lesson two: ward-off right and loop
From the preceding posture (ward off left) shift all of your weight into the left foot and turn out slightly to the left. Turn right and face 90 degrees from ward off left and hold a ball with the left hand on top. Step your right foot forward, put it down heel first, and to the right far enough to keep shoulder width between your legs. Be careful to keep your left leg pointing in the same direction that your foot points. If the step is true, then your head won’t have to shift forward, backward, left or right as you step, but it will sink.
As you shift your weight to the right leg, passing double- weightedness, start to pivot your left foot, keeping the heel down and moving the toes to 45 degrees. Simultaneously, bring your right hand up, and turn it over so that the palm points at you. Bring the left hand to a position behind the right and slightly below. Sink your weight and be sure that your belly button points straight forward. Your front thigh points the same way as the foot, while keeping a little bend in your back leg and hip.
Looking at your posture from the front it should be obvious that your feet are shoulder- width apart, weight centered at the bubbling well point.
This posture is called “ward off right.”
Check to see that it keeps its power by administering a ki test.
When moving from the back leg forward to the front leg, there are a series of things that you have to coordinate. As you pass through the point where your weight is distributed evenly (50/50) between your legs you do these things at the same time:
1. Pivot the back foot on the heel so that the power is leveraged. The toes (like a jack handle) move forward to approximately 45 degrees while the heel (the pivot point) digs in.
2. When the pivot on the back heel is completed, then switch immediately to the ball of both feet (bubbling well point) to prepare for the next move. The heel push is for power, but once you pass 50/50 switch both feet to the bubbling well point for mobility. (Muhammad Ali floated like a butterfly on his toes when circling with an opponent while throwing some jabs, but when he delivered an especially powerful punch that really stung, he dropped to his heels and then immediately went back on the balls of his feet).
3. If you don’t make these switches when you push and miss, you’ll stumble forward, easily pulled off balance. If pushed while on the back heel, you’ll topple over backward.
4. Simultaneously with the pivot, begin to turn the glutes off in the back leg and proportionately turn the glutes on in the front leg. If you have a hard time getting your front glute hard, then you’re not leaning forward enough. Ki test it.
5. When 70% of your weight is on the front leg, that leg is substantial (yang). The back, weightless leg is insubstantial, so it’s yin. The front leg extends a root downward through the bubbling well point and the back yin leg taps and draws chi out of the earth from the same point at the heart of the foot.
Ward- off Left and Right Loop
Now we’ll learn a loop comprising both full postures.
These two postures (front and back) are the foundation of all of the footwork that you’ll need throughout the rest of the form, so we’ll turn it into a loop for the sake of drilling the proper steps. If you get so that you can perform this loop, you’ll learn the fundamental steps and then the rest of the form will be much easier. It doesn’t do a lot of good to venture further in the form until you can perform the loop correctly.
From ward off right, turn slightly right and bring your hands to hold a ball of chi with the right hand on top. Then turn back left and step your left foot straight forward being careful not to lose the shoulder’s width.
Shift 70% of your weight to the front leg. As you shift the weight of your body to 50/50, start to pivot the right foot on the heel. Come to the left front posture. Check that your front thigh points in the same direction as your foot and that you have width.
Ki test it. You can tell if you have the proper weight distribution by keeping your front foreleg vertical. Feel the weight spread evenly on the bottoms of your feet.
Shift all of your weight into the forward foot and turn out slightly to the left. Turn back to the right and face 90 degrees. Step your right foot forward and to the right, enough to keep shoulder width between your legs, all the time being careful to keep your left leg pointing in the same direction that your foot points. If the step is truly empty, then your head won’t have to shift but will sink.
Put the right foot down, heel first, and begin to shift to the right leg. As you pass double- weightedness, start to pivot your left foot, keeping the heel down and moving the toes to 45 degrees. Look right, step left, pivot on the heel, fix the full posture. Look left, pivot heel. Again, fix the full posture. Ki test it.