Zhang Yun and three of his senior students worked for a period of ten years on a translation, with commentary on history and culture, of the Taijiquan Classics, which are core writings detailing the philosophy, principles, and practice of Taijiquan. I have been avidly reading this book since I received my copy and recommend it without hesitation to practitioners of Taijiquan regardless of lineage or level of experience in the art. It contains English language translations of a number of important classics with detailed expository content.
Taijiquan Classics - The Essential Translation and Explanation with Commentary on History and Culture by Zhang Yun, David Ho, Peter Capell, Susan Darley. YCGF North America. (ISBN: 978-0-578-17886-8)
Taijiquan is one of the most widely practiced and least understood martial arts in the world. Many people no longer practice Taijiquan as a martial art. Of those who do, few outside of China have had the opportunity to read and understand the Classics of Taijiquan as the canon of the art. If there were scriptures pertaining to Taijiquan, the Classics would be those. The Taijiquan Classics serve as a fundamental reference for all serious students of Taijiquan. For non-Mandarin speakers, this book is the first complete compilation of the Classics in English, including clear and precise explanations of the essential concepts of Taijiquan. The Classics provide deep insight into Chinese culture generally, with descriptions of the teachings of Daoism that have guided a people over millennia. We hope that readers of this material will appreciate the depth of its content and the effort that was required to bring it to the level of clarity provided within.
As part of its release in 2016, a two-day seminar was held at Capital Aikikai in Silver Spring, MD, featuring Wu Style Taijiquan masters Zhang Yun and Zhao Zeren. This was Zhao Zeren's first time visiting the United States. Zhang Yun and Zhao Zeren trained together in Beijing under the late Grand Master Wang Peisheng, head of the Beijing Wu Taijiquan group. Zhao Zeren provided insight into his very powerful and dynamic expression of Taijiquan for fighting applications. Zhao Zeren provided a very dynamic view of what is possible with Wu Taijiquan from a combative perspective, exploring applications from several portions of the Wu Taijiquan form and push hands against grabs, pushes, and strikes. Both masters provided active instruction and help to the participants so they could apply the off-balancing and throwing methods efficiently. Having a mat floor helped greatly, as we were able to throw when working with a partner who could take breakfalls. This allowed us to be freer with our application in the later stages of technique. Both masters provided detailed instruction on key acupuncture points to focus intention on to help relax the body in preparation for practice and during application of technique, as well as foundational elements of Fire and Water post standing.
In June 2017 there were follow-on seminars, detailing aspects of traditional taiji practice as referenced in the above work — some details can be found below.
Section 1: The Nine Points
This session details taiji’s nine points of body method that are essential for proper form structure, use in push hands, and applications. They are: chenjian, zhuizhou, hanxong, babei, guodan, liutun, songyao, choukua, and tiding. The nine points listed above, as passed down in the Wu family tradition, are based in part on the classical Shen Ba Yao (or Eight Key Points of Taiji) by Wu Yuxiang.
The nine points describe proper body structure and posture needed for Taiji applications to be effective. When applications wind up difficult, it often a case that the pracitioner is not relaxed, and may be forgetting to apply one or more of these nine key points.
Session 2: The Four Word Secret Formula
This session will begin by covering the most basic taiji principle important in form movement, push hands, and applications called xu and shi (or insubstantial and substantial). The Sizi Mijue (or Four-Word Secret Formula) from the classic by Wu Yuxiang are: fu, gai, dui, and tun. These four principles relate to the progressive and correct timing in the application of taiji skills used in fighting when detecting force released by the opponent.
When attacked strongly, there are different timings one may encounter when responding. Different types of power are used depending on the relative timing of an attack and response. This affects the expression of the response. Xu and Shi have many layers of meaning and it was good to see several clear examples of insubsantial and substantial feeling in Taijiquan.
For example, a large diffuse force can interrupt the beginning of an attack, while a piercing direct force can be used to interrupt an attack as it is being expressed.
Session 3: The Five Key Points of Taijiquan
The Taijiquan Wuge Yaoling (Five Key Points of Taijiquan [to guide the learner’s skill development]) are structured under the following headings: liu he jin (six-integration jin), shi san fa (thirteen methods), wu fa (five methods), ba yaoling (eight key points), and quan li fa (wholebody-force method). Of these, Master Zhang will cover ideas from six integration jin (ninguo, zuanfa, luoxuan, bengzha, jingtan, dousou), seven pairs of the thirteen methods (zheng-yu, xu-shi [also discussed in Session 2], shou-fang, tun-tu, gangrou, dan-shuang, qing-zhong), and whole-body-force method (in attacking).
This material is derived from writings of Wu Menxia and are examples of taiji principles as passed down by the Yang family and appearing in a manual passed down by Niu Lianyuan, student of Yang Banhou. It is important from the perspective of describing the types of jin to be cultivated in Taijiquan practice that make Taijiquan different from other martial arts. For example, ning or "twisting" needs to be present in all expressions of jin, and force when released should be sudden and explosive.
Section 4: The Gathering of Qi
In this session, Master Zhang will cover the principles of gathering the qi in the body and its use (qilan). He will show how this gets applied as storing [he, xu] and releasing [kai, fa] qi for applications in taiji throwing [tifang]. Such principles are explained in early classics in articles like the The Five-Word Formula (Wuzi Jue) and the Secret Formula for Safang (Safang Mijue) passed down by Li Yiyu.
Today, there are many misunderstandings about basic aspects of Taijiquan as well as advanced practices. People may have developed high-level skill in martial arts, and if inspired by Taiji ideas, they may have cultivated skills that are not pure Taiji skills because they do not fully understand the meaning behind them. This can be fine -- one can be quite skilled, independent of their level of Taiji. But studying the classics can provide insight into these topics, and help a person understand what is and what is not Taijiquan. The classics are also important to study in order to understand the proper role of reverse breathing in Taiji practice and how to store and release qi for use in locking and throwing.
