Therefore, when hardness and softness are used adeptly, it is like a dragonfly just touching the surface of the water...

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 “Therefore, when hardness and softness are used adeptly, it is like a dragonfly just touching the surface of the water and immediately rising. Move the ch’i like a windmill that turns and rotates without stopping. In this way, the hard and soft are both in proper measure, and you will not suffer the ch’i being insufficient or inhibited.”

Ch’ang Nai-chou’s Writings, translated in Douglas Wile ‘Tai Chi’s Ancestors’, p.95.

[Image: 'Lotus and Dragonfly' by Qi Baishi]



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