GREAT-POLE

BOXING: THE
THEORY
Attributed to Wang
Zongyue Wang
T!"ung-yeu#$ %ate
&'t# (entury$
A note )ro* Er%e
+ontaigue:
The following is all that we have from the
original classics of Taijiquan or H'ao
Ch'uan. Many have tried to translate them
and have not done these classics and
service or their writer! To write about
this particular classic one must be well
versed in the advanced areas of the art.
!ou cannot lay this classic over basic
form! "t was meant as a guide for those
just beginning to understand the more
advanced principles of Taijiquan bo#ing.
"f you loo$ deeply into what is said %the
fine print& you will uncover many great
ideas not only about bo#ing but also about
life in general. 'i$e the fact that most
beginners never see the woods for the
trees always searching for something
better on the other side! (r thin$ing that
they $now it all because they have been
practising for fifteen years when in that
small amount of time really $nowing
nothing!
Ta$e great notice of what )ang has to
say as it is his legacy to us all. *ut do not
ta$e it lightly or thin$ that you
understand it you will forever in your own
training return to these words and find
more and more hidden within them. " will
place numbers ne#t to certain pertinent
phrases and leave a commentary at the
end as to my own interpretation.

The +reat ,olarity without poles is born-
(f negative and positive it is the mother .
"n motion it divides
"n stillness it unites.
"t has neither over.reaching nor falling.
short-
/ollowing contraction it proceeds to
e#pansion.
)hen men are hard " am soft .
This is called 0running01
)hen " go along and men are turned .
This is called 0stic$ing0.
Move fast and the reaction is fast
Move slowly and the reaction is slow.
Though the metamorphoses be ten
thousand
(ne principle pervades them. /rom
familiarity with the moves one gradually
awa$ens to understanding power.
/rom understanding power one by stages
reaches spiritual enlightenment. (1)
)ithout long application of effort
(ne cannot thoroughly penetrate it.
2nobstructed draw up the crown3s power
'et the breath sin$ to the point beneath
the navel.
*e neither one.sided nor leaning
4uddenly conceal suddenly reveal.
'eft is full then left empty.
5ight is full then right insubstantial.
"f he turns upward go higher
"f he turns downwards go deeper.
"f he advances press in closer
"f he retreats draw out longer.
(ne feather cannot be laid on one
6 fly cannot alight from one.
0Men don3t $now me " alone $now men (2)
The irresistibility of the hero3s progress
"s surely entirely achieved through this.
This s$ill has many side schools. (3)
6lthough each one has its distinctive
postures
6s a rule they don3t go beyond strong
oppressing wea$
4low yielding to fast.
Have.force beating lac$.force and
Hands.slow yielding to hands.fast
"s all from innate natural ability
7ot brought about through learning.
5efer to the phrase- 0/our ounces deflect
a thousand pounds0
This is clearly not force3s victory.
5egard the image of the old man able to
hold off a multitude.How could this be by
speed accomplished8
4tand li$e a level balance
'ively as a carriage wheel .
9epress one side and the other follows.
(4)
)hen both are weighted they are
impeded.
:very time " see one of several years3
pure practice
2nable to manoeuvre and transmute
"nvariably causing him by men to be
controlled
"t is because the fault of double
weighting has not been reali;ed.
To avoid this fault one must $now
negative and positive 04tic$ing0 is
0running0 0running0 is 0stic$ing0.
7egative does not leave positive.
,ositive does not leave negative.
)hen positive and negative complement
each other
This then is understanding power.
6fter understanding power
The more practice .the more s$ill.
<uietly learning and e#perimenting
(ne gradually arrives at following what
the heart desires. (5)
"ts root is to discard self and follow men-
Many mista$enly discard the near and
see$ afar. (6)
This is $nown as being out by a hair3s
breadth
6nd going wrong by a thousand miles.
4tudents cannot but carefully distinguish.
This is the theory.

Erle Montaigue's Commentary
=>. This means that we do not practice
Taijiquan %H'ao Ch'uan& for the sa$e of
doing Taijiquan! "t is only a tool that we
use to gain other areas of learning li$e
spiritual awa$ening and the ability to heal
others. The fighting art is only an interim
tool that we use to gain the upper levels
of Taijiquan.
?>. This means that you as the Taijiquan
practitioner are always in control of the
situation whether it is a physical
confrontation or a mind confrontation.
!ou are grounded causing all bad <i to be
drawn into the ground and not into
yourself. *ut first of all to $now others
you must $now yourself!
@>. Here he is tal$ing about the other
schools of martial arts that have come
out of Taijiquan most have only ever
ta$en the shell and not the internal part!
"n other words they only e#ist for the
fighting!
A>. He tal$s about double weighted
movements. *ut not only does he mean
that we should not stand with the weight
placed evenly upon both feet but also
that we should not have equal <i in the
hands elbows shoulders hips $nees. This
can be ta$en even further to each of the
si# organ pairs where we should also not
have double weightedness. "t goes even
deeper into that the sub.conscious and
the conscious should also not be double
weighted!
B>. )e move in accordance with how the
inner mind wants us to move and not
because we have trained to move a certain
way. "n other words we move because the
'attac$er' is moving and in compete
accordance with that movement.
C>. 2nfortunately many students are
always searching for something better.
6nd even though they might have found
the very best that there is they still loo$
and search missing out on what is in front
of their noses!