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Longfei-Taijiquan Association of Great Britain |
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An Introduction to Taijiquan
Teaching Materials and Competition Rules - Part 1
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Today, Taijiquan experts and Taijiquan enthusiasts from the whole country and from all over the world. are happily gathered under one roof exhanging boxing skills and sharing friendly conversation. This shows that the ancient Chinese martial arts are no longer only a sporting activity immensely popular with the Chinese people. but that they are gradually becoming the common property of the people of the world and a link for the exchange of culture and the spread of friendship between the people of China and the people of the world. As an old Wushu worker, this fills me with heartfelt joy. Expansion Taijiquan in this country has a long history and deep foundations. More than a century ago Taijiquan spread from our country's villages into the towns, which opened a new era in Taijiquan's development. By the early \ears of the Republic, Taijiquan gradually formed into various schools, with many distinguished Taiji masters breaking new ground. both carrying old traditions and making innovations, thus giving impetus to the development and diversification of Taijiquan technique, which marked another milestone in the history of Taijiquan's development. After the founding of New China. Taijiquan broke away from its condition of individual. unorganised transmission and was formally included in our national sports programme. With planned and structured leadership from the national sporting bodies, Taijiquan has gained unprecedented popularity, with people everywhere, in town and country alike, taking part in Taijiquan activities. Furthermore, many foreign friends have become deeply attracted and its influence has spread across the five continents, thus beginning a new chapter in the development of Taijiquan. Xingyi Quan and Bagua Quan I was born in a village in Anxin County, Hebei Province. As a young child I began to learn Shaolin, animal-imitative (Xingyi) and Bagua boxing styles from my father. From 1927 on, I studied 'moving-step opening and closing Taijiquan' and Yang style Taijiquan, and later also came into contact with various styles of Taijiquan such as Chen, Wœ, Wž, Sun and Hao. In many more than fifty years, I have never left the work of teaching and researching Taijiquan. During my Wushu career as a young man, I had deep and bitter experience of Old China's domestic turmoil and invasion by foreign powers. With the people living in dire poverty, the development of Wushu suffered double destruction. Many older martial arts experts. their hearts filled with love for their country and people. devoted their lives to the cause of Wushu, but due to the political corruption, economic impoverishment and educational backwardness of the old society, the great mass of the people could not even pass their days in peace, never mind practice martial arts for the good of their health! And so the great hopes of many Wushu experts could not be fulfilled. Not until after the founding of New China did Wushu really gain new life and become an important integral part of the popular sporting movement. Through continuous research, collation. popularisation and improvement, the Wushu movement is at last showing a vitality and diversity never seen before. Like many other old martial arts coaches, I am elated and heartened by the Wushu movement's flourishing development, which is a source of inexpressible joy and inexhaustible strength to me. Ten Schools and More During the thirty years and more since the People's Republic was founded. I have worked in schools, athletic teams, and official bodies, doing Taijiquan teaching, training and competition and research and preparation work and consequently I am well aware what a rich treasure-house Chinese Wushu represents. Just to speak of Taijiquan it does not just comprise learning sets of movements, 'pushing hands,' and many kinds of weapons play: there are also well over ten different major and minor schools, such as Chen, Yang, Wœ, Wž, Hao and Sun along with Song (Shuming), Li (Ruidong), He (Zhaoyuan) and Zhang (Sanfeng), and with the continuing expansion of research and collation work, the content and way of performing Taijiquan are bound to be yet further enriched. Some of the main schools of Taijiquan can be individually introduced by the comrades concerned. Here I will concentrate on introducing the different kinds of Taijiquan teaching materials prepared and published in this country since Liberation and the stipulations concerning Taijiquan in Wushu competition rules. Collation and Organisation In 1954 this country set up special bodies such as
the "Committee for National forms of Sport" and the
"Wushu Research Office" to be responsible for Wushu collection
and editing work. Beginning in 1956 they enlisted experts from many
fields to compile a succession of Wushu teaching materials for sports
colleges and departments, covering over twenty sets of forms for all
kinds of boxing and weapons play and running into hundreds of thousands
of words and produced this country's first set of standard Wushu
competition rules. (1) Popularising Materials For example, "Simplified Taijiquan" and
"32-form Taiji Sword," prepared in 1956, are texts intended to
popularise and (2) Standardised Materials In view of a situation in which there were slight differences between versions of Taijiquan current in different areas, to aid instruction the experts concerned have compiled teaching materials standardising the movements for certain sets. "88-form Taijiquan" was compiled in 1957 through the joint research in Shanghai of eight Yang style Taijiquan experts who, on the basis of maintaining the traditional style, compared and chose between different ways of practising a number of movements and was later finalised in Beijing after further practical revision by the National Wushu Training Class. This provided a standard text with which to put our efforts into spreading Yang style Taijiquan. The revised Taiji pushing hands text, with added explanations and photographs so that the learner can practise with the aid of pictures, has similar characteristics. (3) Composite Materials To satisfy the needs of those Taijiquan enthusiasts with a certain basic skill and attainment to further improve their level of skill, enrich their knowledge and master different schools, the sporting bodies have also organised the compilation of composite Taijiquan teaching materials. For instance, the 66-form Taijiquan developed by the National Wushu