Full Circle

 

This is the final post in the Taiji for Self Defence series. I mentioned in my last post the importance of approaching whichever school you study with an open and critical mind. I acknowledge the difficulty in this approach as most of us have a good deal invested in our school, style, lineage. I would add to those comments that it is highly worthwhile examining different schools and lineages and early texts. Early texts have the benefit of providing not only interesting basic content but also information on the mind set of writers at differing points in history, including their biases, that are often not actually spoken but can be deduced with a little careful reading.

 

To clarify this point I’ll give a simple example; in 1943 Chen Yanlin published a book, in to he commented on Yang Ban Hou’s method of dealing with challenges. He noted that YBH dispatched his opponents very quickly usually by preemptively striking, sometimes after using some kind of feint. Chen Yanlin criticised YBH for being sneaky and not giving his opponents a chance, this is despite the fact that using feints and striking first were,  in early texts, recognised as being the preferred approach where possible. I’ll look at this in more detail below, but suffice to say by 1943 adopting a sporting approach rather than prioritising effective self defence was an accepted view point.

 

On to the main objective of this post, just how do we analyse the meaning of a posture / technique in the TaiJi form? 

 

To help with this we should first of all look at a few concepts that are repeatedly mentioned in the various ‘classic’ texts on TaiJi. 

 

The primary area of importance is that of timing. In this context timing refers to how and when to engage with an opponent. The three options  are in order of preference; before (preemptive), during (intercepting / striking - borrowing energy) and after (Connecting and countering). Linked to the above three timing options is the often quoted; “It is said if the opponent does not move, then I do not move. At the opponent's slightest move, I move first.” This shows the preference for preemptive action. The second aspect to consider is the importance of the four skills of; Connect, Stick, Adhere and Follow.

 

The above tactical framework is really important when analysing techniques from the form. I mentioned in previous posts how many “applications” are demonstrated in response to a straight punch, most people with a few years of training will have been shown dozens of responses to the same straight punch, clearly ridiculous. It’s possible that this straight punch framework was initially used for simplicity and was not intended to be taken too literally.

 

The three timing options; before, during and after, should be the initial lens that we view applications through.

 

“Before”. Given that preemptive techniques are the safest response (do unto others as they would do to you, but do it first) that should be the first set of techniques we should look for. Here we have to park the potential legal complications of decisively acting first, a conversation for another day.

 

First question; what do we mean by preemption? It could of course mean simply striking your opponent before they have time to think and act, but it could also mean taking control of their arms just as they start to raise them into an offensive posture. This video clip demonstrates an excellent example  (Not Tai Chi) of preemption in the real world. 

 

https://youtube.com/watch?v=2ALA3ws4c84

 

 

So where can we find evidence of preemptive action? Surprise- surprise it’s the very first movements of the form! The beginning style, commencement style or whatever else it may be referred to as. The aspect of the movement in question is not the initial raising of the arms but rather the lowering of the palms, this is the dynamic of “AN” a downward pressing action, sometimes referred to as subduing hands or similar. This is a relatively gentle preemptive action, used to try to calm a situation by stifling a possible attack while also giving you the potential to escalate by locking or destabilising your opponent. And referencing the video clip above, the kick left and right sequences include hand / arm techniques that can be used as distraction techniques before the kick is delivered.

 

Where else might we find an example? One of the most repeated actions in the traditional forms is a sequence often called Parry and Punch, this is a shortened version of the full name which is sometimes translated as; Parry, Take In and Punch, Parry, Press and Punch and sometimes Parry, Block and Punch. There are a few aspects to this short sequence, but the parts we are interested in here are the ‘Take In”, “Block” or “Press”. All of these reference controlling an opponent’s arm prior to striking them, the “Take In” aspect is similar to the action in XingYi’s Beng Quan where the opponent’s arms is held or pulled to prevent them retreating, this is the equivalent of Karate’s HikiTe. A similar technique exists in sword and sabre forms where you press against your opponents’ arm preventing them from unsheathing their weapon.

 

I can’t bring to mind any other preemptive techniques in the standard Yang / Wu form, but you don’t really need any more, you’re either trying to calm and control or stepping in to strike / kick and bring things to a quick conclusion. There are some additional techniques within my lineage’s Nei Gong sequence, which can also be used in a preemptive way.

 

The next potential timing phase is the “During (intercept / strike)” phase. In this type of interaction the above mentioned ..the opponent does not move, then I do not move. At the opponent's slightest move, I move first, timing is crucial. 

 

This should not be thought of as involving a blocking action, the reality is there is seldom time to block a really aggressive strike launched at close range (not cooperative sparring distance). This type of interaction often involves some type of feint, this tactic is known as “beating the grass to show the snake” or similar. Basically you present an apparent opening or weakness in your defensive posture  to encourage an attack in a specific direction, which you are prepared for. To clarify the situation, you are aware of a person presenting a threat, you are not close enough to preemptively deal with the threat, so you need them to make a move, to help you anticipate their attack you show them an opening. 

