling of resilient and springy force coming from your center. You want to feel like water floating a boat from inside to outside.
Using the same action, water can float a fly or a battleship. It matches the energy it receives. This is how we want our Peng to be and is one reason why we do not focus on minimal muscular exertion. The amount of exertion is dependent on the situation. More energy towards your center means more energy outward from your center. How much energy you let come towards your center is a different consideration.
At a basic level, water can only push and float, it cannot pull. Air is the same way. Air pressure only pushes. Our Peng is the same.
Even though water does not have a pulling mechanism, an undertow can pull you under at the beach. Even though air cannot push, you can use air pressure to pull water though a straw. Even though our Peng does not pull, you can use it to do Pluck (cai 採) and pull your opponent to the ground.
Even though our Peng is an outward energy, it allows for two-way movement, just as water can make a boat bob up and down in the water. In this way, our Peng is a Taiji: a single thing that is made up of two aspects, and not two separate, but alternating things.
From the Peng ability comes the pressure that is used in sticking. To stick there must be pressure or energy from both sides. If your opponent emits no energy, you have nothing to stick to and cannot stick. You must wait. For us, this is one meaning of “If your opponent does not move, you do not move.”
The reason you stick is not just to listen to your opponent’s energy, but also to affect his or her energy. In fact, we do it to get control of the opponent.
The concept of sticking is often divided into two parts: a yin and yang aspect. In that way of thinking, practitioners often quote the phrase: 不丢不顶 (Bu diu bu ding), or “Don’t lose; don’t clash.” This means do enough, but don’t do too much. Don’t be too Yin or too Yang.
You can also divide sticking into four aspects: zhan, nian, lian, sui (粘、黏、连、随), or “sticking,” “adhering”/”being sticky,” “connecting,” and “following.” These are also Yin-Yang pairs.
Zhan and nian are more about calibrating the pressure with the arms from a position, and lian and sui are more about calibrating the pressure with the legs in movement.
For zhan粘, you want to pass pressure to your opponent, so that his or her Qi rises. This is a Yang action. However, if you do too much, you clash (ding 顶) with your opponent’s energy. Excessively Yang is not correct.
For nian黏, you want the opponent to pass pressure to you, so that you gain control of his or her energy. You want the opponent to feel like he or she almost has freedom of movement, but that you feel sticky. Like the difference between stirring sugar in water and stirring sticky rice, thick oatmeal, or thin peanut butter. With this subtle control over your opponent’s energy, you can lead it to come to nothing (落空 luo kong). This is a Yin skill, but if you do too little and are insufficient, you are too flat (bian匾). Excessively Yin is not correct.
For lian连, you want to make sure that you always are connected to the opponent’s energy. If he or she moves away from you, you want to give up your own position to stay connected. This is a Yang skill; however, if you are not sufficiently Yang, you will lose (diu 丢) the connection and lose control of the opponent’s energy. Insufficiently Yang is not correct.
For sui随, you want to move along with the direction of your opponent’s energy and adapt to his or her movement. If he or she moves toward you, you want to yield accordingly. This is a Yin skill; however, if you are not sufficiently Yin, you will give the opponent the feeling of resistance (kang抗). Insufficiently Yin is not correct.
These are the skills we learn through our circling drills. As you do them, you will naturally learn to listen to and perceive the energy. As you learn to listen to the energy, more practice teaches you to understand how the energy works and its empty and full. More practice teaches you how to neutralize, dissolve, and transform it. With more practice, you learn how to send out the energy properly.
In working with the ball against the wall, I was able to develop some of the skills to a small degree. Too much pressure is bad, and too little is bad. If you cannot control the ball’s path along the wall, you have a bad result. If you do not follow the balls motion along the wall, you also have a bad result. Best of all, it is hard to blame the ball for not doing the right technique and being too hard or too soft.
Take care,
Audi
