The Taiji Manual of Xu Yusheng

THE TAIJI MANUAL OF XU YUSHENG
Posted on August 27, 2012

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TAIJI BOXING POSTURES WITH DRAWINGS AND EXPLANATIONS
by Xu Yusheng
[1921]
[translation by Paul Brennan, Aug, 2012]
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1921, 7th month
Taiji Boxing Postures With Drawings and Explanations
- [calligraphy by] Fu Zengxiang

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[1st] FOREWORD
In ancient wrestling, the idea was to see who was best, and so they dragged oxen along while steering pigs
around [i.e. struggled moving every which way] to see which student was bravest. Alas, for those martial arts, it is
hard for us to say whether they were good or bad, but they were extensively developed and were popular in their
time.
When instruction is systematic, fitting, and proper, the student will make a truly martial display, and the
divine horse will gain a bridle [i.e. the student will achieve control over a special power]. Hardness and softness
will conquer each other. Experiment and play will make use of each other. The muscles and bones will carry each
other. The mental and physical will seek each other.
Xu Yushengs writing leaves nothing out. Let it be spread in countless copies and give instruction to the future.
I have expressed here but meager esteem, so please scrutinize these words, for fear of divine justice has kept me
Brennan Translation
from exaggerating.
- Yuan Xitao
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[2nd] FOREWORD
Towering are the splendid towers of Yan and Zhaos ancient capitals. So too martial valor is to be respected, for it
is bestowed on us as its students. Our magnificent martial arts are as fresh as they are old. But many systems have
been forgotten, and so we must seek for them from every neighbor. In the might of the north, who is the best? Xu
Yushengs skill rivals the horses of the heavens.
The ideal thing to do is unite in association with each other and rouse our spirits to strive, to study intensively in
the triple aspects of education [i.e. ethical, intellectual, physical] and let us be common friends against a common
foe. Without strength of literature, how will these things be spread far? A single page carried by the wind can delay
a cultures decay. When warriors assemble, these methods will be passed on. For the sake of strengthening our
nation, please regard this book.
- Liu Qian
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PREFACE [BY ZHANG YILIN]
I studied the military systems in the Rites of Zhou and the Maxims for War Ministers to figure out the average
size of each states armies. Each state had a force of 25,000 soldiers, so a hundred states would amount to
2,500,000, and if there were 1,800 states, that would amount to 40,000,000 [45,000,000]. Nowadays, the
equivalent amount for the whole country would be five out of every ten eligible males. I also studied the History of
the Warring States, with its seven kingdoms of Qi, Qin, Yan, Zhao, Han, Wei, Chu. Each state had to possess
1,000,000 pieces of armor, 100,000 weapons, and 10,000 servants. If by such numbers we arranged the
200,000,000 males of our entire country as it is at present, then our nation would have men eligible for service
numbering 10,000,000!
During the Russo-Japanese War [1904-1905], in the battles at Port Arthur [Feb 8-9, 1904], Liaoyang [Aug 24 -
Sep 4, 1904], and so on, there was hand-to-hand fighting, and it has been argued that Japans victory over Russia
came down to their skill in Judo. (See the Japanese book Human Bullets: Notes of Actual Combat at Port
Arthur [by Lt. Tadayoshi Sakurai, published 1906].) Judo is one of the martial arts we have passed down. If it is
the case that we are not concerned with defending ourselves, we do not need it. But if we do wish to defend
ourselves, then central to it are the three aspects of cultivating virtue, wisdom, and body, the cultivation of the
body being the most important.
Ever since the unification of China during the Qin Dynasty, rulers have neglected the martial spirit of the
people, and the ancient days when a person was both soldier and farmer have gotten ever more distant. Now our
nations people are generally lazy and dispirited, to the joy of onlooking tyrants. When we come into contact with
the mighty powers to the east and west, we then respond by shivering as if it is cold or stiffening as if being hit
with a chilling breeze, and really it is our own fault.
When the Republic was established, those who comprehended the era we are living in gradually understood
that boxing arts are our national soul. Xu Yusheng is well-versed in each of these arts, but is particularly expert in
Taiji. When I joined his school, I became a privileged member [being more literate than most,] and he often
bestowed his wisdom upon me. One day he showed me something he had written, an Illustrated Handbook of
Taiji Boxing, and I gave it a careful readthrough. It had a scientific way of analyzing things, written in a systematic
way and including drawings in sequence.
In the larger scale, Taiji can strengthen our nation and our race. In the smaller scale, it can prevent disease and
prolong life. I had previously seen Xu Zhiyis article Boxing Arts in Relation to Physics, drawing from the
principles of leverage, and explaining Taijis theory of avoiding the opponent where he is full and attacking him
where he is empty, its skill approaching near to the Way.
Unfortunately Xu Zhiyis writings have only appeared in Physical Education Quarterly and have not been seen
in their entirety [His material, including his physics article, was finally compiled into a book and published in
1927.], but now Xu Yushengs illustrated explanations have been compiled into a complete book. Compared to Xu
Zhiyis writings, it is like the wheel of a cart or the wings of a bird [i.e. is getting around more easily]. For those
who are frail, like myself, it can rouse you from your timidity and brace you up out of your feebleness. All who
study it can be invigorated by it.
Let us take the 400,000,000 men and women of our nation and leave aside those with a wasteful lifestyle. Of
those who follow this method, one in a hundred will work at it without giving up, but that would already be
enough to supply ten percent of the whole army, and these 4,000,000 will none of them be idle parasites. How
could they then be inadequate at defense? If we inquire of Xu Yushengs opinion of all this, would he not agree
with me?
- preface by Zhang Yilin of Wu county, 1st autumn month, 1921

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PREFACE [BY YANG CHANG]
In boxing arts, there are the two schools of internal and external. The external was founded by Damo and is called
the Shaolin school. The internal was founded by Zhang Sanfeng and is called the Wudang school. The elements
taught in both do not go beyond technique and energy. Technique is what is outwardly revealed. Energy is what is
inwardly concealed. Technique is substance. Energy is flow. Technique is form. Energy is function. When
substance and flow are both cultivated, and when form and function are both prepared, then it can be said to be
boxing.
The distinction between external and internal comes down to these two terms: technique and energy. The
external school excels in technique. The internal school excels in energy. It is similar to the way the Han Dynasty
scholars put importance on the commentaries to ancient texts but the Song Dynasty scholars were more
concerned with understanding the ideas within the texts themselves. Although each group has its distinct method,
they should work in parallel to each other rather than in opposition.
Most people do not scrutinize, thinking that the external school is all about hardness and the internal school is
all about softness, and they do not understand that hardness and softness must not be individually emphasized,
and that there should never be a moment when they are separated. Taijis thirteen dynamics [i.e. the solo set]
was passed down from Zhang Sanfeng. Since Zhang was a Daoist, it is therefore said in Taiji Boxing things such
as: He is hard while I am soft this is yielding. My energy is smooth while his energy is coarse this is sticking.
And also: Once you have engrained these techniques, you will gradually come to identify energies, and then from
there you will work your way toward something miraculous.
Yielding and sticking should both be sought in the aspect of energy. You must be sensitively aware and be
without obstruction, and then you can say you are identifying energies. You must respond to circumstances and
do what is natural, and then you can say you are on your way toward something miraculous. It is as Laozi said
[Daodejing, chapter 1]: Dwelling with nothingness, you will see mystery. Dwelling with somethingness, you will
see details. Truly this is no different. When boxing experts discuss energy and have reached this level, it can be
said they have achieved a way that is great beyond greatness. But when they explain its meaning, it is so lofty, and
when they discuss its theory, it is in such detail, and therefore for those who practice it, it is very hard to predict
the day when skill will arrive.
I have seen people who think that in practicing Taiji Boxing, it is only necessary to identify energies, who then
get ahead of themselves by rushing into focusing on pushing hands without having given adequate attention to
how they are using their torsos, hands, and feet [i.e. the aspect of technique]. After practicing like this for many
years, they are just as weak as when they started, reaching the point that they cannot even be a match for someone
who has been practicing other boxing arts [i.e. external] for only a few months. These are all mistakes of thinking
the internal school is all about softness, the result of not striving to make the postures correct and the techniques
skillful.
Xu Yusheng, my fellow student, has researched this method for nearly thirty years and is capable and
knowledgeable in both the internal and external schools, understanding the essentials of each, and so he is perfect
for the task of making such a book to provide for his comrades. He has explained the movements, including their
applications, and the pushing hands methods, which is especially valuable. He went through three drafts to make
the final manuscript, calling it Taiji Boxing Postures With Drawings and Explanations.
If you can put your heart into what you learn from it, you will break through and become skillful. The more you
practice the pushing hands, striving to identify energies, from there it will not be difficult to get on your way
toward something miraculous. Even if you have no extra time to practice the pushing hands, practicing the
techniques in the solo set should be sufficient for you to begin to be able to say you are well-versed in these skills.
This is Xu Yushengs goal. When there is social turmoil or natural disasters, sensible people often flee to hide in
philosophy. But it is also the case that we hear of things that wake up our senses, such as: through art we approach
the Way! And this book is a bridge toward it.
- written by Yang Chang of Xiangtan in Beijing, 1st autumn month, 1921

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AUTHORS PREFACE
When I was young, I was frail and often ill, and so I read all sorts of health books, controlled my diet, and was
careful in my daily habits. I proceeded along such lines for several years, but had not yet received any outstanding
results. I sought out the books of Hua Tuos Five Animal Frolics, Da Mos Tendon Changing Classic, and the
Eight Sections of Brocade, and practiced according to them. However, in each case the pictures had no
explanations and the essential concepts were not being imparted. I did my best to imitate the postures, but the
results were sparse, and so I did not complete the study. After that I engaged in external styles of boxing arts. I
trained in the skills of attack and defense, worked at jumping all over the place, and consequently my body
became somewhat robust. But I suffered from the severity of the exercise and had to take a break due to renewed
illness. I began to understand that it was not a good method.
Finally I got into internal styles of boxing arts, namely what the world calls the skill of Taiji. In its contracting
and expanding, its bending and extending, the mind guides the energy. It is simple and easy to practice. It is soft
and sparing of effort. Before I had practiced it for a full year, all my long-standing ailments had been alleviated.
The results were enormous. In every movement in the postures of its solo set, there is a rhythm to follow, a linking
up throughout, like a continuous flow. With the breath and the movement spurring each other, the energy and
blood, muscles and bones, are lively without stagnation, and you will deeply achieve the essence of the ancient
limbering arts. The qualities of its movements hard and soft, advance and retreat, passive and active, empty and
full fully conform to the taiji principle in the Book of Changes. When facing an opponent, act according to the
situation and seize opportunity when it appears, striking where there is a gap, guided by the hollows, and
knowing what areas are too tough to bother with. Indeed it is like those words from the Book of Zhuangzi [chapter
3] where it talks of the butcher whose skill is near the Way.
And so I have made this book to share with the world. Although it does not do justice to the intentions of the
ancients, if you practice well, it will be possible for you to make your way toward the Way. You need not look upon
this as only a martial arts text.
- written by Xu Longhou [Yusheng] of Guyan at the Beijing Physical Education Research Society, autumn, 1921
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GENERAL COMMENTS
- Each chapter of this book has been previously published in Physical Education Quarterly. The intention right
from the start was to wait until the series of articles had added up to a comprehensive volume of material, and
now they have been compiled for such a publication. Because the process of editing has been hastened to get it
published that much faster, areas of either repetition or omission are inevitable. If experts would give me
correction, I would be overjoyed.
- This book is divided into two parts: the first part being concerned with explaining Taiji Boxings origins and
principles, the second part being concerned with explaining the postures in the solo set, including drawings, and
the various methods of pushing hands.
- This book draws widely from the expertise of others and is not confined to my own understanding. For the
boxing techniques, I have focused on larger postures to make it easier for you to see what is going on.
- The most important thing in Taiji Boxing is the linking of movements. In this book, for the sake of convenience
of explanation, each movement within a posture is divided into its own section of description, but while you are
practicing you should still be moving from one to another continuously.
- In this book, the explanations for the movements in the postures often make use of current martial arts
terminology mixed into what the founders have passed down to us, and I hope it conforms well to their original
intention.
- In this book, I have selected the Taiji Diagram and the Change Development Chart as a means of verifying the
place of this boxing art and to supply you with reference material.
- In the course of making this book, Beijing Physical Education Research Society instructors Ji Zixiu, Yang
Mengxiang [Shaohou], Wu Jianquan, Liu Enshou, and Liu Caichen all served as consultants, while society
members Guo Zhiyun and Lang Jinchi did the drawings [Most of these drawings are obviously based on photos of
Yang Chengfu which were published later in Chen Weimings 1925 book, although occasionally the descriptions
make a better fit with postures of Wu Jianquan. The drawings which are not based on the Yang Chengfu photos
are again sometimes more similar to Wu Jianquans movements and are also apparently drawn by a different
hand. We can thus see how their work was divided: one man worked exclusively at drawing from the Yang
Chengfu photos while the other man drew either from photos of a different source or from an actual model.]. Yang
Jizi and Ye Yingtang did the editing, and Yi Jiansi and Xu Xiaolu did the proofreading.
(author)
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Portrait of the author

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CONTENTS
PART ONE

Chapter One: Introductory Remarks

Chapter Two: The Meaning of Taiji Boxing

Chapter Three: The Origin of the Name Thirteen Dynamics (Including Maps of the Eight Directions and Five
Steps)

Chapter Four: How Taiji Boxing Conforms with the Symbols of Change (Including the Taiji Diagram and the
Chart of the Development of Change)

Chapter Five: The Various Schools of Taiji Boxing

Chapter Six: The Taiji Boxing Classic Annotated
PART TWO

Chapter One: The Sequence of the Taiji Boxing Solo Set with Movement Positioning Chart (Complete with
Explanations)

Chapter Two: Explanations for Each of the Taiji Boxing Postures with Drawings
1
PREPARATION POSTURE
2
CATCH THE SPARROW BY THE TAIL
3
SINGLE WHIP
4
RAISE THE HANDS
5
WHITE CRANE SHOWS ITS WINGS
6
LEFT & RIGHT BRUSH KNEE IN A CROSSED STANCE
7
PLAY THE LUTE
8
ADVANCE, PARRY, BLOCK, PUNCH
9
SEALING SHUT
10
CROSSED HANDS
11
CAPTURE THE TIGER AND SEND IT BACK TO ITS MOUNTAIN
12
13
DIAGONAL SINGLE WHIP
14
GUARDING PUNCH UNDER THE ELBOW
15
RETREAT, DRIVING AWAY THE MONKEY
16
DIAGONAL FLYING POSTURE
17
RAISE THE HANDS
18
WHITE CRANE UNFURLS ITS WINGS
19
20
BRUSH KNEE IN A CROSSED STANCE
21
NEEDLING UNDER THE SEA
22
FAN THROUGH THE BACK
23
FLINGING BODY PUNCH
24
WITHDRAWING STEP, PARRY, BLOCK, PUNCH
25
26
SINGLE WHIP
27
CLOUDING HANDS
28
RISING UP AND REACHING OUT TO THE HORSE LEFT
29
KICK TO THE RIGHT SIDE
30
RISING UP AND REACHING OUT TO THE HORSE RIGHT
31
KICK TO LEFT SIDE
32
TURN AROUND, PRESSING KICK
33
COME DOWN, BRUSH KNEE IN A CROSSED STANCE
34
ADVANCE, PLANTING PUNCH
35
TURN AROUND, FLINGING BODY PUNCH
36
DOUBLE KICK
37
LEFT & RIGHT FIGHTING TIGER POSTURE
38
DRAPING THE BODY, KICK
39
DOUBLE WINDS THROUGH THE EARS
40
ADVANCE, PRESSING KICK
41
42
STEP FORWARD, PARRY, BLOCK, PUNCH
43
SEALING SHUT
44
CROSSED HANDS
45
46
47
WILD HORSE PARTS ITS MANE
48
MAIDEN WORKS THE SHUTTLE
49
SINGLE WHIP
50
CLOUDING HANDS
51
LOW POSTURE
52
LEFT & RIGHT GOLDEN ROOSTER STANDS ON ONE LEG
53
54
55
RAISE THE HANDS
56
57
58
59
60
61
STEP FORWARD, CATCH THE SPARROW BY THE TAIL
62
SINGLE WHIP
63
CLOUDING HANDS
64
RISING UP AND REACHING OUT TO THE HORSE
65
CROSSED-BODY SWINGING LOTUS KICK
66
BRUSH KNEE, PUNCH TO THE CROTCH
67
68
SINGLE WHIP
69
LOW POSTURE
70
STEP FORWARD WITH THE BIG DIPPER and RETREAT TO RIDE THE TIGER
71
TURN AROUND, SWINGING LOTUS KICK
72
BEND THE BOW TO SHOOT THE TIGER
73
CLOSING POSTURE

