Chapter 8 Section 3 Tai Chi

The word "Tai Chi" first appeared in "Book of Changes", a philosophical work during the Warring States Period, and refers to the chaotic vitality of the undivided time between heaven and earth. ).Taijiquan follows this all-encompassing Taiji theory, which not only shows that this kind of boxing is based on the vitality that fills the space between heaven and earth, but also shows that this kind of boxing, like this kind of energy, has infinite changes and is ever-changing. It is no wonder that some people call Taijiquan "Zhequan". Tai Chi was not originally called this name.Some people call it "Long Fist", because there are many moves of this kind of fist, and when you fight it, it looks like the Yangtze River is flowing, endlessly, endlessly; Constantly; some people call it "Thirteen Poses", because this kind of boxing is composed of eight basic strength methods and five footwork, and it is also called "Eight Gates and Five Steps". (扌苏) [lu Lu], squeeze, press, pick, 挒 [lie column], elbow, lean, advance, retreat, look, hope, settle.It was not until the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty (AD 1736-1795) that the famous Taijiquan master Wang Zongyue wrote "Taijiquan Theory", explaining the principles of Taijiquan with the theory of Taiji Yin and Yang, and the name of Taijiquan was fixed.

When and how did Tai Chi come into being?People have always had different opinions, and so far they have not been able to reach a consensus.Among them, there are two theories that have a relatively large influence. One is that Taijiquan was created by Zhang Sanfeng, a Taoist priest from Wudang Mountain in the Song Dynasty.This statement was once widely circulated at home and abroad, but there is a lack of convincing historical materials.Another theory, which is more popular in martial arts circles now, is that Taijiquan was created by Chen Wangting (?—1719 A.D.), a war general in the last years of the Ming Dynasty, after he returned to his hometown of Chenjiagou, Wen County, Henan Province. In the 1930s, after sports historian Tang Hao conducted field investigations in Chenjiagou, this view was accepted by more and more people.

In addition to these two relatively influential theories, there are other opinions about the founders of Taijiquan, such as Xu Xuanping, Li Daozi, and Hu Jingjing in the Tang Dynasty; Han Gong in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Qi Jiguang in the Ming Dynasty, Wang Zongyue in the Qing Dynasty, etc. .Some people also believe that Taijiquan evolved from Xingyiquan. No matter how different people's views are on the founder of Taijiquan, it is a generally accepted fact that Taijiquan became popular in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.Although Taijiquan appeared relatively late, its roots can be traced back to the Song Dynasty, or even earlier.The emergence of Taijiquan is not only related to the development of routine martial arts, but also closely related to the development of ancient Qigong and Daoyin.

Qigong and Daoyin appeared very early in China. After thousands of years of development, they had developed relatively maturely in the Song Dynasty. Baduanjin and Yijinjing appeared, which integrated Qi movement, mind training, and shape cultivation, and combined them in the Song Dynasty. Fitness routines together.This shows that people have had successful experience in integrating the inside and outside of the body, movement and stillness, spirit and body, internal energy and external force.It's just that the fitness routines at this time still don't have the characteristics of martial arts.Can these experiences be applied to martial arts to create a new form of martial arts that not only has the fitness effect of Qigong guidance, but also maintains the function of martial arts and fighting?This is the problem faced by the founders of Tai Chi back then.Taijiquan is actually the product of the ingenious combination of ancient fitness and martial arts.Its appearance is not easy. It requires a nation to have a philosophical thought that can integrate all things in the universe, to have a mature fitness technique for promoting qi and training mind, to have a complete set of developed martial arts fighting techniques, and to have a combination of these three things. The ability to bond together without a trace.Fortunately, all these conditions are met by the Chinese nation.Taijiquan is based on the ancient Taiji, Yin-Yang theory and meridian theory as the theoretical basis, absorbing the method of breathing, exhaling, breathing and moving energy in ancient Qigong, and combining the essence of various boxing methods.Tai Chi martial artist, Wang Zongyue of the Qing Dynasty made a profound exposition of Tai Chi in his short and incisive "Tai Chi Theory".Tai Chi is China's outstanding contribution to world sports and world culture (Figure 4).

