Lightness skill (hing gung): how long can the best stay in the air?

[Ken Cheng]

Hing gung, or lightness skill, in wuxia enables its practitioners to defy gravity for a limited distance and time. It's probably as close to human beings can come to flying under their own power (no help from external devices or machines).

So how long can the best hing gung practitioners stay in the air without having to bounce off a solid surface? Is anybody capable of sustained flight using hing gung?

[TommyH]

Hing gung, or lightness skill, in wuxia enables its practitioners to defy gravity for a limited distance and time. It's probably as close to human beings can come to flying under their own power (no help from external devices or machines).

So how long can the best hing gung practitioners stay in the air without having to bounce off a solid surface? Is anybody capable of sustained flight using hing gung?

I don't think it's much more than a few seconds...but is it possible to use internal power to push yourself away from the ground? In that case it could be as long as a few minutes.

[slchan0]

Hing gung, or lightness skill, in wuxia enables its practitioners to defy gravity for a limited distance and time. It's probably as close to human beings can come to flying under their own power (no help from external devices or machines).

So how long can the best hing gung practitioners stay in the air without having to bounce off a solid surface? Is anybody capable of sustained flight using hing gung?

Maybe slightly longer than long jump athletes?

[danshu_]

Maybe slightly longer than long jump athletes?

kind of like triple jump athletes, but continuous?

[slchan0]

kind of like triple jump athletes, but continuous?

but then he'll have to land on some kind of solid to continue his/her next push? For a martial artist probably soft solids like grass would work too?

[danshu_]

but then he'll have to land on some kind of solid to continue his/her next push? For a martial artist probably soft solids like grass would work too?

well, in real life people are capable of incredible qinggong, but to jump the thing you push off of must take your entire body weight... its just the physics.

but in wuxia the difference is that they can push off stuff that is unable to sustain their body weight, and stay aloft longer, cause they can actually lighten themselves or increase buoyancy using their dantian qi, something that is impossible in real life.

[yittz]

From my impression of cloud steps from Wudang performed by ZWJ, it seem they can last in the air for a bit (as oppose to us who fall straight down).

For the given time they are in the air, they can propel themselves much furtherer than Olympic artists. Their leg power is enough to chase down a horse and make footprints and kick horses off the ground.

[Extremer88]

Yep, and in the air, they can do flips, tricks and somersaults.

[danshu_]

While we are on the topic of Qing Gong, if anyone is interested to watch, this video shows the BEST OF THE BEST of real-life qinggong skills:

http://nopacnone.free.fr/videos/worl...cks_vol_II.mpg

if you take the time to download it, its well worth a look (right-click save as for download)

[PJ]

Thanks for sharing that video clip with us, danshu_. All I have to say is that it is an awe-inspiring viewing experience. Everyone should see it.

[ech33]

thanx for the clip, really amazing, hope i can be like them....