Chapter Three: Discussion of Taiji Boxings Pushing Hands Skill

Chapter Four: Explanations of the Eight Techniques of the Pushing Hands Skill

Chapter Five: Taiji Boxings Practical Function Pushing Hands

Section 1: TAIJI BOXINGS STANCE

Section 2: SINGLE TOUCHING-HANDS METHOD

Section 3: DOUBLE TOUCHING-HANDS METHOD

Section 4: SINGLE-HAND HORIZONTAL CIRCLING PUSHING & RUBBING METHOD

Section 5: ROLLBACK & PUSH PUSHING HANDS METHOD

Section 6: SINGLE-HAND VERTICAL CIRCLING PUSHING HANDS METHOD

Section 7: ROLLBACK & PRESS PUSHING HANDS METHOD

Section 8: SINGLE-HAND PRESSING DOWN PUSHING HANDS METHOD

Section 9: PRESSING DOWN THE WRIST & PUSHING DOWN THE ELBOW PUSHING HANDS METHOD

Section 10: PUSHING HANDS METHOD FOR THE FOUR PRIMARY TECHNIQUES

Section 11: PUSHING HANDS METHOD FOR THE FOUR SECONDARY TECHNIQUES
Postscript
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PART ONE
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CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
In ancient times, there was the map that came out of the Yellow River, the arrangements of the eight trigrams, the
scroll that appeared from the Luo River, and the pattern of the nine fields. Confucius used them to make the Book
of Changes. Although the Book of Changes is fundamentally a discussion of divination, within it is already a tool
for understanding the principles of all things. But because the explanations for the symbols did not have the main
points laid out, later generations have been unable to comprehensively understand them and each explanation has
gone down mistaken paths.
Zhou Dunyi worried about this situation, so he contemplated the substance of the Way, the essentials at its
root, and wrote the Explanation to the Taiji Diagram. He made it so that the subtleties of nature, the methods of
society, the variety of activities, and the inscrutability of spirits all have a single principle running through them. It
can genuinely be said that he was the originator of a philosophy.
Our nations boxing arts were the earliest to be developed, but so far have not yet become an integrated art.
This is because later generations of students discuss the art but not the theory, and they look upon it as a skill but
do not use it as a tool for training body and mind. When we look for the source of the boxing arts, we find they
came from the ancient limbering arts.
Long ago before medicine had been invented, [the theory was that] people encountered six kinds of
atmospheres [windy, cold, hot, moist, dry, smoky] which, when the bodys defenses were down, gathered in the
breath and blood to make illness. Thus those people engaged in bending and extending, contracting and
expanding, using mind to lead energy, stretched areas of stagnancy to unclog them, and thus cured themselves of
illness. Therefore their art was known as limbering [dao yin, meaning to lead and pull, as in stretching].
In those ancient times, Fu Xi assigned Yin Kang to make a Grand Dance to stretch the body and heal the
peoples illnesses. The Yellow Emperor made his famous book of medicine, containing massage and limbering
techniques, as well as comprehensive information on acupuncture and medicinal mixtures, all the basic principles
of nurturing the body and of using exercise to defeat illness.
It is said in the Book of Zhuangzi [chapter 15]: Expel dead air and take in fresh. Loosen by imitating the
walking motions of bears and stretch by imitating the extending motions of birds. These ideas are suitable for
breathing exercises. Hua Tuo of the Han Dynasty [206BC-220AD] continued to spread it by making the Five
Animal Classic (the five being tiger, deer, ape, bear, bird).
Wu Pu discussed it thus: The human body desires to be worked, although it is not appropriate to work it too
strenuously. When we move, the energy from our food is dispersed to circulate through our blood, and illness then
cannot be born, in the same way a door hinge [that is constantly used] will never rot. Therefore the ancient
immortals engaged in limbering exercises, drawing in what is essential to the body, moving every joint, to strive to
hinder aging. I possess an art, which is called the Imitating of Five Animals. When I feel my body is unwell, I begin
to act like one of the animals, until I feel comfortable and sweaty, and then, lightened and efficient, I have an
appetite for food. Wu followed its principles and learned it. Even beyond his ninetieth year he still had acute
hearing and sharp vision.
The Buddhist monks of the Shaolin Temple carried on his ideas, mixing them together with the various
techniques passed down by Damo, and made the Five Boxing Styles (dragon, tiger, leopard, snake, crane), but
with particular attention to practical application. (The five are explained in detail in Secrets of the Shaolin Boxing
Art [published 1915].)
The original intentions of this physical training have been lost, but since the Song and Yuan Dynasties many
who discussed martial arts followed in the path of their forefathers. After the temple was burned, the monks
dispersed in all directions. The clever ones developed strained interpretations, each holding to their version,
branching off into numerous schools. However, the authentic transmission of Shaolin consequently fell into
oblivion.
In the declining years of the Yuan Dynasty, there was a retired scholar called Zhang Sanfeng who took the basic
Confucian principle of taiji and mixed it together with the major principles of the other schools of thought, putting
the five elements and eight trigrams into his boxing techniques and footwork, using taijis passive and active,
hardness and softness, movement and stillness, as metaphors for its function. With these as its main points, it
became known as the internal school, distinct as a result from the external school.
In the matter of its techniques, Taiji Boxing is indeed different from the other schools of boxing arts, moving by
way of energy, defeating opponents purely through the use of emptiness and stillness, emphasizing spirit as the
highest form of cultivation, resolute of intention and determined of will, to the enhancement of ones intelligence,
which cannot be said by those who emphasize the body-building of external styles.
If those who practice external styles learn but some of its ideas, they will be able to benefit from the work of
others. From this it can be seen that as a study of the Book of Changes which involves the Explanation to the Taiji
Diagram reveals the principle that runs through everything, so a training in boxing arts which involves the Taiji
skill will integrate all the boxing schools.
There are several versions of the Taiji Boxing Classic that have been passed down to us, but due to all the
retranscribing of the text, with words getting transposed for other slightly different words, it is hard to distinguish
which version is correct. In 1912, I asked the scholar Guan Baoqian to analyze the versions and determine the
correct text. Recently my organization has established a physical education school, where he gives lessons in his
spare time. [I asked for his help] because I seek to present the Classic in its original form, and I have
also added commentary to it. As for the postures of the solo set, I have included drawings and explanations with
which to instruct you. In order to deal with what is easy before tackling what is hard, take it one step at a time.
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CHAPTER TWO: THE MEANING OF TAIJI BOXING
Taiji Boxing is a study in abstractions. Modeled upon the principles within the Book of Changes of passive and
active, movement and stillness, its movements and postures are simple and natural, with something being
generated from nothing, in other words: Wuji [no pivot], then Taiji [grand pivot]. Its movements are round
and lively, like a limitless circle, no one knowing where the end is, and so again the idea that Taiji comes from
Wuji. [As well as no pivot, Wuji can equally be rendered as no limit. Although representing nothingness, it
seems closer in concept to infinity than to zero.] Within each posture and technique, there is a round shape,
therefore explaining the borrowing of the use of the taiji principle [i.e. the yinyang symbol], serving to supply the
analogies of passive/active, movement/stillness, hard/soft, advance/retreat, and so on, and is not the same as the
common shamanic superstition that made use of the term Taiji. Nowadays science is flourishing and the next
generation of students will be able to use geometry and other studies to explain its principles rather than divining
from the Book of Changes, so I heartily hope.
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CHAPTER THREE: THE ORIGIN OF THE NAME THIRTEEN DYNAMICS (INCLUDING MAPS OF THE
EIGHT DIRECTIONS AND FIVE STEPS)
The thirteen dynamics are the five elements and eight trigrams combined. Taiji Boxing uses the four techniques of
ward-off, push, press, and rollback (corresponding with the four cardinal directions of , , , and ), the four
techniques of pluck, rend, elbow, and bump (corresponding with the four corner directions of , , , and ),
and the five steps of forward, back, left, right, and staying put (corresponding with fire, water, wood, metal, and
soil, known as either the five phases or five elements). They are applied as expanding [advancing] (Fire blazes
upward,), contracting [retreating] (water soaks downward,), advancing [contracting] (wood is flexible yet
resilient,), retreating [expanding] (metal is malleable yet resistant,), and staying put (and soil goes with
planting and harvesting. [passage from the Book of Documents] This one is the most important of the five
elements, corresponding with the central position.). These five correspondences are also depicted in the [second]
map below.
-
Map of the Eight Directions:

(elbow) (ward-off) (pluck)

(rollback) (press)

(rend) (push) (bump)
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Map of the Five Steps:
fire
(advance)

wood soil metal

(left) (center) (right)
water
(retreat)
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CHAPTER FOUR: HOW TAIJI BOXING CONFORMS WITH THE SYMBOLS OF CHANGE (INCLUDING THE
TAIJI DIAGRAM AND THE CHART OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHANGE)
The Book of Changes covers everything, yet its terse theory does not go beyond the Taiji Diagram. The things Taiji
Boxing discusses passive and active, empty and full, hard and soft, movement and stillness are all there.
However, the world has inherited two taiji diagrams. One comes from Zhou Lianxi, being in common tradition the
one with the double fish. The double fish pattern can be seen during the double touching-hands posture in its
qualities of passive and active, empty and full, expand and contract, advance and retreat, and can be found
endlessly beyond them. The principles within Zhous diagram are too profound to be covered in a single chapter,
but can be almost fully experienced by practicing the techniques of Taiji Boxing. Due to the brief length of this
chapter, it cannot be explained in detail, so here will be given only a rough analysis of the diagram. This diagram
divides into five layers:
First, there is its round shape (2-dimensionally a circle, 3-dimensionally a sphere). It is said: Wuji, then Taiji.
When practicing, be calm within, embracing the primordial oneness. When there is no scheming thought and
there is also no giving anything way, only emptiness to be seen, this can be called wuji. From within it comes
movement and stillness, passive and active, hard and soft, advance and retreat truly it is the source of all things.
How could it not be taiji?
Second, the circle divides into two aspects: passive and active, or emptiness and fullness, each occupying a half.
And so it is said that from movement the active is generated and from stillness the passive is generated. Thus are
established the two polarities. By extension, there are the two trigrams of and [notice the inverted pattern],
and this is like the boxings hardness hidden within softness, or stillness maintained within movement, the idea
that the two aspects are the root of each other.
The third level: the five elements are equated with the five steps. This expresses the idea that with the active
aspect there is change and with the passive aspect there is merging, as in the case of the active aspect being rooted
in the element of water [which is passiveness at its peak] and the passive aspect being rooted in the element of fire
[which is activeness at its peak], akin to wanting to retreat at the end of advancing and wanting to advance at the
end of retreating. The disposition of wood is to be flexible yet resilient, and the temperament of metal is to be
malleable yet resistant, and in the boxing exercise this is akin to bending and extending, opening and closing,
sticking and yielding, absorbing and pressing. All things are born of earth, which therefore dwells in the central
position [of the five elements], and so this is akin to your mind. During pushing hands, the actions of ward-off,
rollback, press, and push generate and overcome each other, but if you are not mentally engaged in them
throughout, they will be done incorrectly. The Explanation to the Diagram says: When these five kinds of
weather [cold (corresponding to water), hot (fire), damp (wood), dry (metal), wind (earth)] occur accordingly, the
four seasons march along as they should. The five elements each have a different nature and the four seasons
each have a different weather, but none of these natures and weathers can go beyond their roles within the passive
and active aspects. Passive and active occupy different positions, movement and stillness occur at different times,
but they cannot depart from their roles within the taiji.
Fourth and fifth, there is the comparison to people and to things. We have discussed wuji [i.e. the Zero], the
two [aspects], and the five [elements]. They gather and take form, affecting each other and then join to produce all
things. The essence of Taiji Boxing lies in movement and stillness, both merging to fulfill the [taiji] principle,
thereby controlling the center at the basis of all variations. Once you are responding according to the opponents
changes, no matter how interlinked his techniques or intricate his methods, you can deal with everything, since all
your variation is rooted in a single principle. Zhou said: A wise man is fixed upon being fair and upright,
compassionate and just, is guided most of all by a sense of peace, and is thereby the best of men. Fairness has to
do with his behavior. Uprightness has to do with his character. Compassion has to do with his influence. Justice
has to do with his judgments. There is movement and there is stillness. All who are devoted to the taiji principle
[i.e. the perfect balancing of complementary opposites] are without flaws, and therefore there is nothing they do
that is not successful.
ZHOU LIANXIS TAIJI DIAGRAM

taiji / wuji

active movement / passive stillness

fire / water
earth

wood / metal
The way of the ground makes the female quality,
the way of the sky makes the male quality,
[and together] they produce all things.
Shaos Chart of the Development of Change concerns passive and active, hardness and softness, movement and
stillness. It is somewhat different from Zhous diagram with its words of With movement, the active is
generated With stillness, the passive is generated The workings of the sky are based upon passive and active
[or more literally, shade and sunshine]. The workings of the ground are based upon softness and hardness [or
more connotatively, yielding and firmness].Shao observed things and wrote: When movement begins, the active
is generated. Once movement peaks, the passive is generated. When stillness begins, softness is generated. Once
stillness peaks, hardness is generated. Thus it is movement that generates passive and active, and it is stillness
that generates hardness and softness. Although his line of reasoning is different, yet his description of movement
and stillness as a machinery producing a distinction between passive/active and hardness/softness is of unique
worth in the Taiji boxing art, and you should consider it and grasp its meaning.
SHAO KANGJIES CHART OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHANGE
the moment between movement and stillness

- -
stillness / movement

- - - -
softness / hardness / passive / active

- - - - - - - -
great soft / great hard / lesser soft / lesser hard / lesser passive / lesser active / great passive / great active
-

CHAPTER FIVE: THE VARIOUS SCHOOLS OF TAIJI BOXING
Since Fu Xi first drew the set of eight trigrams, the concepts of passive and active were understood, and the taiji
principle was already implied within it. He later assigned Yin Kang to make a Grand Dance to guide people to
become more invigorated. The Yellow Emperor made his famous book of medicine, containing massage and
limbering techniques, all based in the taiji principle, to make formless exercises. Hua Tuo based his work on
words from the Book of Zhuangzi [chapter 15]: Expel dead air and take in fresh. Loosen by imitating the walking
motions of bears and stretch by imitating the extending motions of birds. He wrote the Five Animals Classic to
instruct Wu Pu, who was already an early advocate of postural exercises.
There was Xu Xuanping of the Tang Dynasty. (He was from Jiangnan, Huizhou prefecture, Xi county. He lived
as a hermit at Mt. Chengyang, where he retired on the south-facing slope and avoided eating grains. He was seven
and a half feet tall. His beard reached his navel and his hair reached his feet. He walked like a galloping horse.
Xu, a Tang poet, often carried firewood to sell in the marketplace, chanting to himself: I carry firewood in the
morning to sell, / so I can buy wine to find retreat in being drunk all day. / Pardon me, where do I live? / Through
the clouds up the verdant hillside. Li Bai went to visit Xu but did not meet him, then carved a poem [about not
meeting him] onto Gazing Immortals Bridge.) Xu taught a Taiji boxing art he called Thirty-Seven, because it had
only thirty-seven posture names. His method of instruction was single posture training, making the student train
each posture to perfection and only then moving on to the next posture. There was no fixed solo practice set, but
once all the postures were learned, all the postures could be linked up with each other as an unbroken continuity,
thus it was also called Long Boxing. It secrets are contained in the Eight Character Song, On Mental
Understanding, On Using the Whole Body, the Sixteen Key Points, and the Song of Function, all passed
down to Song Yuanqiao.
The Taiji Boxing that Mr. Yu (of Jiangnan, Ningguo prefecture, Jing county) taught was called Innate Nature
Boxing, and Long Boxing. He learned it from Li Daozi of the Tang Dynasty (who was from Anqing, Jiangnan). Li
lived in the Wudang Mountains at the Southern Cliffs Temple. He did not cook his food, instead snacking on
wheat bran several times a day, and people called him master. Those who were taught by Mr. Yu that we know of
were Yu Qinghui, Yu Yicheng, Yu Lianzhou, and Yu Daiyan.
The Cheng style Taiji boxing art started with Cheng Lingxi (He was called Cheng Yuandi. He was from Hui
prefecture, Jiangnan. He protected Xizhou in Anhui during the Houjing Rebellion [548-552], and because of all
his help was given charge over it by the Liang emperor as a devoted and powerful soldier.), who received it from
Han Gongyue. It eventually was passed down to Cheng Bi. (Cheng Bi [in 1193] achieved a second level in the civil
service exam in Shaoxing prefecture, was then given the mayorship of Changhua [a town near the city of
Hangzhou], working his way up to Minister of Rites, was honored with a degree from Hanlin Academy, given the
title of Marquis of Xinan prefecture [modern day Huizhou in Anhui], as well as Scholar of the Hall of Clarity, was
an expert in the theory of the Book of Changes, and author of the Luo River Collection.) The name was changed to
Small Highest Heaven and had fourteen postures in total. It includes a list of Five Study Reminders and the
Song of Four Natures Returning to One.
The Taiji Boxing art taught by Yin Liheng was called the Acquired Nature Method, and he taught it to Hu Jingzi
(of Yangzhou). Hu Jingzi taught it to Song Zhongshu. (Song was from Anzhou. He traveled to Gusu, where he
wrote this poem on a temple wall: Universe eternal, on and on forever, / you dont think about me, so I dont care
about anything. / I wander to the ends of the Earth, nobody paying any attention to me, / and when spring
breezes come, I blow my flute in taverns.) His posture count amounted to seventeen, many of which were elbow
techniques. Although its posture names were different, its method of use was the same as before.
Zhang Sanfeng, given name Tong, called Junshi, was from Liaoyang. He was a Confucian scholar from the end of
the Yuan Dynasty, excelling at calligraphy and painting, versed in poetry and essays. In the first year of Kublai
Khans reign [1260], he was noticed for his remarkable talent and was appointed as a scholar-official for
Zhongshan. He admired the nature paintings of Ge Zhichuan, which inspired him to abandon his official career,
and he traveled to Mt. Baoji, where the mountain has three peaks so proud and elegant, green and lush, a joy to
behold, and from then he was known as Three Peaks [san feng].
Over the generations, about a dozen sources of biographical information about Zhang have accumulated, but
none discuss his superb boxing art. At the beginning of Emperor Hong Wus reign [1368], he was invited to court,
but his way was blocked at Wudang. That night in a dream, the deity Xuan Wu gave him the boxing method, and
then at dawn he used it to defeat the bandits. Thereupon his boxing art was known as the Wudang branch, or the
internal school of boxing.
Internal stylists are of a Confucian mentality, and are therefore distinct from transcendentalists. Also because
eight techniques and five steps are the key within this boxing art, it is therefore called Thirteen Dynamics [or
thirteen postures], meaning thirteen methods. Later generations have misunderstood the term as indicating
postural postures, leading to confusion.
It was taught to Zhang Songxi and Zhang Cuishan. Then beginning with Song Yuanqiao and Yu Lianzhou, and
followed by Yu Daiyan, Zhang Songxi, Zhang Cuishan, Yin Liheng, and Mo Gusheng, these seven colleagues met
each other in Nanjing, then together went to the Wudang Mountains. They sought to visit a Master Li, but they did
not get to meet him. However, passing by the Jade Emptiness Temple, they did meet Zhang Sanfeng. They did
obeisance to him, listened to his wisdom for over a month, and then went home, constantly returning to get more
lessons. From this it can be seen that all seven of these men considered Zhang to be their teacher, but only Zhang
Songxi and Zhang Cuishan taught his art by the name of Thirteen Dynamics.
It is also said that Zhang lived during the reign of Huizong [1082-1135] of the Song Dynasty. During the invasion
to install the Jin Dynasty [1115-1234], he killed more than five hundred Jin troops single-handed. The people of
mountainous Shaanxi admired his valiance, earning him hundreds of followers, and so he passed down his skill in
Shaanxi.
When the Yuan Dynasty began, Wang Zongyue of Xian obtained the authentic transmission and became
renowned everywhere. He authored the Taiji Boxing Classic, the Taiji Boxing Treatise, Understanding How to
Practice, the Touching Hands Song, and the Thirteen Dynamics Song. Chen Zhoutong of Wenzhou learned it,
and thereupon it spread from Shaanxi all the way to eastern Zhejiang [i.e. from the mountains to the sea].
More than a hundred years later, there was Zhang Songxi of Haiyan county, Zhejiang, who became the most
famous within the system (see the Records of Ningbo Prefecture). His art was then passed on in Ningbo to Ye
Jimei, called Jinquan, who then taught it to Wang Zhengnan, called Laixian, during the reign of the Qing Emperor
Shunzhi [1644-1661].
Because Zhengnan was bold with people but just, he had a unique reputation at the end of the Ming Dynasty.
Huang Zongxi puts the greatest importance on Wang Zhengnan (whose deeds can be found in the Stories of
Knight-Errants). When Wang died, Huang wrote a memorial inscription for him. Huang Baijia [Huang Zongxis
son] wrote the Boxing Methods of the Internal School, including Six Path Long Boxing, Ten Sections of
Brocade, and other instructions. More than a century after Zhengnan, the next person of note was Gan Fengchi.
These are all exponents of the southern branch.
Of those who passed on the northern branch, it was taught by Wang Zongyue to Jiang Fa of Henan, who then
taught it to Chen Changxing of the Chen family village, Huaiqing prefecture, Henan. Chen always stood straight,
impassively, not inclining in any direction, was as expressionless as a rooster made of wood, and so people called
him Mr. Board. He had two sons, Gengxin and Jixin.
At that time, Yang Luchan, called Fukui, from Yongnian county, Guangping prefecture, Hebei, heard of his
fame, and so he with his fellow villager Li Baikui went to learn from him. When they arrived, they were the only
students who did not have the surname Chen and they were looked upon as being very much outsiders, but
because there was a close bond between the two of them, they studied wholeheartedly, often practicing
throughout the night instead of sleeping. Mr. Board saw that Yang studied diligently and thereupon taught him all
his secrets.
Yang went home and taught the art to his fellow villagers, and it was commonly known as Soft Boxing or
Neutralization Boxing, because it has the ability of using evasion to gain control over a strong force. Then Yang
traveled to Beijing and was a guest in every mansion. Many Qing Dynasty royals, nobles, and men of rank learned
from him, and at that time he was made martial arts instructor to the Manchu barracks. He had three sons, the
eldest named Qi, who died young, the second named Yu, called Banhou, and the third named Jian, called Jianhou,
also called Jinghu, and both Banhou and Jianhou earned much fame.
I learned from Yang Jianhou for years and know his familys history. He has three sons, the eldest named
Zhaoxiong, called Mengxiang, the middle one named Zhaoyuan, who died young, the third named Zhaoqing,
called Chengfu. Banhou had one son, named Zhaopeng, who is a farmer in his village. While Yang Luchan served
as instructor at the Manchu barracks, three people who got instruction from him were Wan Chun, whose power
was hard, Ling Shan, who was good at flinging opponents away, and Quan You, who was good at neutralizing, and
so it is said that three people each obtained one of his qualities. When he physically declined, he then told them all
to do obeisance to Banhou as their teacher, and hence they are said to be Banhous disciples.
Song Shuming, who says he is descended from Song Yuanqiao, has traveled much, is an expert in the theory of
the Book of Changes, and is proficient in the Taiji boxing art, contributing many innovations. He is casual and
familiar with me, and I have had a constant association with him from which I have received unique benefit.
Instructors in my organization such as Ji Zixiu, Wu Jianquan, Liu Enshou, Liu Caichen, and Jiang Dianchen have
also received much from him. (Wu Jianquan is Quan Yous son, and it is often said that he was close friends with
Ling Shan.)
-

