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r Lin has often stressed that unless one practises Tai Chi according to the principles laid down in the Classics, then they weren’t really performing Tai Chi. Perhaps this sounds rather harsh, but one should remember that the old masters came to these realisations after many years of strenuous practise, as well as meditation in order to place themselves in harmony with the universe.
There are various reasons why people practice Tai Chi. It could be for health purposes, as an exercise or to improve their lives. Dr Lin told his students that if the latter was their purpose, the first requirement would be that they learn the Commentaries by heart, ponder their meaning, and implement these ideas in their lives. It then becomes irrelevant how long they practice, because if they remember to apply these principles, they will even profit from even a short period of practice. A line near the end of the second Commentary explains it thus: “Silently memorise and thoroughly ponder then little by little you will reach the stage where the body will automatically follow the mind.”
I. Commentary on Tai Chi - Chang San-feng (1279-1368)
As soon as one moves, the entire body should be light and sensitive and all its parts connected.
The chi should be roused and the spirit gathered within.
Do not allow gaps; do not allow bulges or hollows; do not allow discontinuities.
The root is in the feet; energy issued up through the legs, is controlled by the waist and expressed in the hands and fingers.
From the feet to the legs to the waist should be one complete flow of chi. One will then be able to seize opportunities and occupy the superior position. If one is unable to seize opportunities and gain the superior position, the body will be scattered and in confusion.
Look for weakness in the waist and the legs.
The same is true for above and below, front and back, left and right. All this has to do with the mind and not with externals.
If there is an above, there must be a below; if there is a fore, there must be a rear and if there is a left, there must be a right.
If the intention is to rise, one must pay attention to below. If you want to lift something, you must apply breaking power. In this way its root will be severed and its destruction will be swift and inevitable.
Full and empty should be clearly distinguished. Any given point has the potential for full and empty, and the whole body has this dual aspect: full and empty.
All the joints of the body should be connected without permitting the slightest break.
II. Treatise on Tai Chi - Wong Chung-yua (1600)
Tai chi (The Great Ultimate) is born of Wu-chi (The Infinite) and is the mother of yin and yang. In motion they separate, in stillness they become one.
Avoid both excess and insufficiency; extend when the opponent bends and bend when he extends.
The opponent is hard, while I am yielding. I am following, while the opponent is resistant. This is adhering. Respond to speed with speed and slowness with slowness.
Although the changes are infinite, the principles remain the same.
From mastery of the postures you will gradually awaken to interpreting energy. From interpreting energy, you will arrive at spiritual insight. However, without long, arduous practice, you will not suddenly make this breakthrough.
There is a light and sensitive energy at the crown of the head.
Sink the chi to the tan-tien; do not lean and incline, suddenly disappear and suddenly appear.
If the opponent puts pressure on the left, become empty on the left. If he puts pressure on the right, become empty on the right.
Looking upward, it seems higher and higher; looking downward, it seems deeper and deeper. Advancing, it seems further and further; retreating, it seems shorter and shorter.
A feather cannot be added to the body, or a fly alight.
My opponent does not know me, but I know him. Wherever the hero goes, he is unmatched. This is the goal to which we aspire.
There are many other schools of martial arts. Although there are differences in style, they do not go beyond strength bullying weakness and slowness giving way to speed, the strong beating the weak and slow hands yielding to fast. All of this is native physical endowment and has noting to do with what is acquired through serious study. If we can examine the concept of four ounces repelling a thousand pounds, it is clear that it is not brute force that prevails. When we see an old man successfully defending himself against a large number of men, what has this to do with speed?
Stand like a sensitive balance; move actively like a wheel. If you keep your weight on one side, you will be able to follow; if you are double-weighted, you will be clumsy.
We often see people who have faithfully studied this art for several years, but cannot neutralise an attack and most often are bested by an opponent. This is simply because they have not yet corrected the error of double-weighting. You must seek to avoid this error.
You must know yin and yang. To adhere is to yield; to yield is to adhere. Yin never leaves yang and yang never leaves yin. When yin and yang complement each other, this is interpreting energy. After learning to interpret energy, the more you practise, the more your skill advances.
Silently memorise and thoroughly ponder and little by little you will reach the stage where the body will automatically follow the mind.
The root of all is to give up yourself and follow others. Most people make the mistake of scorning what is near and pursuing what is far. The slightest error will take you a thousand miles off course. Students must finely discriminate, hence the reason for this treatise.
III. Original Introduction - Wu Yu-hsiang (1820-80)
By moving the chi with the mind and directing it to sink, it is able to permeate the bones. Let chi circulate throughout the body freely and the body will be obedient to the mind.
If one can raise the spirit (mind), there need be no fear of sluggishness or heaviness. This is what is meant by holding the head as if suspended from above.
Our feelings must become supremely sensitive in order for there to be complete and lively enjoyment. This is what is meant by the transformations of full and empty.
When issuing energy, one must sink, relax, be calm and concentrated in one direction.
Our posture should be erect and relaxed, able to control the eight directions.
Directing the chi is like threading a pearl with nine bends in the hole, there is nowhere it does not penetrate – the chi through the whole body.
When energy is set in motion, it is like steel tempered a hundred times. What resistance will it fail to defeat?
You should appear like a falcon seizing a hare, with the spirit of a cat catching a rat. In stillness, be like a great mountain; in movement, like a mighty river.
Store energy like drawing a bow; release it like shooting an arrow.
Seek the straight in the curved; store first and then issue. Power issues from the back; our steps must follow the body. To withdraw is to attack and to attack is to withdraw. After withdrawing, reconnect again.
In moving to and fro, use ‘fold up’; in advancing and retreating use turns and changes.
From the greatest softness comes the greatest hardness.
From the proper breath comes sensitivity and liveliness.
The chi should be properly cultivated and not damaged.
Energy should be stored by rounding and there will always be a surplus.
The mind is the commander, the chi a flag and the waist a banner.
First seek expansion and later contraction, then you will arrive at impeccable technique.
It is also said that things are first in the mind and later in the body.
The body should be relaxed and the chi will permeate the bones. The spirit should be open and the body calm.
At all times bear in mind and consciously remember that as soon as one part of the body moves, the whole body moves; and as soon as one part is still, the whole body is still.
Pushing and pulling, back and forth, the chi adheres to the back and permeates the spine.
Inwardly strengthen your vital spirit and outwardly give the appearance of calm and ease.
Step like a cat, move the energy like reeling silk from a cocoon.
The attention of your whole being should be on the spirit and not on the chi. If it is on the chi, there will be blocks. Those whose attention is not on the chi achieve essential hardness.
Chi is like a wheel and the waist like an axle tree.
It is also said that if the opponent does not move, you do not move. When the opponent makes the slightest move, you move first.
Your energy seems relaxed, about to expand but not yet expanded. Even when energy is released, mental continuity is maintained.
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