Qi Elements

Although in techniques, there are many side doors, and the postures are distinguishable from one another, after all is said and done it is nothing more than the strong beating the weak and the slow yielding to the fast.  The one with power beats the one without power.  The slow hands yield to the fast hands.  All this is natural born ability.  It is not related to the power that has to be learned.

 Taijiquan Classic by Wang, Zong-Yue

Taijiquan’s power can be very soft, yet it can be deadly.  Its moving can be slow, yet the enemy is under your control.  All of this relies on the training of internal sensitivity and power, and their coordination with the external postures.  Reaching this stage not only takes time, patience and perseverance to learn the skills and techniques, but also requires talent and a comprehending mind to understand the theory, strategy and approach. 

 Commentary by Dr. Yang, Jwing Ming  

From the Taijiquan Classic by Wang, Zong-Yue

When the opponent is hard, I am soft.  This is called yielding.  When I follow the opponent, this is called adhering.

When your enemy attacks you, do not resist him, but instead give way and lead his force into emptiness so that his attack misses your.  The Chinese term translated as “yielding” literally means “walk away.”  Adhering to your partner means to maintain contact with him and follow his motions so that when the right time comes, you can make the appropriate move. Commentary by Dr. Yang, Jwing Ming from his book Tai Chi Secrets of the Ancient Masters.  

Some people misinterpret the idea of "yielding" in taijiquan and also fail to understand the power of Yin.  Yield in taijiquan does not have the same meaning as it has in the old movies about knightly combat, when the knight fallen on the ground and with the opponent's sword at his throat says, "I yield," meaning surrender.  Misunderstanding "yielding" goes hand in hand with misunderstanding Yin.  Some think of Yang as strong and Yin as weak.  Not so.  Yang power is like the power of the avalanche.  Yin power is like the power of quicksand or the whirlpool.  If you have seen video of the recent tsunami in Japan, you can view the tsunami coming ashore as the power of Yang and the tsunami returning to sea as the power of Yin.  Both were highly destructive.  

Several years ago I was reading an account by Bob Woodward of high-level politics in Washington.  I was amused to note that he attached macho descriptions to many of the male actors, descriptions such as "a former all-American wrestler," "a barrel-chested bear of a man," etc.  This reminded me of how much of a role psychological intimidation can play in interpersonal relations such as those I witnessed when I was in government or those I imagine take place in the corporate world.  Unlike physical intimidation, which is hands on, the effect of psychological intimidates all depends on how the target receives it.  If you have naturally high self-confidence, you can just ignore the blustering barrel-chester across the table who may be attempting to silence all dissenting views.  If you weren't born with naturally high self-confidence, you can take steps to create it.  One character I encountered carried a rather large pocket knife, which he would produce and proceed to use to peel fruit while other participants looked on.  While that sort of think is rather crude and likely to result in a call to the security people, a better approach would be to study an art like taijiquan.  Imagine a passage like this in a book about power politics, "a long-time student of taijiquan's high-level death touch, she knew at least 36 ways to kill, some with delayed effect.  No one in the meeting could make it out the door alive if she didn't allow it, but, of course, such a thought would never have entered her mind."  Imagine trying psychological intimidation on such a one.

Dr. Yang says three qualities are important in a fight -- spirit, speed, technique -- and in that order.  The importance of spirit is also evident in the old folk adage:  "It's not the size of the dog in the fight.  It's the size of the fight in the dog."  Spirit means having the self-confidence or the fire to defend oneself when under attack.  In taijiquan training, we are told to retain the spirit internally and to retain emotional control when under attack.  For the untrained person under attack, summoning a gut-full of rage might save your life.  In self-protection training we are told that it is almost a universal reaction to be seized with paralysis when suddenly confronted by a life-threatening situation.  Speed means overcoming that paralysis and taking swift action to avoid coming under an assailant's control.

"No part should be defective, no part should be deficient or excessove, and no part should be disconnected."  These words from Zhang, San-Feng are a reminder that when you are performing your tai chi form or applications, every part of the body is involved at all times.  Sometimes students neglect the minor  ide of a movement (usually the yin side) when performing the solo form.  For example, in block brush knee they pay attention to the hand that is striking, but neglect the other hand, which in our form, is sinking down.  Assuming that one has obtained a pluck of wrist or elbow when blocking, this hand pushing down now disrupts the opponent's center, making it more difficult for him to counter the striking hand.  Likewise in the taiji fighting set, the minor side hand is often acting to disrupt the opponent's center while the other hand strikes.  The non-dominant side should not be defective, deficient, or disconnected.