Taijiquan emphasizes the important role of mind and internal energy in the body, and uses mind and energy to guide the movement of the whole body.During the practice, concentrate on meditation, breathe naturally, be neutral and comfortable, soft and slow, coherent and harmonious, distinguish between reality and reality, light and calm, and combine hardness and softness.In Taijiquan, the body is exercised up and down, inside and out, so it is a good fitness exercise. Tai Chi is also very unique in terms of martial arts.It uses the movement of arcing everywhere to draw circles continuously, the big circle becomes small circle, and the small circle becomes large circle.In this kind of arc-shaped movement that seems to have little attack power, eight kinds of strength methods are used, such as pushing, (扌刀), squeezing, pressing, picking, pushing, elbowing, leaning, etc., in conjunction with footwork and body techniques, to overcome rigidity with softness. , braking with static, avoiding the real and attacking the virtual.

Taijiquan adopts the strike method of attacking from the back, mainly relying on the two kinds of strength, "Huajin" and "Fajin".Huajin means that when the opponent is attacking, it is not hard to hard, but through the transformation of one's own hands, feet and body skills, using the kung fu of sticking [nian], sticking [also simplified as sticking, reading zhan], connecting, and following. The enemy's way of going deep is to make a circular motion along the direction of the opponent's force, "melt" the opponent's attack force along the tangent of the circle, and slowly pull the opponent's body center of gravity to the edge of the support surface.While "melting" away the opponent's strength, judge the opponent's force point and the position of the body's center of gravity through the touch of your own skin, and find out the opponent's virtual reality, and then, take advantage of the trend to explode or knock the opponent down. It's called making use of strength.When using Huajin, it is as soft as boneless, and the opponent seems to be hit on cotton, unable to figure out the truth and reality, and where the center of gravity of the blow is. This is what is said in "Tai Chi Theory" I know people alone."When using Fa Jin, look at the opponent's center of gravity, borrow the opponent's strength, suddenly burst into force, and throw the opponent into the air in an instant.This is how Taijiquan uses the changes of reality and reality to confuse the opponent, mobilize the opponent, and finally defeat the opponent.When competing with a Tai Chi master, it is like pressing on a big round, smooth and constantly rotating ball, and you always feel that you can't hit the opponent.The harder you use, the faster you lose your balance and the harder you fall.Taijiquan masters vividly describe this superb fighting method as "Let him hit me with great strength, and it will affect four or two thousand catties." (Wang Zongyue's "Song of Fighting Hands") Taijiquan not only has good medical and health care effects, but also has a very strong Martial arts, there are a variety of ways to hit the enemy, such as "lifting, pressing, hitting, punching, arm hitting, elbow hitting, crotch hitting, leg hitting, head hitting, hand hitting, high hitting, low hitting, Sequential strikes, horizontal strikes, progressive strikes, backward strikes, cut-off strikes, borrowed breath strikes, and all kinds of strikes up and down." ("Tai Chi Chuan Pu" Volume 11 "Chen Pu: General Songs of Chen Wangting's Boxing Classics in Ming Dynasty")

A mature and advanced boxing like Taijiquan cannot be created by just one or a few people thinking hard. It should be said that it is the result of the labor of many people.For example, among the 32 postures of the boxing scriptures that Qi Jiguang summarized from 16 folk boxing materials, Taijiquan uses 29 postures, and many movements are identical or basically the same from form to name. How Tai Chi was spread, people have different opinions.However, Chen Wangting's important role in the development of Taijiquan is recognized by everyone.Among the various schools of Tai Chi that are currently circulating, Chen Style Tai Chi has the longest history.Other schools either evolved directly from Chen-style Taiji, or were indirectly influenced by Chen-style Taiji.For example, Yang-style Taiji was formed by Yang Luchan (1799-1872 A.D.), a native of Yongnian, Hebei Province, after he learned Chen-style Taiji in Chenjiagou, and after repeated research, he transformed it on the basis of Chen-style Taiji.Wu style and Wu style are changed on the basis of Yang style.Sun-style Tai Chi is built on the basis of Wu-style.Zhaobao style Tai Chi is also closely related to Chen style.

