The kinetic chain from feet to hands |
Chen Fake |
The kinetic chain from feet to hands |
Chen Fake |
In martial arts training the concept of timing and distance incorporates not just the space between opponents, but also the time it takes to bridge the gap and the angle and rhythm of attack. Together, these elements all contribute to the exact position from which one opponent can effectively strike another.
Talking about the practical application of Taijiquan Chen Ziqiang said: “The most important strategy is to always be in a stronger position than your opponent. If your opponent is in a weak position in relationship to you, no matter how strong he is physically, he cannot generate much force against you. Nor will he be able to deflect your attacking force easily. He will always be behind your movements… he will always be trying to catch up with you, but you are always ahead of him.”
Your “position” can be considered either in terms of: your own shape/posture; or your strategic position in relation to an opponent. In the first case the meticulous attention paid to minute differences in bodily posture during training is rewarded with a balanced structure that does not favour any side. In Taijiquan practice this is referred to as “strength in eight directions” - the posture does not overreach or fail to reach your optimum boundary of strength. In the second case, using your sense of timing and distance, the aim is to grasp where change is heading so that one can position oneself advantageously as events unfold. In simple terms, a person is said to have good timing when they know when to release an attack; and good control of distancing when they are able to close the distance from an opponent with effective footwork. A good mastery of timing and distance can help overcome a faster or stronger opponent. In western boxing there is a saying that “timing can be used to overcome speed.” These skills can only be are developed through experience. For instance, improving your timing mostly involves you watching and adjusting to your opponent. Unskilled practitioners often fail to do this instead being preoccupied with themselves and what they are doing.
Training to improve your timing involves watching and adjusting to your opponent... |
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Chen Xiaoxing: "Before an individual is eligible to train tuishou they must first train the frame..." |
First to answer was Chen Xiaoxing: “In this context gong does not refer to the gong component within jibengong (basic exercises). Instead it refers to grasping the essential aspects of Taijiquan during practice, and implementing these essentials. Some people believe that gongfu can be developed more quickly with tuishou (push hands), and that it is useless to train the form. This is not correct. Before an individual is eligible to train tuishou they must first train the frame, until specific internal qi emerges. Compared to learning the form, practising tuishou does nothing more than allow you to grasp a few of the more obvious attacking techniques. Without learning the form it is difficult to achieve a higher level of Taijiquan. Invariably, upon encountering some external interference, you will not be able to neutralise the attack or escape it and you will not be able to execute the principle of "using four ounces to deflect a thousand pounds".
On the same question Yang Taijiquan inheritor Yang Zhenqi spoke of the importance of first developing exactness of shape before training tuishou. I remember Chen Xiaowang making the point that the real skill of Taijiquan combat is based upon the ability to “arrive in the correct position.” Yang explained: “Placement (position) is jin… Gongfu does not develop from tuishou… Gongfu is trained from the form, and not forced out of tuishou. If tuishou can produce gongfu then our predecessors would not have needed to train the form and would have just focused on tuishou. The reality is that this was not the case…If you don't know the form, you do not train tuishou. When movements are relatively accurate, placements of the arms and legs are correct, movement positions are fixed, the jin route is integrated, and the xia pan (lower plane) is stable, then you can learn tuishou”. [Recollecting his father Yang Chengfu's method of teaching] First of all teach the correct positions - of the body, of the hands and feet, of accuracy of every posture. When the position is exact, then the jin can come out. He emphasised "bitterly train each position" in order for it to become "correct every time it's placed."
To summarise, within Taijiquan’s method correct form training – that is training focused upon establishing essential principles is the necessary first step. Ignoring this stage will result in a person developing no meaningful level of tuishou skill.
Yang Chengfu: "Bitterly train each position" |
Grueling basic training might look simple but it provides the necessary framework for skill development
Every morning Chen Xiaoxing leads the training in the small dark room a couple of doors from his own quarters in the Chenjiagou Taijiquan School. While the faces in the class change, the programme never varies. For the first hour or so students are put through “simple” basic exercises. This part of the class is repetitive and gruelling. He moves around the room, wordlessly for the most part, adjusting people’s postures and using his hands to lead them through the correct movement route. This is the ultra important process of laying down deep foundations. During this stage [which never ends!] there cannot be any shortcuts. The structure and movement patterns established here provide a steel frame of understanding upon which to build further skills. As one of the guys in the class said “if you want to build a skyscraper you have to dig deep foundations.”
