This is my teachers latest published article from this months Tai Chi Magazine. Just thought it might give us some food for thought and discussion. Relaxation and Tension in Tai Chi Chuan by Vincent Chu There are many people today who practice tai chi chuan. There are, however, very few people capable of applying tai chi chuan for self- defense. Actually, many of those who practice tai chi chuan do so solely as a health-maintenance exercise; very few practice it as a martial art. The fact is it is easier to practice tai chi chuan as a health-maintenance exercise than as a martial art. To practice it as a martial art, one must have a correct understanding of what tai chi chuan is. “Understanding” refers to comprehending the concepts and principles involved in tai chi chuan practices. It is not solely the understanding and remembering of individual physical movements. “Comprehending” refers to utilizing the concepts and principles in practice, not simply in theory. This is not sufficient to tai chi chuan or any physical activity. Therefore, learning from a knowledgeable instructor, one with a correct understanding of the concepts and principles, is the vital key to one's success. Otherwise, the study of tai chi chuan as a martial art is but a waste of time, energy, and money. “Tension” is a taboo word for many tai chi chuan practitioners, due to its association with stiffness when the body is in motion—and motion is the soul of martial arts. Therefore, people often use alternative words like “square and round,” “expansion and contraction,” “expansive and compact” to describe the various conditions of tension and relaxation in tai chi chuan solo-form practice. Starting with the first lessons, some teachers tell their students to point their elbows downward and drop their shoulders, emphasizing repeatedly that all movements should be done in a relaxed and slow manner, without any tension. A closer examination, however, of yin/yang theory, which has greatly influenced tai chi chuan practices, reveals that yin without yang or yang without yin cannot survive. The best situation is when yin and yang mutually interact with one another at all times. Therefore, the emphasis solely on relaxation and softness in tai chi chuan without any tension, is insufficient and misleading. Why do some instructors do that? After all, the great master of tai chi chuan, Yang Cheng Fu, said in his book and in his teaching that one should first try for an expansive posture and later seek a compact posture. When one practices with an expansive posture, the body is relaxed and it is easy for the chi to circulate. When one practices with a compact posture, one is alert and ready to strike. What is relaxation and what is tension? They are present in all physical activity as well as in tai chi chuan. If one understands their role in tai chi chuan and properly manages them, all tai chi chuan activity will be performed in an excellent manner. When one is relaxing, the muscles are in a state of extension, which is good for chi circulation make it easy for the body to be in motion. When one has tension, the muscles are in state of contraction, which is not good for chi circulation and can make it more difficult for the body to be in motion, depending on the condition of the tension. Another reason for the practitioner to be relaxed during tai chi chuan practice is to have the muscle groups work better together to produce integrated power. In general, when the body is relaxed, the weight sink downward; the upper body becomes lighter than the lower body; and the whole body becomes better coordinated and balanced. When there is tension, the muscles are in a state of excitation; it is difficult for downward sinking to occur or for better coordination and balance. People have often said that the essence of martial arts lies in the motion of movement; postures are but the shell. When the body is relaxed, the body is able to move. Relaxation and tension support each other. This situation is equivalent to that of a coin having two sides. For greater relaxation, one needs more tension, and for greater tension, one needs more relaxation. We can say that relaxation serves to open the meridians for greater chi circulation, and tension closes them or squeezes them to deliver power. In order for the body’s organs to function better physiologically, chi circulation must first function better in carrying nutrients throughout the body. What is the proper definition of relaxation? In 1992 one of my tai chi chuan teachers, Ip Tai Tak, who was a disciple of Yeung Sau Chung, the oldest son of Yang Cheng Fu, told me that yoga practitioners have a good physical understanding concerning relaxation. Yoga practitioners, he said, understand that relaxation involves re-applying tension to other parts of the body. After tension is re-applied, the body becomes properly aligned: there will be tension where it supposed to be and relaxation where it is supposed to be. To a martial-arts practitioner, however, this is not sufficient. In addition to re-applying tension to different parts of the body, one should also have enough power to support the body's structure as well as to tap into, easily, additional power if needed. Otherwise, how can one survive the physical pounding involved in martial-arts? In general, I think one’s understanding of the definition of relaxation in tai chi chuan practices will change progressively according to one's practical experience. At the beginning, one defines it in terms of one's lack of bodily coordination. The more the practitioner is not able to apply power, the more stiff the body will become. One will come to understand relaxation as the ability to perform any physical activity with ease. The second definition is based on the activity of easily and slowly stretching the arms and legs and having all the joints loosely connected together. One at this point understands relaxation as an absence of power. The third definition is connected to nimbleness and flexibility. One understands relaxation as softness. The more relaxed the body, the greater the circulation of chi, and the faster the hands and body are able to move. The body's weight will sink downward; there will be better balance and coordination. This situation results from the improvement and enhancement of the ligaments, muscles, and bones. When one makes a small rotation of the waist, it will produce a lot of power in the hands, from either a centrifugal or centripetal force. The strike will be truly powerful. Thus one can see that in order to have more power in the hands and feet, the proper thing for a practitioner to do is not perform more exercises for the hands and feet, but rather exercise the whole body in order to strengthen it and to increase blood and chi circulation; one should also loosen the waist. Today, when people talk about his or her bodily skill, they are referring to the skill resulting from changes within the body—which happen because of changed additional chi inside the body. Unfortunately, there are many people who highly train the four limbs for localized power and forgot the most important part: the waist, which produces integrated power. In any martial-arts strikes, technique, power, and speed are very important elements. Without speed, one will be easily defeated by the opponent. Without power, even profound techniques are useless. Without technique, one does not know what to do with power. All Chinese martial-art systems involve students in power training as their core training, and tai chi chuan is no exception to this rule. It involves students in the solo-drill exercise of the tai chi chuan form to familiarize them with tai chi chaun’s profound techniques and power. It is through this solo-drill training that the student comes to understand each movement’s applications and variations as well as power delivery (fa jing). We all know that good fa jing technique involves extreme quickness and tightening all the body's muscles to squeeze the power outward. Immediately before the muscles are tightly contracted, the body is fully alert and energized, due to chi circulation. This state of alertness and being energized is another characteristic of relaxation in the martial-arts. To have greater chi circulation, one has to have relaxation. To have fa jing, one has to have tension. From the last paragraph, one can infer that tension is the key for having fa jing. Two steps are involved. When the body is relaxed, it is better for power reaching the four limbs. When the power reaches the four limbs, it is the end of relaxation's function. We often hear people criticize tension for causing muscle stiffness and for stiffness inhibiting mobility. What is tension and what is stiffness? When the body's muscles are contracted for a long period, this is called stiffness; this is not a good condition. When the body's muscles are contracted for only for a moment, this is called tightening; this is good tension. One can see that it is not that all tension is bad and one should always avoid it. In order to produce integrated power correctly, the whole body must get involved, not only the four limbs but all the muscles and joints as well. This condition of tightening is called open inside and closed outside. This is equivalent to someone squeezing a tube of toothpaste. In order to increase the pressure inside and have the chi circulates quickly, one has to contract tightly all the muscles. What is the relationship between chi and power (jing)? We often read and hear that where the intent (i) is, the chi is. Where the chi is, the power is. It is also said that chi is associated with movement, and power is associated with delivery. Therefore, tension in martial arts has three characteristics. It is spiritually explosive; it causes the chi to flow rapidly; and, externally, it can contract very tightly. In May 2005, I was invited by the Xian Yongning Tai Chi Chuan Association to attend its 20th anniversary and the 2005 Wah Ah Cup Yang Style Tai Chi Chuan Invitational Tournament and The Renowned Yang Style Tai Chi Chuan Masters Conference in Xian, China. It was founded by Grandmaster Zhou Bing (1906-1999). Zhou was the elder brother of the wife of Fu Zhong Wen. I participated in some sessions of the Renowned Masters' Conference and heard many tai chi chuan masters from China speak, but what interested me the most was when I heard the speech of a 81-year-old practitioner, Professor Fang Ning. Professor Fang was a student of Cui Yi Shi, who was a senior student of Yang Cheng Fu in Beijing. Professor Fang talked about what he considers tai chi chuan skill as a martial art. He said that a tai chi chuan practitioner without fa jing skill has not entered the door of tai chi chuan training. He continued to say that if one can execute only hui jing (yielding), it is not enough. He further said that throughout history, all famous tai chi chuan practitioners possessed the skills of both hui jing and fa jing. When one has fa jing skill, one has the skill of understanding jing. It is a standardized tai chi chuan martial-arts skill as mentioned in the “Tai Chi Chuan Classics.” In order to increase the intensity of fa jing in a martial-arts strike, one has to have more tension. This is equivalent, in making dynamite, to creating more powerful dynamite by rolling it tighter. Relaxation is one of the techniques used for attaining tension. Therefore, in order to produce more power, one has to practice regularly and rehearse the mechanism of contracting the body's muscles very tightly and then becoming very relaxed, in order to achieve better coordination, to improve the quality of muscles and the central nervous system, and to do less harm to the body. How to get these muscles to work together? The best method is for body to begin with slow and relaxed movements. After one understands the role of relaxation and tension in tai chi chuan, one's tai chi chuan training must be composed of these two aspects in order to be considered complete. To practice the relaxation aspect of tai chi chuan, one should begin to exercise the waist, the command center of all physical activity. The “Tai Chi Chuan Classics” indirectly points out its significence by saying to suspend the head from above and sink the chi down to the dantien. To suspend the head from above means to supply the energy to lift the head upward. It is not a physical action but an application of intent. All the body parts are properly aligned in a natural way. In order to execute correctly the principle of suspending the head from above, I often tell my students to have their eyes looking straight forward. When one has this eyes-looking-forward posture, the upper body will be properly aligned. The throat is hidden; the chest is in a natural posture; the back is properly set; the buttocks are tucked under; the chi sinks down to the dantien; the feet are rooted; and the kneecaps are aligned with the big toes. Now, as one can see, when the body assumes this posture, it is relaxed and comfortable. In this case, relaxation is the final product of hard work and practice. It is not a natural state—as many people assume, not understanding correctly. To practice the tension aspect of tai chi chuan is not to ask the practitioner to perform the solo form with stiffness but with temporary tightness: this is simply a continuation of relaxation but with more physical involvement, accomplished by turning and twisting the body and limbs. This practice is also known as changing the tendons and ligaments—a necessary training step in all Chinese martial arts. When one is practicing tai chi chuan as a complete system, the practice should be composed of both relaxation and tension aspects; then it is a martial art as well as a health-maintenance exercise. However, if one solely emphasizes the relaxation aspect of the tai chi chuan training without any tension aspect, this kind of tai chi chuan cannot be applied for martial-arts usage. It is but a health exercise and Professor Fang said that it should be called tai chi calisthenics, not tai chi chuan. An imitation cannot be compared to the real thing. Authentic tai chi chuan practice must emphasize tension as well as relaxation in training.
nice article! I will study carefully. It is easy to practise Tai Chi for Health, I believe that peoples can keep their health if they often play Tai Chi. Before 100 years, the health is not the ultima target of Tai Chi learner in China, and health is a unexpected and minor result. First, Tai chi is as martial arts (Kung Fu) for learners, it can help the learner improve their ability of self-defend.
An exercise we practice is doing little figure eights with the hands and shoulders (elbow locked open a about 120 degrees). After we can do it with very good relaxation we then do it extra slow maintaining as much tension as possible throughout the whole motion. This is called "xu shi fen"--storing ten parts (of ten). The tension is supposed to feel like it is coming from within, rather than from the surface muscles, but it is tension nonetheless. My shifu says the secret of "deflecting 1000 lbs. with 4 oz." is that your muscles must know what 1000 lbs., i.e. maximum tension, is. Then, you can go back to it in an instant, creating explosive power. After practicing with maximum tension you then gradually relax again, until you are down to "xu yi fen"--store one tenth (power). This is actually what you want to maintain if you want to deflect powerful force. If you use no power, then when an attack hits your arm it will simply collapse. If your arm contains 10% tension and is connected to the rest of your body with proper body mechanics, however, then your reaction to being hit can be to give only slightly and bounce back with 100% power.
Nice article and filled with points I am only beginning to realise over the last few years... seems I have been waiting outside the door for nearly 20 years... ho hum :Angel:
Is that really true? For everyone in China doing tai chi? Even true for most of the Chinese Tai chi guys?
There's nothing I could possibly write to match the irony of that posting... :Angel: PS [edit] on the other hand I can't resist... (btw Lio I'm fairly sure the article said "the door to learning Tai Chi" rather than "boxercise"...)
The question of relaxation/tension always confuses me. My teacher swears blind that everything stems from relaxation. He would only purposely use tension (when messing about in push hands) as a tactic to make the opponent tense up or let them think they had him and then he would relax, allow their tension/force to line up his structure and then depending on how quickly he drops into his root would result in whether there is a push or a small hard and fast strike. There is no tensing at all with his fajing. I thought that the relaxation allows the body/structure to compress and become very hard and that relaxation/compression combined with tight small circular movements results in the horrible strikes that rattle you to the core. I read somewhere that the body is supposed to be 90% yin.
You can edit your original post to ammend it with afterthoughts rather than clog up the thread with mutiple reply's to yourself. Unless you just want to sell stuff?
I think many modern Taiji teachers' fear of tension is starting to border on pathological. Eliminating excess muscle tension is only one step in achieving good energy flow and body mechanics. The body should be 50% Yang and 50% Yin. Anything else would be an imbalance--though most modern people tend to suffer more from an excess of Yang than an excess of Yin. The fact is you won't move at all without using some muscular tension. The trick is using just the right amount at the right time and no more. "Song" is not being floppy as a noodle and relaxation is only the first step in qigong and martial arts. If it were this simple then a cadaver (after rigor-mortis has passed) would be an unbeatable fighter and people in comas would be qigong masters.
I agree with these sentiments also. Too many schools today (especially in Yang style) overemphasis the soft and yielding skillz, which are only one side of the coin. In the end, if all you have is yielding you won't have much. Technique without power is not tai chi. If you don't train to build the body power than the foundation is weak, and everything built upon that foundation will be fragile once it is touched by someone with power and skill.
There is a Taiji classic called "wonderful hand" that states you should be 50% yin 50% yang - anyone heard of it? Never understood it til recently tbh... :Angel:
I'm not sure that this is true. IME Yang family and discliple lines (Yang Sau Chung onward) tend to heavilly emphisise peng over softness and yielding. Cheng Man Ching style seems to be more yield orientated. I'm sure there are guys (Rob P, Steve Row and others) who can confirm or deny this? As a student of Vincent Chu, is this not your expierience also? Regards J
Of course James, that's exactly what I'm saying. overemphasis on the soft is what I was referring to. You must have misunderstood my comments. Our school puts most of it's emphasis on the peng jin and power development. Vincent has written, and I agree, what good is technique if you have no power to execute them?
Also, I wouldn't just say from Sau Chung onward though. The earlier generations were definitely into power training, it's just that the Sau Chung lineage has kept it included in the training, whereas the Zhen Dou branch (from what I have heard) is more about yielding and technique. Anyone study in the Zhen Dou branch to confirm or deny this?
My teacher said that before he met his current teacher he was always taught and believed that ting jin is the most important. But his current teacher asked him, okay so after ting jin, then what?...You break them. So it's great to have ting jin, but if you can't fa jin, what are you going to do? Annoyingly stick to your opponent until they run out of breath? To me it's like having good communication skills. Too many people just like to talk but can't listen. In tai chi, it seems the opposite, with too many people thinking that just being a good listener is enough...you also have to learn how to speak.
I haven't seen or hurd of this book, but I haven't seen many of the "classics" out there. Would you have a link as to where these can be found? Most of the writings that I have seen, are modern works (last 50 years or so). -- jolt
