This is for those supporting Combat Taiji
So many teachers who claim to teach Applications do so in an External manner. They take the shell of a Taiji posture and apply it using Force. Force is expressly forbidden in the Taiji Classics.
One small example of this is an exercise using Ward Off Left that I learned many years ago. In this exercise the doer would place themselves into Ward Off Left posture and the student helper would press their body against their Left (Ward Off) arm.
Now here’s the amusing part, the doer would press forward and attempt to bounce the helper off their extended Ward Off arm.
To do this of course the Doer would have to use force. So in a Taiji class, we were being taught to apply our postures with Force. The opposite of good Taiji.
An Edit to the original. In Ward Off Left, the power side is the rear arm which should be pulling the opponent downwards trapping him/her across your chest. The forward arm is the destabilization side and arm and is used only to destabilize the opponent.
Chen Fa-ke, one of the most highly skilled practitioners the world has ever known, was quoted as saying that learning Push Hands was a ‘time of great danger’. He saw the danger as the student learning to use force to win.
When T. T. Liang commented on this he too said it was a time of great danger and used one of his famous quotes, “Small loss, small gain, big loss, big gain.”
To T T, ‘learning to lose’ was better in the long run, although you may lose in the beginning. Eventually, you would learn to use Taiji to win, instead of abandoning the art altogether for a short-term win.
The student would give up their art just to have a short-term win. The student would ‘give up their art’ to win.
Sadly this is mostly what you see today in Push Hands contests. These have become wrestling matches and clearly use force against force. A very sad state of affairs.
The use of force is expressly forbidden by the Founders of The Art
The movement of T’ai Chi Ch’uan should be slow, and external muscular force should not be used. Many students harbour doubts about this principle – they think that T’ai Chi can be good for health but cannot be put to practical use.
The method of practice in T’ai Chi is to study the principles first; when the principles have been thoroughly understood one learns specific techniques; when the techniques have been thoroughly mastered, then they can be applied in practical use.
It is not because the art cannot be employed in practical use that students harbour doubts, but because their mastery of techniques has not yet reached the proper level.
~T. T. Liang
Hong Junsheng, a Master of Taiji
A disciple of Grandmaster Hong’s decided that he would form a winning Push Hands team and use any means necessary to dominate National Push Hands competitions in China.
If you have an idea of the population of China you will realize this is quite a feat for anyone.
But this man did it. He trained his team so well that they swept the competitions winning almost every Gold Medal.
However, he did not teach his team to win with Taiji principles. Instead, they became very good at wrestling, take-downs, and other External practices.
At a celebration dinner, the Team Leader was going on about how great they were and how good their Taiji was.
Hong, sitting at the head of the table, quietly said, “You are like a blind cat who put his paw down. Under his paw was a dead rat. The cat said to itself, “I’m so glad I caught this rat.” You know nothing of Taiji at all.”
The Team Leader was clearly insulted by his words and came back with, “You should be happy for us. We put You on the map.”
You have to understand that Hong was a very famous Taiji practitioner, known for his applications and also known to be ‘unbeatable.’ Hong was often called “The man with magic hands”.
Hong replied in his usual manner, “Maybe we should find out.”
At this time Hong had suffered several strokes brought on by starvation and was quite incapacitated. Still, he was The Great Hong. The Team Leader paused to consider this.
I will simply tie you up and render you useless he told Hong and proceeded to do his best.
After several adjustments, Hong asked if he was done. The team lead paused again, made a few more adjustments, and then replied. “Yes I’m done and so are you.”
Hong, still seated, calmly said, “You forgot my little finger.’ and with a small gesture sent the hulking student flying away from him where he slammed into a wall and gradually slipped down it to the floor.
Hong could apply Taiji, but the student could not.
