Making the Quan Work
Taijiquan, or more popularly Tai Chi in the west, is a martial art whose focus in mostly on health and meditaiton training. In our school we focus on the Quan, which is the boxing, martial or kungfu aspect of taijiquan.
To make the quan work it is necessary to put into practice the principles of Relax, Root, Peng and Yeild. These are not steps to be followed such as one, two three and four, rather they are energy principles that give the practitioner the opportunity to execute proper taiji style combat.
Relax is the English translation of the Chinese word Sung. This is not the laid back, hanging limp, slouching type of posture of that is sometimes mistaken for being relaxed. This is also not an empty, unfocused mind set that you might experience during a vacation lying by a pool. This is the kind of relaxed you would see in a cat crouching in anticipation of pouncing on a prey. The cat’s muscles are loose but ready, no tension or unnecessary flexing or contracting. By keeping his muscles loose he is able to move in any direction without hesitation. His mind is clear but focused. He is focused on his prey but not to the extent that he is ignoring everything else around him. He doesn’t have a preplanned attack but, is waiting for the prey to give him an opening.
Root is the maintaining of balance. This is done by the proper application of peng-lu-ji-an, which is correctly answering the questions asked by your opponent. (For a brief explanation see the 13 Taijiquan Energies article on this web site, for a more in depth look at peng-lu-ji-an request a copy of the training manual from Sifu.) Remember that rooting is not the act of standing ridgidly in one place without moving.
Peng, is the expansive type of energy in this application. This expansive energy gives the body strength of structure without using excess muscle strength. Without peng the body is too easily collapsed and muscle strength is then needed to maintain balance, which leads to tension and rigidity. It is through the proper use of peng that the arches in the body are maintained. (See the Arches and Angles article on this web site)
Yielding is not the same as surrendering or giving in, it is the energy or concept of not acting with a preconceived notion or plan. The cat waiting to pounce on the prey waits to see an opening or weakness in the preys posture or attention and then strikes at that moment. We call it finding the window and then going through it. Cats rarely strike at a prey’s center while it is staring straight at him. This would give the cat a low success rate with high energy output; cats are way too taoist for that. They like to use the least amout of energy possible to accomplish the task at hand. (Very taiji)
As I mentioned earlier the relax, root, peng and yeild are principles not steps to be followed. I have listed them in this order because it is easier for me to remember. For some length of time I thought of them a steps and tried to force my martial applicatons of taijiquan into this “proper sequence”, but then I realized that if one of the energies was properly applied then, the others would fall into place.
Observe: You cannot be properly relaxed (sung) if you don’t have good peng. You cannot properly root (apply peng-lu-ji-an) if you are not relaxed. It is also difficult to properly root if you have preconceived intentions toward your opponent. You must yeild. Yeilding is not possible if you are not listening to your opponent, which is not possible if you are not relaxed. And finally, you cannot have good peng if you are not relaxed and listening (yeilding) to yourself.
If you try to think about all of this at once it is likely that you will get frustrated, not to mention going just a bit mad. So, take one aspect of the four energies and work on it, because if you have proper peng then relaxing will follow, if you listen so you will have root you will be relaxed and thus have good peng. You can’t root without yeilding, and you can’t properly yeild without rooting occuring.
As is typical of the interwoven nature of all things in the universe the combat aspect of taijiquan is no exception. This is why I don’t teach the quan as a series of techniques or moves but, as an applicaton of priniciples and energies.