Explaining Taiji Principles

太極法說

EXPLAINING TAIJI PRINCIPLES

楊班侯

attributed to Yang Banhou

[circa 1875]

[translation by Paul Brennan, Sep, 2013]

Extracts from translation (reformatted):

八門 五步 [1] THE EIGHT GATES & FIVE STEPS

方位　八門 position / gate:

掤 南 坎 warding off S ☵

捋 西 離 rolling back W ☲

擠 東 兑 pressing E ☱

按 北 震 pushing N ☳

採 西北 巽 plucking NW ☴

挒 東南 乾 rending SE ☰

肘 東北 坤 elbowing NE ☷

靠 西南 艮 bumping SW ☶

方位八門乃為陰陽顛倒之理周而復始隨其所行也總之四正四隅不可不知矣夫掤捋擠按是四正之手採挒肘靠是四隅之手合隅正之手得門位之卦以身分步五行在意支撑八面五行者進步火退步水左顧木右聁金定之方中土也夫進退為水火之步顧聁為金木之步以中土為樞機之軸懷藏八卦脚跐五行手步八五其数十三出於自然十三勢也名之曰八門五步

The positions of the eight gates are based on the principle of the passive and active aspects inverting each other, cycling round and round, following each other in their process. All of the four primary techniques [corresponding to the cardinal directions] and four secondary techniques [corresponding to the corner directions] must be understood. Warding off, rolling back, pressing, and pushing are the four primary techniques. Plucking, rending, elbowing, and bumping are the four secondary techniques. The combining of these cardinals and corners thus positions the trigrams.

  The body makes its steps according to the five elements, bracing in all directions. The five elements are: advance (fire), retreat (water), step to the left (wood), step to the right (metal), and stay in the center (earth). Advancing and retreating are the steppings of water and fire, left and right are the steppings of metal and wood, and the central earth is the axis for all of them.

  Embrace the eight trigrams as you step through the five elements. Techniques plus steps equals eight plus five, amounting to thirteen, naturally expressed as the Thirteen Dynamics, known as the Eight Gates & Five Steps.

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八門五步用功法

[2] ON THE TRAINING METHOD FOR THE EIGHT GATES & FIVE STEPS

八卦五行是人生成固有之良必先明知覺運動四字之本由知覺運動得之後而后方能懂勁由懂勁後自能接及神明然用功之初要知知覺運動雖固有之良亦甚難淂之於我也

The eight trigrams and five elements are innate within us. You must first understand that they are based in these four terms: perception, realization, activation, action. [These four terms amount to “moving with awareness”. This is a breakdown of four words – 知, 覺, 運, 動 – which would typically, and especially so for modern Chinese speakers, only be considered as two terms: 知覺 and 運動. To break movement (運動) and awareness (知覺) into their component parts results in: moving = the activation (運) of movement + the act (動) of moving, and awareness = the perception (覺) that something is + the realization (知) of what it is. In short, moving with awareness. This idea is further elaborated upon in the next section, where the purpose of breaking down the two terms into four becomes more clear.]

  Once you have achieved moving with awareness, then you will be able to identify energies. Once you can identify energies, then you will be able to be miraculous. But in the beginning of training, you should understand moving with awareness. Although it is innate, it is nevertheless hard to achieve within oneself.

Quoted Verbatim From:

太極拳使用法

METHODS OF APPLYING TAIJI BOXING

楊澄甫

by Yang Chengfu

[published by 神州國光社發行 Society for Chinese National Glory, Jan, 1931]

[translation by Paul Brennan, Nov, 2011]

Extracts from translation [1] (reformatted):

露禪師原文

YANG LUCHAN’S [COMMENTARY TO A] PRIMARY TEXT

[Original text:]

一舉動周身俱要輕靈，尤須貫串，氣宜皷盪，神宜內歛，毋使有缺陷處，毋使有凸凹處，毋使有斷續處，其根在脚，發于腿，主宰于腰，形于手指，由脚而腿而腰，總須完整一氣，向前退後，乃能得機得勢，有不得機得勢處，身便散亂，其病必於腰腿求之，上下前後左右皆然，凡此皆是意，不在外面，有上即有下有前則有後，有左則有右，如意要向上，即寓下意，若將物掀起，而加以挫之力，斯其根自斷，乃攘之速，而無疑，虛實宜分淸楚，一處有一處虛實，處處總此一虛實，周身節節貫串毋令絲毫間斷耳