Returning to the theme of the book of the month, Tai Chi Secrets of the Ancient Masters, the treatise attributed to the legendary creator of Tai Chi Chuan begins with the words, "Once in motion the entire body must be light and agile.  It especially should be threaded together."  This passage brings to mind for me my common experience when reading the tai chi classics.  The first time you read a passage its meaning may seem very mysterious, but as you continue your practice, you may begin to form an understanding of its meaning.  Interestingly, the understanding you form at first will probably become much deeper as you progress in years of practice.  Sometimes the meaning of a passage may seem clear on first reading, at least intellectually clear.  But, as is the case with the above passage, an intellectual understanding of the passage is not sufficient in Tai Chi, you also need a feeling of what the passage means.  The feeling of having the entire body "threaded together" is that a movement, even the shifting of weight, that begins in the root under the feet flows through the body until it reaches the tips of the fingers.  Of course, that is obvious intellectually, but do you have the feeling?

I just returned from a weekend seminar with Master Liang, Shou Yu in Winchester, VA, sponsored by Pat Rice and A Taste of China.  This was the first time I have had the opportunity to train with Master Liang, though I have been studying his book, Qigong Empowerment, for a while.  I found Master Liang to be a great teacher, a wonderful person, and very approachable.  He taught several routines from the Taoist Qigong section of his book, and my experience was that the routines produced a strong feeling of moving Qi very quickly.  Several of my students have found they have also obtained quick and significant results from the medical qigong routines in his book -- most notably the Qi Permeation Technique's effect in lowering high blood pressure and Lung Qigong in helping to relieve varicose veins.  Unfortunately, Qigong Empowerment is out of print, but you may be able to find a used copy. I hope Master Liang will return to Winchester for more seminars in the future. 

Master Liang's seminar is a prime example of the kind of high quality training offered periodically at the "A Taste of China" seminars.  Check Pat Rice's website at atoctaijiquan.com for the seminar schedule. 

While training at the YMAA Retreat Center in California last month, I again heard Dr. Yang talk about the benefits of tai chi ball qigong and what its practice has done for several of his students.  Dr. Yang told about one student who, using one of his favorite expressions, he could "play like a monkey" in pushing hands.  Frustrated with his inability, this student asked Dr. Yang what could he do to improve his skill.  Dr. Yang replied, practice tai chi ball.  The student began practicing an hour a day.  After this student had practiced for 6 months, Dr. Yang said, "I could no longer find his center."  That is an amazing improvement. 

People who practice tai chi for health will find tai chi ball qigong fun to practice and an aid in coordinating body movements, reducing stress, and relaxing and healing the joints (providing they stick to practicing with a light ball).  People who practice martial tai chi will find a great many additional benefits of the type pointed out in the preceeding paragraph.  Try it. 

What are the other four words?  Adhere, connect, stick, and follow.  The song says, "If you can gain the secret of the words adhere, connect, stick, follow, then you will be in the ring and not scattered."  Following is not a natural reaction when meeting an opposing force.  The natural reaction for most people is resistance.  Training oneself to react by following rather than resisting is one of the most important tasks in learning taijiquan.  Following means giving up ego and taking advantage of the openings the opponent gives you.  On offense, it means abandoning one's initial intention the moment an opponent effectively counters it, then "following" to exploit the vulnerability in the opponent's counter.  Following is impossible if you don't know and use the power of yin.

My main theme for September is going to be passages from Dr. Yang's book Tai Chi Secrets of the Ancient Masters.  The following passage is from the "Song of Eight Words."  It is about the first 4 of the 8 words -- peng, lu, ji, and an. 

"Peng, Lu, Ji, An are rare in this world.  (Ask) ten martial artists, ten don't know."

Why are these 4 taiji patterns introduced at the beginning of the long sequence and repeated so many times during it?  To learn what the ten don't know, you must understand the flow of these movements and practice them with a partner.  If you do, you will comprehend many key secrets of taiji.  I am using taiji rather than taijiquan here deliberately because the secrets are philosophical not just physical.  One key secret the peng, lu, ji, an sequence reveals is the ability of soft to overcome hard, i.e. the power of yin.