The Taijiquan Lun (Treatise, Theory, Discussion, Thesis)
"English Translation of "The
Taijiquan Lun," with extensive and good commentary, by Yonatan Vexler, Qufu Teacher's
University, Shandong, China
Published in "Qi: The Journal of Traditional Eastern Health and Fitness," Volume 27, No. 1, Spring 2017, pp. 38-51.
This Treatise is sometimes attributed to Wang Zongyue.
"Taiji (complementary duality)
originates from wuji (non-polarity). It is the process of motion and
stillness, also known as the creator of contrast (the yin and yang).
Motion causes separation, while stillness leads to unity. I allow
opponents to advance, and I advance when they recoil. When my opponents
are hard and I am soft it is to flow, successfully following their motions is to
stick. When they move fast, I quickly react, and when they move slowly, I
slowly follow. There can be a thousand scenarios, but the one principle
applies to all. Engrain this principle in practice to understand force,
understanding force will lead to higher levels of advancement. Without a
long time of serious practice, one cannot advance.
Emptiness leads power up, while
breath sinks down the dantian. Don't lean, and don't bend. Able to
become shadow and suddenly materialize, if opponents go left, nothing will be
there, of opponents go right, let them be led to the right. If opponents
look up, let them go up, and if opponents lean down, let them go lower. If
they go forward, let them have to go more forward, and if they go back, let them
have to go even further back. A feather's weight can't be added, sensitive
even to a fly landing on one's skin. They cannot follow me, only I can
follow them. To be a hero that encounters now opposition, this is what one
must do.
Many schools try to mimic this.
There are many different methods, but most emphasize the strong defeating the
weak and the slow yielding to the quick. When the strong beat the weak and
the slow yield to the quick, it is only natural ability, and has no relation to
the power that comes from learning and wisdom. Consider the phrase, "four
ounces overcoming a thousand pounds", and it obviously cannot be done with brute
strength. Consider the old man who can fend off a gang of attackers; is
this outcome determined by sheer speed?
Stand like a balanced level, and
be as dynamic as a cartwheel can spin. Shift weight as needed to be
lively, for being uncoordinated stagnates the flow. If you see one
practicing for years without advancing, being controlled by the opponent, it's
because one has not heard of the fault of being uncoordinated. To avoid
this fault, one must know about yin and yang. To stick is to flow, to flow
is to stick, yang is within the yin, and yin is within the yang. They (the
passive and the active) compliment each other, so one can understand force.
Identify different forces to advance your training. Carefully study this
knowledge, put it to practice, and you will be able to do anything.
The most basic idea is to follow
your opponent. Many make the mistake of planning ahead. As the
saying goes, "off by an inch, off by a mile", so a student must be able to
clearly distinguish! Hence, there is this treatise."
- English Translation of The Tijiquan Lun by Yonatan Vexler, 2017
Tai Chi Chuan Classics
Cloud Hands Taijiquan
Chang San Feng
Thirteen Postures of Tai Chi Chuan
The above four webpages were prepared by Mike Garofalo