Once there is any movement, the entire body should be nimble and alert. There especially needs to be connection from movement to movement. The energy should be roused and the spirit should be collected within. Do not allow there to be cracks or gaps anywhere, pits or protrusions anywhere, breaks in the flow anywhere. Starting from the foot, issue through the leg, directing it at the waist, and expressing it at the fingers. From foot through leg through waist, it must be a fully continuous process, and whether advancing or retreating, you will then catch the opportunity and gain the upper hand. If you miss and your body easily falls into disorder, the problem must be in the waist and legs, so look for it there. This is always so, regardless of the direction of the movement, be it up, down, front, back, left, right. And in all of these cases, the problem is a matter of your intent and does not lie outside of you. With an upward comes a downward, with a forward comes a backward, and with a left comes a right. If your intention wants to go upward, then harbor a downward intention, like when you reach down to lift up an object. You thereby add a setback to the opponent’s own intention, thus he cuts his own root and is defeated quickly and certainly. Empty and full must be distinguished clearly. In each part there is a part that is empty and a part that is full. Everywhere it is always like this, an emptiness and a fullness. Throughout the body, as the movement goes from one section to another there is connection. Do not allow the slightest break in the connection.

長拳者如長江大海，滔滔不絕也，十三勢者掤捋擠按採挒肘靠北八卦也，進步退步左顧右盼中定此五行也，掤捋擠按即乾坤坎離四正方也，採挒肘靠，即巽震兌艮四斜角也，進退顧盼定即金木水火土也，

Long Boxing: it is like a long river flowing into the wide ocean, on and on ceaselessly…

  The thirteen dynamics are: warding off, rolling back, pressing, pushing, plucking, rending, elbowing, bumping, advancing, retreating, stepping to the left, stepping to the right, and staying in the center. Warding off, rolling back, pressing, pushing, plucking, rending, elbowing, and bumping relate to the eight trigrams: { Editor’s note: The diagram below left is xiāntiān. The one to its right is hòutiān. It is added for comparison to show the implicit permutation transformation that has to occur to create hòutiān from xiāntiān. Given that the permutation transformation is derived from this comparison, we can prove that a total of 4 diagrams can be generated by applying the transformation to each derived diagram until xiāntiān is derived from the previous (4th) one.  (The transformations are just like the actions you perform on a Rubik’s Cube to get it back to its original unscrambled state, 0nly much simpler because the diagrams are 2-dimensional, not 3d like the cube.) }

☱ ☰ ☴ ☴ ☲ ☷

☲    ☵ ☳ ☱

☳ ☷ ☶ ☶ ☵ ☰

Warding off, rolling back, pressing, and pushing correspond to ☰, ☷, ☵, and ☲ in the four principle compass directions [meaning simply that these are the primary techniques]. Plucking, rending, elbowing, and bumping correspond to ☴, ☳, ☱, and ☶ in the four corner directions [i.e. are the secondary techniques]. Advancing, retreating, stepping to the left, stepping to the right, and staying in the center relate to metal, wood, water, fire, and earth – the five elements.

Extracts from translation [2] (reformatted):

[EARLY WRITINGS]

（一）八門五步

[1] THE EIGHT GATES & FIVE STEPS – PART 1

方位　八門 position / gate:

掤 南     坎 warding off S ☵

捋 西     離 rolling back W ☲

擠 東     兌 pressing E ☱

按 北     震 pushing N ☳

採 西北　巽 plucking NW ☴

挒 東南　乾 rending SE ☰

肘 東北　坤 elbowing NE ☷

靠 西南　艮 bumping SW ☶

[Compared to the eight trigrams displayed earlier, here a different arrangement is being used: { Editor’s note: The Bagua diagram below left is neither xiāntiān nor hòutiān, but since it should be one of them, we add hòutiān below right based on the fact that the same four trigrams are N S E W in both, just in a different sequence within the four directions. This means the four corners are also the same in differing sequence. }

☰ ☵ ☶ ☴ ☲ ☷

☱ ☲ ☳ ☱

☷ ☳ ☴ ☶ ☵ ☰

The common factor between the two arrangements is that the four primary techniques are always aligned in the cardinal directions and the four secondary techniques always in the corners, despite being individually assigned to different trigrams. This indicates the techniques are not to be attributed to specific trigrams and unique characteristics interpreted therefrom, but that the use of the trigrams as a symbol is intended only to point out which techniques are primary and secondary. The eight trigrams in this way are not meant as symbols but as a single symbol, a concise compass rather than an elaborate map.]

