Calculo del engranaje 7 (eje E)

卫1is section re仕rs to the thirteen postures in push hands. If we com­

pare Taijiquan to a building, then the thirteen postur口 are its building ma­

terials. In hand techniques there are eight: peng, lu, ji, a刀， cai, lie, zhou and 缸。 ［ward off, rollback, squeeze, push, tear, split-break, elbow strike, and hitting with any part of the body J . In stance work there are two: qian Jin [advance] and hou tui [retreat] . In eye movement there are two: zuo gu [left gaze] and you pan [right look] . In torso movement, the only requirement is to be upright. Chen Style Taijiquan and other styles of Taijiquan share the same guiding principles. However, in interpretation and application of those same principles, they diff七r. Here I will give an introduction for the order of eyes, torso, stance and hand.

Eyes

The eyes are the organs responsible for observing location and

gather-ing enemy information so as to direct the body to act accordgather-ingly.

In general the direction of attention is forward and not backward. The eyes observe a radius of roughly one hundred and fifty degrees. In addition, within this field of vision, what is observed becomes the focal point for the overall situation. In traditional terms we say that the eyes can see six direc­

tions. This should mean that the eyes are able to see “everything”， not that the eyes will move in six directions.

Therefore, I think that the “left gaze” and “right look" of the thirteen postures should mean that there is “right look" in “le丘 gaze.” On the other hand, there should be “le丘 gaze” in “right look.” “Gaze” is the focal point of vision. In the yin and yang theory it refers to the solid aspect. “Look"

is the peripheral vision. In 出eyin and yang theory it refers to the empty aspect. Some Taijiquan practitioners treat left as “gaze” and right as “look."

This line of thinking has no basis. I don’t think this is a proper explanation for “gaze” and “look.”

Some also confuse the “left gaze” and “right look" with the advance and retreat of the body. They believe this is a rule for stance. This explanation is not valid either. The feet don’t have eyes and the eyes cannot have stanc臼·

Torso

The torso is responsible for activating the stance and hands to move in response to the opponent's actions. The rule it adheres to is natural uprightness in motion. It cannot be a static uprightness. The whole body movement of Chen Style Taijiquan is based on spirals, and the torso is not an exception. As long as the eyes are fixed on a target and the torso turns left or right there will be spiral movements.

A point of attention is that in general there is only a forty－且ve degree rotation. The torso rotation should be coordinated with the upper and lower body. The section below the chest can rotate slightly over forty－且ve degrees with the dang energy sinking down. Of course with the movement of the stance, the torso will accordingly rotate more. During the torso rota­

tion, one shoulder should be slightly higher than the other. 咀iis will form the main body of spiral movement. Too much exaggeration of the shoul­

ders will break the waist energy.

Stance

In Chen Style Taijiquan, the rules concerning the coordination of the upper and lower body are rather important. Th erefore Chen Xin said,

“When the hand is there [does its job] but the leg is not there it is not con­

sidered a superior course of action. When the hand is there [does its job]

and the leg is there, the power is like yanking grass.” The so-called “there or not there” refers to stance.

In general martial arts, there is the saying， “The hands are like two doors. It is the foot that 且ghts the enemy." This also refers to stance. Too o丘en this was misunderstood to mean that the hands can only be used for defense while the foot should be used for o旺七nse like kicking with the heel or other parts of the foot. Th at is the wrong interpretation. I have given an introduction to Chen Style Taijiquan stances earlier in this book. Here I will explain the eight techniques of the foot and the movement (advance and retreat) of the stance.

The eight techniques of the foot are: ti 踢 ， deng Z登， chuai踹 ， 缸片年 ， the opponent’s leg. Chen is to put one's foot between the opponent’s legs.

(Some call this action cha or “poke through." It can also expr口s the idea of a forward advance. It is not as appropriate as the word chen as Chen Style Taijiquan leg movement requires that the leg must move in while touching the opponent’s leg. Cha can cause inaccuracy) .

The first six techniques require that the hand must first control the op­

ponent and then the foot techniques are applied. This is a safety measure.

Otherwise, the opponent has the opportunity to catch my foot with their hands and push me over. The method of using the foot is to first li丘 the knee before the issue of power on the foot. The knee should also have some reserve and not be fully extended. 刀· can be as high as the chin [your own] . Deng can only reach to the knee and kua. Whenever the leg and foot are

used, the solid foot must be stable. The dang must loosen and sink. The torso should slightly lean forward. There must be centripetal force present.

Otherwise, the kicking of the foot will be repelled by the opponent’s reac­

tion force.

Tao and chen are often used in co叫unction with the advance and re­

treat of stances. Utilizing “four ounc口 to overcome one thousand pounds”

is not achieved with the hands. It is the method of tao or chen 仕om the lower section that moves the opponent’s center of gravit予 Only when the center of gravity is destroyed will the power of “four ounces overcome one thousand pounds.” Of course, this is not possible without the perfect coor­

dination of the upper and lower sections.