The concept that seemingly opposing aspects in truth define one another; that they are interconnected and give rise to one another. Yin may be dark and cold, but you can only truly know what that is by also knowing Yang which is bright and hot. They are complimentary opposites within a greater whole. You should not be able to think or speak of Yin without also thinking of or referencing Yang.
In martial arts, I believe you will find Yin Yang at the foundation: contracting and expanding in space (Form), rising and falling (Balance), inhaling and exhaling (Breathing), hard and soft movement (Power). The concept of Yin Yang also helps to better understand more abstract but still critical concepts to developing one's martial arts style: Energy (kiai and aiki), Matter (time and space), and Being (physical and metaphysical). Respectively, I refer to these as the Four Pillars and the Three Dimensions.
The Four Pillars
Form, Balance, Breathing, and Power. These four aspects are the most basic characteristics of any martial action whether it is taking a step, holding a stance, throwing a punch or launching a kick. Whenever one practices any technique, one could and probably should only focus on just one of those aspects. As indicated above, Form involves how we move our body -- expanding and contracting different elements of our body as we execute a technique. Balance involves controlling the rise and fall of our center of gravity. Breathing, most obviously, is the aspect of when and how we inhale and as well as exhale. Power is whether an action is hard or soft.
For example, when throwing a punch, Form would involve focusing on how one's fist and arm expands into the open space to meet the target and then contracts again to take it out of counterattack range. Balance would inform the movement as to whether it remains level or travels an arc along a chosen plane. Breathing informs us as to inhale prior to the punch and how to exhale through the punch. Power, of course, is our measure of the necessary energy to expend to most efficiently accomplish the objective.
The Three Dimensions
Energy, Matter, and Being. These three dimensions are present in each of the Four Pillars for any martial arts action. Each of them is a complex concept and deserves a blog post of its own. With regard to Energy, I refer you to my other blog entry on kiai and aiki. But, in short, Energy is a consideration of where we get energy and how we interact with it. Matter is, for my geek friends out there, the Time-Space continuum. When I use the term Matter it is shorthand for the physical reality that is the other part of the Matter - Energy equation. For the purposes of martial arts, Matter is a consideration of the timing involved in a martial action as well as the direction and space that an action requires. And, finally, Being not only directs us to consider the muscles, bones, organs, and nervous system involved in both us as well as our opponent, it also would have us consider qi -- the life force of ourselves as well as our opponent's.
For each of the Pillars, Energy, Matter, and Being should also be considered. Again using the example of a punch, when one is focusing on Power, consideration of Energy would have us think on whether we are drawing energy for our Power from our opponent or the universe (aiki) or from within our own reserves (kiai). Matter has us consider over how much Space and how much Time the Power is to be expended through -- as a snap or as a thrust or perhaps as a dynamic push. Finally, Being leads us to consider the physical aspect of that expression of Power but also the Metaphysical -- the punch impacts upon the opponent's body but it also impacts upon their qi.
Together the Four Pillars and Three Dimensions result in a matrix of 12 variables to be considered and managed for any given martial arts action. While that may become fairly easy to do after 500 repetitions of an action, to start it should be experienced by a student as near impossible. As you work on your martial arts, I would encourage you to spend any given session focusing on only one Pillar and perhaps only on one Dimension of that Pillar. If you consider that for a straight punch, this means that you would be limiting yourself to manipulating two variables. With Form and Matter, as an example, one would try to restrict one's thinking to focusing only upon expanding and contracting the muscles of one's arm and hand so as to be a snap, a thrust or push. This is manageable.
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