Continuously Changing - The Philosophy of Taijiquan
"Opening and closing, movement and stillness, softness and hardness, bending and stretching, going and coming, advancing and withdrawing, preserving and losing, continuously changing yet constant." (excerpt from "Taijiquan tushuo")
This is how Taiji master
Chen Xin (1849-1929) aptly describes the nature of Taijiquan which is strictly in keeping with Chinese philosophy.
Day and night, light and dark, active and passive - while Westerners view such opposites as incompatible Chinese philosophy sees them as inseparabale counterpoles complementing one another in total harmony. The flowing movements of Taiji are visible proof of the fact that all motions are part of an everlasting cycle. Yin movements change into Yang movements and Yang, in turn, changes into Yin. Thus all movements include and cause each other, that is stillness turns into motion and motion is already included in stillness.
In Chinese philosophy this change of Yin and Yang, this everlastig cycle is symbolized by a circle. It stands for the universal unity of all things and is embodied in Taiji by imaginary circles governing all movements.
And Taijiquan contains even more elements of Chinese philosophy. For instance the directions and the eight trigrams (Bagua) from the "Yijing", the Book of Changes, correspond to the
eight basic techniques (Ba men) of Taiji:
- Peng (ward off): moving the hand from the inside to the outside in the shape of an arch.
- Lü (roll back): moving the hand from the outside to the inside in the shape of anarch.
- Ji (press): pushing towards the opponent with crossed hands.
- An (push): moving the hand down in the shape of a wave.
- Cai (pluck): pulling the hand down quickly.
- Lie (split): pushing the opponent back with a sudden burst of energy.
- Zhou (elbow strike): quickly pushing the elbow forwards.
- Kao (shoulder strike): quickly pushing the shoulder forwards.
The Five Elements of the "Yijing" are contained in the
five basic steps (Wu bu):
- Jin (advance) - corresponds to the element metal
- Tui (withdraw) - corresponds to the element wood
- Ku (look left) - corresponds to the element water
- Pan (look right) - corresponds to the element fire
- Ding (stabilize) - corresponds to the element earth
The eight basic techniques and the five basic steps are also known as the 13 techniques (Shisan shi) of Taijiquan. Their meaning is explained in the
Taiji classics "Shisanshi de jieshi" by Wang Zongyue (1736 - 1795) und "Shisan shi xingdong yaojie" by Wu Yuxiang (1812 - 1880). These books on Taiji basic techniques were allegedly written on the basis of a book by Chen Wangting (1597-1664) called "Quanjing zongge".
Until today the 13 techniques form the basis for all Taiji styles. The newly created Chen Style, Zhaobao Style, Yang Style, Wu Yuxiang Style, Wu Style and Sun Style ShisanShi - Taolu are highly popular in China at the moment. They will be taught at WuYuan in the near future.
In regard to practical application of Taiji, effectivity and harmonious interplay, scientific research about Taiji is not yet complete.
