Forty-two

Resistance requires counterforce, absorption emptiness.

Assume a right stance. Have your partner stand behind you and put his hands on your shoulders. Tense your body and resist as your partner pushes on your shoulders forward and slightly down. Have your partner note the amount of force required to move you off balance. Return to the initial position. Now relax, keep one point and instead of resisting your partners push absorb it letting it flow thru you down your front leg and into the ground. Initially your partner should use the same amount of force required to take you off balance in the tensed example and slowly increase the pressure as you become more adept at absorbing and channeling his power.

As you gain experience with this exercise begin to close your stance until you can perform it in natural stance with feet parallel. You can also vary the direction of the push so that your partner pushes forward and up instead of forward and down. Or have him exert unequal pressure at each or your shoulders attempting to rotate your upper body while also trying to push you forward.

Perform the same set of exercises with your partner pulling instead of pushing.

Ki exercises enable me to discover correct feeling which embodies my most dependable state of being where mind and body are coordinated. They go beyond being testing tools, becoming aids in Ki development and strengthening when repeated over and over. Practicing Ki exercises allows me to feel the subtle changes that occur inside my body as I work with the applied force and endeavor to maintain my center, calm my mind and connect with my partner's center the better to bring about our unity of purpose.