The true test of Sōng (鬆) lies not in stillness, but in its dynamic function under extreme, rapidly changing conditions. In a combat context, the definition of Sōng evolves from a simple state of relaxation to a high-level Zero-Resistance Dialectic, involving two distinct and instantaneous actions: Maintaining Sōng and Releasing into Sōng. Understanding and mastering this distinction is the threshold between an advanced practitioner and a true master.

Maintaining Sōng: The Unchanging Foundation

Maintaining Sōng is the continuous, foundational state of the entire structure. This is the practice of keeping the joints decompressed, the connective tissue pliable, and the Dāntián (丹田) sunk, regardless of the opponent's pressure or your own internal movements.

• Structural Integrity: Maintaining Sōng ensures the skeleton and fascia act as a continuous, unified conduit. It prevents the system from recruiting large, superficial muscles (Lì 力) for support and ensures the stability of the Zero Point (Líng Diǎn 零點).

• Energetic Permeability: This maintenance is the absorptive phase of Neutralization (Huà Jìn 化勁). By keeping the body permeable, incoming force is allowed to pass through the point of contact and dissipate into the ground, rather than being trapped and resisted. The practitioner provides a medium, not a barrier.

If the body ceases to maintain Sōng for even a fraction of a second, the entire structure braces, the Zero Point is lost, and the system reverts to using crude power.

Releasing Into Sōng: The Trigger of Action

Releasing into Sōng is the micro-action that occurs at the precise moment of engagement, whether receiving an attack or initiating an offensive move. This is the final, active choice to dissolve the body's natural defensive bracing.

• The Instant of Impact: When external force contacts the structure, the body's protective instinct triggers a final, reflexive layer of tension. The master does not push against this tension; instead, they actively dissolve it at the micro-moment of contact, essentially welcoming the force without resistance.

• Activating Recoil: This final, instantaneous release is the ultimate trigger for the elastic recoil of the fascial system. It utilizes the opponent's incoming energy to load the structure. By "releasing into" the opponent's pressure, the structure instantly switches from passively absorbing force to actively storing and preparing to issue it.

• Fā Jìn (發勁) Issuance: True Power Issuance (Fā Jìn) is not a push; it is the powerful, spontaneous conversion of absorbed energy back to the opponent, initiated by this final, active letting go. The power comes not from muscular contraction, but from the sudden, active absence of resistance.

The Result: Zero-Resistance and Effortless Victory

The combined process—the continuous Maintenance of the open structure, followed by the Instantaneous Release into the force—creates the Zero-Resistance Dialectic.

In this state, the opponent attempts to load your structure, but finds zero resistance and zero structure to connect to (Kong 空虛). Because the practitioner never pushes or pulls, the opponent loses their own base and their power is seized, synthesized, and returned through the elastic Sōng structure. The force that strikes the opponent originates not from the practitioner's muscle, but from the combined energy of the opponent's attack, refined and redirected by the mastery of Sōng.