What is Fa-Jing?
Fa jin, fajin, or fa chin is a term used in some Chinese martial arts, particularly the neijia (internal) martial arts, such as Xingyi, T'ai Chi Chuan Baguazhang and Bak Mei.
It means to issue or discharge power, and is not specific to any particular striking method. Any Internal Matial Art should use Fa Jing. If it doesn't then it's not an Internal System.
True Fa-Jing
The most recent letter I received was from a chap asking about fa-jing and relaying a story of some US martial arts master who was in the UK performing fa-jing on people and sending them backwards some 8 metres!
Firstly, fa-jing does not send people backwards. Fa-jing explodes inside of people causing them to simply shake and fall to the ground either unconscious or dead! It is PUSHING that sends people backwards some metres, not fa-jing. For instance when someone demonstrates fa-jing on a heavy bag, the bag should not move very much, perhaps a slight swing. However, the main thrust of the strike is a violent shaking of the bag with not much movement. This indicates that the strike has gone right inside of the object and has exploded inside and not on the outside, this is true fa-jing.
When, however, we strike to for instance a hand held mitt which is much lighter, the mitt will be thrust away explosively and often hurting the wearer’s hand or arm. True fa-jing can never be done against a body as that body will be severely damaged. You can push people however, without hurting them. So, some instructor has ‘pushed’ someone backwards and not hurt them! So what! He just gets back up. This is what most people mean when they say that they can perform fa-jing, it is actually a push! The instructor must be able to place his finger-tips onto the mitt and without withdrawing his hand at all, strike the mitt with such force as to explode that mitt away, this is true fa-jing.
If someone were to be able to force someone backwards by 8 metres using a strike, think about it for a moment logically. If someone were to be shot by a shotgun at close range, it would kill them and it would not send them backwards some 8 metres but only a few metres and they would be dead. For to be able to lift a 70 or 80 kg person up and then throw them backwards, would take so much power that it would kill that person. So it is obvious that In these cases ‘student participation’ ins inherent where the student actually throws themselves backwards using their own leg muscles. The test would be to have the person sitting on a chair, feet off the ground, then strike him. He would probably be knocked over and fall on the ground but would definitely not be sent backwards 8 metres or even one metre! For to lift an object that heavy up and thrown it that far away would require the power of a small bomb!
To keep on reading this article please click True Fa-Jing.
What's covered in Eli Montaigue's Dim Mak / Tai Chi Workshop?
- Dim Mak / Death Point Sriking
- Yang Lu-ch'an's Taiji Form
- Fa Jing / Explosive Power
- Knife Defence
- Push Hands
- and more...