CHAPTER SIX: THE TAIJI BOXING CLASSIC ANNOTATED
Taiji is born of wuji.
Tai means the grand or extreme. Ji means the central pivot point. Taiji is the ultimate foundation of
everything in existence. Taiji Boxing therefore is what each boxing system ultimately attains to. To be born of
wuji means that wuji [no pivot] is the origin [of the grand pivot]. This boxing art emphasizes refining spirit and
uses the wielding of energy to make the postures, which are natural and unrestrictive in their shapes. Emptiness is
the foundation, yet it embraces everything, and thus it is called wuji [also meaning no limit]. However, a
beginner should work on the postures as the initial training. After a long period of becoming familiar with them
and then identifying energies, you will naturally have a breakthrough, and you will begin to have a condition of the
miraculous.
It says in Zhou Dunyis Explanation to the Taiji Diagram: Wuji, then taiji. Zhu Xis commentary to it says:
Natures work is silent and intangible, yet it is truly the operation of creation, the foundation of all things. This is
why it says there is wuji, then taiji. But wuji is not beyond taiji, since taiji will return to wuji. Although in that
case, the phrasing of born of wuji would thus seem to be a poor choice of words.
It is the manifestation of movement and stillness, and the mother of yin and yang [the passive and active
aspects].
Change in position or the progress of the body in a certain direction is called movement. Solidly staying in or
preserving its location or orientation is called stillness. By manifestation is meant the sign of their occurring.
It is similar to the use of that word in the Classic of the Talisman of the Abstract, in which it says: The sign of the
sky expressing its destructiveness [is the shifting of the constellations] [the shifting of the constellations
indicating the change of seasons, the different seasons bringing different weather, and each change in weather
being destructive to the previous status quo of weather]. There is no beginning or end to the cyclings of stillness
and movement, passive and active. Taiji means the pivoting mechanism between them.
When practicing Taiji Boxing, there is calm within the mind, an embracing of a primordial state of oneness. Do
not get stuck in either movement or stillness, but be instead magically unpredictable. Once there is contact, issue,
but do not then freeze into stillness. When moving, preserve an intention of stillness, but within the stillness
dwells the potential for more movement. Movement and stillness are rooted in each other and complement each
other naturally. Herein lies the subtlety of the Taiji Boxing art.
Everything that comes into existence carries the passive and contains the active [Daodejing, chapter 42]. They
all have taiji. When there is taiji [i.e. polarity], there is therefore duality. Therefore taiji is the mother of passive
and active. Every technique and posture in Taiji Boxing contains a circle. When it moves it is active, and when still
it is passive. So it is with hard and soft, advance and retreat, etc, all having the same principle of change.
Therefore here I will explain the principle of alternating changes in an easy way:
The theory in ancient China was that everything corresponded analogously to passive and active, and therefore
passive and active themselves do not have fixed roles. This is the case for correspondences of passive and active in
Taiji Boxing
active / passive:
movement / stillness
hands going out / drawing in
advancing / retreating
hardness / softness
issuing / gathering
sticking / yielding
joints extending / bending
spreading apart / closing inward
expanding / shrinking
contracting / expanding
rising / lowering
All of these correspondences, regardless of how one thing changes into another, are each contained within a circle.
Therefore when movement and stillness become distinct, passive and active then do not occupy the same place
and taiji is everywhere.
With movement there is division [into the vectors of the initial force and the diverting force (often called a
thousand pounds and four ounces)]. With stillness there is merging [into the net force of both].
Movement means change. When there is movement, there is differentiation of passive and active, and the two
polarities are established. When there is stillness, there is nothing disturbed and nothing that gives anything
away, though the principle of passive and active is complete within it.
When practicing the Taiji boxing art, in each of its postures, movement and stillness alternate with each other.
This boxing arts movements go forward or back, left or right, up or down, but in all cases there is passive and
active, empty and full, to be abided by. Therefore it is said that in movement they become distinguishable. In
postures of stillness, although there is no trace of anything that can be specifically pointed out, passive and active,
empty and full, are all already within. Therefore it is said that in stillness they become indistinguishable.
If we break down the exercise, then Taijis active aspect transforms and its passive aspect merges, which with
an air of physics or mechanics represent the principles of the dividing force [components of force] and merging
force [resultant/net force]. In the Taiji boxing art, when I encounter an opponent and he wants to control me, I
then right away [take his attack] to the side, dividing his power into two paths [i.e. the components of force],
causing his power to be unable to directly reach my body (coarsening his energy). This is what is meant by With
movement there is division.
If this induces him to stick to me, I apply lifting energy [a further vector added upon the sideways energy],
which is a transformation of the active aspect, and once initiated, a stillness is established which either causes him
to cease his movement or gets his power to land on nothing. [If the latter (he has landed on nothing but is still
moving),] then once there is the slightest stillness [i.e. hesitation, confusion, indecision on his part], I promptly
issue, making use of the merging energy [i.e. taking advantage of the net force in other words, capitalizing on
the direction he is now unpreparedly moving in], which is the merging of the passive aspect.
If the opponent wants to issue upon me, I then respond by being calm in my mind, watching for the moment
and taking the opportunity when it comes. While there is stillness, I wait [for the moment to move at an angle and
thereby create components of force]. Once there is the slightest movement, I respond [by seeking the stillness
within movement of the merging net force which can be taken advantage of]. It is like the saying goes: Second to
shoot but first to hit the target.
There is only one Way. In the primal chaos there were not yet distinctions and the vast opaqueness was not yet
cleared away. If in the beginning there was neither movement nor stillness, how could there be passive and active?
Therefore use emptiness as the foundation and you will invariably join with the Way.
The universe is like this, the Taiji is like this, and when you have practiced Taiji Boxing until it is extremely
refined, it will also be like this. But these words about the beginning of the universe are being used to talk about
the practicing of the boxing art and how depth of practice advances you to the Way, and beginners may suddenly
find this difficult to discuss.
The sky and the ground are fixed, and the two polarities are separated. When there is passive and active, there
is movement and stillness, and thus one who talks of Taiji must pay attention to the postures. Taiji Boxings
separating and joining, movement and stillness, accord with passive and active. If there is movement in a posture,
you must seek to open up. When wielding power, you must understand emptiness and fullness. When he is hard,
neutralize him. This is called dividing [i.e. creating components of force]. Once he is soft, defend against him. This
is called merging [i.e. making use of the net force]. The ground is in a state of stillness seeking movement. It has
an end but no beginning, and we must submit to it. The sky is in a state of movement seeking stillness. It has a
beginning but no end, and the only thing to do is return to emptiness.
It is the principle of all things that emptiness receives and stillness completes. The universe stands within
emptiness and revolves within stillness. Therefore when the primal chaos opened up, the whole of the beginning
was established. The whole body truly initiates from wuji, invariably coming from a state of emptiness and
quietude.
Wang Chongyang said: Here I describe the source of the Way: work first at emptiness and quietude. As for
emptiness, there is nothing it does not welcome. As for quiet, there is nothing it does not answer. Looking at it
this way when practicing Taiji Boxing, if emptiness and quietude are taken as your foundation, then the changing
between dividing his force and merging with it will naturally happen as you please.
Neither going too far nor not far enough, comply and bend then engage and extend.
Too far means you are going beyond. Not far enough means you are not arriving. To comply means to not
resist. To engage means to approach. Going too far or not far enough are both cases of becoming uncentered. If
you become uncentered, you will be resisting by way of your active aspect or separating by way of your passive
aspect, and you will be unable to have connection.
Taiji Boxing lies in the situations of bending, extending, dividing his power, and closing on him. If when
wielding power you go too far, you are making the errors of crashing in or resisting. If you do not go far enough,
you are making the errors of running away or collapsing. If you wish to be neither reaching nor separating, you
should comply and bend then engage and extend.
Adapt to the situation and act accordingly, being neither stubborn nor egotistical, for it depends on the power
coming from the opponent. Making centeredness your priority, engage by sticking, adhering, connecting, and
following, staying always with the opponent. As it says [in the Zhong Yong (Impartial Constancy), chapter 31 of
the Book of Rites]: A gentleman always stays centered. It is the case that a beginner in this boxing art will often
go too far, and while you begin to identify energies, you will often fail to go far enough. You should be carefully
aware of this.
He is hard while I am soft this is yielding. My energy is smooth while his energy is coarse this is sticking.
By he is of course meant the opponent. Hardness indicates being strong and forceful. Softness has to do with
smoothness. Yielding has to do with neutralizing. Using softness and smoothness, change according to the
direction of the opponents force so it does not restrict you, and thus it is called yielding. Smoothness is being
unrestrained and easy. Coarseness is being restrained and difficult. Sticking is seizing control of the opponents
power. Upon encountering the opponents hard power, I smoothly respond to his momentum and take charge of
it, causing him to lean into range of my control, and thus it is called sticking.
Taiji Boxing always uses little strength in response to the opponents great strength. Weak defeating strong, soft
controlling hard this is the gist of it. However, the conventional opinion is that the small cannot really match the
large, that weakness cannot really defeat strength, and that it is really difficult for softness to gain control over
hardness. But in talking of matching, defeating, controlling, there is indeed a theory behind getting the upper
hand: the opponents power must get to me for it to be effective, but if I gain control over what he is trying to do, I
take advantage of the moment he begins to apply hard power, watching for the opportunity and responding
accordingly, arresting his attack and sending him back to seeking control over his own body.
Therefore even if I am weaker, I always claim control over the opponents position, and even if he is stronger,
he is always in a position of being controlled. If it is difficult for him to freely expand, then even if his power is
great, what good would it be? The statement of Laozi that the teeth wear out but the tongue goes on very much
aligns with the idea of hard and soft in Taiji Boxing. But if you are not an ardent student who ponders deeply upon
these things, these words will not help you.
If he moves fast, I quickly respond, and if his movement is slow, I leisurely follow. However countless his
changes may be, the principle of this timing is a single constant.
The speed of your movement should be based on the speed of the opponents. If you want to know his speed, you
must first watch for the pivotal moment his power moves, then you will be able to respond appropriately. What is
this moment of movement? It says in Zhou Dunyis Penetrating the Book of Changes: The pivotal moment is the
time before action has taken shape, between when it is not and when it is The moment is subtle, and so it is hard
to spot. As difficult to recognize as it is, if you have not trained deeply it will not be easy to understand. As long as
I catch the timing, it does not matter what the opponent does, for countless variations are based upon that single
principle, and so I hold to it, controlling the variations by making them return to their single basis. I observe the
timing and respond to the situation, neither overdoing nor underdoing. Holding to that single constant and
being ruled by it, your movement will be pure and natural and be without the slightest bit of stagnancy. Thus it is
said [Zhuangzi, chapter 12]: Obtain the One and all things are accomplished.
Once you have engrained these techniques, you will gradually come to indentify energies, and then from there
you will work your way toward something miraculous. But unless you practice a lot over a long time, you will
never have a breakthrough.
For Taiji Boxing practitioners, there is a fixed process of progress. You cannot skip steps and rush ahead. The
subtlety of Taiji Boxing all comes down to using energy. (This energy has to do with nimbleness and liveliness,
comes from a deeper level of training, and cannot be explained only in terms of physical strength.) Although the
energy is shapeless, it must be in accord with the shape of the technique in order for you to start to be able to
manifest it. In Taiji Boxing, whenever you concentrate power it depends on being good at moving energy. If you
neglect it when applying techniques, you will end up unable to understand why they are not working, and you will
feel pathetic, that you have wasted your time, and that progress is hopeless. Compared to proceeding step by step
and progressing gradually, you will instead get half the effect for double the effort, the result of not abiding by the
natural sequence.
Confucius discussed education along these lines: if it is always based in talented instruction, then each student
will benefit from it. Although boxing arts are a lesser skill, it takes applying it upon opponents to say you have
mastered it, which no one has ever been able to do quickly, therefore a practitioner of this boxing art should first
imitate the teachers postures.
Once you are doing them correctly, you must seek to be mindful of linking them with each other. Once you can
do the solo set fluently, you must focus on each postures function. Once you are familiar with the techniques, see
whether or not you can apply them properly. Once you have grasped the proper way to apply them all, see whether
or not your power is empty. Once your power is substantial, you have truly engrained the techniques.
Then seek to identify energies through pushing hands. Study the weight and speed of your opponents
movements and the direction his energy moves toward. After a long time, you will naturally come to identify a
little bit, then a little more, until you progress to the point that you sense the slightest thing and everywhere know
what it is, and then you will have grasped what is meant by identifying energies.
Once you are identifying energies, you will not try to apply techniques and they will happen by themselves. You
will progress to the point that without the energy there is no technique and without the technique there is no
energy. Gradually you will reach the level at which you do not need to apply techniques, you only need to apply
energy. Then finally you will not try to apply energy and the energy will happen by itself, for you are wielding
power by way of intention and transposing intention with energy. There is spirit in your touch and nothing can
stand against it. You have proceeded to the miraculous. Indeed, without several decades of ardent practice, how
could you attain this?
Forcelessly rouse strength at the headtop.
Forcelessly has also been written as must [making You must rouse strength at the headtop.], but it seems
appropriate to go along with forcelessly. Force-lessly is said in opposition to -fully. To do it forcefully would
cause you to be jammed up and slowed down, making it hard to be skillful. [i.e. You must rouse strength at the
headtop neglects the point that it should be done without effort, and in fact due to the imperative nature of
must, it would seem instead to encourage effort. Therefore must can be dismissed as simply wrong. It was
surely not intended and was most likely the wrong character transposed for the right one, an easy and common
mistake when characters have identical pronunciations, a major hazard of the Chinese language.] Headtop
means the top of the head, the area also called the fontanel. During infancy, the bones in this area are soft and
not yet joined, and it often trembles along with the breath.
Daoists call it the upper elixir field or the clay pellet palace. It is the mansion in which the spirit is stored.
When a Buddhist is ordained, he receives marking there. For Daoists, the upper field is where spirit is cultivated.
The Book of Changes says: He walks in his courtyand but does not notice his family. (The courtyand indicates
the forehead, but means the top of the head [the headtop]. Walks this is the spirit and energy flowing along
[corresponding to rouse / strength]. Does not notice his family this is the emptiness [corresponding to
effortlessly].) The Yellow Courtyard Classic says: He wishes to be immortal and cultivate himself at Kunlun.
(This mountains name is a metaphor for the headtop.) All these examples show people with the knack for
self-cultivation.
A persons cerebrum controls thought while the cerebellum controls movement, but the headtop is really the
source from which all things emerge, controlling all the nerves. [The acupoint at the top of the head is named
(Bai Hui) where all meet.] It is the governors mansion, and its position is important as such, for it is a
fitting place to emphasize when engaged in self-cultivation. The Taiji Boxing practitioner directs body and mind to
unite. Inside and out are simultaneously cultivated, and spirit and body are simultaneously tempered. Therefore,
when moving energy in the body, you must move intellect in the brain, penetrating spirit to the headtop, seeking
to make a halo of clear-mindedness round the head, and thereby refining the spirit. The head is the whole bodys
guide. Guiding upward, the gaze then spreads outward. When the headtop is suspended, throughout the body the
skeleton is upright, the muscles behave smoothly, and whenever there is movement, the whole body functions as
one unit, whether to the left or right, forward or back, without being impeded by anxieties.
Energy sinks to the elixir field.
The elixir field [Dan Tian] is the name of an acupoint. The Daoists say there are three elixir fields: one at the
headtop storing spirit, one in the belly storing energy, and one below the navel storing essence. This last one is the
lower elixir field (three inches below the navel). Through constant deep breathing, which causes energy to
accumulate at this point, you will naturally have sufficient energy and abundant spirit.
The Yellow Courtyard Classic says: When breathing, take outside air into the elixir field and see how long you
can keep it there. The length of the ordinary persons breath is short and only goes as deep as the belly (i.e.
meeting the diaphragm [but not expanding it]) and cannot make it to the elixir field. This causes the circulation to
slow and the lungs to weaken, inadequately removing impurities from the abdomen, and hence the blood cannot
be lively, greatly shortening a persons life span. Laozi said [Daodejing, chapter 5]: The space between sky and
ground is like a bellows. He also said [Daodejing, 3]: Empty the mind, fill the abdomen. This is along the lines
of [Zhuangzi, chapter 15]: Expel dead air and take in fresh (expel meaning exhaling bad air from the abdomen
and take in meaning inhaling fresh air) and [from Daodejing, 16]: Returning to the root [and thereby]
rejuvenating life. (By root is meant the source, i.e. the vitality in the elixir field [in the lower abdomen] and
what is called the life-gate in the lower back, and then returning and rejuvenating meaning the intention is
inverted and aimed at these places.)
Use intention to guide energy to the lower elixir field where it is refined. After a long time you will naturally be
able to prolong life and prevent disease. The lower elixir field is the key point of the whole body for practitioners
of boxing arts. By sinking energy to this area, you will be majestically stable and it will not be easy to affect you or
make you topple. But sinking the energy is to be done slowly, somewhere between deliberately and unconsciously,
not like an external stylists sinking by way of effort and outwardly swelling the abdomen. If you are not careful,
you could end up giving yourself a hernia, amongst other ailments. Recently Gang Tianhu, a second-level
practitioner of Japanese meditation, died of diabetes. It is suggested the cause may be in connection with him
being too forceful with his lower elixir field, a hypothesis which is not unreasonable.
Neither lean nor slant. Suddenly hide and suddenly appear.
To lean means to lose your balance. To slant means to deviate from your upright posture. To hide means to
conceal. To appear means to show. To suddenly hide and suddenly appear means to be magically
unpredictable. Neither lean nor slant has to do with the bodys posture. Suddenly hide and suddenly appear
has to do with the movement of spirit and energy. In Taiji, there is emptiness and clarity, balance and uprightness,
meaning that the posture must be balanced and upright, and that the movement seems both intended and not
intended, causing the spirit, energy, intention, and power to course through the whole body. Neither going too far
nor not far enough, suddenly hide and suddenly appear, making the opponent unable to figure out what you are
doing. When you have practiced until you are skillful, you will easily come to comprehend this.
In geometry, between two points there is only a single straight line. In Taiji Boxing, strength at the headtop is
to be roused above and the center of balance is to be guarded below, and as long as the whole body is balanced and
upright, these will easily be the case. But both the rousing above and guarding below must contain an intention of
liveliness and a quality of being abundantly natural, whereas if you overdo them and become restrictive, then the
spirit and energy will become sluggish, the posture will become stiff, the wielding of power will not be able to be
done with effortless nimbleness, and your own movements will begin to obstruct you. Therefore it is said:
Suddenly hide and suddenly appear.
When there is pressure on the left, the left empties. When there is pressure on the right, the right disappears.
This continues the thought from the previous explanation. I hide and appear inconstantly. If the opponent feels
me applying force on my left side and wants to add pressure to it to cause me to lose my balance, I then empty my
left side and await his pressure, guiding his power to land on nothing. If he feels I am applying force on my right
side and that he can take control of it, I promptly hide it and store it away, my empty and full switching roles. If
you adapt to the situation and respond accordingly, how can an opponent ever use his techniques?
When looking up, it is still higher. When looking down, it is still lower.
Looking up means rising. Looking down means lowering. If the opponent wants to lift me to make me go
upward, I then continue it even higher, or if he wants to crush me to make me go downward, I then continue it
even lower. This makes him lose his balance and turns the tables to subject him to my control.
When advancing, it is even farther. When retreating, it is even nearer.
To advance is to go forward. Even farther means to stretch out. To retreat is to go back. Even nearer means to
close in. When I advance forward, if the opponent complies with and leads in my power, I then extend my body
and follow him in so that he cannot evade me. If he takes advantage of the situation and advances, I quickly lure
him in until he is stretched out, making his power reach its limit so he cannot do anything with it. If I were to
simply retreat, his power would press in on me and I would be forced back with no route of escape.
It says in the Book of Changes: The sky acts with vigor. A gentleman ceaselessly improves himself. When you
see the opponent is about to forcefully advance, you must not cower. Although Taiji Boxing prioritizes softness
and stillness, it does not seek to avoid contact. Feign retreat and turn retreat into advance rather than actually
retreating. If I retreat and the opponent follows me closely, I will be crowded and made uncomfortable. When he
retreats, I advance and press in to make him more crowded. If I retreat and his power follows me to attack, I then
bend forward, folding up to obstruct his fingers or wrist, or twist sideways to push his elbow, making him crowded
and uncomfortable and unable to advance any farther.
A feather cannot be added and a fly cannot land.
The character for feather [can also mean wing but here indeed] means feather. To be added is in the sense of
to be put on you. To land means to lower and touch you. These phrases describe one who has excellent Taiji
skill, perceiving acutely, knowing the opponent upon the merest contact, putting an end to the situation when the
opponent makes the merest attempt. Even if his touch is as light as a feather or as slight as a fly, if he encroaches
upon me to the smallest degree, I am immediately aware of it, evading his attack but not adding any pressure to
him in the course of doing so. With the natural clear-mindedness we call spirit, I am aware of his action and then
able to act upon it. [Daodejing, chapter 16:] Achieve an extreme softness and maintain a sincere stillness. Be
silent and still, sensing and connecting, and give no warning when you act. If you do not train to the point of
purity, building a supple nimbleness in your body and developing an abundant power of touch, you will not be
qualified to discuss these things.
He does not know me, only I know him. A hero is one who encounters no opposition, and it is through this kind
of method that such a condition is achieved.
When you are empty and still, passive and active blend together. When you are aware and alert, hard and soft
alternate with each other. Whatever the opponent does, I know it all. As for what I am doing, the opponent has a
very difficult time knowing any of it. When an expert of boxing arts encounters no opposition, it is because of this
principle [of knowing and being unknown]. Sunzi said [Art of War, chapter 4]: Good fighters do not make a show
of their skill. He also said [chapter 3]: Knowing both self and opponent, you will win every time. But not
knowing the opponent and only knowing yourself, you will have only a fifty-fifty chance. If the opponent does not
know me but I am able to know him, then I will meet no opposition.
There are many other schools of boxing arts besides this one.
This points to other kinds of boxing arts generally.
Although the postures are different between them,
Different schools, different postures.
they generally do not go beyond the strong bullying the weak and the slow yielding to the fast.
Other kinds of boxing arts emphasize strength and showing off. They do not seek to identify energies, and thus the
ingenuity of merging timing and momentum, of applying sensitivity, and of using stillness to overcome movement
of any speed, are things which are typically not looked into.
The strong beating the weak and the slow submitting to the fast are both a matter of inherent natural ability
This points out that both great strength and quick reflexes are talents one is born with.
and bear no relation to skill that is learned.
They are not abilities that come from learning.

