www.Longfei-Taiji.co.uk	Longfei Taijiquan Association of Great Britain
		Longfei Newsletter Volume 8 Issue 3

Da Lu at Summer Camp 2008

Master Wang's elucidation on Da Lu could be seen in its worst light as quite exceptional and in full illumination as absolutely brilliant. I have practiced versions of Da Lu (sometimes Big Pull, or Large Rollback, or Wide Rollback, in the glossary of Dan Docherty's book Complete Tai Chi Chuan he gives it the exotic formulae, "Great Sideways Diversion" - wonderful). In Issue 1 Vol 8 I gave out a little of my limited understanding of the mystery of the "Great Sideways Diversion" and at the risk of repeating myself I am about to repeat myself!

The methods of Da Lu or the four corners

My intellectual and philosophical understanding of Da Lu is limited, although I spent many hours practicing it in the ITCCA and later with Master Wang's early push hands workshops. I have always considered it to be an advanced form of pushing hands format, dealing with the four corners as Tui Shou (push hands) deals with the four directions (Peng, Lu, Ji, An). Da Lu certainly has an emphasis on both the shoulder and the elbow strikes (Kao, Zhou). In the ITCCA we referred to it as the "Big Pull". Those of you familiar with the 42 Competition Routine may recall that two movements from Da Lu have been incorporated in the forms:

Form 32 - MA BU KAO (lean in horse stance).

Form 33 - ZHUANSHEN DALU (turn the body with large rollback).

Pages 248 - 250 0f Professor Li's book makes reference to these forms originating from the Yang style of taiji push hands and wide rollback, and are composed of such techniques as:

(1) KAO: "bump with the body back or shoulder"

(2) ZHOU: "strike with the elbow"

(3) LIE: "split"

(4) CAI: "pull down"

Together with Peng, Lu, Ji, An, they form what is sometimes known as the "Eight Gates of Tajiquan". In the taiji forms Peng, Lu, Ji, An represent the first four gates, also known as the four directions. The second four gates Kao, Zhou, Lie, Cai, are known as the four corners. In turn they represent the directions of the compass, Peng, Lu, Ji, An = South, North, West, East, while Kao, Zhou, Lie, Cai. = NW, SE, NE, SW. The importance of understanding these functions cannot be overstated as all the forms of the Yang style taijiquan routine incorporate one of these eight principles. The simplest example being "The Fair Lady Works the Shuttles" where the forward arm is performing Peng (ward off), and the other arm/hand is performing An (push). As this form is traditionally worked in four directions it would also appear to conform to four directions of the compass.

As you can see it is easy to become trapped in Chinese semantics when the first priority should be to understand the movements and their application. In addition to the compass reference the eight gates also connect with the elements (earth, fire, water, wind, thunder etc.) and the I Ching (Book of Changes). However the intellectual consideration may help an advanced practitioner but in the first instance one must get to grips with the physical postures and the manoeuvres of the limbs and torso.

Master Wang's workshop on day one dealt with Peng, Lu, Ji, An, (the four directions of Tui Shou). Incidentally he had attracted the largest group from the body of delegates, some 26 people. Among these were some novice practitioners and he decided that the first day be devoted to laying the foundations for the main course on the following two days. I was partnered by James who was quite new to push hands, but really keen to work hard and a experienced martial artist. So it was very clear to me, when trying to improve my understanding while working with someone trying to get his foot on the first rung of the ladder, just how irrelevant much of the foregoing was in the early stages of learning. Wang was somehow able to clearly convey exactly the interplay between Peng, Lu, Ji and An on day one. Equally he had the same clarity with Da Lu and the four corners, Kao, Zhou, Lie and Cai. In the past I have always struggled with the application of Cai and this was the first time I gathered some real insight to the way it fitted into the whole strategy. Brilliant, we must get Master Wang to repeat this workshop next year in Hertfordshire.

Richard Watson

Longfei Newsletter Volume 8 Issue 3Table of Contents