Morning session in Chenjiagou Taijiquan School |
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Chen Zhenglei & Cui Guangbo demonstrating applications in The Art of Chen Style Taijiquan |
Cui Guangbo and David Gaffney pushing hands (Zhenzhou,1988) |
The body of a Taijiquan practitioner is observable, their mind is not. Take form training, as an individual does the routine they can be seen going through precise positional and attitudinal changes. At least at a superficial level, the direction and limits of the movements of the hands and feet, the direction of the torso, stepping actions etc are not too difficult to follow. Later, as the level of skill becomes more refined these become more subtle and a trained eye is needed to catch all the details. Traditional teaching involves a process of modelling where, with minimal words, a student learns the proper form by imitating the movements of their master or a senior student within the school. An outsider observing the interaction could easily conclude that the whole process was little more than a mimetic dance.
This, however, would be to ignore the inner mental processes that are taking place. The mind is less easy to observe and more difficult to control often seeming to wander randomly. The Confucian sage Mencius said: “It comes in and goes out at no definite time and without anyone’s knowing its direction.” The traditional Taijiquan or other East Asian martial arts master is not only interested in the correctness of the form but also in the mental attitude behind it. He is aware of the disparity between a rote performer and an active participant, even though both may seem to follow instructions correctly.
Perceptive eyes can pick up signals revealing a student is still far off from actualising Taijiquan’s internal harmonies and bringing together the mental, energetic and physical aspects. That is the fusing of the xin (heart or emotional mind) and yi (intention or logical mind) with the sensations of expansiveness, weightedness and centredness and the external physical shape of the body.
Realising this integration requires a mode of thought characterised by simplicity, intuition and naturalness. At the same time its results must be practical and concrete. In his book The Inherited Chen Family Taiji Boxing Art published in 1932 Chen Ziming said state: “To be able to actually do something, mind and spirit have to be gathered together within. When the feet stand heavily, the hands move reverently, the head is upright, and the eyes are solemn, these indicate that everywhere in the body, the mind is involved. Inability to function means the mind is getting distracted by external things.”
Taijiquan has its own methods for developing the mind including:
• Putting into practice the concept of movement coming from stillness – taking time to reach a place of physical stillness and mental calm or “enter stillness” before beginning training. Paradoxically while this is an important, maybe the most important aspect of training, no force or focused intent is used. Philosophically this is referred to as wuji or the place without extremes. Once the first movement begins, you must take care to settle and rebalance at the end of each posture. This is in line with the idea that the end of one movement represents the beginning of the next.
• Each posture finishes with a clear focal point. Chen Xin spoke of the “spiritual power” that is manifested through parts of the body such as the hands, eyes and heart: “… when practicing boxing, your eyes should not express any angry emotions but simply follow the movements of the leading hand. In Lan Zha Yi (Lazily Tying Coat), the eyes follow the right hand, concentrating on the middle finger… the spirit of the whole body should concentrate on the final position of this movement… performing Dan Bian (Single Whip), maintain visual focus on the left hand which moves slowly left and upward from the lower right side in a large semi-circle at the front of the body. At the end of the movement, focus on the middle finger of the left hand… In Pie Shen Chui (Turn Body and Punch), focus the eyes on the toe of the left foot, while in Zhou Di Kan Quan (Fist Beneath Elbow) the focus is on the fist located under the elbow.”
• At the same time the mind is never allowed to rest on one place to the exclusion of everything else. There is a constant fine dynamic tension between the various aspects of the body. At a gross level requirements like: looking forward while listening behind; lifting the head lightly while sinking into the ground; loosening the root while stretching out to the extremity etc. At a fine level honing an ever-greater sensitivity to the point where “a fly cannot land without you being aware of it.”
Beyond an individual’s efforts in the training hall, mental training cannot be separated from daily life. Thought patterns have to be refined until they are habitually clear, balanced, focused and not over-reactive. A common Chinese parable about a farmer trying to force the process of growing a plant is often applied to the subtleness needed to cultivate the mental processes: “If we exert too much artificial effort to help a plant grow, it will soon wither. In the same way there is a natural course for the development of the heart (xin). One should neither forget nor assist in one’s daily effort to preserve it.” The training and discipline of the mind and body are inextricably linked and neither can be neglected. While the body requires a long and gradual process of shaping and strengthening, the mind too has to be slowly tempered.
Early photo of Chen Boxian and Chen Xiaoxing in front of the Chenjiagou Taijiquan School
A recent ceremony in Chenjiagou marked what would have been the one hundredth birthday of Chen Boxian (1920-1989). While he might not be very well known in the West, Chen Boxian was a well-respected Taijiquan practitioner in Chenjiagou. He was a direct descendant of Taijiquan creator Chen Wangting’s nephew Chen Suole and learned from teachers including Chen Ziming, Chen Zhaopi, Chen Zhaoxu, Chen Zhaokui and Chen Kezhong. The event recognised his role in protecting a number of the old masters from the excesses of the Cultural Revolution, for the preservation of the lineage/genealogy records of the Chen family, and for collating and recording many historical events of the village.
