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| Single movement drills - Wang Xian training Xin Zhou (Piercing Heart Elbow). Source: Chen Family Taijiquan Tuishou |
Training Laojia Yilu in Chenjiagou
some years ago I was told not to “stupidly train repetitions of the form
thinking that this would be enough to make your Taijiquan work as a martial
art”. The first routine or Yilu is often referred to as the Gongfu Frame, used to lay the necessary
foundation of correct physical structure and smooth energetic connection - over
time helping to develop the often talked-about qualities of fluidity and agility
at the top, heaviness and rootededness at the bottom. However, despite its
fundamental importance, it is important to see form training within the context
of a larger system.
In Going Beyond the Norm: An Interview with Chen Stylist Wang Xian,
written by Asr Cordes and published in the Journal of Asian Martial Arts in
2002, Wang Xian said “soft training is not enough to reach a high level of
martial skill. If you want fighting skill, you will need special training”. What
the first form lacks, for the most part, is speed, suddenness and abrupt
explosive changes. People train Taijiquan for different reasons, but if we’re looking
to develop combat capabilities in an effective and functional way these aspects
need to be honed to a high degree. In the traditional syllabus the Erlu (second
routine) is trained to do this - hence the saying “Yilu cultivates qi, Erlu
explodes.” Another of the “special” training methods used to bring out the hard
or gang side of Chen Taijiquan is
practising repetitive single movement drills.
Single movement training involves
the repeated practice of a wide variety of actions and techniques focusing on different
areas of the body. It helps to refine the techniques that form the basis of
Taijiquan push hands and combative ability. For instance the eight methods of peng, lu, ji, an, cai,
lie, zhou and kao as well as
techniques common to all martial systems such as kicking, punching, throwing,
grasping etc.
Some years ago Zhu Tiancai came
to our school in the UK and taught his Taiji Sanshou set (which he called the
42 Fajin at the time). Zhu had developed this based upon a 32 fajin pattern that
he had learned from Chen Zhaokui. While the Taiji Sanshou could be trained as a
continuous series of movements like a form, it is really meant to be trained as
a series of single movement drills. Each of the exercises are used to hone the
combat potentials hidden within the hand form. By taking out difficult
movements, such as Ying Men Kao (Enticing Bump) which utilises the chest as the
striking area, or functional movement like Wai Bai Li Shua (Outward Swing and
Inward Throw) where the upper and lower body coordination is required to throw
an opponent - and practising them repeatedly we can improve the accuracy, speed
and timing of movements. In Taijiquan
Tuishou Wang Xian says, “single movement training shows each movement
clearly and completely, forms can often conceal the real usage.”
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| Sealing the Throat training with Zhu Tiancai |
As well as letting us train and
refine complex movements, single movement training gives us a means to train potentially
dangerous movements in a controlled way. Chen Zhaokui stated that “some
applications of the movement cannot be used in push hands, for example, elbow
strikes… and also attacking vital points of an opponent, or qinna”. To address
this problem he pointed to the value of single posture training to develop certain
martial skills that are inherently difficult to train safely with a partner.
These single movement drills can be taken from the handforms, particularly the
Erlu. Drills from Zhu’s Taiji Sanshou that clearly fall into this category
include movements such as Suo Hou Zhang (Seal the Throat Palm), Liao Yin Quan (Lift
the Crotch Fist) and Shuang Feng Guan Er (Double Crests Strike the Ears) and
Quan Xin Zhou (Piercing Heart Elbow)…
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| Sealing the Throat Single Movement Drill - Zhu Tiancai |
While training single movements
we should not lose sight of the fundamental requirements: the harmonisation of internal
and external aspects; the co-ordination of the upper and lower body; clearly
differentiating weight distribution; strict attention to timing. The goal is to
utilise all of the body’s potential during movements, which should be fast,
focused and complete. With extended focused training movements become
internalised and can be brought out instinctively without conscious thought.
The aim is to be able to direct power explosively with precision and ferocity -
executing techniques crisply, quickly and smoothly and with precise timing – whilst
attacking an opponent at their weakest point and at the most vulnerable time.
Single movement training can also
be used to train Chen Taijiquan’s stepping methods, developing the ability to
move with agile footwork – forward, backward, left and right and to be able to
instantly attack or evade an opponent.
A saying often repeated in
Taijiquan circles is “Practice ten thousand times and the skill will naturally
emerge.” Failing to train single movements is to omit an important part of the
training process. Without it, an individual may have a nice looking form, but
it will be a form that is empty of content, and put to the test in a real
physical confrontation will, in all likelihood, come up painfully short.
Notes on single movement training
- Correct basics are essential before training
for speed and power.
- Begin slowly, training to execute
movements correctly and paying careful attention to avoid losing energy and “collapsing”
(diu) during soft practice.
- Speed up gradually, taking care
not to lose the precision you have laid down in the primary stage and paying
careful attention not to exert energy too forcefully (ding) when you do explosive
movements.
- Pay attention to keeping your
energy tracks undetected. Being able to do a technique forcefully is of little
use if it is telegraphed and easily read by an opponent.
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| Wang Xian training Dingzi Quan Guanyang (Nail-Shaped Fists targeting the temples) |
