The Way of Least Resistance

Introduction The sequence in taijiquan known as "needle at the bottom of the sea" occurs quite a few times in the long form and in a variety of circumstances. I've always understood it to be a classic qin-na technique - the "small wrap" known as " xiao chan " (nikkyo in aikido/jujutsu).  I thought this would make an excellent subject for analysis in this series. I'm going to go through two different variations seen in the form: the one I call the "straight dive down" and  the one I call the "roll over".   The "roll over" version I'll use is followed by the kick and "double wind blows on ears" from the second section, but a second such technique is also found at the end of the second section using a low kick. The "straight dive down" occurs in both the second and third sections and is followed by "fan through back".  Let's go through that one first. Needle variation ...

Seiyunchin is a kata that contains many locks and holds within its bunkai.  This is hardly surprising when one considers the meaning of its kanji: to control and pull in battle. For me the "king" of all qin-na wristlocks is the one I know as "shao tran" (or more accurately, "xiao chan" meaning "small wrap") - also known as the "z-bar" and (in aikido) as "nikkyo/nikyo" (although I avoid using the latter since the wristlock is only a small part of the particular series of techniques described by that name and which translates as "second lesson"). Seiyunchin covers many variations of shao tran in its applications.  I was recently asked to describe these, so I prepared the following short video in response: When practising shao tran you should take care not to use brute force: shao tran is a technique that requires very little pressure. The late ju-jutsu master Jan de Jong used to tell me that the weight of one finger wa...