Tai Chi Chuan Martial Power. Jwing-Ming Yang

you finish learning the solo sequence, you should then start discussing and investigating the martial applications of the postures. This is a necessary part of the training of a martial arts practitioner, but it will also help the nonmartial artist to better understand the sequence and circulate qi. With the instruction of a qualified master, it will take at least two or three years to understand and master the techniques. While this stage of analysis is going on, you should begin to pick up fundamental (fixed-step) pushing hands.

      Pushing hands trains you to listen (to feel) the opponent’s jing, understand it, neutralize it, and then counterattack. There are two aspects of pushing hands training. The first emphasizes feeling the opponent’s jing (ting jing, 聽勁) and then neutralizing it, and the second aspect emphasizes understanding the emitting of jing (dong jing, 懂勁) and its applications. Therefore, when you start the fundamental pushing hands, you should also start fundamental jing training. Jing training is usually difficult to practice and understand. A qualified master is extremely important. While training jing, the coordination of the sounds heng (哼) and ha (哈) become very important. Uttering heng and ha can enable you to emit or withdraw your jing to the maximum and coordinate the qi with it, and can also help to raise your spirit of vitality.

      When you finish your analysis of the sequence, you have established the martial foundation of taijiquan. You should then start to train speeding up the solo sequence, training jing in every movement. In fast taiji training, practice emitting jing in pulses with a firm root, proper waist control, and qi support. In addition, develop the feeling of having an enemy in front of you while you are doing the form. This will help you learn to apply the techniques naturally and to react automatically. After practicing this for a few years, you should have grasped the basics of jing, and should start advanced pushing-hands and jing training.

      Advanced (moving-step) pushing hands will train you to step smoothly and correctly in coordination with your techniques and fighting strategy. This training builds the foundation of free pushing hands and free fighting. Advanced jing training enables you to understand the higher level of jing application and covers the entire range of jing. During these two steps of training, you should continue your qi enhancement, expansion, and transportation training to strengthen the qi support of your jing. The martial applications of pushing hands should be analyzed, and discussed. This is the bridge that connects the techniques learned in the sequence to the real applications. When you understand all the techniques thoroughly, you should then get involved in free pushing hands and learn the two-person fighting set.

      The taiji fighting set was designed to train the use of techniques in a way that resembles real fighting. Proper footwork is very important. Once you are moving and interacting fluidly, you can begin to use jing. The final step in training is free fighting with different partners. The more partners you practice with, the more experience you will gain. The more time and energy you spend, the more skillful you will become.

      The most important thing in all this training is your attitude. Remember to study widely, question humbly, investigate, discriminate, and work perseveringly. This is the way to success.

1-7. The Real Meaning of Taijiquan

      People practice taijiquan for different reasons. Some practice for health, to cure an illness, for defense, for relaxation, or solely for fun. However, when you approach the highest level of taijiquan, you will probably feel that the above reasons are not important anymore. At this time, you must seek the real meaning of the practice; otherwise, you will soon become satisfied with your achievement and lose enthusiasm for further research. You must ponder what is really behind this highly meditative art. Many religious Daoists practice taiji in their striving to eliminate their grosser elements and become immortal. Many nonreligious people practice taiji to gain a peaceful mind and reinvigorate their lives.

      However, you should understand that taijiquan emphasizes meditation both in movement and in stillness. Through this meditation a taiji practitioner, like a Buddhist priest, trains himself to be calm and concentrated. It is possible to achieve a state of peace and centeredness that allows you to judge things and events in a neutral way, without emotional disturbance. When your mind is truly clear and calm, the spiritual side of things starts to open up. You start to see more deeply into things. A skilled practitioner can sense a person’s intentions before they are expressed, and he or she often develops the ability to look more deeply into people and events in nonmartial ways too. Many martial arts masters came to be considered wise men, and were consulted for their insight into the meaning of human life, this world, and the universe. They learned to live in this world without confusion or doubt, and to find peace and happiness. All of this comes through meditation and continuous pondering.

      There is a song passed down since ancient times about the real meaning of taiji-quan (see appendix A-8). It says: (1) “No shape, no shadow.” This means that when you have approached the higher levels of taiji meditation, you find your physical body seems not to exist—you feel that you are a ball of energy, part of the natural world and inseparable from it. Your actions and self are part of the natural order of things, fitting in smoothly and unobtrusively, seeming to have no independent shape of their own, casting no shadow; (2) “Entire body transparent and empty.” When you feel you are only a ball of energy, there is nothing in your mind, no desire or intention. Since your mind and ego are not there to interfere, you can see clearly and respond correctly; (3) “Forget your surroundings and be natural.” Once you are transparent, you will easily forget your surroundings and your energy flow will be smooth and natural; (4) “Like a stone chime suspended from West Mountain.” This implies that your mind is wide open, free, and unrestricted. Like a stone chime suspended from the mountain, all things are clear under you, while your mind is still controlled by you just as the thread suspends the stone chime; (5) “Tigers roaring, monkeys screeching.” When you move the energy you have cultivated, it can be as strong as a tiger’s roar and reach as far as a monkey’s screech; (6) “Clear fountain, peaceful water.” Even when your energy is strong, your mind is clear, still, and peaceful; (7) “Turbulent river, stormy ocean.” In taiji, if you have to use your energy, it can be strong and continuous like a turbulent river or the stormy ocean; (8) “With your whole being, develop your life.” During all your practice and meditation, you must concentrate your whole attention in order to develop the highest level of the art.

       This dedication and concentration carry over to the rest of your life, and the striving for perfection becomes the real inner meaning of taiji.

References

      Master Cheng's Thirteen Chapters on Tai Chi Chuan, Cheng, Man-Ching, trans. by Douglas Wile. Sweet Chi Press, 1982.

      Study of Tai Chi Chuan, J. J. Soong. Taipei, Taiwan, 1970.

      Tai Chi Chuan for Health and Self-Defense, T. T. Liang. Vintage Books, 1974.

      Tai Chi Chuan Principles and Practice, C. K. Chu. Sunflower Press, 1981.

      Taiji Chuan: A Simplified Method of Calisthenics for Health and Self-Defense, Cheng, Man-Ching. North Atlantic Books, 1981.

      Taiji Touchstones: Yang Family Secret Transmissions, ed. and trans. by Douglas Wile. Sweet Chi Press, 1983.

      Tao of I Ching, Jou, Tsung-Hwa. Taiji Foundation, 1984.

      Tao of Meditation, Jou, Tsung-Hwa. Taiji Foundation, 1983.

      Tao of Tai Chi Chuan, Jou, Tsung-Hwa. Taiji Foundation, 1981.

      Yang Style Tai Chi Chuan, Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming. Unique Publications, 1981.

      太極拳，刀、 劍、 桿、 散手合編[Tai chi chuan: Saber, sword, staff, and sparring] Chen, Yan-Lin (陳炎林). Reprinted in Taipei, Taiwan, 1943.