Static tension

Here's one of the exercises He Laoshi commented to do "with the principles in mind" and "if you can maintain this in your bagua postures" i.e. to use tendon strength, adhere to the structural principles, and perhaps transfer this feeling to the bagua postures. I think they are an excellent tool. It is quite difficult to do this exercise with muscles alone, but becomes harder when starting to focus on such principles. Here, I had to take several pictures before the feeling and posture were right. In fact, the feeling between what looks right and wrong on the picture is minimal. But for anyone doing this exercise, I think important is turning in the shoulder blades and keeping them close to the spine, while rotating the elbows upwards. In my feeling and understanding, I am pushing with my structure and from the core as in the engarde position. However, it's easy to over-stress the lower back quickly, so be careful. As can be seen here: one picture is with arched back, one with hollow back. One of them is more or less straight. If anyone has any comments as to the correctness/incorrectness of my posture or understanding, PLEASE correct me! Martin