AStudyofMethodstoAchieveUnderstandinginTaiChi RichardManrichard@imagecraft.com,2013/09/01 ThisworkbyRichardManislicensedunderaCreativeCommon AttributionNonCommercialNoDerivsUS. AmongtheloosecollectionoftextcommonlyknownastheTaiChiClassics, MethodstoAchieveUnderstandinginTaiChioccupiesanunusualposition.Unlikeothertext,it readslikeaZenKoan,andwhilemostotherpoemsandtextarereferencedinotherbooks,this poemonlyappearsinonebook,the1931ApplicationMethodsofTaiChiChuan byYangChengfu,whichwascowrittenbyYangsstudentDongYingjie.Eventhebook hasanunusualhistoryitself:itwaswithdrawnalmostimmediatelyafterreleasewithefforts madetodestroypubliclyavailablecopies.Arevisededitioncameoutin1934,thistime cowrittenwithChengManching.Amongthechanges,thisandafewotherpoemswere eliminated. Itstheauthorsopinionthatthistexthasmultiplelevelsofmeanings:aliteralmeaning,aTaiChi surfacemeaning,andadeeperlevelmeaningfrominnerteachings.

Specifically,thistextisa clarificationonhowtoavoidthemajorflawofbeingDoubleHeavy.Asimplisticviewof DoubleHeavyisthatitreferstoevendistributionofweightonbothlegs,e.g.inatraditionalhorse stance.AmorerefinedunderstandingisthatDoubleHeavyiswhenapersoncannotchangein responsetoanopponentsattack.Thispoemexplainshowtoavoidthisflaw.Asthetitlesays, studyingthiswillleadtoatrueunderstandingofTaiChiChuan. Aliteraltranslationofthetext: MethodstoAchieveUnderstandinginTaiChi UsingJinisincorrect,notusingforceisincorrect.HardnesscontainingwithinSoftnessis correct. Moveawayisincorrect,goinginisincorrect. Neithermoveawaynorgoinginiscorrect.

Stickingisincorrect,notstickingisincorrect. Notstuckandnotseparatingiscorrect. Floatingisincorrect.Heavyisincorrect. QingLing(lightandagile)Soong(relaxed)Chen(sinking)iscorrect. Fearlessisincorrect,overcautiousisincorrect. Beingcourageousandcautiouswithattentiontodetailsarecorrect. Hittingpeopleisincorrect,nothittingpeopleisincorrect. Winningandgettingyouropponenttorespectyouiscorrect. Letsstartwiththefirstline. UsingJinisincorrect,notusingforceisincorrect.HardnesscontainingwithinSoftnessis correct. ThelastpartHardnesscontainingwithinSoftnessiscorrectshouldbefamiliartopractitioners ofTaiChiChuan.Jinistherefinedforce,asopposedtoLi,themuscularforce.InTai Chi,theuseofDunLi,stupidorbluntforce,isadmonished.Normallyitissaidthatone doesnotuseLiinTaiChi.DoesthislinethensaythatincontrarytoallotherTaiChiteaching thatoneshoulduseLibutnotJin?Theanswerisofcoursenegative. usingJinisincorrectreferstothatifyouactivelyholdyourJin(e.g.acommon mistakeofpeopleexpressingPengJin),thenyouwouldpresentatargetforyouropponentto useagainstyou.Itcommitstheflawofallowingotherstoknowyou.Therefore,donotthinkabout usingJin,butjustlettheJincomeoutnaturallyasaresultofdiligentcorrectpractices. ArelatedsayingistoUseYitoMoveQi,andthatUsingQiCausesStagnation.Inthisexample, theuseofwaterasananalogyforQiisagoodmetaphor:youcannotpushwater,butyoucan digchannelsforwatertoflow.Thatis,useYi(mindintent)toemptythespaceandQiwillflow. Therefore,donotuseJin,butcreatetheconditionswhereJinwillcomeout. Regardingthesecondpartnotusingforceisincorrect,theparadoxofTaiChiis

indeedthatwhileonedoesnotusemuscularforce,nevertheless,atremendousamountofforce canbeexpressedviaFajin.Itisbeyondthescopeofthispapertodiscussthesubjectof Fainindetails,however,oneofthereasonsthattremendousforceisgeneratedisto borrowforcefromtheopponent.Thusthesecondpartnotusingforceisincorrectrefersto usingyouropponentsforcetogenerateanevengreaterforce. Evenmorefundamentally,Soongisbeingrelaxedbutnotcollapsed.Therefore,notusing forceisincorrectisareminderthatcollapsingisincorrect. Thesecondline: Movingawayisincorrect,goingagainstisincorrect. Neithermovingawaynorgoingagainstiscorrect. Thisisaninterestingline.IthastheGoldilockconditionofnottoomuchandnottoolittle,asin manyoftheotherTaiChisayings.However,whatexactlydoesthismean?Ifthisisjusttokeep asafedistance,thereisnoshortageofwaysofsayingthatinChinese. OneexplanationisthattheideaofyieldingZouHuaagain,amuchbiggertopicthanwe cantacklehereisnotthesameasDui,oreventhesameasthesimplewordofZouorto runaway.Yieldingisnotsimplytorunaway.Ontheotherhand,whensomeoneattacks,you shouldnotmeetforcewithforceeither,whichisDing.Soyoudonotrunaway,normeet forcewithforce. Thereisadeepermeaningthough.Inoneofthesecretsinplainsightmoment,Ibelievethisis inreferencetooneoftheinnerteachingsofYangJianhou,thefatherofYangChengfu.In recentyears,someofYangJianhouinnerteachingsweredisclosed.Amongthemisthatin termsofpositioningthecenterofgravity,onecandividethespacebetweenthetwolegsina bowstanceintofiveequalparts,withthefirstpositionattheforwardfootandthefifthattheback foot.Ifyourcenterofgravityisatthefirstorfifthposition,youthenlosetheabilitytochange,i.e. committingDoubleHeavy.Inthefirstposition,youareoverextendedandinthefifth,youmoved backtoofar.Readingthesecondlineinthislight,thenitsclearthatitssayingtoavoidtheflaw ofbeingDoubleHeavy,youshouldputyourcenterofgravityonthesecondorthefourth positions.Movingawayistobeinthefifthpositionandgoingagainstisinthefirstposition.The