Examine the phrase four ounces moves a thousand pounds (See the Touching Hands Song [i.e. Playing
Hands Song] where it says: I will tug on his movement with four ounces of force moving his of a thousand
pounds.), which is clearly not a victory obtained through strength.
When measuring weights on a scale, the pulley responds to the heavier side, as per the mechanics of leverage. Taiji
Boxings use of a small force to defeat a large force, or an absence of force to gain control over a presence of force,
is in accordance with science.
Or consider the sight of a septua/octogenarian repelling a group, which could not come from an aggressive
speed.
In the old days, septuagenarian was commonly used to indicate a man in his seventies, octogenarian a man in
his eighties. An old man moves slowly, but in ancient times there were great generals like Lian Po, who when he
was old could still defeat many. Therefore there is surely more to it than hands and feet being fast.
Stand like a scale.
If your body is upright and comfortable, neither leaning nor slanting, the three sections of the spine will naturally
be correctly placed.
Move like a wheel.
If your poise is rounded and dignified, your movement nimble and without sluggishness, then your whole body
will have a wheel-like quality, constantly turning without end.
If you drop one side, you can move.
To drop means to go to one side. It is like when water is being drained by being poured from a bottle. This
causes one side to be empty and therefore you can draw off the water. If the bottle were overfilled, it would spill on
its own.
If you have equal pressure on both sides, you will be stuck.
There is the equal pressure between me and the opponent [i.e. neglecting to drop one side and release the
pressure on that side to draw the opponent off balance, instead maintaining pressure on both sides and merely
spending effort holding him back], and there is the equal pressure that has to do only with myself [i.e. having
equal weight on both feet]. Taiji Boxing is based on naturalness. If you cannot function with single pressure [i.e.
with the weight more on one foot than the other], what is double pressure supposed to get you?
We often see one who has practiced hard for many years yet is unable to perform any neutralizations and is
generally under the opponents control, and the issue here is that this error of double pressure has not yet been
understood.

Long ago it was said [in the Historical Records, chapter 68]: Those who rely on virtue flourish. Those who rely on
force perish. It says in the Book of Changes: The sky acts with vigor. A gentleman ceaselessly improves himself.
Building upon these words, when you are empty you are sensitive, being sensitive you move, by moving you
change, by changing you neutralize, and when you neutralize you do not get stuck. [Sunzi said (Art of War,
chapter 6):] One who is good at dealing with opponents always controls the opponent and is never controlled by
the opponent. Is not this even more important to know for one who is under the opponents control? Although
you may have worked to the point of skill, if you do not understand the error of double pressure, it is like you have
not yet learned anything.
If you want to avoid this error,
(the error of double pressure)
you must understand passive and active.
Pairings of passive and active are rather numerous, and as it has already been touched upon above, such a list will
not be repeated here.
In sticking there is yielding and in yielding there is sticking.
When you control the opponents energy, this is called sticking. When you neutralize the opponents energy, this is
called yielding.
The active does not depart from the passive and the passive does not depart from the active, for the passive and
active exchange roles. Once you have this understanding, you will be identifying energies.
Being aware of both the opponents and your own hardness and softness, emptiness and fullness, then passive and
active mutually wax and wane. When switching emptiness to fullness [and vice versa] without misjudging the time
to do it, here indeed is the identifying of energies.
Once you are identifying energies, then the more you practice, the more efficient your skill will be,
By contrast, if you are not identifying energies, then despite lots of practice you will have very little increase in
efficiency.
and by absorbing through experience and by constantly contemplating, gradually you will reach the point
that you can do whatever you want.
Once you are identifying energies, you can constantly think about them and further understand them by
experiencing them. Experience and contemplation are your extra teachers.
The basic of basics is to forget about your plans and simply respond to the opponent.
[Confucius said (Lun Yu, 9.4):] There is no idea, no imperative, no insistence, no me. Respond according to
situations. Do not get stuck in expectations.
We often make the mistake of ignoring what is right in front of us in favor of something that has nothing to do
with our immediate circumstances.
When you do not sense the right moment to act and then end up acting with haste, what your action gets you is
not going to be what you would want.
For such situations it is said: Miss by an inch, lose by a mile.
Unless you distinguish very minutely, you can easily go astray.
You must understand all this clearly. That is why it has been written down for you.
Someone in the past said: Obtain the real stuff and ardently work at it. If you do not discriminate over details,
then you will simply be wasting your effort.
This essay comprises what Wang Zongyue learned from Zhang Sanfeng. Its words are simple and comprehensive.
He wanted Taiji Boxings subtle theory to be explained without anything left out. Of the many primary texts, start
with this one, including its commentaries. If you come across doubtful areas, as is bound to happen from time to
time, please pardon.
-
PART TWO
-

CHAPTER ONE: THE SEQUENCE OF THE TAIJI BOXING SOLO SET WITH MOVEMENT POSITIONING
CHART (COMPLETE WITH EXPLANATIONS)
[1] With north to your [right] and west in front of you, perform READINESS POSTURE.
[2] Advance with your left foot, turning your torso to the right, and perform CATCH THE SPARROW BY THE
TAIL.
[3] Step out with your left foot, turning around to the south, and perform SINGLE WHIP.
[4] Shift your right foot forward and perform RAISE THE HAND.
[5] Staying where you are, perform WHITE CRANE SHOWS ITS WINGS.
[6] Step out with your left foot to the south and perform BRUSH KNEE IN A CROSSED STANCE on the left side,
step forward with your right foot and perform BRUSH KNEE IN A CROSSED STANCE on the right side, then step
forward again with your left foot, and perform BRUSH KNEE IN A CROSSED STANCE on the left side.
[7] Bring your right foot beside your left foot and perform PLAY THE LUTE.
[8] Stepping out with your left foot, perform PARRY, BLOCK, PUNCH.
[9] Staying where you are, perform SEALING SHUT.
[10] Bring your left foot beside your right foot, facing west, and perform CROSSED HANDS.
[11] Step out with your right foot, turning around diagonally to your right rear, to the northeast, and perform
CAPTURE THE TIGER AND SEND IT BACK TO ITS MOUNTAIN.
[12] Staying where your are, perform CATCH THE SPARROW BY THE TAIL.
[13] Turn around to the southwest, stepping out with your left foot, and perform DIAGONAL SINGLE WHIP.
[14] Step forward with your right foot, withdraw your left foot, face south, and perform GUARDING PUNCH
UNDER THE ELBOW.
[15] Withdraw your left leg, extending your left hand forward, and perform the first movement of RETREAT,
DRIVING AWAY THE MONKEY. Withdraw your right leg, extending your right hand forward, and perform the
second movement of RETREAT, DRIVING AWAY THE MONKEY. Again withdraw your left leg, extending your
left hand forward, and perform the third movement of RETREAT, DRIVING AWAY THE MONKEY.
[16] Retreat your right foot to the northwest (or advance your left foot to the southeast) and perform DIAGONAL
FLYING POSTURE.
[18&19] Staying where you are, perform WHITE CRANE SHOWS ITS WINGS.
[20] Step out with your left foot, facing south, and perform BRUSH KNEE IN A CROSSED STANCE on the left
side.
[21] Withdraw your left leg a half step, bend your [right] leg, and perform NEEDLING UNDER THE SEA.
[22] Again stepping out with your left foot, perform FAN THROUGH THE BACK.
[23] Turn around to the right and perform FLINGING BODY PUNCH.
[24] Withdrawing your right foot, perform WITHDRAWING STEP, PARRY, BLOCK, PUNCH.
[25] Again step forward with your right foot, and perform CATCH THE SPARROW BY THE TAIL.
[27] Bring your left foot beside your right foot and perform the first movement of CLOUDING HANDS, step out
with your left foot and perform the second movement of CLOUDING HANDS, again bring your left foot beside
your right foot and perform the third movement of CLOUDING HANDS, then step out with your left foot and
perform SINGLE WHIP.
[28] Withdrawing your left foot a half step, perform RISING UP AND REACHING OUT TO THE HORSE LEFT.
[29] Kick with your right foot to perform KICK TO THE RIGHT SIDE.
[30] Lower your right foot and perform RISING UP AND REACHING OUT TO THE HORSE RIGHT.
[31] Kick with your left foot to perform KICK TO THE LEFT SIDE.
[32] Turn around to your left rear, and perform TURN AROUND, PRESSING KICK.
[33] Bring your left foot down and perform BRUSH KNEE IN A CROSSED STANCE on the left side, then step
forward with your right foot and perform BRUSH KNEE IN A CROSSED STANCE on the right side.
[34] Again step forward, now with your left foot, and perform ADVANCE, PLANTING PUNCH.
[35] Turn around to your right rear, and perform TURN AROUND, FLINGING BODY PUNCH.
[36] Lift your left leg and kick with your right leg to perform DOUBLE KICK.
[37] Lower your right leg, withdraw your left foot, turn to your left, and perform FIGHTING TIGER POSTURE on
the left side, then withdraw your right foot, turn to the right, and perform FIGHTING TIGER POSTURE on the
right side.
[38] Staying where you are, perform DRAPING THE BODY, KICK.
[39] Bring your right foot down in front and perform DOUBLE WINDS THROUGH THE EARS.
[40] Kick with your left foot to perform ADVANCE, PRESSING KICK.
[41] Turn around to your right rear, to the east, lower your left foot, and kick with your right foot to perform
TURN AROUND, PRESSING KICK.
[42] Bring your right foot down, step forward with your left foot, and perform PARRY, BLOCK, PUNCH.
[43] Staying where you are, perform SEALING SHUT.
[44] Bring your left foot beside your right foot and perform CROSSED HANDS.
[45] Step out with your right foot, turning around diagonally to your right rear, to the northeast, and perform
CAPTURE THE TIGER AND SEND IT BACK TO ITS MOUNTAIN, then staying where your are, perform CATCH
THE SPARROW BY THE TAIL.
[46] Turn around, stepping out with your left foot to the southwest, and perform DIAGONAL SINGLE WHIP.
[47] Step forward with your right foot and perform the first movement of WILD HORSE PARTS ITS MANE, step
forward with your left foot and perform the second movement of WILD HORSE PARTS ITS MANE, then again
step forward with your right foot and perform the third movement of WILD HORSE PARTS ITS MANE.
[48] Step forward with your left foot and perform the first movement of MAIDEN WORKS THE SHUTTLE to the
northwest, turn around to your right rear and perform the second movement of MAIDEN WORKS THE
SHUTTLE to the southwest, again step forward with your left foot and perform the third movement of MAIDEN
WORKS THE SHUTTLE to the southeast, turn around to your right rear and perform the fourth movement of
MAIDEN WORKS THE SHUTTLE to the northeast, then stay where you are and perform CATCH THE
SPARROW BY THE TAIL.
with your left foot and perform the second movement of CLOUDING HANDS, again bring your left foot beside
your right foot and perform the third movement of CLOUDING HANDS, then step out with your left foot and
perform SINGLE WHIP.
[51] Staying where you are, perform LOW POSTURE.
[52] Stand your body up, lift your right leg, and perform GOLDEN ROOSTER STANDS ON ONE LEG on the right
side, then lower your right foot, lift your left leg, and perform GOLDEN ROOSTER STANDS ON ONE LEG on the
left side.
[53] Withdraw your left foot and perform the first movement of RETREAT, DRIVING AWAY THE MONKEY,
withdraw your right foot and perform the second movement of RETREAT, DRIVING AWAY THE MONKEY, then
withdraw your left foot and perform the third movement of RETREAT, DRIVING AWAY THE MONKEY.
[54] Retreat your right foot to the northwest (or advance your left foot to the southeast) and perform DIAGONAL
FLYING POSTURE.
[56] Staying where you are, perform WHITE CRANE SHOWS ITS WINGS.
[57] Step out with your left foot, facing south, and perform BRUSH KNEE IN A CROSSED STANCE on the left
side.
[58] Withdraw your left leg a half step, bend your [right] leg, and perform NEEDLING UNDER THE SEA.
[59] Step out with your left foot and perform FAN THROUGH THE BACK.
[60] Turn around to your right and perform FLINGING BODY PUNCH, then advancing with your right foot,
perform STEP FORWARD, PARRY, BLOCK, PUNCH.
[61] Staying where you are, perform CATCH THE SPARROW BY THE TAIL.
[62] Step out with your left foot, turning around, and perform SINGLE WHIP.
with your left foot and perform the second movement of CLOUDING HANDS, bring your left foot beside your
right foot and perform the third movement of CLOUDING HANDS, then step out with your left foot and perform
SINGLE WHIP.
[64] Withdrawing your left foot a half step, perform RISING UP AND REACHING OUT TO THE HORSE LEFT.
[65] Step out with your left foot, threading through with your left palm, then turn around to your right rear, and
perform CROSSED-BODY SWINGING LOTUS KICK.
[66] Bring your right foot down and perform BRUSH KNEE IN A CROSSED STANCE on the right side, then
advance with your left foot and perform BRUSH KNEE, PUNCH TO THE CROTCH.
[67] Step forward with your right foot and perform CATCH THE SPARROW BY THE TAIL.
[68] Step out with your left foot, turning around, and perform SINGLE WHIP.
[69] Staying where you are, perform LOW POSTURE.
[70] Stand your body up, step forward with your right foot, and perform STEP FORWARD WITH THE BIG
DIPPER, then retreat your right foot, withdraw your left foot, and perform RETREAT TO RIDE THE TIGER.
[71] Turn around to your right rear, step forward with your left foot, threading through with your left palm, then
again turn around to your right rear, and perform SPIN AROUND ON THE FOOT, SWINGING LOTUS KICK.
[72] Lower your right foot to your right and perform BEND THE BOW TO SHOOT THE TIGER.
[73] Step forward with your left foot so your feet are standing next to each other, both hands hanging down, and
return to READINESS POSTURE.
EXPLANATIONS TO THE TAIJI BOXING SOLO SET MOVEMENT POSITIONING CHART
1. Generally when practicing martial arts sets, you should end where you began. So that it is easy here to see
everything in the chart, it is spread out [vertically], and therefore the beginning and ending posture cannot occupy
the same place [horizontally].
__
|__|
|__|
|__|
2. Often you will continue through several postures without changing your location. It is difficult to show this and
so they are merely put in order by piling them up.
__
|__|_
|__|
3. When two postures happen in the same place, but the movement slightly shifts away, the postures are given an
irregular alignment.
__
|__|
_|_
|__|
4. When movements have a vertical line between them, it means you are advancing in that direction, and when it
is happening diagonally, the line is diagonal, but the length of the line has no bearing on the distance you are
advancing.
5. Whether a posture is at an angle or straight, it is indicated by the angle of the box in the chart.
6. Each posture is written toward the direction it [your torso] faces, a hint to be given attention to. [This is
displayed only in the Chinese text in the chart, whereas in the list I have simply used arrows to indicate which
direction your torso is facing.]