Chen Wangting was originally a general of the Ming Dynasty.After the fall of the Ming Dynasty, he was disarmed and returned to the fields, and lived in seclusion in his hometown Chenjiagou, Wen County, Henan Province.The peaceful and stable pastoral life in his hometown gave him enough time to study and transform the existing boxing, just as he wrote in a poem: Dangerous. Blessed, but in vain! Up to now, old and dying, only Huang Ting is with me. Make fists when you are bored, and plow the fields when you are busy. Take advantage of free time to teach some disciples and grandchildren, Jackie Chan and Tiger. Convenience. The debt owed to the government will end early, and the private debt will be repaid immediately. Don’t use arrogance and flattery, patience is the first. Everyone treats me as a fool, and everyone treats me as a fool. I often wash my ears, don’t play the crown, and kill thousands of princes with a smile. Work hard, It's not as good as my heart is always comfortable, fame and fortune are always not greedy. Through the organs, I know the other side of Handan. Tao loves fishing and water, lingering in mountains and rivers. It has nothing to do with prosperity, and it has nothing to do with waste! zhizhi] If you don’t ask for it, it doesn’t matter what the state of the world is! It doesn’t matter if you succeed or fail! If you’re not a god, who is a god?” (Appendix 14 of Volume 14 of "Taijiquan Manual")

After the development of Chen Wangting, Taijiquan appeared in a new posture. However, not many people knew about Taijiquan at that time. The popularity of Taijiquan is directly related to Yang Luchan.Yang Luchan's family was poor. When he was young, he used to sell water and soil with carts for a living.He has outstanding strength and is especially fond of martial arts. After hearing the reputation of Chen-style Taijiquan, he was very envious and came to Chenjiagou.However, the Chen family stipulated that Taijiquan should only be taught within the Chen family, and outsiders could not learn it.Yang Luchan works at the home of Chen Dehu, a member of the Chen clan.At that time, Chen Changxing (AD 1771-1853), the 14th generation grandson of the Chen family, was in charge of housekeeping.Chen Changxing has extremely deep Tai Chi skills.It is said that once, when he went to a theater, the crowd suddenly broke into a commotion, and a woman holding a child was knocked down to the ground, and she was about to be trampled to death.At this critical juncture, Chen Changxing stretched out his arms, firmly blocking the rolling crowd, like a tablet standing on the ground, motionless.The woman was saved, and Chen Changxing was nicknamed "Mr. Tablet" because of this.When Yang Luchan was not working, he tried to sneak a peek at this "Mr. Card Tablet" teaching boxing to Chen's children, and then secretly practiced behind his back. Two years passed like this.One night, on his way home, Chen Changxing found a young man practicing boxing, and his moves were very methodical.After a closer look, it turned out to be the long-term worker of Chen Dehu's family. He was very surprised, so he called Yang Luchan to ask what happened.Chen Changxing was moved by Yang Luchan's sincerity in learning boxing, broke the rule of not teaching outsiders, and accepted Yang Luchan as his apprentice.Since then, Yang Luchan has been studying for 18 years, and has won the essence of Chen style Tai Chi.

Later, Yang Luchan left Chenjiagou and went to Beijing, and became a boxer in Ruiwang Mansion with his proficient boxing skills.Because of his superior skills, all those who came to fight with him were defeated by his "Zhanmian Fist", "Soft Fist" and "Hua Fist".As a result, Yang Luchan became famous, and people gave him the nickname "Yang Wudi".After the reputation spread, the princes and nobles of the Qing Dynasty came to worship him as a teacher to learn Taijiquan skills, and Taijiquan became a popular trend for a while.In order to make it easier for these aristocratic students to learn, Yang Luchan modified Chen-style Tai Chi, deleted some jumping, vigorous, and difficult movements, and created a Yang-style Tai Chi that is stretched and generous, with softness as the main focus, and softness with firmness .This change has suddenly expanded the scope of application of Taijiquan. Whether they are strong or weak, old or young, they can practice and find their own fun in Taijiquan.

Yang Luchan's two sons, Yang Banhou and Yang Jianhou, were taught by their father since childhood, and they are also proficient in Taijiquan.Yang's father and son passed on the art in Beijing and taught many people.There are hundreds of apprentices taught by Yang Luchan himself.After Yang Luchan's death, his disciple Wu Yuxiang created "Wu Style Taijiquan"; Yang Banhou's disciple Wu Jianquan created "Wu Style Taijiquan".Among the many schools of Taijiquan, Yang's Taijiquan has always been the most widely spread and influential, especially after Yang Luchan's grandson, Yang Chengfu, established the "Yang's Taijiquan style", Taijiquan became more popular.