secondandfourthpositionsallowthemostpossibilitiesofchange.Thisispartofwhatisknown asQingLing,inthefourthline,discussedbelow. MorewillbeexplainedwhenItranslatethebooksfromWeiShuren. Thethirdline: Stickingisincorrect,notstickingisincorrect. Notstuckandnotseparatingiscorrect. (andareinterchangeable)Atthesurface,thislineisrelativelystraightforward,afterall, adhere,stick,joinandfollowarethebasicbutyetdeepskillsofTaiChiChuan. However,relatingtoanotherstatementTostickistoyield,toyieldisto

stick,thenthislinebecomesthemantrathatTaiChiisaboutconstantlychangingfromYinto
Yangandviceversa.AneutralizingmoveHuabecomesanattackingmoveFawithno pausethekeyisthatyoumustdifferentiateYinandYangbuttherolescanbereversedwitha changeofyourYi(mindintention). ThisissaidtobethehighestlevelofTaiChigongfu.ShapelessandFormless,no application,notechniques.Whenyoucanchange(i.e.Agileagain),howcanyoucommitthe flawofDoubleHeavy? Thefourthline: Floatingisincorrect.Heavyisincorrect. QingLing(lightandagile)Soong(relaxed)Chen(sinking)iscorrect. Letslookatthepartsbackward,QingLingisthequalityoffeelinglightandagile,andisthe definingqualityofYangStyleTaiChi.Beingrelaxedandsinkingarethetworequired methodsofobtainingTaiChigongfu. WhatisSinking?ItsusedasashorthandforSinkQitoDantian,againasubjectthat istoovasttogointodetailsinthistext.However,somepeoplemayask,WhytheDantian? Thislinegivesaclearindication:toavoidFloating(andotherthings),onemustSink.However,to

avoidbeingHeavyandlosingQingLing,thenonecannotsinktothefeet.OnemaydirectQito thefeet,justlikeanyotherpartofthebody,butinYangStyleTaiChi,itsSinkQitoDantian.By doingthis,thequalityofQingLingismaintained. Thefifthline: Fearlessisincorrect,overcautiousisincorrect. Firstofall,inChinese,gallbladder(andrelatedarea)isthefearcenter.Sotheexpression (gallbladderbeingverylarge)isbeingwithoutfearand(gallbladderbeingverysmall) isbeingoverlyfearful.Thisisthenastatementofhavingtherightamountoffearandbebrave andnotbeoverlycautious. Thismayalsobeinterpretedasanotherhinttostayonthesecondandfourthpositionsbetween yourlegs,beinginthepositionofneitheroverextended()normovebacktoofar(). Sixthandlastline: Hittingpeopleisincorrect,nothittingpeopleisincorrect. Winningandgettingyouropponenttorespectyouiscorrect. TaiChiChuanisasupremedefensivemartialarts.Thereisnooffensivetechniquesormoves perse.Rather,youneutralizetheopponentsattackandleadthemtoempty.Whenthetimeis right,theangleiscorrect,andifyouexecutethemovementcorrectly,thenyoumayFajinatyour opponenttosendthemaway.OneofthespecialtiesoftheYangStyleistheLongJinwherethe opponentcouldfeellikebeingcarriedbyagentlewindorbebouncedawaybyatremendousand unstoppableforce,dependingontheYiofthepersondoingtheFajin.Inthehandsofsuch practitioner,onecanonlyshowrespectforsuchskillsandwillinglyacknowledgethattheother personhaswon.Therefore,donothavetheintentionofhittingordefeatingyouropponent.When yourmindisemptyofsuchthoughts,youcanmaintainthequalityofQingLing(lightand agile)andmaintainSoong(relaxed),thusavoidingtocommittheflawofDoubleHeavy. Instead,youcanwaitforyouropponenttocommittheflawandbouncethemaway. Inthisessay,IhaveshownhowthisrelativelyobscurepoemoftheTaiChiClassicsprovidesfar moreinformationthanmeettheeyes.IhopethishelpsinyourTaiChiChuanjourney. IampostingtranslationsandoccasionallyannotationssuchasthisoneonFacebooksgroup InternalMartialArts:LiteraryTradition.Youarewelcometojoinmethere.