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Posture 5. Grasp Sparrow's Tail

(1) Rollback to lower left:

[Continuing] from the previous movement, keep both feet motionless and slowly inhale. Relax the waist and slowly squat the entire body down, sitting solidly on the left leg while drawing both hands backward. Without stopping the movement, turn the body's waist approximately 45 degrees to the left. At the same time that the body turns, use both palms to rollback [lǚ] to the lower left. Rollback the right hand to the inside of the right knee, ending in a Yin palm. Rollback the left hand to the outside of the left knee, ending in a Yang palm. Sink the shoulders and drop the elbows. Look at the right palm, as in Figure 10.

(2) Ward-off to upper front:

[Continuing] from the previous movement, relax the waist and slowly sink the Qi. Turn the body towards the right to face the west direction. As the body turns, slowly begin to push through the left leg, ending in a right bow stance. At the same time, flip both palms forward to the upper right. Change the right hand to a standing palm with the tiger's mouth facing upward and send energy through the index finger. Use the root of the left hand's fingers to support [i.e., brace] at the inside of the right wrist. Slowly push straight to the front, and again push through the crown of the head and settle down into the waist. Both palms lift and ward off [peng] forward and up at eye level height. Keep the body's posture upright and look at both palms, as in Figure 11.

(3) Rollback to left:

[Continuing] from the previous movement, relax the waist and slowly sink the Qi. At first, twist the body's waist a little to the right, and push the left palm slightly on top of the right hand as the body turns right. After that, turn the body's waist approximately 90 degrees to the left to end facing the west [should be southwest]. At the same time, flip the center of the left hand outward at approximately shoulder level. Flip the center of right hand inward at approximately eye level. Rollback [lǚ] to the upper left with both palms, and sit back on the left leg. Look at the right palm, as in Figure 12.

[Note: The instruction to turn 90 degrees to the left and end facing west doesn't make sense. The figure caption in the book says to end facing the southwest, although the text for the posture in the book also says to end facing west. However, I have a copy of the book that has the "south" character handwritten as a correction.]

(4) Press level to the front:

[Continuing] from the previous movement, relax the waist and slowly sink the Qi. Turn to face directly west. At the same time, drop the right forearm downward in front of the chest. Use the root of the left hand's fingers to support [i.e., brace] at the inside of the right wrist. After that, push through the crown of the head and settle down into the waist. Begin to push through the rear leg and [brace] through the sole of the front foot, ending in a right bow stance. Press [jǐ] both palms forward [at chest] level. The right hand is flipped outward [should be inward], ending in a standing palm with energy [concentrated] at the end of the index finger. The right elbow should not pass the right knee. Empty the chest and tighten the back. Sink the Qi to the dan-tian, and then focus [the Qi] into the two hands. Maintain an upright posture facing directly to the west. Look at the right palm, as in Figure 13.

[Note: The picture doesn't show the right hand ending in a standing palm that is flipped outward. Maybe it is talking about the left hand that is pressing at the inside of right wrist or the characters were just written incorrectly.]

(5) Double rollback:

[Continuing] from the previous movement, relax the waist and slowly inhale. Sit back on the left leg, withdrawing and sinking the elbows down with the body [as it moves] backward. Change both hands to Yang palms and withdraw to them to each side of the waist. At the same time, twist the body's waist approximately 30 degrees to the left, with both palms following the body's turn to the southwest. Look forward, as in Figure 14.

(6) Double push:

[Continuing] from the previous movement, relax the waist and slowly inhale. Lift both palms along each side of the ribs until level with the mouth. Turn the body to the right while flipping [the hands] to end in Yin palms, and push [àn] forward at [shoulder] level. After that, slowly sink the Qi, and begin pushing through the rear heel while bracing through the sole of the front foot, ending in a right bow stance. Push through the crown of the head and settle down into the waist. Sink the shoulders and drop the elbows. Empty the chest [i.e., neither puffed up nor collapsed inward] and tighten the back. Sink the Qi to the dan-tian, and then focus [the Qi] into the two hands. Maintain an upright posture facing towards the west. Look at both palms, as in Figure 15.

Among the various movements, no matter if doing the upward ward-off, the level press, the double press or the backward rollback, in all cases do not go beyond the two feet which comprise the lower body (that is, do not go beyond the front toes and do not go beyond the rear heel). When doing the push through the rear heel using force, it is important to also brace through the front sole of the foot. Only then can the strike go out with strength maintaining balance.

The Grasp Sparrow's Tail posture is composed of: ward-off, rollback, press and push. Each of the 4 techniques may be used on their own, and can also be used together. Thus, they are considered Taijiquan's fundamental techniques, and you should practice them.

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