7. [In the chart,] a full turn of your body is indicated by a full circle spiraling inward/outward and a half turn is
indicated by a half circle.
8. For the LEFT & RIGHT KICK TO THE SIDE, the chart shows the direction your toes are pointing [rather than
the direction your torso is facing].
9. When a box is made of dotted lines, its posture is indicated in the box below it. Because the space in the chart is
confined, it would be inappropriate to write it so high [for the sake of the movements that continue from it], and
so it is shifted below.
10. As to the other direction indicators for the whole chart, the common way is for up to be north and down to be
south, but here it is different [up being east and down being west]. [As no actual reason for this is given here, this
does not satisfy. It amounts to saying something along the lines of, What most people call left, in my book I have
decided to call right. Why not just leave it the common way of up being north? And since Xu so rarely mentions
compass directions within his actual instructions for the postures, there seems little purpose in his bringing it up
at all.]
[1] READINESS POSTURE []
[2] CATCH THE SPARROW BY THE TAIL []
[3] SINGLE WHIP []
[4] RAISE THE HAND []
[5] WHITE CRANE SHOWS ITS WINGS []
[6.1] LEFT BRUSH KNEE IN A CROSSED STANCE []
[6.2] RIGHT BRUSH KNEE IN A CROSSED STANCE []
[7] PLAY THE LUTE []
[8] PARRY, BLOCK, PUNCH []
[9] SEALING SHUT []
[10] CROSSED HANDS []
[11] CAPTURE THE TIGER AND SEND IT BACK TO ITS MOUNTAIN []
[13] DIAGONAL SINGLE WHIP []
[14] GUARDING PUNCH UNDER THE ELBOW []
[15.1] RETREAT, DRIVING AWAY THE MONKEY (1) []
[16] DIAGONAL SINGLE WHIP [ DIAGONAL FLYING POSTURE] []
[18&19] WHITE CRANE SHOWS ITS WINGS []
[20] BRUSH KNEE IN A CROSSED STANCE []
[21] NEEDLING UNDER THE SEA []
[22] FAN THROUGH THE BACK []
[23] FLINGING BODY PUNCH []
[26] SINGLE WHIP []
[27.1] CLOUDING HANDS (1) []
[27.4] SINGLE WHIP []
[28] RISING UP AND REACHING OUT TO THE HORSE LEFT []
[29] KICK TO THE RIGHT SIDE []
[30] RISING UP AND REACHING OUT TO THE HORSE RIGHT []
[31] KICK TO THE LEFT SIDE []
[32] TURN AROUND, PRESSING KICK []
[34] ADVANCE, PLANTING PUNCH []
[35] TURN AROUND, FLINGING BODY PUNCH []
[36] DOUBLE KICK []
[37.1] LEFT FIGHTING TIGER POSTURE []
[37.2] RIGHT FIGHTING TIGER POSTURE []
[38] DRAPING THE BODY, KICK []
[39] DOUBLE WINDS THROUGH THE EARS []
[40] ADVANCE, PRESSING KICK []
[41] TURN AROUND, PRESSING KICK []
[43] SEALING SHUT []
[44] CROSSED HANDS []
[45.1] CAPTURE THE TIGER AND SEND IT BACK TO ITS MOUNTAIN []
[45.2] CATCH THE SPARROW BY THE TAIL []
[46] DIAGONAL SINGLE WHIP []
[47.1] WILD HORSE PARTS ITS MANE (1) []
[48.1] MAIDEN WORKS THE SHUTTLE (1) []
[48.5] CATCH THE SPARROW BY THE TAIL []
[49] SINGLE WHIP []
[51] LOW POSTURE []
[52.1] RIGHT GOLDEN ROOSTER STANDS ON ONE LEG []
[52.2] LEFT GOLDEN ROOSTER STANDS ON ONE LEG []
[54] DIAGONAL SINGLE WHIP [ DIAGONAL FLYING POSTURE] []
[56] WHITE CRANE SHOWS ITS WINGS []
[57] LEFT BRUSH KNEE IN A CROSSED STANCE []
[58] NEEDLING UNDER THE SEA []
[59.1] FAN THROUGH THE BACK []
[59.2] FLINGING BODY PUNCH []
[60] ADVANCE, PARRY, BLOCK, PUNCH []
[62] SINGLE WHIP []
[64] RISING UP AND REACHING OUT TO THE HORSE LEFT []
[65] CROSSED-BODY SWINGING LOTUS KICK []
[66.2] PUNCH TO THE CROTCH []
[68] SINGLE WHIP []
[69] LOW POSTURE []
[70.1] STEP FORWARD WITH THE BIG DIPPER []
[70.2] RETREAT TO RIDE THE TIGER []
[71] SPIN AROUND ON THE FOOT, SWINGING LOTUS KICK []
[72] BEND THE BOW TO SHOOT THE TIGER []
[73] CLOSING POSTURE []
-

CHAPTER TWO: EXPLANATIONS FOR EACH OF THE TAIJI BOXING POSTURES WITH DRAWINGS
The Taiji boxing art uses nothingness as its root. What it trains is nothing more than spirit and energy, and it is
not like the external boxings emphasis on how it looks. So why care about the postures at all? Well, what does a
persons spirit and energy depend on? The body, by way of which the spirit is trained. Use the actions of the mind
to move the body. Its contracting and expanding, bending and extending, are each as the mind dictates. Make
body and mind merge to become one. By way of opening and closing, rousing and stimulating, inhaling and
exhaling, advancing and retreating, the energy is tempered. By way of the sensitivity of the body, the sensitivity of
the muscles, and sensitivity of touch, the spirit is sharpened. For the sake of training both Taijis form and
function, a practitioner of the Taiji boxing art will be particular about the postures, and so it seems they cannot be
treated dismissively. Examining the different schools of Taiji Boxing, they fall into three categories:
[1] There are those who practice many postures such as the schools of the Thirty-Seven Postures, Small
Highest Heaven, and so on.
[2] There are those who make use of the symbols in the Book of Changes such as the schools of Innate Nature
Boxing, Acquired Nature Boxing, and so on.
[3] There are those with specific techniques of moving energy and moving the feet such as the school of the
Thirteen Dynamics.
The postures, names, and practice method of each school are different. Although any of them can be selected,
apart from the school of the Thirteen Dynamics many use a single posture practice without a fixed sequence, but I
feel that to continue into that as an accompaniment to Part One of this book would not yet be very suitable, so I
will save it for a future edition. For now I will begin by presenting the postures of the Thirteen Dynamics solo set
in their original sequence, with drawings and explanations for you to consult.
1
PREPARATION POSTURE
Explanation of the name:

Before practicing any boxing set, there must be a readiness, a rousing of the whole body and a focusing of the
mind, like when your sense of caution is stimulated, making you more alert. When practicing, there is also the
intention of paying respect to those observing you, same as standing at attention in gymnastics. Taiji Boxing uses
the mind to move muscle, and so when practicing, your spirit must be concentrated, and then you can be efficient.
Therefore within the Taiji Boxing art, PREPARATION POSTURE is particularly important.
One movement:
1. Get ready.
Explanation for the drawing:

Your body stands upright, your hands hanging down, wrists beside your hips, palms pushing down, eyes looking
forward, your feet shoulder width apart.
Points for attention:

When practicing, your body should be calm and your spirit comfortable, energy sinking to your elixir field, spirit
passing through to your headtop. Your whole body must be nimble and lively without the slightest effort
anywhere.
2

The idea is that your hands are holding a sparrow by the tail and following its movement as it flutters up and
down. Another name is CATCH & TEAR OFF THE TAIL. Imagining the opponents arm is a sparrows tail, catch it
to slow its forward power, then take advantage of the moment by cutting forward to throw him away. Both of
these explanations work.
There are six movements. When beginning to train, this posture divides into only the two movements of catching
and cutting. When you are more advanced at it, then both your hands go from inward to outward and again from
outward to inward, the path of the movement making a circle. In finer detail, the posture then divides into the six
movements of lift, press, rollback, push, ward-off, and cut.
1. Step out, lifting your hands.
2. Advance, penetrating with a press.
3. Sit back, rolling back to catch.
4. Advance with your hands pushing.
5. Hang outward, warding off forward.
6. Push forward with cutting hands.
Explanation for the drawings:

1. From the previous posture, your left foot takes a step forward, heel touching down, while your right knee bends
and your torso squats down, your left palm goes from beside your hip, inward from outward in an arc, rotating,
extending forward and upward until in front of your belly, your right hand pushing down, fingers touching your
left forearm to assist the posture. They gradually lift to chest level as your left toes come down, and upon touching
the ground, the weight shifts to your left foot.
2. Advancing your right foot to the right, your right arm bends and does a press outward and forward, elbow
hanging down, thumb at nose level, your right leg likewise bending forward.
3. Your left leg sits to the rear, your arms embracing inward as though with the intent of catching something with
a downward rollback.
4. Your hands push forward.
5. Your right hand faces upward and hangs forward with an intention of warding off.
6. Both hands rotate inward, fingertips drawing an arc, your right hand rotating until the palm is downward then
pushing forward with a cutting motion, while your left hand stays by your right elbow, the hands unevenly placed
but pushing forward in unison.

When practicing [this posture], the path of your fingertips must make a double circle, and if your waist and spine
are going along with it to make the same movement, then it will be nimble. This posture exercises your torso,
abdomen, waist, shoulders, and back.
Application:
When using the rear hand, if contacting the outward side [of an opponents arm], then I outwardly hang [my hand
over it] and push forward, and if contacting to the inward side, then I inwardly catch with a plucking action and
lift up to push forward. When using the front hand, [if contacting to the outward side,] then I catch to the outside
of his elbow and push forward, and if contacting to the inward side, then I outwardly hang over his elbow or wrist
and then push forward.
3
SINGLE WHIP

Single means with one hand. Whip means it is like you are hitting someone with a whip. When practicing this
as a single posture, you can also change to using both hands spreading to the sides at the same time, in which case
the posture would be called DOUBLE WHIP.
Two movements:
1. Hang from your [right] wrist.
2. Extend your [left] arm, sending out your palm.

1. From the previous posture, your right arm stays where it is, but your hand hangs down from your wrist, your
fingers gently gathering to make a hook shape, while your toes subtly turn about ninety degrees to the forward
left.
2. Your left arm bends and the palm traces along your right arm to the left, passes in front of your chest in a slight
upward arc, then extends to the left, making a straight line with your right arm, your left wrist sitting, fingers
upward, spread and slightly bent, forefinger at nose level, elbow slightly bent. At the same time, your left foot
slightly lifts, takes a half step out to the forward left, toes pointing to the same direction, the feet parallel on a
diagonal, the toes coming down with the positioning of your hand, making a bow & arrow stance, causing the
weight to shift to your right [left] foot.

When your front hand moves forward, your rear hand must put energy through the arm to assist, and there is a
slight hollowing in order to strike from above to below. Your feet are to coordinate with each other and must move
in unison. Your shoulders are to be level with each other, neither one rising up. This posture exercises your limbs
and back.
Application:
An opponent uses his front hand to advance and strike me, I take advantage of his momentum to draw his arm in,
causing him to slightly lean forward, then extend my palm to strike his chest with either a pushing energy or a
cutting energy.
4
RAISE THE HANDS

Raising describes the energy. It is like lifting an object up, hence the name is Raising [up with] the Hands.
Two movements:
1. Bring your hands together.
2. Raise your hands up.

1. From the previous posture, your right foot advances, creating distance between your feet (It is like your feet are
making a triangle, your right heel at the vertex.), your arms embracing inward, your right hand slightly farther
forward, palms toward each other. See first drawing:
But when your right arm embraces inward, there are two parts: going down from above, and up from below.
2. Drop your right wrist, then lift it up, passing your left palm to the inside, until at about nose level. See second
drawing:

When practicing this posture, you should lift your headtop, and with your waist and thighs going along with the
expanding and shrinking, with the up and down, you will then obtain the opportunity and position. This posture
trains the power of expanding and shrinking.
Application:
An opponent uses his front hand to strike directly to my face. One response is to make contact with his arm from
above and use my wrist to do a pressing technique to throw him away, or squat down and ward off upward to
throw him away. Another is to use my left hand to push down on his wrist while drawing out my right hand, lifting
my wrist to strike his chin or nose.
5

In this posture, you spread your arms at an angle, making a shape like a birds wings, with your arms extended
above and your legs bent below, like a crane spreading its wings, hence the name. There is the bird form of Hua
Tuos Five Animal Frolics. The fourth posture in the Brahmanic limbering art is crane rising and the twelfth
posture is phoenix unfurls its wings. And then there is the Crane Boxing of Fujian. All of these things are the
same idea. When practicing this posture, it is divided into spreading at an angle and spreading squarely, or
spreading wings (at an angle) and showing wings (squarely forward), which can be done as a continuous
movement from one to the other. Drawing 1 is of spreading wings and drawing 2 is of showing wings.
Two movements:
1. Spread your arms.
2. Raise both hands.

1. Spread your arms apart at an angle in the manner of a wild goose, your left hand going diagonally downward
and brushing outward, your torso turning halfway to the left, your left foot stepping out diagonally, toes touching
down, your right hand passing in front of your face, spreading diagonally upward until to the right side of your
head, the back of the hand outward, palm therefore inward. When your arms spread open, they must have the
same speed as each other and the weight shifts fully to your right foot. See first drawing:
2. Withdrawing your left foot, your body stands upright, your left hand, elbow bending, rising up to about head
level or slightly higher, palm upward. At the same time, your right hand also turns to face forward [with the palm
also upward], both hands making the same posture, your head and arms forming the character for mountain:
. See second drawing:

When practicing [this posture], you must use energy from the center of your back to make your arms twist, and
then the opening and closing will be natural. This posture trains the flexibility of your chest and [upper] back.
Application:
1. For an opponent to my left side, my left [right] hand threads through from under his [left] armpit, lifting and
spreading away, while my right [left] hand strokes away downward [along his left arm], causing him to lean back.
2. Or I simply spread open to tangle up his hands.
6
LEFT & RIGHT BRUSH KNEE IN A CROSSED STANCE

Brushing the knee means brushing downward past your knee. A crossed stance is a stance name. When a boxing
arts practitioner advances his left foot while extending his left hand, or advances his right foot while extending his
right hand, that is called a straight stance. But when it is the reverse, and the left foot is advanced while the right
hand is extended, or the right foot is advanced while the left hand is extended, that is called a crossed stance.
Two [three] movements:

1. Staying where you are, brush past your [right] knee.
2. Step forward, brushing past your [left] knee.
3. Cross your stance with a [right] palm strike.

1. From the previous posture, squat your torso down, your left hand staying where it is, your right hand brushes
outward and downward until beside your right knee.
2. Your left foot takes a step to the left, your left hand passing your nose and lowering in front of your chest, then
continues outward to the left, brushing past your left knee until beside your left hip, palm downward, fingers
forward, arm slightly bent, elbow pointed to the rear. Your torso is now turned to the left to be squared forward.
3. When your torso turns to the left, your right hand goes from downward in the rear, turning over and extending
upward, passing beside your right ear, the palm almost rubbing against it, and then with a horizontal line forming
from the three parts of shoulder, elbow, and hand, extends straight forward until at its limit, fingertips lifted, palm
expressing power, legs making a bow & arrow stance. See the drawing:
[Repeat the posture on the other side and then once more on this side.]

When practicing, you must squat your torso down. The movement of your arms is based on the movement of your
waist. The route of each hand makes an oval shape. This posture trains the flexibility of your arms, waist, and
knees.
Application:
The opponent strikes at me from below, so I use my front hand to brush it aside and use my rear hand to push his
chest.
7
PLAY THE LUTE

Both your hands embrace toward each other in the manner of holding a lute, hence the name. When your hands
play, your fingers seem to give a strum to the strings.
Two movements:
1. Embrace with your hands.
2. Step together, rubbing outward.

1. From BRUSH KNEE IN A CROSSED STANCE, your torso slowly withdraws, causing the weight to shift fully
onto your right leg, making an empty stance. At the same time, your right hand withdraws while your left hand
follows along with your left hip and rises up, both hands embracing inward, unevenly facing each other as though
holding a ball. Your elbows are slightly hanging, the forefinger of your front hand is at about nose level, and your
rear hand is in front of your chest, palm almost facing to the elbow of your forward arm. See the drawing:
2. Bring your right foot up to stand together with your left foot behind the heel, both your hands moving outward
with a round shape.

When moving your hands outward, you must use the strength of your waist and back.
Application:
The opponent grabs my right wrist, so I withdraw my right hand toward my chest to neutralize his energy, then
advance my right foot, using my left hand to push his shoulder down and then forward.
8
ADVANCE, PARRY, BLOCK, PUNCH

PARRY, BLOCK, PUNCH means that you use a parry to take aside the opponents hand, then a block to obstruct
him, and then a punch to strike him directly. Southerners use a different character for punch which directly
indicates a fist, whereas the one used here instead expresses a mace. This is one of the five punching techniques in
Taiji Boxing. When ADVANCE, PARRY, BLOCK, PUNCH is performed retreating, it is called WITHDRAWING
STEP, PARRY, BLOCK, PUNCH.
Three movements:
1. Inward parrying hand.
2. Outward blocking hand.
3. Punch forward.

1. From the previous posture, use your left hand to parry inward, your torso going along with it, your right hand in
front of your chest, fingertips up.
2. Your left foot advances a half step to the forward left, your left hand goes along with it, blocking outward until
by your left ear, the elbow slightly hanging down aligned with your left hip, fingertips pointing up. See first
drawing:
3. Your right hand grasps into a fist and turns inward, tigers mouth upward, and punches forward past your left
palm. See second drawing:
(This is parrying and blocking upward. If you parry and block downward, then you will punch forward over your
left wrist.)

When practicing [this posture], your waist, back, shoulders, and hips must all move in unison. When you parry
and punch, you must keep space in your armpits and loosen your shoulders. When you punch, you must keep your
body upright and use power from your spine, not leaning forward, for if you lean, you will only be using power
from your waist. This posture exercises your spine and the nimbleness of your shoulders and hips.
Application:
The opponent punches to my chest, so I move my front hand inward to parry it aside. If he wants to escape
outwardly, I then jam him and take the opportunity to punch him in the chest.
9
SEALING SHUT

SEALING SHUT means to stop the opponents hands, and is the same as the double push of General Yues
Continuous Boxing and the tiger form of Xingyi Boxing.
Three movements:
1. Cross your hands.
2. Spread your hands apart.
3. Push forward.

1. Your left hand not moving, your torso sits back, your right leg slightly bending, your right fist arcing across to
the left, and once the wrist has withdrawn to be above your left wrist, both wrists are crossed to make an X shape.
2. Then your right fist withdraws, changing from fist to palm, and both hands spread apart to about shoulder
width.
3. Both hands turn inward and push forward, your torso inclining forward, the weight shifting to your left foot, or
you can lift your left foot and step it slightly forward. See the drawing:

When you withdraw your fist, you must fully sit back your torso to lead back the fist, not merely bend your arm.
Once your wrists are crossed, they must spread apart, and once they spread apart, they must push forward there
can be no sluggishness. When you spread your hands apart, the elbows slightly bend and hang down near your
ribs. They must not spread away to the sides, or the energy will be scattered. When pushing forward, your fingers
extend forward, then the palms stick out forcefully.
Application:
If when I apply PARRY, BLOCK, PUNCH, the opponent uses his left hand to push my right fist, I then turn my
right fist inward and withdraw it, while sending my left hand from below to the outside of my right fist to block his
hand, and once I have cleared his right hand aside, I push forward.
10
CROSSED HANDS

CROSSED HANDS means your wrists cross each other to make an X shape, hence the name. Whenever two
postures are linked by a transition that is not flowing, you can always add the crossed hands as a way to join them
up.
One movement:
1. Make an X shape with your hands.

From the previous posture, your left foot turns inward to the right almost ninety degrees, your body turning with
it to the right, and the distance between your feet becomes shoulder width. With your left hand inside, right hand
outside, your hands rise in unison, crossing above your headtop, arms slightly bent.

When practicing this posture, it must continue into the next posture without the slightest pause.
11

CAPTURE THE TIGER AND SEND IT BACK TO ITS MOUNTAIN means that the opponent is in the role of the
tiger and you take hold of him and throw him away. It is also called EMBRACE THE TIGER AND PUSH THE
MOUNTAIN. When you embrace the opponent and he wants to escape, take advantage of it by pushing forward.
Both of these explanations are equally valid. Students often do not pay attention to this posture, and there are
those who transpose the name onto SEALING SHUT. Since this posture flows continuously into the next posture,
CATCH THE SPARROW BY THE TAIL, it is very easy to get confused.
Five movements:
1. Staying where you are, brush past your [left] knee.
2. Stepping forward, brush past your [right] knee.
3. Palm strike with the rear hand.
4. Embrace inward.
5. Push forward.

1. From the previous posture, your right hand does not move, your left hand lowers and brushes past your left
knee, your torso squats down, and you turn around to face diagonally to the right rear.
2. Step out with your right foot and lower your right hand, brushing downward past your right knee. See the
drawing:
3. Extend your left palm to make the posture of BRUSH KNEE IN A CROSSED STANCE on the right side.
4. Your left hand not moving, your right hand extends to the rear, and using the shoulder as a central pivot point
and the arm as the radius of a circle, goes from downward to the rear and turns over upward, until forward,
having made a large circle, wrapping around below. Once the hand and elbow are at shoulder level, sit back your
torso, rolling back to the rear with both hands, and make the CROSSED HANDS shape.
5. Both hands spread apart and do a level push forward.