 

As the strike commences you move off the line of attack and strike the incoming opponent. The striking of an incoming opponent is referred to in the writings of Chang Naizhou (1724-1783) as “Borrowing Energy”. Chang’s Boxing predates Taijiquan by some time but doubtlessly was a contributing influence. His use of the phrase borrowing energy is more straightforward than the use of the term often used in current TaiJi, where it often resembles  a more complex Aikido like pushing hands interaction. Chang essentially uses borrowing energy to simply indicate striking a person as they move towards you, their mass and velocity adds to your strike while simultaneously limiting their ability to avoid the strike or retreat. In the Yang and Wu forms punches and elbow strikes are present but often not obvious, the pursuit of elegance has caused them to be blended into other techniques, but they are there, the Chen style utilises a second form Pao Chui (Cannon Fist) to emphasise these and other more ‘direct’ techniques. 

 

Once again Parry, Press and Punch can be used, but with slightly later timing (fractions of a second) and possibly change in footwork. Other strikes include; fist under elbow, torso flung punch, step forward planting punch etc. The point of footwork is important to understand. A short examination of the TaiJI hand form will reveal that it contains little by way of useful footwork. There are a few reasons for this, firstly the form already takes up quite a lot of space to perform, if we started to include additional, tactical, footwork the space required would expand to the point of complete impracticality. This is why various stepping push hands drills are so important. 

 

The importance of utilising variations in footwork was brought home to me during XingYiQuan training. XingYi is primarily built around the training of five strikes, known as the Five Phases or poorly translated as Five Elements. Traditionally people would train in the the Five Phase fists for years before moving on to other aspects and indeed one of its most famous practitioners  Guo YunShen, made his name as a master of the art based solely on his mastery of the Five Phase strikes.

 

You might reasonably wonder how you can spend years training in just five fist techniques, let alone be considered a master of the art? The reason is quite simple, every strike can be performed in what is considered an ‘orthodox’ method  that might be an aligned stance (same hand and foot forward), or a crossed stance (opposite hand and foot forward), some feature a straight linear step, others feature a dodging diagonal step.

 

All of the fists can then be training in their unorthodox variations; aligned stances done cross stepped or vis-versa, linear done dodging or vis-versa and all can be done as a retreating method in both linear or dodging etc. So five fists easily morph into twenty plus methods, that’s before you start to combine the techniques.

 

TaijI footwork should be approached in exactly the same way, it is something to explore, some step / technique combinations are more useful than others and the best way to find what is useful and what isn’t is to try them all.

 

All of this brings us to the last timing option; “After”, (connecting and countering). It’s in this final category, countering an attack that is underway, that the skills of Connecting, Adhering, Sticking and Following are really emphasised. It’s the least preferred timing of defence action, yet it is the aspect that most training is focused on.

 

Again it should be stressed we are not talking about blocking but simply “connecting”. Connecting usually involves the initial use of the Peng dynamic. This is often a double arm method such as; Apparent Closure, the double arm lift of Beginning Style, or single arms such as Cloud Hands, Grasping the Birds Tail (move one, single arm Peng). The benefit of the double hand techniques is that it has the effect of being a general covering method similar to western boxing, which is useful for dealing with a flurry of unpredictable swinging punches. The vast majority of TaiJi applications will be applied from some point in this mutual exchange of contact. Unlike the very long periods of push hands training, in reality the skills of push hands will be applied for little more than seconds, if not fractions of a second.

 

If you are initially facing your opponent square on, the preferred position for your arms, relative to your opponent, is to be inside and above with your hands above your opponent’s elbows close to the shoulder to provide control not only of their arm(s) but also their torso. This can allow methods such as Pat The Horse High, Step Up Plant The Fist, if your opponent raises a leg, brush knee twist step can be applied from the “inside” position. You can move from inside to outside using Cloud Hands, Step Up Grasping The Bird’s Tail.

 

Once outside, Parry and Punch is an example of controlling an arm from the advantageous outside position, allowing you to pin an arm while delivering a strike. Lotus Leg can be used to destabilise and sweep from the outside oblique position.

 

Being to the outside of your opponent and placing your self in an oblique position is a safer place to be, though all of these positional options should be understood that in the context of a serious confrontation any position will be very temporary and the entire conflict will usually be over in seconds.

 

The technique Single Whip repeats several times in the form, this probably indicates its potential usefulness. If you are square on and on the outside of your opponent’s arm, the hooking hand allows you to achieve a temporary “inside” position by hooking and pressing over their arm achieving control long enough to strike with your other hand.

 

I think this post has gone on long enough so hopefully there is sufficient material here to help any serious practitioner to look at their own form(s) with a fresh enquiring perspective. I’m happy to receive questions on any aspects on which I’ve not been sufficiently clear or, inevitably, what has not been covered.

 

 

 

 

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