Posted: Sun Aug 01, 2004 4:10 pm
Cheers Audi,
I am of the opinion that such postures should always have definite practical foci. "Flowery" metaphors loaded with symbolic philosophical meanings were, I believe, originally mnemonics drawn from the vast repertoire of classical Chinese allusion, mnemonics so used because the students at the time would understand them instantly. In the West, however... This is one reason I especially enjoy reading Louis', Jerry's and all the others' analyses of Chinese phrases from the classics here, every little bit helps!
What you were saying reminded me of a quote that I put on the Wikipedia T'ai Chi article:
Wu Chien-ch'üan, co-founder of the Wu family style, described the name T'ai Chi Ch'üan this way at the beginning of the 20th century:
"Various people have offered different explanations for the term T'ai Chi Ch'üan. Some have said: 'In terms of self-cultivation, one must train from a point of movement towards a point of quiescence. T'ai Chi comes about through the harmony of yin and yang. In terms of the art of attack and defense then, in the context of transformations of full and empty, one is constantly inwardly latent, not outwardly expressive, as if the yin and yang of T'ai Chi have not divided apart.' Others say: 'Every movement of T'ai Chi Ch'üan is based on circles, just like the shape of a T'ai Chi symbol. Therefore, it is called T'ai Chi Ch'üan.' Both explanations are quite reasonable, especially the second, which is fuller."
What is interesting to me is the description (which I believe to be a metaphor for "soft style") in which he says that it is as if yin and yang haven't divided out. The way that I learned it was that yin and yang begin to divide as soon as one starts to move in any form or application. We don't want the opponenet to be able to distinguish our full and empty, though, so such a division should be "inwardly latent, not outwardly expressive." Thereby, if an opponent were to grab us, if we have the proper kung fu they wouldn't be able to tell where our centre of gravity is through the contact point, although we should sense theirs.
There are two variations in the modern Wu style as to when the knees begin to bend. In our "square" form the wrists bend, then lift. There is a slight bend in the elbows as the wrists raise, as well as a slight bend in the ankles as the body inclines one or two degrees forward due to the weight of the arms. Once the wrists are in front of the shoulders (wrists still bent, elbows down and back open between the shoulder blades naturally), the elbows begin to sink to bring the wrists back and slightly down. The body goes back to vertical from their weight being withdrawn. Then the hands are gradually lowered down to either side of the legs, the fingertips should be held back at the end, which means in the course of their descent the wrists have gone from being bent all the way in one direction to being bent all the way in the other relative to the arms. Only then do we begin to bend the knees and tuck in the hip. In our "round" forms, the knee bend is initiated as the hands begin to descend.
There are a dozen or so martial applications to these few simple motions, implicitly and explicitly. The p'eng demonstration that I earlier described is one of many potential demonstrations.
Best regards,
P.
I am of the opinion that such postures should always have definite practical foci. "Flowery" metaphors loaded with symbolic philosophical meanings were, I believe, originally mnemonics drawn from the vast repertoire of classical Chinese allusion, mnemonics so used because the students at the time would understand them instantly. In the West, however... This is one reason I especially enjoy reading Louis', Jerry's and all the others' analyses of Chinese phrases from the classics here, every little bit helps!
What you were saying reminded me of a quote that I put on the Wikipedia T'ai Chi article:
Wu Chien-ch'üan, co-founder of the Wu family style, described the name T'ai Chi Ch'üan this way at the beginning of the 20th century:
"Various people have offered different explanations for the term T'ai Chi Ch'üan. Some have said: 'In terms of self-cultivation, one must train from a point of movement towards a point of quiescence. T'ai Chi comes about through the harmony of yin and yang. In terms of the art of attack and defense then, in the context of transformations of full and empty, one is constantly inwardly latent, not outwardly expressive, as if the yin and yang of T'ai Chi have not divided apart.' Others say: 'Every movement of T'ai Chi Ch'üan is based on circles, just like the shape of a T'ai Chi symbol. Therefore, it is called T'ai Chi Ch'üan.' Both explanations are quite reasonable, especially the second, which is fuller."
What is interesting to me is the description (which I believe to be a metaphor for "soft style") in which he says that it is as if yin and yang haven't divided out. The way that I learned it was that yin and yang begin to divide as soon as one starts to move in any form or application. We don't want the opponenet to be able to distinguish our full and empty, though, so such a division should be "inwardly latent, not outwardly expressive." Thereby, if an opponent were to grab us, if we have the proper kung fu they wouldn't be able to tell where our centre of gravity is through the contact point, although we should sense theirs.
There are two variations in the modern Wu style as to when the knees begin to bend. In our "square" form the wrists bend, then lift. There is a slight bend in the elbows as the wrists raise, as well as a slight bend in the ankles as the body inclines one or two degrees forward due to the weight of the arms. Once the wrists are in front of the shoulders (wrists still bent, elbows down and back open between the shoulder blades naturally), the elbows begin to sink to bring the wrists back and slightly down. The body goes back to vertical from their weight being withdrawn. Then the hands are gradually lowered down to either side of the legs, the fingertips should be held back at the end, which means in the course of their descent the wrists have gone from being bent all the way in one direction to being bent all the way in the other relative to the arms. Only then do we begin to bend the knees and tuck in the hip. In our "round" forms, the knee bend is initiated as the hands begin to descend.
There are a dozen or so martial applications to these few simple motions, implicitly and explicitly. The p'eng demonstration that I earlier described is one of many potential demonstrations.
Best regards,
P.