In this posture, you must use your waist to move your shoulders and back. The five movements should be one
continuous flow.
Application:
If an opponent uses his left hand to strike me from behind on my right side, I then send my right hand downward
to brush aside his arm and use my left palm to strike his face. If his left arm takes advantage of the momentum by
lifting to carry outward, or he turns to the left and strikes to my head, I then advance, using my right shoulder to
brace under his armpit, circle my right arm to the rear, and wrap around his torso. If he wants to escape, I
withdraw my torso, using my right hand to rend his hands outward, and push forward to his chest.
12
CATCH THE SPARROW BY THE TAIL (as before)
13

Diagonal indicates the direction. The previous posture took a diagonal direction and the direction of this posture
is dependent on the direction of that posture, hence the name.
Movements:
Same as in SINGLE WHIP.


The direction is at an angle.
Application:
14
GUARDING PUNCH UNDER THE ELBOW

When your elbow is stood up, [the space] below it is called under the elbow. By guarding is meant being
protective. It is also called PUNCH UNDER THE ELBOW. [This is one of the five punching techniques in Taiji
Boxing.]
Three movements:
1. Shift a step, leading with your [right] hand.
2. Withdraw a step, raising your [left] hand.
3. Punch under your [left] elbow.

Making a triangular shape in relation to the previous posture, your left foot is at point A(1), right foot at point
B(1).
Footwork diagram for GUARDING PUNCH UNDER THE ELBOW:

A(1)
/ \
A(2) \
/ \
B(1) > B(2)
1. Your left foot staying where it is, your right foot steps out a half step to the right, shifting to B(2), your right
hand moving along with it.
2. Your left foot withdraws a half step inward, from A(1) to A(2), heel touching down, toes up. At the same time,
your left hand arcs inward from outward, passes your hip, and rises until in front of your chest, palm inward, at
about shoulder level.
3. Your left wrist slightly turns outward and props up, while your right hand makes a fist and is placed under your
left elbow, and your right leg slightly bends, making an empty stance, the weight shifting fully to your right foot.

The path of your right arm makes a horizonal semicircle while your left arm arcs in a vertical slant. When
punching, your body must go along with it and slightly shrug forward. At the same time, loosen your wrist and
lengthen your torso. Pay particular attention to the three unions (i.e. shoulder united with hip, elbow united with
knee, hand united with foot). This posture trains deep breathing.
Application:
If the opponent uses his right hand to strike, I use my left hand to grab his right elbow and lead it forward, turn
my wrist over to prop upward, then use my right hand to strike underneath to his ribs.
15

RETREAT, DRIVING AWAY THE MONKEY means that when a monkey [i.e. a troublemaker] attacks forward,
first use a hand to draw him in, then strike forward, one hand withdrawing, the other pushing down on his
headtop. The retreating refers to moving backward away from pursuit, drawing the opponent in as he chases, then
take advantage of the moment to make a surprise strike with your hand.
Three movements:
1. Retreat with your left foot, extending your [right] palm.
2. Retreat with your right foot, extending your [left] palm.
3. Same as 1.

1. From the previous posture, your right foot stays where it is and your left foot retreats a half step behind you,
your while left hand goes from beside your ear, extending forward to its limit, fingertips up, palm expressing
power, wrist at shoulder level. At the same time, your right hand lowers until beside your hip, same as in BRUSH
KNEE IN A CROSSED STANCE.
2. Your left foot staying where it is, your right foot retreats a half step behind you, while your right hand goes from
the rear, turns over, goes upward until beside your ear, and extends forward to its limit, fingertips up, palm
expressing power, wrist at shoulder level, your left hand lowering until beside your hip, same as in BRUSH KNEE
IN A CROSSED STANCE.
3. Same as 1.

Your knees should be slightly bent. Your feet should each make a straight line front to back from toe to heel and
should be spread to shoulder width. Your body must be upright, headtop suspended, and spine lifted so as to
exercise the Ren-Du path (of the twelve meridians) [the circle that goes up your back and down your front]. This
movement should be done an odd number of times, either three or five [and ending with your left hand forward].
Application:
If the opponent uses either his fist to strike or foot to kick, I use my front hand to brush downward and block it,
then use my rear hand to strike to his face.
16

This posture is like a bird diagonally opening its wings to fly, hence the name. There is both a left and a right
version of the posture, but when practicing the posture to the left, the beginner often easily interrupts the energy,
and so it is inferior to the version on the right side.
Two movements:
1. Meeting wrists.
2. Diagonally flying.

1. From the practice of the previous posture, wait until it is again with your right leg in front. Your left hand is in
front and does not move. Your right hand goes from behind and turns over, drawing a semicircle forward,
lowering under your left wrist.
2. When your right hand has almost reached your left wrist, your left hand flattens out above your right wrist so
that the palms are facing each other. At the same time, retreat your right foot and step out a half step toward the
right rear corner. Your right hand goes diagonally to the right and your left hand goes diagonally to the left, in the
manner of a bird spreading its wings. Your gaze is toward your right hand.

You must use your waist to move your hands and feet.
Application:
This posture is a technique of surprise. If my right hand and the opponents left hand are touching each other, I
send my left wrist up to carry his wrist and send my right hand forward to strike him.
17
RAISE THE HANDS
18
WHITE CRANE UNFURLS ITS WINGS
19
20
These four postures are all done as before.

21

Under the Sea is the name of an acupoint on the human body. [Hai Di, more commonly known as Hui Yin
(Gathering Place of the Passive), is located just in front of the anus.] NEEDLING UNDER THE SEA means
your hand has an intent of poking toward the Under the Sea point. [Going by the application explanation below,
you are not to aim for this acupoint directly, but instead use it as a mental target to help you go through the
opponent as you aim your intent at his lower abdomen, his Qi Hai area, appropriately indicating that to get to his
Under the Sea, you must go through his Sea of Energy.]
Two movements:
1. Lift your [left] foot, brushing with your [left] hand.
2. Stab the needle to Under the Sea.

1. With your left hand brushing your knee, withdraw your left foot, toes touching down.
2. Your right leg squatting down, sit your torso, your right arm extending straight down along the inner side of
your left knee, fingertips pointing down. At the same time, your left hand may either touch your right forearm or
withdraw behind your hip.

Your spine must be erect and should not bend and lean forward. When pointing down with your hand, slightly
harbor an intention of poking an acupoint. When practicing this posture, there should be flexibility in your spine
and knee.
Application:
When the opponent [in the previous posture] used his right hand to strike me and I then used my left hand to
brush it away to the side while using my right hand to strike his chest, if at that moment he uses his left hand to
grab my right wrist, I then turn my wrist over, pointing downward, and issue my energy forward, making him
topple away.
22

FAN THROUGH THE BACK means that your spine is like the hinge of a fan and your arms are like the cloth of the
fan, and it is like a fan spreading open. Through the back means that you send power from your spine through
your arms.
Two movements:
1. Stand up, bringing your wrists together.
2. Palm through the back.

1. Stand up, your hands embracing toward each other.
2. Your left foot takes a step forward while your left arm extends forward and your right arm bends, lifting until
the back of the hand covers your forehead. Your body should now be straight and your legs are making a horse-
riding stance except that your left foot should be pointing its toes forward.

When wielding energy, the power in your left palm must be coordinated with your left ribs in going forward, and
at the same time, the power in your right arm must go through to your left hand. This posture trains strength in
your spine and upper back.
Application:
If the opponent uses his right hand to strike, I then use my right hand to slyly lift his wrist and use my left palm to
strike his ribs.
23
FLINGING BODY PUNCH

FLINGING BODY PUNCH means you fling your waist to the rear, causing your torso to fold up, then advance and
strike using your wrist. This is one of the five punching techniques in Taiji Boxing.
Two movements:
1. Cross your hands below your ribs.
2. Flinging torso punch.

1. From the previous posture, your body turns around, your left knee bending, your hands lower and come
together, wrists meeting below your left ribs, the weight shifting fully onto your left foot.
2. Your left hand staying where it is, your right foot lifts and takes a half step diagonally to the right rear, your
torso turning to the right, while your right hand, palm upward, makes a fist, the elbow bending as you fling your
torso, the elbow lightly against your right ribs. While the fist comes down from above until lining up level with the
elbow, your left hand does a palm strike at chest level, fingertips upward, forefinger at about nose level. Your gaze
is forward. Your stance is a large T stance.

When turning around, the movement of your hands and legs must use your waist and spine as a pivot, then it can
be nimble and without sluggishness.
Application:
An opponent from behind me uses one hand to push down on my wrist and the other to push down on my elbow.
When he is about to hurl me away, I then fling my torso to the rear, bending my elbow to seize control of his arm,
taking advantage of the opportunity to step in, making a fist, and intercepting his attack with a [palm] strike.
24
WITHDRAWING STEP, PARRY, BLOCK, PUNCH

PARRY, BLOCK, PUNCH has already been explained. By withdrawing is meant a step shifting to the side and is
not the same as retreating.
Two movements:
1. Inward parrying hand.
2. Punch forward.

1. Your left hand parries inward, your left foot staying where it is, your right foot withdrawing a half step to the
right, your right fist going along with it by blocking across outward from inward, its path an arc, the wrist then
rotating so the tigers mouth is upward.
2. Your right fist punches forward, same as in ADVANCE, PARRY, BLOCK, PUNCH.

Your wrist should go along with the movement of your step.
Application:
When contacting the opponents hand, if he forcefully lifts up, I withdraw a step to the side to neutralize his
energy, then take advantage of the moment to strike forward to his chest.
25
CATCH THE SPARROW BY THE TAIL (as before)
26
SINGLE WHIP (as before)
27
CLOUDING HANDS

CLOUDING HANDS means your hands move like the swirling of clouds. The movement of the hands to the left
and right is the same as the left & right climbing hands of Shaolin Boxing. This is the most important posture
within Taiji Boxing.
Three movements:
1. Staying where you are, cloud with your [right] hand.
2. Shifting your step, cloud with your right [left] hand.
3. Shifting your step, cloud with your left [right] hand.

1. Your left hand not moving, your right hand lowers and arcs from the lower right to the left, the path of its
movement as your right arm arcs downward taking it past both of your knees, then rising from your navel to the
left, until past your headtop and slowing by your right temple. Your left hand, which has been waiting until your
right hand has moved as far as your left shoulder, at that moment lowers, palm inward, then rises from the lower
left to the upper right in an arc, the path of its movement as your left arm arcs downward taking it past both of
your knees, then rising to the right, slowing by your right ribs. See first drawing:
2. Continuing from the previous movement, your right hand lowers, again arcs to the left, until past your headtop
and slowing by your right temple. The rest is the same as the first movement, except that when your left hand is by
your right ribs, your right foot coordinates with your right hand by shifting a half step to the left, and your left
hand coordinates with the lowering of your right hand by going upward until past your headtop and slowing by
your left temple. See second drawing:
3. Your left hand continues from the previous movement by lowering, passing your knees, and rising to the right
until beside your right ribs, your right [left] foot shifting a half step to the left. Your right hand at the same time
goes past your headtop and slows by your right temple. Each hand clouds three times. After the last time, again
perform the SINGLE WHIP posture as before.

The movement of both hands must be of equal speed. Your step must shift along with your bodys movement.
Your upper body should not sway. Your eyes follow along with your upper body as your hands move side to side.
Application:
If an opponent attacks my right shoulder from the rear, I meet his hand with my right hand, and as I turn over my
palm, I issue power to throw him away. [If the same situation to the left,] my left hand does the same. Or if an
opponent attacks from the front, I then move it aside to the right with my right hand, then take advantage of the
moment by advancing and striking [with my left].
28
RISING UP AND REACHING OUT TO THE HORSE LEFT

RISING UP AND REACHING OUT TO THE HORSE means your body is rising up and you are reaching out
forward, in the manner of extending your body forward to mount a horse, hence the name. RISING UP AND
REACHING OUT TO THE HORSE LEFT precedes KICK TO THE RIGHT SIDE. RISING UP AND REACHING
OUT TO THE HORSE RIGHT precedes KICK TO THE LEFT SIDE.
Two movements:
1. Roll back with your [left] hand.
2. Palm strike to the face.

1. Withdraw your left foot, toes touching down, your left hand turning outward and doing a downward rollback,
the hand facing upward, the elbow bending until placed beside your left ribs. At the same time, your right hand
lowers from the upper right, passes in front of your face, and touches on top of your left wrist so the hands are
making the CROSSED HANDS shape, the tigers mouths of both hands facing upward.
2. With your left palm facing upward, your elbow slightly withdraws, and with your right palm facing downward,
it extends forward from above your left palm and expresses power in the center of the palm, fingertips at nose
level.

When your hand rolls back, the lifting and lowering of your foot must happen in unison.
Application:
If the opponent uses his left hand to strike forward to my chest, I then use my right [left] hand to roll back and
twist his wrist, and strike with my [right] hand.
29
KICK TO THE RIGHT SIDE

KICK TO THE SIDE means to use your foot to kick to the side, be it left or right. This one is to the right side, but
below there is also the left side.
Two movements:
1. Withdraw a step, rolling back with your hands.
2. Kick to the side.

1. Withdraw your left foot to the left rear while rolling back with both hands, or drawing an outward arc and then
embracing inward, making the CROSSED HANDS shape. At the same time, your right foot withdraws until to the
right side of your left foot, making an empty stance, toes touching down, storing power and awaiting the moment
to express it.
2. Your hands spread apart, wrists at shoulder level, while your right leg kicks forward to the right side.

When withdrawing your foot and rolling back with your hand, hand and foot must act in unison. When kicking,
your arms are level, your standing leg slightly bent, and the weight is entirely on the standing leg.
Application:
When I roll back the opponents arm and use my palm to strike to his face, if he follows my energy and uses his
elbow or arm to resist upward, I then wrap my hand around under it, from inward spread my hand outward to
cast away his arm, and take advantage of the moment by kicking forward.
30
RISING UP AND REACHING OUT TO THE HORSE RIGHT

See RISING UP AND REACHING OUT TO THE HORSE LEFT
Two movements:
1. Withdraw your foot, bringing your hands together.

1. Your right leg withdraws back to where it was, toes touching down, while your arms from outward lower to
embrace inward and your wrists touch to make the CROSSED HANDS shape.
2. Same as in RISING UP AND REACHING OUT TO THE HORSE LEFT, movement 2 [but with left and right
reversed].

Same as in RISING UP AND REACHING OUT TO THE HORSE LEFT.
Application:
Same as in RISING UP AND REACHING OUT TO THE HORSE LEFT [but with left and right reversed].
31
KICK TO THE LEFT SIDE

Already explained in KICK TO THE RIGHT SIDE. The hand and foot movements are the same, except left and
right are reversed.
32

TURN AROUND, PRESSING KICK means your body turns around to the rear, and then you press forward using
your heel.
Two movements:
1. Turn around.
2. Pressing kick.

1. Withdraw your left foot, toes touching down, right foot going along with your torso as it turns to the left, while
your hands come from outward to embrace inward, the wrists making the CROSSED HANDS shape, your right leg
bent, your body squatting, your left toes touching down, your eyes looking to the left.
2. Your body lifts up, and spreading your hands away to the sides, your left foot presses forward to the left, force
expressed with the heel.

When you turn around, your body must be upright and not lean forward.
Application:
If an opponent suddenly attacks me from behind, I then turn around to prevent it, taking advantage of the
moment to press forward with my foot, my hands spreading away to the left and right to prevent him from
brushing my leg aside.
33
COME DOWN, BRUSH KNEE IN A CROSSED STANCE

Come down into BRUSH KNEE IN A CROSSED STANCE performed as before. As your left foot steps down
forward, your left hand brushes past your left knee. The rest is the same as before.
34
ADVANCE, PLANTING PUNCH

ADVANCE, PLANTING PUNCH means you step forward while your fist strikes down from above as if to plant
something, hence the name. This is one of the five punching techniques in Taiji Boxing.
Two movements:
1. Step again, brushing past your [right] knee.
2. Step out, brushing past your [left] knee while performing a planting punch.

1. Your [right] foot advances a half step, your left leg bending, your right hand brushing down until by your [right]
knee, your left hand going from downward in the rear, lifting to be beside your left ear, the arm bending forward,
the palm inward and almost coming to a halt.
2. Advance your left foot, your left hand lowering and brushing forward and outward. At the same time, your right
hand makes a fist, palm inward, and strikes diagonally downward, your left hand patting your right wrist to assist
the posture. Your left leg is bent forward and your right leg is slightly bent, although you can also make a full bow
& arrow stance.

Your head must not tilt nor dare go past your toes. The planting punch must be powered from your spine. When
brushing past your left knee, your left hand should float near your left knee.
Application:
If the opponent uses his fist to strike to my chest, I then use my left hand to brush it aside while sending my right
hand forward to strike his face. If he then uses his left hand to grab my wrist, I then turn over my hand, make a
fist, and strike forward to his abdomen.
35
TURN AROUND, FLINGING BODY PUNCH (as before [but in the opposite direction])
36
DOUBLE KICK

DOUBLE KICK means your feet, left then right, lift and kick in succession.
Two movements:
1. Roll back with your [left] hand and kick forward.
2. Step down and kick forward.

1. From TURN AROUND, FLINGING BODY PUNCH, your left hand, the elbow bending, withdraws with the palm
up to be near your left ribs, while your right hand extends forward (same as in a palm strike to the face) and your
left leg kicks forward (similar to the snapping kick of Tantui).
2. Your left foot comes down while your hands roll back from the upper right to the lower left. Right when your
left foot comes down, your right foot lifts and kicks forward, your arms extending forward, both palms slapping
the back of your right foot.

The path [of your hands] in the second movement should make an arc.
Application:
The opponent uses his left fist to punch my chest, so I send my left hand forward to grab his wrist and strike his
face with my right hand, capitalizing on the surprise by kicking him with my left leg. If he retreats or blocks my
foot, I then hop to change feet and kick him once more, now with my right foot.
37
LEFT & RIGHT FIGHTING TIGER POSTURE

In this posture, the energy is fierce in the manner of a fighting tiger, hence the name.
Two movements:
1. FIGHTING TIGER POSTURE on the left side.
2. FIGHTING TIGER POSTURE on the right side.

1. From the previous posture, your left foot diagonally withdraws a half step to the left rear to make a left bow &
arrow stance, your torso inclining to the left and facing halfway to the left. Your right foot has withdrawn a half
step, coming down where your left foot was in the previous posture. At the same time, your left arm goes from in
front of your abdomen, withdrawing to the left until below your ribs, grasps into a fist, raising up from outward,
and faces up (tigers mouth to the rear [downward in the drawing]), turned over beside your left temple, your right
arm also withdrawing to the rear, turning over, and is placed sideways below your left ribs (tigers mouth close to
your left ribs).
2. Your right foot shifts a half step to the right, and makes a right bow & arrow stance, your torso inclining to the
right and facing halfway to the left. At the same time, your fists lower, pass in front of your lower abdomen, until
below your right ribs, left fist turned over and placed sideways below your right ribs, right fist raising up from
outward, and faces upward [tigers mouth again facing downward in the drawing], turned over beside your right
temple.

In the left and right postures, the paths your fists move along should indicate two circles
that would link with each other in front of your stomach.
Application:
The opponent uses both hands to grab my arm, so I withdraw my arm, turning it over upward, then use my other
hand to thread through below my ribs, replacing his grab of my arm with a strike to his head [ribs].
38
DRAPING THE BODY, KICK

DRAPING THE BODY, KICK means your body inclines into a diagonal draping posture, and your foot lifts and
kicks forward.
Three movements:
1. Drape your body, rolling back with your hands.
2. Crossed hands.
3. Spread your hands and kick forward.

1. From the previous posture, your left foot withdraws a half step diagonally to the left, and your body sits back to
the left. At the same time, your hands become palms and go from right to left in a half circle, your left hand placed
to the left of your chest, your right hand placed in front of your chest, fingertips at about nose level.
2. Withdraw your right foot until it is to the right side of your left foot, toes touching down, your left leg squatting
down. At the same time, your right hand touches under your left wrist, your left hand slightly extending forward,
the palms making the CROSSED HANDS shape in front of your chest.
3. Your hands spread apart forward and back while you lift your right foot and kick forward.

