The Tai Chi Classics

I am a keen podcast listener, and one that I look forward to is The Tai Chi Notebook by martial artist Graham Barlow. His interests cover Tai Chi, Xing Yi, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and the study of the martial arts. He often interviews fellow practitioners, but on his most recent podcast he was alone and talking about the ‘Tai Chi Classics’. I played this over and over on repeat, and I am sure I will do so again. Listen below or find the podcast in your favourite podcast player…

Graham shares that there are number of classics, by various authors, and...

The first is called simply, The Tai Chi Classic and is traditionally attributed to the immortal Taoist Chang San-feng (although probably written by one of the Wu brothers, or it’s simply a collection of older sayings). This is probably the most important work and contains many of the most quoted sections.

See also this link on Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T'ai_chi_classics.

Graham goes on to cite the following translation…

In motion, the whole body should be light and agile,
with all parts linked as if threaded together.

The chi should be activated,
The mind should be internally gathered.

The postures should be rounded and without defect,
without deviations from the proper alignment;
in motion, your form should be continuous, without stops and starts.

The jin should be
rooted in the feet,
generated from the legs,
controlled by the waist, and
expressed through the fingers. 

The feet, legs, and waist should act together
as an integrated whole,
so that while advancing or withdrawing
one can take the opportunity for favorable timing
and good position.
If correct timing and position are not achieved,
the body will become disordered
and will not move as an integrated whole;
the correction for this defect
must be sought in the legs and waist.

The principle of adjusting the legs and waist
applies for moving in all directions;
upward or downward,
advancing or withdrawing,
left or right.

All movements are motivated by Yi,
not external form.

If there is up, there is down;
when advancing, have regard for withdrawing;
when striking left, pay attention to the right.

If the yi wants to move upward,
it must simultaneously have intent downward.

Alternating the force of pulling and pushing
severs an opponent’s root
so that he can be defeated
quickly and certainly.

Full and empty
should be clearly differentiated.
At any place where there is emptiness,
there must be fullness;
Every place has both emptiness and fullness.

The whole body should be threaded together through every joint
without the slightest break.

Long Boxing is like a great river
rolling on unceasingly.

Peng, Lu, Ji, An,
Tsai, Lieh, Zhou, and Kao
are equated to the Eight Trigrams.
The first four are the cardinal directions;
Ch’ien [South; Heaven],
K’un [North; Earth],
K’an [West; Water], and
Li [East; Fire].
The second four are the four corners:
Sun [Southwest; Wind],
Chen [Northeast; Thunder],
Tui [Southeast; Lake], and
Ken [Northwest; Mountain].
Advance (Chin), Withdraw (T’ui),
Look Left (Tso Ku), Look Right (Yu Pan), and
Central Equilibrium (Chung Ting)
are equated to the five elements:
Metal,
Wood,
Water,
Fire, and
Earth
Taken together, these are termed the Thirteen Postures

— Attributed to Chang San-feng (est. 1279 -1386)

To read more, including definitions of some of the terms, please visit Graham’s website…

• https://thetaichinotebook.com/2020/02/25/the-tai-chi-classic-part-1-a-new-interpretation/

• https://thetaichinotebook.com/2020/02/26/the-tai-chi-classic-part-2-a-new-interpretation/

Reproduced with kind permission of Graham Barlow.