KungFu Yin And Yang – Becoming The Baby Bear Part 2

: Image by Marquette La via Flickr

As Papa Bear’s force can be strong and powerful, one must be careful because when giving too much force, it can be absorbed against him by the soft force of Mama Bear causing the practitioner to over extend or lose his balance. Equally if the force is met too soft, it can be overtaken by the force of Papa Bear thus causing the practitioner to lose structure and thus collapse under the pressure. So when one force becomes offset with the other, then that opposing force can be used against the unbalanced one. While Papa Bear and Mama Bear represent the opposite extreme, it is the Baby Bear that was ‘Just right”. So what does this mean? It is through the Baby Bear that a practitioner can find the control between the two opposing forces.

The question is what does, “Just Right” mean and how does one achieve it? The concept of the Baby Bear is to always be adjusting and counter adjusting with the force of both Papa Bear and Mama Bear given by the opponent. It is maintaining the balance when there is an increase of pressure as the opponent decreases as well as decreasing pressure when the opponent increases it. By doing so, the practitioner becomes “there, but not there.” He becomes like the wind, where you can feel it, but there is no substance for the opponent to take. This technique allows the practitioner to steer the force thus allowing him to control the energy to the practitioner’s will.

By understanding and applying the Baby Bear, size and strength does not become an issue while at the same time the practitioner does not expel or exert his own energy. This method although does not require having physical strength, it does require having a high level of sensitivity that the practitioner must develop through consistent and continual practice. While this principle takes a lot more training to become very skillful, it is not limited by ones physical strength. One of the things I always like to teach my students to “Learn to develop the two “S’s” while avoiding the two “s’s,” which is to become soft and supple, not strong and stiff.

Remember, Feel the Force, not Force the Feel. God Bless and God speed.

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