When draping your body, you must use your waist as a pivot to move your arms. When lifting your foot to do a
pressing kick forward, your left leg should slightly bend to get the weight to shift onto your left foot.
Application:
The opponent uses his left hand to strike directly to my chest, so I drape over my body, using my hands to roll
back his arm, then I strike out with my right hand propping upward while kicking his chest or ribs with my right
foot.
39
DOUBLE WINDS THROUGH THE EARS

In this posture, both fists come from the sides to strike the opponents ears as swift as the wind, hence the name.
Two movements:
1. Step down with your hands manacled.
2. Spread your hands apart and thread them through.

1. From the previous posture, your right foot comes down forward about a full steps distance from your rear foot,
your right knee bending forward, while your arms move inward until in front of your knee, crossing at the wrists
(left wrist on top, tigers mouths upward).
2. Your torso withdraws and your legs sit back, both hands (palms up) spreading to the sides, making fists once
beside your hips, then travelling outward, then forward and upward, until they are at shoulder level, about four or
five inches apart. Your fists are now turned over, elbows hanging, arms level and bent inward to make an oval
shape.

The retreating and advancing of your arms must be in unison with your legs, and be lively and without
sluggishness.
Application:
The opponent punches to my chest, so I use both hands to block to the sides, and then take advantage of the
moment to advance and strike his ears.
40
ADVANCE, PRESSING KICK

In this posture, you first step forward, then lift your foot and kick forward, hence the name.
Two movements:
1. Advance, bringing your hands together.
2. Spreading your hands apart, do a pressing kick.

1. From the previous posture, your right leg straightens as your left foot advances forward, coming down in front
of your right foot, your torso squatting, your toes touching down (your torso going along with your right toes as
they shift to the right ninety degrees), your hands becoming palms [and coming together to make the CROSSED
HANDS shape].
2. Your right leg straightening, your torso lifts up, while your left leg lifts and does a pressing kick forward, your
hands spreading away to the sides.

During the pressing kick, you must stick out the heel forcefully, your right leg should be slightly bent, and get the
weight to gather fully onto your right foot.
Application:
When I use my left hand to strike the opponent, if he uses his right hand to prop up my elbow from below, I then
squat my torso to the right, [my hands] going outward and downward to wrap around his arms, and lift my left
foot to do a pressing kick to his ribs.
41
42
43
SEALING SHUT
44
CROSSED HANDS
45
46
These six postures are all done as before.

47
WILD HORSE PARTS ITS MANE

In this posture, the manner of the movement is like a wild horse running swiftly, your hands spreading away like
the horses mane draping side to side, hence the name.
Two movements:
1. Twist your torso, bringing your hands together.
2. Step forward, spreading your hands.

1. From DIAGONAL SINGLE WHIP, both your feet shift to point their toes ninety degrees to the right, your torso
turning to the right and bending in, your hands embracing inward to make the CROSSED HANDS shape.
2. Your right foot advances half a step, the knee bends forward, and the weight shifts to your right foot. At the
same time, your right hand goes to the forward right and your left hand spreads away to the left rear,
corresponding to each other from a distance, like a wild goose spreading its wings. This is the posture on the right
side.
The left side version is the same as the right, except your limbs are reversed left and right.
In the course of practicing the solo set, the movements of this posture should be done an odd number of times if
the right side is done twice, the left is done once but while the first one only advances a half step, the rest each
advance a full step.

As your arms spread apart and come together, it must be in unison with your waist and hips. The movement of
your whole body must be stretched out and lively.
Application:
An opponent makes a direct attack to my chest, so I use my rear hand to push down on his wrist while advancing a
step behind his knee and extending my front arm under his armpit to go diagonally upward with a carrying strike.
48
MAIDEN WORKS THE SHUTTLE

This posture first advances then turns around to the rear, then again [advances and] turns around to the rear,
travelling toward the four corners in a continuous maneuver, like the manner of the shuttle slipping in and out
when weaving silk, hence the name.
Two movements:
1. Twist your torso and bring your hands together.
2. Bend your arm and extend your palm.

In this posture, the path of your hands moves to the four corners for a total of four times, and each time the
movement has two parts. Your body twists or turns around altogether, the first and third time twisting, the second
and fourth time turning around. Each time faces a different direction and the directions are faced in a specific
sequence: if practicing according to the compass directions [in the movement chart], the first time is to the
northwest, the second to the southwest, third to the southeast, fourth to northeast.
First time:
1. Repeat the first movement of WILD HORSE PARTS ITS MANE.
2. Your left foot takes a step out to the forward left, the knee bends forward, your torso inclines forward, and your
right hand extends forward from below your left armpit, the force expressed in the palm.
Second time:
1. Your hands come together to embrace in front of your chest, making the CROSSED HANDS shape, and your
body turns around to the right rear.
2. Your right steps out diagonally [to the forward right], and your hand movement is the same as in the first time,
but with left and right reversed.
Third time:
Your left foot steps across to the left, your hand movement the same as in the first time.
Fourth time:
Your body turns around to the right rear, your hand movement the same as in the second time.

When turning your body around, your step and waist movement must be in unison, and although the direction is
diagonal, your body posture should still be upright and not lean.
Application:
An opponent uses his rear hand to strike me from behind, so I turn around and use my rear hand to wrap around
his wrist from the side, then advance a step while using the same arm in an upward ward-off to his arm and
extending my other hand to strike his chest.
49
SINGLE WHIP
50
CLOUDING HANDS
Both of these postures are done as before.

51
LOW POSTURE

LOW POSTURE means that your body descends, hence the name.
Two movements:
1. Squat, withdrawing your [left] hand.
2. Stand, extending your [left] arm.

1. From SINGLE WHIP, bend your right leg and squat down, extending your left leg so it is almost lying on the
ground (known as half step forked stance), and sit down on your rear foot, while with your rear arm not moving
(Some bend the rear arm to make a PLAY THE LUTE posture together with the front hand.), your forward arm
bends and withdraws until by your right knee (or inner thigh), then the palm extends forward. When your forward
arm withdraws, the path of your body and hand make the upper half of a circle.
2. Bending your forward leg, your rear leg straightens, causing your body to rise up to be standing, and your left
arm extends forward from above [below], the path of the movement making the lower half of a circle, and with the
previous movement makes a complete circle (returning you to the SINGLE WHIP posture).

When squatting your body, your spine must be straight and not incline forward. The bending and extending of
your knee and arm must happen in unison with the lowering and rising of your body.
Application:
If the opponent grasps my arm with both hands, or makes a forward attack to my body which I cannot resist, I
then use this posture of squatting my body to avoid it, neutralizing his force and causing him to land on nothing,
and then take advantage of the situation by striking forward.
52
LEFT & RIGHT GOLDEN ROOSTER STANDS ON ONE LEG

In this posture, one foot stands on the ground while the other is lifted, a hand rising up to make a posture of
spreading wings, in the manner of a rooster, hence the name.
Two movements:
1. Advance and lift your [right] leg, propping up with your [right] palm.
2. Retreat and lift your [left] leg, propping up with your [left] palm.

1. From the LOW POSTURE, your right hand comes forward from behind, twisting and lifting up in front of your
chest, past your face, and once it is at headtop level, the palm is turned outward, the arm curving to make a
semicircle shape and placed beside the right side of your forehead. At the same time, your right leg bends at the
knee and lifts up until the knee and your right elbow meet. Your left leg is standing straight, your left arm hanging
down, palm inward, fingers pointing to the left side of your right foot.
2. Your right foot comes down, your left hand and left foot lift as in the first movement, your right arm hanging
down, the fingers pointing to the right side of your left foot.

In this posture, the movement pivots around your waist and headtop and the weight is entirely on one foot. Make
it as stable as a mountain and do not sway. When your hands and feet lift and lower, they should do so in unison.
Application:
If I use my fist or palm to strike the opponents chest and he uses his hand to block it, I respond by using my
[other] hand to lift his away, then strike his lower abdomen with my knee while striking forward with the same
hand.
53
54
55
RAISE THE HANDS
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
SINGLE WHIP
63
CLOUDING HANDS
64
RISING UP AND REACHING OUT TO THE HORSE
All of these postures are done as before.

65
CROSSED-BODY SWINGING LOTUS KICK

In boxing arts, when you extend your front fist while kicking with your rear leg, it is called a crossed-body kick
(as in the second line of Tantui). When kicking from the side, it is called a swinging lotus kick. This posture does
both kinds of things, hence the name.
Four movements:
1. Thread through with your [left] hand.
3. Turn around, raising your [left] palm.
4. Swinging kick.

1. From RISING UP AND REACHING OUT TO THE HORSE, your left foot advances a half step and your left
hand, palm up, threads out over your right wrist, while your right arm withdraws, palm down, bending to be
placed below your left armpit.
2. Your left palm turns downward and expresses force forward.
3. Sitting on your left leg, turn around to your right rear, slightly relaxing your right leg so you seem to be in an
empty stance, while your left arm goes from the left of your head, raising up in an arc to placed above your head,
palm forward.
4. Your right foot does a swinging kick from the left to the right, while your left palm goes from the right to the
left, slapping the top of your right foot, causing your left arm to hang down, palm downward.

Once you turn around, you must put all the weight on your left foot, then you can lift your right foot. The path
your right foot moves along should be a crosswise arc.
Application:
An opponent attacks me from behind, so I turn around, using my hand to block it, and take advantage of the
situation by sending out a sideways kick.
66
BRUSH KNEE, PUNCH TO THE CROTCH

In this posture, after you brush past your knee, take advantage of the moment to advance and punch the opponent
in the crotch, hence the name. This is one of the five punching techniques in Taiji Boxing.
Three movements:
1. Bring your foot down and brush past the knee.
2. Advance, brushing past your [left] knee.
3. Punch to his crotch.

1. From CROSSED-BODY SWINGING LOTUS KICK, your right foot comes down and your right hand brushes
past your right knee, making the posture of BRUSH KNEE IN A CROSSED STANCE on the left [right] side.
2. Your left foot advances a step and your right [left] hand brushes past your left knee.
3. Inclining your body and bending your knee forward, your right hand grasps into a fist (tigers mouth upward)
and extends diagonally forward and downward, while your left hand can either be placed beside your left knee or
touch your right arm to assist the punch.

When punching forward, the power must be sent from your spine, your right shoulder must stretch, and your
right leg should extend straight.
Application:
The opponent attacks my groin with his left hand then his right foot, which I respond to by blocking with my
hands in succession, and then I take advantage of the situation by advancing and punching him in the groin.
67
68
SINGLE WHIP
69
LOW POSTURE
All of these postures are done as before.

70
STEP FORWARD WITH THE BIG DIPPER and RETREAT TO RIDE THE TIGER

When boxing practitioners roll their arms toward each other so their fists line up diagonally with each other, it is
called a big dipper posture [i.e. making a bucket shape resembling the saucepan of the Dipper]. When the arms
spread apart, the hands going to the sides as a hook and a palm, the legs squatting with one foot standing and one
foot lifted, toes touching down, it is called riding a tiger. These two postures must be linked when practicing,
therefore I have combined them here.
Two movements:
1. STEP FORWARD WITH THE BIG DIPPER
2. RETREAT TO RIDE THE TIGER

1. From LOW POSTURE, your left knee bends forward and your right foot advances, staying near your left heel,
toes touching down. At the same time, your left hand grasps into a fist in front of your chest and your right hand
comes forward from behind, grasping into a fist and going along with the advancing of your right foot, passing
beside your right hip and striking forward under your left wrist, crossing with it to make an X shape.
2. Your right foot retreats a half step, the knee bends into a squat, and your left foot withdraws to be beside your
right foot, toes touching down, making an empty stance. At the same time, your arms wrap inward, your right
hand going from pulling out from inward of your left arm and extending to the right side, palm forward, as your
left hand makes a hook which brushes diagonally to the lower left as your left knee rises, the fingers making a
monkey fist [i.e. a hook hand], fingertips pointing to the rear [although the drawing shows a downward palm].
Your shoulders should be level.

For STEP FORWARD WITH THE BIG DIPPER, the weight sits fully on your left foot. For RETREAT TO RIDE
THE TIGER, the weight sits fully on your right foot.
Application:
1. STEP FORWARD WITH THE BIG DIPPER: If the opponent punches to my chest, I use my left arm to prop it
up or block it outward, then advance with my right foot and use my right hand to strike under my left hand to his
chest.
2. RETREAT TO RIDE THE TIGER: Continuing from the previous application, if the opponent uses his hand to
push [my strike] down or brushes it aside and kicks forward, I then use my left hand to brush down his hand or
foot, withdrawing my right hand to then push his chest or shoulder.
71
TURN AROUND, SWINGING LOTUS KICK

Turn around describes movement. To turn around and do a swinging lotus kick means that you turn around to
store up power, then release it by lifting your foot and doing a swinging lotus kick (as explained previously in
Posture 65).
Two movements:
1. Turn around, joining your hands.
2. Swinging lotus kick.

1, From RIDING THE TIGER, turn your body to the right rear, step your left foot forward, both hands joining
inward, crossing in front of your chest to make the CROSSED HANDS shape.
2. Lift your right foot and go from left to right with a swinging kick, both arms extended forward, the hands going
from right to left, slapping the back of your right foot,
then gathering in to be placed at both sides [to the left side] of your waist, your right foot now lowering to the
ground, toes touching down close beside your left foot.

When your left foot steps forward, the toes should be pointed inward so as to make it easier to turn.
Application:
If an opponent attacks from my left side, I evade it by dodging with my body and stepping forward [back] with my
left foot, drawing him in to be ambushed as I then turn around and lift my right foot to kick his ribs from the side.
72
BEND THE BOW TO SHOOT THE TIGER

The intention in this posture is of a person quickly drawing a bow to shoot, hence the name.
Two movements:
1. Step out, bending your arms.
2. Loosen your arms and extend them forward.

1. From the previous posture, your right foot steps to the forward right, your torso inclines to the forward right,
your arms bend, making fists, and go from the left side of your waist, passing in front of your navel, and move to
the right until to the right of your waist. Your arms lift up, your right shoulder and elbow level with each other, the
fist overturned (tigers mouth downward) near your right cheek, pointing to the forward left, the posture like
holding an arrow. Your left elbow is bent near your ribs, the hand lifted in front of your chest. Your gaze is forward
and the posture is like holding a bow.
2. Your fists go toward the lower left, slightly corkscrewing, aligned with each other as right fist above and left fist
below, your arms extended.

When both fists strike forward, there must be a corkscrewing intention.
Application:
If the opponent connects with me to the right and pushes down my right arm, I go along with the movement in a
semicircle to neutralize his energy, riding his energy until it has slackened, then strike forward.
73
CLOSING POSTURE

The intention here is to conclude the solo set by returning to the original posture, hence the name. The methods of
returning to the original posture vary among people: some [i.e. Wu style practitioners] do CATCH THE
SPARROW BY THE TAIL, PALM TO THE FACE, and several more postures to get to the original posture, while
others [i.e. Yang style practitioners] do the two postures of PARRY, BLOCK, PUNCH and SEALING SHUT to get
there. In either case it would here be unnecessarily repetitive to explain the original posture over again.
Two movements:
1. Step together, joining hands.
2. Return to the original posture, standing straight.

1. From SHOOT THE TIGER, step your left foot forward to stand beside your right foot, turning your body to the
right, crossing your hands in front of your chest.
2. Both hands releasing downward, return to your original posture, standing straight.
-

CHAPTER THREE: DISCUSSION OF TAIJI BOXINGS PUSHING HANDS SKILL
Pushing hands, or touching hands, or nearing hands, is a feature of many boxing arts, and is used to train
close-body techniques. The secret to the art of Taiji Boxing is identifying energies, the first step of which is to
make your skin keenly aware. The method of training this sensitivity lies in two people touching with each others
elbows, wrists, palms, and fingers, pushing back and forth to rub at the skin. The measure of sensitivity that
comes from your skin being gently pressed is used to perceive whether the opponents energy is light or heavy,
empty or full, and in which direction it is going. After a long time, your sensitivity will be very acute, sticking and
yielding will be assisting each other, and when there is the slightest movement you will be aware of it, thus you
will be identifying energies. The Taiji Boxing Classic says: Once you are identifying energies, then the more you
practice, the more efficient your skill will be.
When practitioners of Taiji Boxing do not practice pushing hands, it is equal to not practicing at all. And if you
practice pushing hands but are not yet able to identify energies, then it will be worthless when you try to apply it.
Alas, there are levels to work through. Upon entering each room [i.e. moving on through each level], understand
there is a door [that leads to another]. When practicing the pushing hands techniques, there are things you need
to pay attention to:
The pushing hands techniques divide into single touching-hands postures and double touching-hands postures
(explained below). Single touching is a single hand pushing by itself. Double touching is both hands being used
together. This is always a case of touching outwardly with the fingers (the chest being inward, the fingers and
forearms being outward).
There is also what is called open & close hands, in which one partners hands both go inward while the others
go outward, alternating with each other, going back and forth with double-hand pushes.
In single-hand pushing hands, the rubbing method is the same as in the nearing hands in the boxing of
Fujian, as well the five element hands (dividing into techniques for metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, the five
generating and overcoming each other throughout the movements), and have many uses.
In my youth I learned from Liu Jingyuan, training in the single-hand pushing hands techniques, gaining
something of the idea. Then I sought out the various postures in the various schools of Taiji, and bit by bit I
standardized a training method, organizing a complete regimen of pushing hands techniques to supplement the
original four cardinal and four corner exercises where each is insufficient. I have added additional sections to
provide you with the cardinal and corner exercises, but have selected only the beginning levels of them and have
explained them in brief to make your experience easier.
-

