Yang Family Tai Chi Discussion Board

Xie Bingcan, a student of Fu Zhongwen, shows the press very distinctly. The right arm curves in, a pretty small movement and then left palm touches right arm and really looks like ji . The Yangs do not seem to linger on the ji as much and instead seem to emphasize a circling motion of both hands (a ...

OK well now that we've hammered those lines into pieces and hammered the pieces into pieces, along with interesting side trips to Lunyu and Xunzi, time to move on to next lines: 15. 英雄所向无敌，盖皆由此而及也。 16. 斯技旁门甚多，虽势有区别，概不外， 17. 壮欺弱，慢让快耳。有力打无力， 18. 手慢让手快，是皆先天自然之能， 19. 非关学力而有为 也。 Some of this is familiar ...

Louis, I think perhaps you are mistaken. go back and read the whole passage in the original.

[This message has been edited by JerryKarin (edited 10-26-2008).]

I would say that the Xunzi example 故操彌約，而事彌大 actually does follow the pattern, ie 'the more limited his management, the greater his accomplishments'. The 则 here strikes me as idiomatic. I think I have seen something similar to this before embedded into another structure. [This message has been edite...

Hi Louis. I think the 4 separate phrases is now the standard explanation. However, if you really look at this text I think there is more than a hint of something wrong here. It does not entirely make sense as is, particularly the first phrase. The use of yang zhi .. mi gao looks like the Analects bu...

弥 is frequently seen in classical Chinese in the role I described earlier.

Yeah, I know all the commentators take it as 4 separate parts. And yet this is pretty clearly an archaic phraseology and likely an old fragment. I strongly suspect that originally this was two matched phrases in the structure I described. There is also a faint suspicion that the text has gotten corr...

I think the bigger pattern with mi and yu should hold. The punctuation in this particular copy of the text agrees with me, though that may not be saying much. Yang and Fu are actually kind of like leaning back and leaning forward. Imaging two people standing like this: \\ .

I think maybe for 11 and 12 you don't have it quite right: 11. 仰之则弥高，府之则弥深， 12. 进之则愈长，退之则愈促。 There is a syntactic pattern of 弥 A, 弥 B 愈 A, 愈 B This is similar to Mandarin constructions like 越帮越忙 'the more he helps the busier I get'. The more he raises up, the more deeply I cover, the further he adva...

Yes, the quality is quite good on the swords sold by the association. The design is a traditional family style which is not generally available elsewhere, particularly the sabres.

Once in a saber class we were doing a high kick and Yang Jun called out something about using peng jing to bring the leg up. Immediately upon trying the kick with the intention of peng, it became easier and I was doing it better. Some of the masters have referred to this as 知觉运动 , maybe 'conscious e...

How do you interpret these phrases?
10. 左重则左虚，右重则右杳。

I tend to think it means

(if he is) heavy on the left, then (I am)
empty on the left,

etc.

Pian is on one side or the other and yi is forward or backward axis.

text again:

9. 不偏不倚，忽隐忽现。
10. 左重则左虚，右重则右杳。
11. 仰之则弥高，府之则弥深，
11. 进之则愈长，退之则愈促。
13. 一羽不能加，蝇虫不能落，
14. 人不知我，我独知人。

[This message has been edited by JerryKarin (edited 10-14-2008).]

Jing1 essence, semen. Jing4 strength, energy

It is tempting to talk about jing as a kind of kinetic energy vs. qi as biochemical or some such. However I don't think we can get off that easy!