In general, without fullness there is no stability...

-

 “In general, without fullness there is no stability, but absolute fullness restricts our freedom of movement, and one is easily toppled. Without emptiness there is no agility, but absolute emptiness causes lightness, floating, and instability, and one is easily shaken. When empty and full complement each other, one attains the marvel of naturalness.”

Ch’ang Nai-chou’s Writings, translated in Douglas Wile ‘Tai Chi’s Ancestors’, p.105.

[Image: Chen Jinao in Golden Rooster posture.]



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Therefore, the application of Taiji Sword is not in one's ability to hit or thrust...

-
Image
  "Therefore, the application of Taiji Sword is not in one's ability to hit or thrust, but rather in hitting but not hitting, and thrusting but not thrusting. Its subtleties lie in this: hitting by means of not hitting, thrusting by means of not thrusting. I should control the sword to the extent that I don't need to strike others." Chen Weiming 'Taiji Sword and Other Writings'. Translated by Barbara Davis, p.12.
Read more

One must distinguish the teacher from the taught.

-
Image
 "One must distinguish the teacher from the taught. ...And the fact that some of Zheng's students do postures one way does not mean Zheng taught them that way. Isn't it just possible that Zheng's teachings involved no changes, but instead simply reflects that he was superb at not changing Yang's system, teaching it as he had learned it? Zheng stressed accuracy first and last. When he learned the rudiments under Yang, he had to master each posture before moving to the next, there was no breezy form class followed by a corrections class. With time, his own form became less energetic and more internalized - compare his 1960 Taiwan film with his 1973 film - but his teaching remained pretty much the same." 'Zheng Manqing and Taijiquan: A Clarification of Role' by Robert W. Smith, Journal of Asian Martial Arts, Vol. 4 No. 1 (1995). [Image: Cheng Man-ching]
Read more

By not using qi, I follow the flow...

-
Image
 "By not using qi, I follow the flow, while the other goes against the flow. One has only to follow, then softly yield. The way that softness subdues hardness is gradual, while the way hardness subdues softness is abrupt. Abruptness is easy to detect, and so it is easily defeated. It is more difficult to sense gradualness, so it often prevails. This notion of not using qi is the extreme of softness. Only the extreme of softness can produce the extreme hardness." Cheng Man-ching's Foreward to Yang Cheng-fu's 'The Essence and Applications of Taijiquan' (Taijiquan Tiyong Quanshu), p.2 (Louis Swaim translation). [Image: Yang Cheng-fu (back seat) with Zhao Bin (right) and Zhou Tien Sou Lin (centre). http://qi-encyclopedia.com]
Read more