咏春拳谚：
拳由心发， 力由地起
Punch from heart; push from ground.
图中“来流”似应作“来留”, I guess you can argue, by stretching it a little, that 来流 also makes sense here - not to trap the incoming force, but to let it flow past.
武术，是将人体力学用于搏击。对于大多数人而言，了解武术的途径， 不外乎观看武术表演和散打比赛。“那武侠小说呢？” 武侠文学和武术是两码事，好比科幻漫画之于科普读物。
也有一些人除了观赏，自己也练练，以套路为主，主要是为了强身健体，并通过自恋遐想，获得一波一波的快感。
If you undergo some training where you learn to apply body mechanics to fending off, controlling and subduing your opponent in fisticuffs, then you are a martial artist.
For most people, knowledge of martial arts can be had by watching kung fu routines and unchoreographed contests. What about martial arts fantasies (i.e. the wuxia genre)? They do to martial arts what the Marvel universe does to science: a sprinkling of reality icing dusted over an oversized cake baked out of figments and flights of imagination. You get to pick up a few terms, perhaps, and plenty of escapist imagery, but they are a far cry from the real world of science, and of martial arts.
Then there are those of us who dabble in this or that fighting system, not for fighting per se, but in lieu of, or in addition to, going to the gym, though not without some conjured-up scenarios of physical confrontation in which our glorious triumph, e.g. saving a damsel in distress from a gang of knife-wielding shady hoodies in a dark alley, is a foregone conclusion, thanks in part to the 'inspiration' proffered by wuxia fiction and screen productions.
大过年的，和为贵，不谈打打杀杀的话题，就说说如何根据“拳由心发，力由地起”的原理，在日常生活中保护自己的脊椎。
There's a time and place for everything. At a time when many of us are still luxuriating in the afterglow of Lunar New Year festivities, the topic of trading blows and smashing each other's faces definitely seems out of place. So let's find out how this magic formula, of martial arts provenance - "Punch from heart; push from ground" - can be usefully applied to the protection of our back in the mundane routines of our daily life.
如今弹簧门很普遍，尤其是商店和办公室，基本上都用弹簧门。如果不是弹簧门，十有八九是转门。大多数弹簧门需要推或拉，非自动的转门，要推。现在说说推门的诀窍。
If you live in a city, chances are you push a lot of doors: at home, in the office and in the malls. Some of them ask you to 'pull', but that requires a different technique. For now, I'll focus on the push-to-open doors.
脊椎不太好的人，平时要注意科学用脊，除了通过瑜伽之类的运动，主动锻炼脊椎之外，保护、保养很重要。例如搬运重物时，必须先蹲下、抓牢，靠腿部力量起身，而不是弯腰直接“抓举”。
Those racked with back problems are advised to look after their spines using a two-prong approach: keeping their back strong and supple through yoga and similar exercises and kicking whatever bad habits that put their spines at risk. For example, if heavy lifting is unavoidable, you should do it by bending your knees and standing up again while keeping your back straight (to the extent possible), so you overcome gravity with your powerful, brawny, load-bearing legs, not with a skewer of articulated bony nuggets thinly clad in a sorry excuse for muscles!
说到这里，“力由地起”的原理已经呼之欲出了，再加上“拳由心发”，你就能轻松推开很重的门，不会对脊椎造成伤害。本想点到为止，但我喜欢说废话，所以还是说一说吧。
That's the "push from ground" bit. Now add "punch from heart"... you get the picture, do you not? If you still find the idea elusive - and I hope you do, so I have an excuse to prattle on - let me explain how you can avoid causing cumulative damage to your 'column of life' when the quixotic warrior in you attempts to wrestle open one unyielding portal after another.
从鼻尖到脐，划一条直线，不要用圆珠笔划。不容易洗掉。想象一下这根线就行了。这就是身体正面的中线。推门时，要调整一下姿势，要正对着门，千万不要用“拨”力。左脚在前，把右脚撤到左脚后方（左右可互换），两脚的脚跟大致与身体中线对齐。手肘内收，接近中线，手掌向前推出。这样，地面-->腿-->躯干-->肘-->手-->门，构成了一个力传导通道，就像一根棍子，拔地而起，将门顶开，平时推门使用的旋转力就转化为直来直去的线性力了。力由地起，“拳”由心发也！
至于“心发”的另一层意思，即意念力，那是意到力到的原理，我就不细谈了，否则真成了堂吉诃德，何况不少人认为“拳由心发”就是说中线冲拳，与意念无关。
Draw an (imaginary) line from the tip of your nose to your belly button. It's called midline, synonymous with 'centreline'. Don't push a heavy door when your body is in an awkward position, e.g. when you are not facing the door and try to open the door with a swiping move, using your hand, shoulder and the rotational force generated from your spine. You should instead place one foot in front and the other behind it, so both heels are roughly aligned with the midline of your body. Tuck your elbow in, close to the midline. And push your palm forward.
Now you have a linear system for transmitting the force, a rather rigid stick that arches between the ground and the door. Et voila, the door swings open, nice and easy! And no harm done...that is, until you go through, look down and see someone lying on the floor. Oops, SORRY!
Oh, did I miss something? What does 'heart' have to do with all this?
Hmm, this subject is a bit too esoteric for this occasion, innit? Another time, maybe. And besides, there's no shortage of people who think that in the context of Wing Chun, punching from heart means literally punching from where your heart is - the midline.
