Secrets of Taiji

There are hundreds of thousands of people practising taiji all over the world these days. Some are doing the Yang style taiji while others the Chen style taiji. Some do it for health and fitness reasons while others do it in order to win a medal in major taiji competition. But for whatever reasons, most people practise taiji as they think taiji is a slow and elegant form of exercise which is very good for health. Generally they are right as practising taiji daily will make you strong and healthy. Apart from the health and fitness reasons, not many people know the secrets of taiji. Even most instructors nowadays do not know the secrets, their masters who taught them taiji also do not know the hidden things about taiji themselves. Do you believe that there are secrets in taiji that most people do not know? Is taiji merely another form of exercise for old folks?

Yang's style taiji

There are many stories regarding the origin of taiji. It was told that in the Chen village, there were already people practising taiji (the Chen's style) during the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. A certain man Yang Lu Chan later learnt the skills of taiji from a master in the Chen village. He later brought the art of taiji to Beijing where he became famous for his taiji skills and no body in the Capital could defeat him. His mastery of taiji skills was so advance that it was said that a bird could not even fly off from the palm of his hand. He later founded the Yang's style taiji and began teaching taiji to Princes and court officials. From the Yang's style, later came the Wu's style and Sun's style taiji. One can imagine, if taiji is just merely a form of exercise, it would not have influenced so many people and it would not  have spreaded so widely. The early practitioners of taiji were obviously drawn to this form of boxing because taiji was a martial art for self defence. Its Yin and Yang theory was profound with the ability to defeat your opponent using very little effort. To master the taiji skills, one need to find a good master who knows the secrets of taiji, the Yin Yang theory. With proper guidance and training from a good master, one can then learn and practise taiji the correct way. 

I started to learn taiji when I was a teenager only to give it up when I went overseas to study. In the late 80s, my fitness level dropped to such an extent that when I found myself panting heavily after climbing 3 flight of steps. I realised I needed to improve my fitness. So I  took up the Yang's style 108 taiji lessons in a community centre. I learnt other Yang's style routines of sword, sabre, fan and staff as well. Sure enough my fitness improved after doing the Yang's style taiji regularly. I remembered once there was power failure in where I lived and I was able to walk up 21 storeys without panting to reach my apartment. Later I also learnt the Chen style taiji because of the explosive  power in its movement. I particularly like the Chen's style big sabre which I love to swing the heavy weapon around me. The movement of the Chen's style big sabre looks awesome, like general fighting his opponent in ancient warfare.

I was contented with the Chen's and Yang's style taiji for more than 20 years until one day my friends invited me to meet up with another master from the Wu's style taiji who was teaching in the Chinatown area. Reluctantly (I did not want to learn another taiji style again) one night after work I went over to the place where they trained for the Wu's style taiji. The master was in his early 50s and immediately he showed me his skills in the Wu style. No matter how firm I stood he was able to uproot me effortlessly. He tossed me around as tough I was like  yo yo. He did it so easily and effortlessly and he did not use any strength at all. Mind you, I am of a much bigger size than him (he weighs under 55 kg while I am well over 70 kg). With over 20 years of training in the Yang and Chen styles, I could not even keep myself steady when his hands touched mine. I had really encountered a master who truly knew his trade. Even tough I have heard of stories of great  taiji masters of the past era, I had yet to see one myself. He really convinced me that there was still something I did not know about taiji, how to use taiji techniques effortlessly to uproot your opponent and defeat him. I told myself that I had to learn taiji from him and gave up all the styles I learnt earlier. From him, I hoped to find out the secrets of taiji, how he could do the techniques so effortlessly.

Soon I began my new taiji lessons with him, the traditional Wu's style taiji. He patiently taught us the Wu style and unfold the secrets he learnt from his master, another great man who learnt it from Wu Kong Yi, the legendary grandson of the founder of the Wu style, Wu Chuen Yu (an imperial bodyguard who learnt taiji from the invincible Yang Lu Chan). His style is known as the small movement of the traditional Wu style. All the steps revolve around the body's central position. The ability to discern forces acting on the body (such as hands and legs, etc), known traditionally as the Yin and Yang forces is essential to grasping the the true and correct technique of taiji. If a person stands in a central position with a stance such that the body weight is distributed in a Yin/Yang fashion through the legs, he is in a very stable posture. From this position, twisting and turning the pelvic (or other body parts) can generate a great amount of energy effortlessly, more than enough to uproot any opponents bigger than you. Now I knew that taiji was all about internal movement, moving the bones and joints and muscles of the body. Of course to do that is not easy, it requires strenuous training. One also needs to direct the "Qi" or energy to the body parts to make the movement effective. To summarise, apart from finding a good master who know the this art, one also needs to be intelligent and smart enough to put the technique into application. No wonder less and less people acquire this skills theses days. Most are contented with the elegant soft movement of taiji and are not too concerned about the combat aspect of the taiji movement. We regularly practise the push-hand technique with one another, and with the master. It was fun as we began to understand the taiji concept, never uses force to oppose an incoming force, stay relax and yield to your opponent's force but never lose body contact with the opponent; and strike when the opponent's force is deflected. But his must be done when your body maintains a central position, ie you must know how to place the CG of the body and your legs (forces from the legs) must be flexible when changing from Yin to Yang and, etc. The more I know about this truth, the more I find taiji to be really profound, not simple at all. You may spend 10 years practising taiji only to find that you are still at the kinder-garten level. Such is the complexity of taiji, no wonder few would want to take up this art of self defence.

It is not easy to describe all these things in a few paragraphs. One thing is sure; that the secrets of taiji can be learnt only if you can find one master who is willing to teach you. Of course, nowaday, there are very few masters who actually know the correct way to practise taiji. Over the years, most of the good masters are not around anymore. Many young people are also not interested in taiji as they have the perception that taiji is for old retirees who have nothing better to do. If this trend continues, the real skills of taiji may eventually be lost forever. The so-called masters these days are the one who teach taiji for a living. They themselves have not learned taiji the correct way (or from a true master who knows this art of self defence) and most often these masters have no real skills at all. They can continue doing taiji for 20 or 30 years yet they skills will not improve if they do not know how to practise it the correct way. Most often when they encounter a real master, they will be easily defeated or uprooted.
Yang Luchan: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yang_Lu-ch%27an
Wu Chuen Yu : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_Ch%27uan-yu

Wu style taiji