The Way of Least Resistance

Introduction In my previous installment , I described how one taiji technique (cloud hands) could disrupt another (repulse monkey).  But does it end there?  As it happens, absolutely not!  It could go on and on - because every attack creates an opening, and taijiquan has a counter for every opening. Just to show you what I mean, I'm going to take it one step further: how the move known as "slanting flying" can defeat cloud hands (after it has defeated repulse monkey!). Slanting flying as a solo technique Before I get to the application, I'll describe how the "slanting flying" technique is performed in the taijiquan long form (at least, in its Chen Pan Ling variation): Slanting flying occurs in the second and third sections of the taijiquan form.  I'm going to examine its iteration as it emerges from repulse monkey (because that is the application we've been looking at!). As you finish repulse monkey, your left (back) leg immediately...

Introduction Following on from my recent series of taiji qin na "clinics" I'd like to delve into another area - namely the fascinating way in which taijiquan techniques are geared towards countering each other, should the need arise. In the internal arts, this is of course not unique to the art of taijiquan: you would already be familiar with my analysis of how, say, xingyiquan's 5 elements interact , each destroying the other in a giant game of "rock, paper, scissors". Indeed, it makes sense for a sophisticated art to offer counters to its own techniques. So let's have a look at how two of these interact.  I'm going to take one aspect of "repulse monkey" and show how "cloud hands" deals with the issue. Repulse monkey as a "wrist out turn" First, let's look at one application of "repulse monkey": as a "wrist out turn" (what the Japanese call " kote gaeshi ").  ...

Continued from " Separate right leg "... Here's another taiji qin-na application I thought I'd share with you: the opening move of "repulse monkey". Let's go through the technique first: Again, you start in the finishing posture of single whip. Pivoting on the left (front) heel, you rotate counter-clockwise and execute an inward forearm "blocking" motion with your right (reverse) arm. The left arm continues to "fold in" and down (performing a kind of "suppressing" motion) while your right hand rises in a punch very much like the rising inverted punch of karate (especially in naihanchi kata), also seen in zuan quan in xingyi.  As you do this, you draw your weight back into cat stance. From there you you ward off an advance into your personal space by using your right hand to jam his hip and by lifting your front (left) knee to create a grappling barrier or "bubble" .  At the same time, you pull...