Training Class in 1959, is a text which chooses features from various schools, incorporates both strength and suppleness in equal measure and is at quite a high level of strenuousness and difficulty, "48-form Taijiquan," published in 1979. is also an integrated text, based mainly on Yang style, but incorporating features from many other styles. These materials have a lively and rich content, with plenty of variety, thus increasing the all-round nature and the fascination of this form of exercise. From the above breakdown we can see that the guiding principles in formulating all these different new Taijiquan teaching materials have been to carry on tradition, develop the essential qualities, adapt the old to the needs of today, and to favour development, facilitate popularisation and encourage improvement. In the national Wushu competition rules, the following stipulations have been made for Taijiquan: in all national formal competitions, freestyle Taijiquan sequences must include at least four different kinds of steps and at least six different groups of movements. These stipulations on content have been made so as to be able to accurately and comprehensively assess a competitor's level of skill and so as to maintain conditions of fair competition. Apart from this, rules have also been made concerning Taijiquan's characteristic features, standard requirements and method of scoring. Practical experience shows that these rules have given impetus to the development of Taijiquan competitive activities and made competition more scientific and accurate. Regardless of whether one is learning traditional Taijiquan sequences, or studying the newly-compiled materials, Taijiquan's characteristic features should be maintained and expression given to its basic essentials. The Wushu competition rules incorporate five points concerning the characteristic features of Taijiquan. I will give them some introduction merely from my own personal understanding. (1) Body relaxed and mind calm, breathing natural. When doing Taijiquan. one should remain erect and comfortable, relaxed, calm and natural. The thoughts should be concentrated and calm, consciously guiding the movements, so as to reflect the requirements spoken of in the ancient boxing manuals for "first in the mind, then in the body," "use the mind to move the qi, use the qi to move the body," and "the will and the qi are the monarch, commanding the bones and flesh which are the subject." The breathing should be deep and regular, natural and smooth, and as far as possible in time with the movements and the exertion of force. One should not tense up or hold one's breath, or use strength awkwardly. Remember the principle "the qi is not harmful when the spine is straight." (2) Curved movements, clear distinction between 'hollow' and 'solid.' Every part of Taijiquan involves changes between the 'hollow' and the 'solid' which are expressed in various ways" as attacking and defensive hand movements, advancing and retreating steps. turns of the body, firmness or suppleness in the exertion of force. rise and fall of the thoughts and the rhythm of movement and so on. During the Qianlong period (1736-1795) of the Qing dynasty, the famous Taijiquan master Wang Zongyue expressed the changes between 'hollow' and 'solid' in boxing in terms of Taiji Yin and Yang, stressing the point that every movement and form in Taijiquan is inseparable from Yin and Yang. which is why it is also said that in Taijiqua,. "only when Yin and Yang are in balance will the use of strength be understood." Taijiquan movements should follow a curving path, to favour the exchange between 'hollow' and 'solid,' and should on no account go straight back and forth, stiff and unflowing, or use force in a mechanical way. (3) Coordination of upper and lower limbs and body, movements full, vital and complete. Taijiquan movements should be initiated in the legs, controlled mainly from the waist and express their form in the hands and fingers with all parts of the body in step, forming a balanced whole. It is the actions of the waist and legs in particular which combine to form the basis of Taijiquan movements. The upper and lower limbs and body must not get out of step, or the effect will be like floating weeds in water, drifting back and forth, without roots. (4) Even and continuous, connected and gently flowing. Taijiquan requires that one "use one's strength like pulling silk from a cocoon," and that "forms change but the strength is continuous." There should be a continuous flow from one movement into the next, with no sudden starts and stops or breaks and disruptions. (5) Light and agile but steady, exerting the right amount of force. Taijiquan requires one to "store up strength like stretching a bow, exert force like loosing an arrow," and that "inside the mind is resolute, but outwardly one appears calm and at ease." Movements should be as light and nimble as a cat's, but light without being unstable; they should also be as firm as iron, but firm without being stiff To be able to apply this kind of unique skill demonstrates superb mastery. It has been described as the art of "meeting strength in softness," or "like iron wrapped in cotton wool," and even in those movements which involve a clear exertion of force, there should be softness in strength, with plenty of suppleness. The five points gone into above express Taijiquan's common characteristics and embody its individual style. The competition rules for this display and exchange meeting incorporate relaxation. stability, roundness, use of force, expression and evenness as six criteria for awarding points and these are nothing other than the concrete expression of the essential features mentioned above. These main points should find expression in all aspects of Taijiquan: in the posture. movement, use of strength, the mind and breath timing. One should aim to "pay attention to both inside and outside." and "prepare both form and spirit." In Taijiquan the form, the strength and the will are a unified whole, in which "the mind is the commander, the body the swift servant." It is said in Taijiquan theory that "if the mind can be kept alert, one will not develop the fault of slow and heavy movements; this is what is called the 'suspended head'." This means an erect head and neck, rounded and vital
use of force, and a lively and spirited manner, all combined into one,
with mind and body in unison. Or, as the boxing books put it: These are all truths which we should constantly and earnestly study and seek to understand through practical application. This article will be concluded in the next issue of the Newsletter. |
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