In one of his many writings Chen Boxiang highlighted the
importance of following the middle path as the route to successful practice. At
the heart of Taijiquan training is a search for balance, centredness and
equilibrium. Outlining the essentials of Chen Taijiquan practice Chen Boxian
explained how Taijiquan shares this quality with the three great philosophies that
have shaped much of the Chinese worldview - Confucianism, Buddhism and Daoism.
While each have their distinct nuances and subtleties, they can all be placed
within the category of approaches of the “middle school.” The literal
translation of his words is that, “Confucianism teaches "upholding the
middle", Buddhism teaches "emptying the middle", Daoism teaches
"observing the middle". The practice
of Taijiquan also attaches great importance to the word "middle”."
If the translation seems cryptic we can break it down to try to
get a clearer idea of the point Chen Boxian is making. The reference to
Confucianism is to grasp and withhold the centre or zhi zhong. Followers of this tradition are expected to be fair,
unbiased and impartial, unwavering and in complete control of their thoughts
and actions. The Buddhist reference of an empty centre or xu zhong points to the idea of the void. In the most simple terms we
can say it is a way of perception where experiences are interpreted in their
purest form. Where an individual neither adds to subtracts from what is in
front of them based on their own preheld ideas or expectations. The Daoist
notion of observing the centre or shou
zhong is a call to observe balance and flow in harmony with occurrences in
the environment. Based on a clear and
composed mindset and a balanced physical structure, Taijiquan’s core ideas such
as listening and following the movements of an opponent, taking advantage of
weak points and the requirement of acting from a position of central
equilibrium, follow these essential concepts.
Chen Boxian wrote: “Without thinking and without worry, calm
down and [let your mind] settle down: When you practise boxing, you should
eliminate all distractions, leave nothing in your mind, and calm down your
thoughts. Do not allow the area above the navel to fill with qi; qi sinks to
the dantian… At the beginning stage of
learning, while being aware that qi must sink down, you cannot be rigid with
this, otherwise, it’s easy to [make the mistake of] worrying about one thing
and losing the other.” [This is a common Chinese idiom – “if you hang onto one,
you overlook a thousand” - being overly fixated on any single aspect of
training you run the real risk of losing sight of the need to train the body as
a whole system]. Chen Boxian
Chen Boxian wrote detailed descriptions of the fundamental requirements of Taijiquan, emphasising the way that everything affects everything else. Take for example his instruction of how to hold the head:
· “Stand upright; it is not appropriate to tilt the head in any direction: The body should be straight, not bending forwards or stooping, not sticking the chest out, not leaning to the left or right sides. The head is kept straight, not bowed or tilted back, or do not shake or twist it.
· The front, back and lifting energies of the head converge; the eyes are level and look straight ahead: The front and back of the head should have the sensation of pushing out as your head lifts up (ding jin). The intention should be for the front and back of the head to be slightly extended outwards and that should be enough. Do not stiffen your neck and force your head upwards rigidly. Slightly draw in the chin, and keep the eyes level and looking forwards. This way it is not easy to lose the front and back expansion jin. If you bow your head you lose the forward ding [the front part of the overall requirement to lift the head lightly] and your spirit will not be lifted and you may feel faint when turning. If you tilt your head backwards [looking upwards and raising your chin] you lose the backward ding and your breathing becomes unnatural and your chest becomes tight as transverse qi fills the chest.
· Ears listen behind; keep the heart (intention) close to your back. Raise the tip of the tongue and place it gently between the teeth: As the eyes look to the front, they also look to the left and right [in other words the attention is not focused too narrowly]. The back seems to be imperceptible as it is outside your field of vision and sensation. Because you cannot see your back you have to compensate the deficit. This explains the need to listen behind – known as “reverse listening.” [During this process] the mind intent stays close to the back to maintain neutrality and guard against the sense of emptiness at the rear of the body. It also meets the requirements of "quietness in motion" and "the whole body follow each other".
· The mouth is kept closed, breathing is through the nostrils, and the tip of the tongue should be placed gently between the roots of the upper teeth and upper palate: In this way, fluid under the tip of the tongue (saliva - known as Huachi in Chinese medicine, or in literary figurative speech Yuyeqiongjiang– jadelike or high quality wine) is readily secreted. The saliva must be swallowed, not only for the purpose of preserving the original qi but also in practical terms to avoid the problems such as dry mouth, thirst and panting and breathlessness during Taijiquan training.”
The above are merely some of the requirements for the head. The
same degree of detail is applied to every part of the body. In the final analysis
Taijiquan has to be understood and approached with the end goal being the training
and developing every aspect of an individual – both physical and mental –
through a process of mutual integration, influence and transformation.
The first Henan Sanshou and Tuishou tournament in 1982. Chen Boxian (seated in the centre) led the team that included Chen Xiaowang, Chen Zhenglei, Zhu Tiancai and Wang Xian.
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