方位八門乃為陰陽顚倒之理周而復始隨其所行也總之四正四隅不可不知也夫掤捋擠按是四正之手採挒肘靠是四隅之手合隅正之手得門位之卦以身分步五行在意支撑八面五行進步火退步水左顧木右盼金定之方中土也夫進退為水火之步顧盼為金木之步以中土為樞機之軸懷藏八卦脚趾五行手步八五其數十三出于自然十三勢也名之曰八門五步

The positions of the eight gates are based on the principle of the passive and active aspects inverting each other [these active / passive relations being: warding off / pushing, pressing / rolling back, rending / plucking, elbowing / bumping], cycling round and round, following each other in their process. All of the four compass techniques and four corner techniques must be understood. Warding off, rolling back, pressing, and pushing are the four compass techniques. Plucking, rending, elbowing, and bumping are the four corner techniques. Combining compass and corner thus positions the trigrams. The body makes its steps according to the five elements, bracing in all directions. The five elements are: advance (fire), retreat (water), step to the left (wood), step to the right (metal), and stay in the center (earth). Advancing and retreating are the steppings of water and fire, left and right are the steppings of metal and wood, and the central earth is the axis of all of them. Embrace the eight trigrams as you step through the five elements. Techniques plus steps equals eight plus five, amounting to thirteen, and is expressed naturally as the Thirteen Dynamics, known as the Eight Gates & Five Steps.

（二）八門五步用功法

[2] THE EIGHT GATES & FIVE STEPS – PART 2: TRAINING METHOD

八卦五行是人生成固有之良必先明知覺運動四字之根由知覺運動得之後而后方能懂勁由懂勁後自能接及神明矣然用功之初要知知覺運動雖固有之良亦甚難得於我也

The eight trigrams and five elements are innate in us. You must first understand that they are based on moving with awareness. Once you have achieved moving with awareness, then you will be able to identify energies. Once you can identify energies, then you will be able to be miraculous. But in the beginning of training, you should understand moving with awareness. Although it is innate, it is hard to master.

Extracts from translation [3] (reformatted):

八五十三勢長拳解

[10] THE LONG BOXING OF THE THIRTEEN DYNAMICS OF EIGHT GATES & FIVE STEPS

自己用功式式用成之後合之為長滔滔不斷周而復始所以名長拳也不得有直勁恐日久入于滑拳也又恐入於硬拳也决不可失其綿軟周身往復精神意氣之本用久自然貫通無往不至何堅不摧也於人對待四字當先亦自八門五步而來站四手四手碾磨進退四手中四手上下四手三才四手由下乘長拳四手起大開大展練至緊凑伸屈自由之功則升至中上成矣雖綿有剛

In your own training of each posture, once you have learned them all, they are joined together to make a long routine, flowing on and on without interruption, one posture after another, and thus it is called Long Boxing. If you do not obtain a consistent energy, it may after a while turn instead into either “slippery boxing” or “stiff boxing”. You assuredly must not lose your pliability, the whole body returning to its foundation of mind and spirit. After practicing over a long time, you will naturally have a breakthrough and attain everything you have been working toward, and nothing will be strong enough to stand up against you.

  When working with a partner, the four techniques of ward-off, rollback, press, and push are the first things to work on that come from the thirteen dynamics. Stand in one place and do the four techniques rolling in circles, then do them advancing and retreating, doing them at a middle height. Then do them higher and lower as well, practicing at all three heights. Start from the bottom, working your way through the solo set. Then begin working with the four techniques, open and expanded at first, then focusing on the finer details until the skill of extending and contracting is fluent, and you will have ascended through the midway of attainment, and then will continue to the top, having a hardness even though soft.

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