Head Position in Xinyi-Dao

Agreed with you brother. Id like to add some point too. In our group, head suspended by a string above is only for qigong development and practice of wuji shi etc, and not for martial structure. Head upright does not match the Shanxi XY way of storing (shu) and releasing (zhan) jing and is more Hebei style (straight spine rule) and why dantian gong doesnt fit into that (Hebei) method, because you MUST bend and unbend your spine (as well as HEAD and legs) to produce dantian power. This is from the principle of “3 powers into one” (head/neck, back, legs), which is developed in squatting monkey. Thus the head CANNOT remain upright considering this power mechanic. It must move with the other two powers (back and legs). Further in what we call “Basic Shape” which is developed in Santi Shi, the requirements are Ji Tui/Rooster Legs, Lung Shen/Dragon Body, Xiong Bang/Bear Shoulders, Hu Tou/Tigers Head, and Ying Zhuo/Eagle’s Claw. The Hu Tou/Tigers Head part is one of the first places to show no head suspended from above position. The chin is inward and forehead is forward. Shifu teaches this saying, “All practical fighting uses this.”. Basically keeping your knockout points (chin) away from the enemy, and if your head is upright more destructive force is transmitted into your head/brain, whereas a hit to the forehead rolls off easier and still allows entering. And he also has taught that “Xinyi is like a bull pulling a cart.” meaning chin in and head forward. Point is is that ‘head suspended from above, at least in our branch,’ is NOT the ‘classical position’ and only for qigong, and this (Hu Tou) should already be a habit from the foundation training. Martial power and stances, hu bu/standing tiger, 3 powers into one etc, do not advocate this. hope this helps. Salutes – Brother Sudan (Jin Jun)