CHAPTER FOUR: EXPLANATIONS OF THE EIGHT TECHNIQUES OF THE PUSHING HANDS SKILL
WARD-OFF [peng]
This means to hold up, to carry, or to expand.
It is like when inflating a leather ball and pushing down on it the further it is pushed down, the more the
expansion is felt, causing the force to be unable to push all the way down.
From poem 78 of the Book of Poems: His quiver is spent. According to Du Yu, the word means an arrow
guiver. It is also pronounced bng.
From Zuos Commentary to the Spring & Autumn Annals, 25th Year of Duke Zhao: [His men took off their
helmets and] sat down holding their quivers. An annotation explains that the character used in this passage
represents an arrow quiver which can be used as a drinking vessel as well as a carrier for arrows and is
interchangeable with the same character that appears in poem 78.
In the Taiji skill, it is the trick when touching hands of going against the opponents momentum by carrying
him upward and making him unable to lower himself.
All these things make up ward-off.
ROLLBACK [l]
Although it is pronounced l, the actual character does not appear in any dictionary, and may be a mistake for a
similar looking character meaning to extend. From Ban Gus drama Replying to a Guest: In solitude, we extend
our thoughts beyond the whole universe.
Or it can mean to distribute. From Sima Xiangrus Book of Nature Worship: distributing without limit.
Or it can mean to disseminate. From On the Rhapsodizers East of the Yellow River, by Yang Xiong:
extolling the Six Classics from which they disseminate their odes.
Or it can mean something akin to gallop. From Thinking Profoundly, by Zhang Heng: The eight chariots
are released and overtake with their gallop.
In the Taiji skill, when touching hands, usually when the opponent does a ward-off or press to me, I use
rollback as a trick to dispel his force, causing it to gallop away, unable to be regrouped.
All of these things make up rollback.
PRESS [ji]
The Shuowen Jiezi [Chinas earliest dictionary] says that it means to forcefully remove, or to push away. It
is to send a hand outward with a forward push to something.
From Zuos Commentary to the Spring & Autumn Annals, 13th Year of Duke Zhao: A man who is oblivious to
his old age gets pushed into a ditch.
From the Historical Records, Annals of Xiang Yu: A gap in the Han army made for a push from the Chu
army.
From Zhuangzi, chapter 4: Those rulers [Jie and Zhou] pushed these virtuous men away [i.e. had Guan
Longfeng and Prince Bigan killed] because they were more virtuous than themselves.
Generally you may use your hand, shoulder, or back to press the opponents body and make him unable to
move, and from that point give him a push to throw him away.
All of these things make up press.
PUSH [an]
The Shuowen Jiezi says this means to go downward.
The Guangyun [a rhyming dictionary] says this means to press downward.
From the Rhapsodies of Emperor Jianwen of Liang: By way of variety and pressing down [i.e. restraint],
elegance runs through it.
The Erya [an ancient thesaurus] lists it as a synonym of words meaning to suppress.
From the Historical Records, Annals of Zhou: The king pushed his army [i.e. encouraged] with the command
of: no exit!
Poem 241 of the Book of Poems says: Crush their armies [with yours], and the word is there explained [in the
accompanying commentary of Zheng Xuan] as meaning to suppress.
From the History of the Early Han Dynasty, Annals of Emperor Gao: Both officials and commoners settled
down [the two characters in the text making a term which is a combination of push down and stop up] to how
it was before, with the commentary then explaining: Pushing constantly until the walls were sealed up and there
was no change.
It also means to occupy, as in the Historical Records, Bio of Bai Qi: The Zhao commander pacified the
people by pushing in with an occupying force.
It also means to stroke, as in the Historical Records, Bios of Rulers of the Plains: Mao then stroked his
sword and marched onward into history.
There is also the meaning of massage [to push down plus to rub equalling massage]. In ancient times,
there were the massage and limbering arts, as is mentioned in the History of the Early Han Dynasty,
Bibliographical Records: The Yellow Emperors Qi Bo wrote ten chapters on massage.
As for the Taiji boxing art, when your opponent presses forward, use your hands to push down and suppress his
action, making him unable to do what he wants.
This is push.
PLUCK [cai]
This means to take.
From the Books of Jin: On the mountain is a fierce tiger, and the plants are not what he picks to eat.
To select and take is called plucking.
In Taiji Boxing, this is when you pluck to take control of the opponents force. This taking is like the movement
of energy inward when a practioner of silent meditation restrains himself.
The Classic of the Talisman of the Abstract says: The sign of the sky expressing its destructiveness [is the
shifting of the constellations.] [i.e. The stars disappear over the horizon as if pulled down.]
Once you understand these explanations, ponder on them.
REND [lie]
This means to turn or to twist.
From the Writings of Han Yu: Turn your hands to stir the soup.
It also means to coil. It is an intention of rotation.
In Taiji Boxing, when you use rotational force to control the opponents body, it is called rending, including
the intention of rending away.
ELBOW [zhou]
This is the name of the boney point in the middle of your arm where it bends.
When practitioners of boxing arts use this area to strike opponents, it is called elbowing, making it a verb
rather than a noun.
In Taiji Boxing, there are many methods of applying elbowing techniques. In this book, it is only mentioned in
the pushing hands section when relevant, and discussed briefly.
BUMP [kao]
This means to lean on, to lean against, or to lean upon someone else.
In Taiji Boxing, when you are near with your body and you use your shoulder or hip to strike the opponent, it is
called bumping, the two methods being known as shoulder bump and hip strike.
-

CHAPTER FIVE: TAIJI BOXINGS PRACTICAL FUNCTION PUSHING HANDS

Section 1: TAIJI BOXINGS STANCE
The Taiji boxing arts stance often uses the river-character posture [or three-line posture showing a line for
each foot and the line between them].
From a posture of standing straight, your left foot takes a step out to the forward left, the toes of both feet are
equally forward, and the distance between your feet to the left and right is shoulder width. Squat your body down,
slightly bending your knees, and make the weight of your whole body go to your rear foot. It is somewhat like the
T stance, except the front toes are held upward or placed flat on the ground, so it is slightly different.
Your upper body should be upright in your waist and empty in your chest, with energy concentrated at your
lower abdomen. Your head is held straight, headtop empty and suspended. Your tailbone is centered and spirit
passes through to your headtop. Your spine is in a bow shape.
Your arms are slightly bent and go forward, raising until level. Your palms extend forward and your wrists sit.
Your fingertips are slightly bent, are spread, and are upward, the forefinger of your forward hand at about nose
level, your rear hand at about chest level. Your palms are unevenly facing each other and seem to be holding
something. Droop your shoulders and hang your elbows.
Your shoulders, elbows, and hands are united with your hips, knees, and feet. Your whole body should be
nimble and without sluggishness. Once each part has a condition of naturalness (and the posture on the other side
is the same as on this side), then it is right.

Section 2: SINGLE TOUCHING-HANDS METHOD
Two people stand facing each other. Each steps out forward with the right foot, while the right hand extends
forward from beside the right ribs in an arcing motion, as in the standing posture above. The backs of the wrists
stick to each other, making a crossed shape. This is the single touching-hands posture.

Section 3: DOUBLE TOUCHING-HANDS METHOD
This posture is like the single touching-hands posture, except that the rear hand also comes forward to pat the
other persons elbow area. Four arms are touching, making a complete circle. The wrists touching each other are
turned inward so that both people occupy the area in front of their chests, each getting half of the circle. It is just
like the two fishes of the taiji symbol. This is the double touching-hands posture.

Section 4: SINGLE-HAND HORIZONTAL CIRCLING PUSHING & RUBBING METHOD
Both partners stand facing each other and make the right-sided single touching-hands posture.
1. As right palm pushes down on Bs right wrist, pushing forward toward Bs chest.
B bends his right arm, his hand withdrawing toward his own chest, moving horizontally, retreating and rubbing,
making a semicircle, his wrist passing below his left shoulder, moving to the right until in front of his breastbone.
2. Bs torso sits back, elbow hanging down, turns over his hand drawing in beside his ribs, his wrist extending
outward, peeling aside As wrist, then in turn pushes down on As wrist.
3. Bs hand then pushes toward As chest as in movement 1.
4. As hand retreats and rubs as in movement 2, also making a semicircle. Go back and forth, pushing and
rubbing. Wait until you are skillful at it, then practice another posture. This is a basic action of the pushing hands
methods.
Doing the exercise on the left or right side is the same apart from left and right being switched.

Section 5: ROLLBACK & PUSH PUSHING HANDS METHOD
Both partners stand facing each other and make the right-sided double touching-hands posture.
1. A with his right palm pushes down on Bs right wrist and with his left hand pushes down on Bs right elbow,
making the push posture toward the sides of Bs chest.
2. B bends his right arm, the hand withdrawing toward his chest, retreating and neutralizing with a horizontal
motion, his left hand is patting behind As elbow. His right wrist is passing below his left shoulder as it moves to
the right, left hand going along with it downward to the right, the arm bending, making a rollback, both elbows
hanging down.
3. B with both hands pushes As elbow and wrist toward As chest to make the push posture, as in movement
1.
4. A with both hands retreats and rolls back, as in movement 2.

Section 6: SINGLE-HAND VERTICAL CIRCLING PUSHING HANDS METHOD
Both partners stand facing each other and make the right-sided single touching-hands posture.
1. A uses his right palm to cut downward onto Bs wrist (B going along with As cutting action), fingertips
pointed forward toward Bs belly.
2. B bends his arm, going along with As cutting energy, neutralizing with a withdrawing arc from below in a
vertical semicircle, lifting past his right ribs until beside his right ear.
3. Bs right hand continues the previous movement by making the upper half of the circle, extending his arm
forward, pointing at As forehead.
4. A sits his body back, bending his right arm, his hand sticking to Bs wrist and going along with his
movement, turning his body to the side to lead downward, until when beside his ribs he turns it into a forward
push.
Note:
This exercise can train the two postures of RETREAT, DRIVING AWAY THE MONKEY and LOW POSTURE. If A
moves in the manner of RETREAT, DRIVING AWAY THE MONKEY, B then moves in the manner of LOW
POSTURE.

Section 7: ROLLBACK & PRESS PUSHING HANDS METHOD
Both partners stand facing each other and make the [right-sided] double touching-hands posture.
1. A squats his torso, standing up his left forearm, and rolls back Bs right arm diagonally to the rear.
2. B takes advantage of the moment and extends his right arm downward, advancing his torso toward where his
elbow is being touched by A to do a bump forward, and by using his left hand to pat the inside of his own arm,
does a press outward.
3. A leans his torso forward to slow down Bs power, going across with his left ulna or wrist to touch the middle
of Bs upper arm, causing Bs arm to get near his own torso, and then using his right hand to pat the inside of his
own forearm, does a press forward.
4. B softens his torso inward to yield to and neutralize As power, squats his torso, standing up his left forearm,
and rolls back As right arm diagonally to the rear, like A in movement 1.
5. A is like B in movement 2.
6. B is like A in movement 3.

Section 8: SINGLE-HAND PRESSING DOWN PUSHING HANDS METHOD
Both partners stand facing each other and make the [right-sided] single touching-hands posture.
1. As right hand sticks to Bs right wrist and moves outward horizontally, correspondingly withdrawing [as if in
response to a forward energy from B], his hand turns over and presses down on Bs wrist, palm upward, arm bent,
elbow close to his ribs. (The bend in the arm should make an obtuse angle.)
2. A, continuing from the previous movement of using his upward-facing palm to press down Bs wrist, extends
his arm forward toward Bs belly.
3. B goes along with the force of As forward push, turns his hand over in a horizontal motion, bends his arm,
retreating, then waits until the moment A is almost in front of his belly, and sucks in his torso and hangs his elbow
down, turns his hand the rest of the way over, and presses down As wrist, like A in movement 1.
4. B extends his arm forward toward As belly, like A in movement 2.
This exercise is done the same on the left side.

Section 9: PRESSING DOWN THE WRIST & PUSHING DOWN THE ELBOW PUSHING HANDS METHOD
Two people stand opposite each other, making the [right-sided] double touching-hands posture.
1&2. A presses down on Bs wrist as before, except that his left hand, fingers pointing down, pushes down on Bs
elbow to assist the power.
3&4. As B retreats, turning over his wrist and withdrawing, his left palm goes upward to prop up Bs elbow,
which is different from before.

Section 10: PUSHING HANDS METHOD FOR THE FOUR PRIMARY TECHNIQUES
Pushing hands with the four primary techniques is when two people are pushing hands using the four techniques
of rollback, press, push, and ward-off, which are aligned with the four cardinal directions [of the eight trigrams],
and repeat their cycle over and over again, back and forth between the two people. To begin, they stand opposite
each other and cross their right hands.
1. A bends his knees and sits back, bends his arms so his elbows hang down (making the lute posture), his
hands catching Bs right arm at the elbow and wrist, and he rolls back inward and diagonally downward.
2. B takes advantage of the momentum and bends his right arm horizontally, making a ninety-degree angle,
and presses forward toward As chest with his wrists connected, then shifts his left hand to touch the inside of his
own forearm and assist the power.
3. Right when B presses with his elbow, A turns his waist slightly to the left, both hands taking advantage of the
momentum and pushing down on Bs left arm.
4. B then uses his left arm to do a pressing push, bringing it away [from his right arm] in an upward arc to ward
off and neutralize As pushing force. At the same time, his right arm also wraps around from below to prop up As
left elbow and assist the neutralization.
5. Once B wards off and neutralizes As pushing force, he then takes advantage of the momentum and rolls back
As left arm.
6. A goes along with Bs rollback energy and presses forward.
7. B goes along with As pressing energy and pushes down.
8. A then wards off and neutralizes Bs pushing power, and then rolls back.
All of this goes round and round without end. This is the pushing hands method for the four primary
techniques.

Section 11: PUSHING HANDS METHOD FOR THE FOUR SECONDARY TECHNIQUES
Pushing hands with the four secondary techniques, also known as Large Rollback, is when two people are pushing
hands using the four techniques of elbow, bump, pluck, and rend, which are aligned with the four corner
directions [of the eight trigrams], and repeat their cycle over and over again, back and forth between the two
people. It compensates for the limitations of the four primary techniques. To begin, [persons A and B] stand
opposite each other along a north-south line [A facing south, B facing north] and cross their right hands.
1. A steps his right foot diagonally to the northwest, making a stance between a horse-riding stance and a wide
T-stance, with his right arm level and bent, his right hand touching Bs right wrist, his left arm bends at the elbow
and uses the middle area of the outer forearm bone to roll back Bs right arm diagonally to the northwest.
2. B then takes advantage of the momentum and steps his left foot across forward and to the left, moving his
right foot to step forward between As legs. At the same time, his right arm extends downward, his shoulder going
along with As rollback energy, and bumps forward into As chest with his left hand assisting by touching the
inside of his own right arm. Both people are again facing each other, with B looking toward the northeast.
3. A uses his left hand to push down on Bs left wrist and his right hand to push down on Bs left elbow,
plucking down. At the same time, his left foot goes from the outside of Bs right foot to step between Bs legs.
4. B goes along with As plucking energy and withdraws his left leg to the southwest, making a horse-riding
stance, and with his left arm level and bent, his left hand touches As left wrist, and his right arm bends at the
elbow and uses the middle area of the forearm bone to rollback As left arm diagonally to the southwest.
5. A takes advantage of the momentum and steps his right foot forward, moving his left foot to step forward
between Bs legs. At the same time, his left arm extends downward, his shoulder going along with Bs rollback
energy, and bumps forward into Bs chest with his right hand assisting by touching the inside of his own left arm.
Both people are again facing each other, with A looking toward the southeast.
6. As left arm wants to lift up. B then goes along with As lifting energy, his left hand doing a palm strike
toward As face while his right hand pushes on As left shoulder, diagonally rending downward.
7. A goes along with Bs rending energy and withdraws his left foot a step to the northeast, his left hand
touching Bs left wrist, his right arm bending at the elbow, and rolls back Bs left arm to the northeast.
8. B takes advantage of the momentum and steps forward with his right foot, moving his left foot to step
forward between As legs, his left arm going along with As rollback energy and using his shoulder to bump
forward into As chest, his right hand assisting. The direction B is facing is northwest.
9. A uses his right hand to push down on Bs right wrist and his left hand to push on Bs right elbow, plucking
down. At the same time, his right foot goes from the outside of Bs left foot to step between Bs legs.
10. B goes along with As plucking energy and withdraws his right foot to the southeast, his right hand touching
As right wrist, and with his left arm bent at the elbow, rolls back As right arm diagonally to the southeast.
11. A takes advantage of the momentum and steps forward with his left foot, moving his right foot to step
forward between As legs, his right arm going along with Bs rollback energy, and uses his shoulder to bump
forward into Bs chest, his left hand assisting. The direction A is facing is southwest.
12. As right arm wants to lift up. B then goes along with As lifting energy, his right hand doing a palm strike
toward As face while his left hand pushes on As right shoulder, diagonally rending downward.
[Movement 1 repeating:] A retreats his right leg, and with both hands he rolls back Bs right arm at the wrist
and elbow area.
Both people have returned to the posture of crossing their right hands and this whole sequence may continue.
This is the pushing hands method for the four secondary techniques.
-
POSTSCRIPT [BY ZHONG RUIYUAN]
Chinese boxing arts began during the Warring States period and were carried along through the dynasties Han,
Wei, Tang, Song, etc. They were passed on through the generations, but always by personal instruction, and with
some things being kept secret, unrecorded in books. It is known that in the Han Records [History of the Early
Han Dynasty, Bibliographical Records] there is mentioned records of [six chapters of] bare-hand fighting and
[thirty-eight chapters of] swordsmanship, but those writings are long lost.
During the Ming Dynasty, there was Qi Nantangs [Qi Jiguang] New Book of Effective Methods and Mao
Yuanyis Records of Martial Training Methods, and there emerged the Sword Classic, Boxing Postures, Staff
Techniques, and Spear Treatise, some of these texts in detail, others in brief. Later generations of those who
trained in martial arts were unable to surpass the range of those writings until the boxing essay of Huang Baijia on
the internal school and the writings of Wu Shu on bare-handed fighting and the spear, which were detailed and
refined.
During the early Qing Dynasty, it was forbidden to teach or train in martial arts, and therefore it was done in
secret, very rarely appearing in books. What was preserved was always through simple songs which were
memorized and could not be very detailed about the theory or techniques, and this situation was caused because
those transmitting it were often not very well-read.
In the first summer month of 1920, I bumped into Xu Yusheng on my way somewhere, and he invited me to
come right away to the physical education school he had established to see Ma Zizhens new martial arts
performance team, but I was already running late and did not get to see them. I subsequently associated with Xu
and so I got to look at two pieces of his writing: A Commentary to the Taiji Boxing Classic and Explanations
with Illustrations. I thereupon began to understand his motivation for opening a school, as well as its emphasis
on a deep understanding of Taiji Boxing. I had already known of him for quite a while as a skilled martial artist,
but I did not expect the depth of his learning.
Taiji Boxing is the way most people refer to the internal school, and together with Shaolin makes two distinct
schools. Studying the internal school is more common but most who study it do not complete the course, and then
when its essential principles are left a secret, later students will be even more unable to seek guidance. With the
publication of this book, those who admire the internal school will have a way ahead, for it is a truly unparalleled
work. But I have heard that the work of learning a martial skill never has an end.
I truly hope that going through Xus stripped-down postural explanations and studying his meticulous
commentary to the Classic will bring the internal school to be as equally regarded as Shaolin, and it is now
recorded in a book to provide greater access to future students. Comparing him to a complacent teacher who
keeps things to himself, he exhaustively shares the skills of the internal school, and so it is apparent which one has
a more generous heart. Since Xu and I have a worldly friendship, I will not presume to praise him, and therefore I
have confined myself to straightforward words in writing this postscript.
sincerely written by Zhong Lan (Zhong Ruiyuan)
-
-
-
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Posted on August 27, 2012

TAIJI BOXING POSTURES WITH DRAWINGS AND EXPLANATIONS

1921, 7th month

Taiji Boxing Postures With Drawings and Explanations

- [calligraphy by] Fu Zengxiang

PREFACE [BY ZHANG YILIN]

- preface by Zhang Yilin of Wu county, 1st autumn month, 1921

PREFACE [BY YANG CHANG]

- written by Yang Chang of Xiangtan in Beijing, 1st autumn month, 1921

Portrait of the author

Map of the Eight Directions:

Map of the Five Steps:

ZHOU LIANXIS TAIJI DIAGRAM

The way of the ground makes the female quality,

the way of the sky makes the male quality,

[and together] they produce all things.

SHAO KANGJIES CHART OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHANGE

the moment between movement and stillness

Taiji is born of wuji.

Forcelessly rouse strength at the headtop.

Energy sinks to the elixir field.

Neither lean nor slant. Suddenly hide and suddenly appear.

When advancing, it is even farther. When retreating, it is even nearer.

A feather cannot be added and a fly cannot land.

This points to other kinds of boxing arts generally.

Although the postures are different between them,

Different schools, different postures.

and bear no relation to skill that is learned.

They are not abilities that come from learning.

Stand like a scale.

Move like a wheel.

If you drop one side, you can move.

If you have equal pressure on both sides, you will be stuck.

If you want to avoid this error,

(the error of double pressure)

you must understand passive and active.

In sticking there is yielding and in yielding there is sticking.

For such situations it is said: Miss by an inch, lose by a mile.

Unless you distinguish very minutely, you can easily go astray.

EXPLANATIONS TO THE TAIJI BOXING SOLO SET MOVEMENT POSITIONING CHART

Explanation of the name:

Explanation for the drawing:

Points for attention:

Explanation of the name:

Explanation for the drawings:

Points for attention:

Explanation of the name:

Explanation for the drawing:

Points for attention:

Explanation of the name:

Explanation for the drawings:

Points for attention:

Explanation of the name:

Explanation for the drawings:

Points for attention:

Explanation of the name:

Two [three] movements:

Explanation for the drawing:

Points for attention:

Explanation of the name:

Explanation for the drawing:

Points for attention: