What the classics say about fighting: Stick, connect and adhere to the opponent, draw the opponent in, attack with great force. Use spiral movements attack the opponents neck. Always maintain close contact but never grapple, use fa jin. Be like a speeding horse destroying all in its path. Attack the opponents acupuncture points with the hand techniques of break, bend, beat and pound, press down, rub, push and grab, open and close, rise and fall. Applications for palm are strike down and forwards, applications for fingers are seek and stab the acupuncture points, applications for whole hand are break and drain opponents chi, applications for fist is to punch. Among punches there are, down and parry punch, below elbow punch, turn the body punch, upside down punch, open mountain punch, under leaf punch, reverse punch, power portion punch and rolling break punch. Remember the footwork follows the body. Every move is an attack, destroy all in your path. Use elbow to take his life. Leave your opponent no room to escape, strike without mercy. The hand like a swift sword, slicing across the forehead or throat, send the opponent straight to hell. Use an attack no opponent can withstand making sure not to give the opponent an opportunity. Like a tiger pouncing on sheep, like a speeding horse destroying all in its path. What the classics say about moving with the opponent: Strike the opponent when his attack is imminent but has not yet issued forth. The whole body must fa jin when attacked, this is an internal skill. To defeat the opponent one must be able to interpret his chi. Relate to the opponent with turn and exchange, advance and retreat. Know his hands forwards and backwards intention by gaze left but look right. Attacking the opponents blood vessels and acupuncture points and he will faint, forceful attacks on the death points terminate the opponents life. What the classics say about ones own body movement: Spine straight and vertical, sink the chi to the tan tien. Raise ones spirit and turn the waist/hips/belly continuously. Be like a swimmimg dragon twisting its body be flexible and soft, the body follows the chi, the chi follows the spirit.
Which translations are these and which 'songs'? Who are they attributed to for example. I can't recall having heard a list of punches like that before, I'd be interested in any information you can offer on where the above comes from. Thanks. Are they for example from specific family transmissions or quanpou or from classics like these: http://www.scheele.org/lee/classics.html It would be interesting to compare the translation you wrote to those on the link, for example.
The article is from Chen Peiju Taijiquan Centre. The URL is www.chenpeiju.com which is site in English and Chinese. Do you have learned Taijiquan?
Hi, yes I'm learning. Thanks, I figured it might be related to Chen style. I've studied Wu and Yang styles and generally the classics I linked too are more familiar to those. Thanks again for the link, I will be interested to take a deeper look. The Chen small frame eh, very interesting style of taiji !
Yeah, it is chen small frame. Master Chen Peiju says all theories of all styles of taijiquan are the same while their external forms are different. Not matter which style it is, it has its benefit if you can find a good teacher and learn the right thing. If you have any question about Chen Small Frame, you can ask me although I just practice it.
Yeah, and maybe you are Chinese too. Your profile says you are from Ningbo city. I am in Zhengzhou city.
As i see it, the classics are here to reassure the practitioner that he or she is on the right track as oppose to something that he or she should get hung up on trying to fulfill or mimic. Tai Chi Chuan is not a contrived practice and therefore it should not be practiced by further conceptualizing the form. In other words, I see the classics as illustrating the result instead of the means towards obtaining the result. Remember, with the exception of the forms, Tai Chi Chuan is formless and the natural response to external stimuli, not the conscious application of certain fists, movements, footwork, etcetera.
sorry, what I'm trying to say is that paying attention to the application of tai chi in fighting (i.e. where your fist should be at a certain time the way we ought to react to opposition, and so on...) shouldn't be our focus. In fact, in doing so we are no longer practicing Tai Chi in its original sense. The classics are there to describe the characteristics of the Tai Chi Chuan master, not the method used to achieve mastery. Instead we should put our time into alignment, relaxation and letting go of all of the obstructions hindering our "grand ultimate" flow of energy.
The problem comes when you are against someone who hasn't read the classics and is too busy punching your face in to worry about whether his fa-jing is expressing itself like a unicorn dancing on a cloud whilst jugggling the breath of a dying pixie
