San Shou - Beyond the Basics
In the first volume of this series I attempted to outline the fundamentals of the fighting art of Taijiquan. Any person who diligently followed that programme of training for two years (in addition to learning and practising the empty hand form, the Nei Gung and at least one weapon form) under a suitably qualified instructor with suitably proficient training partners would have possess good basic self-defence ability and the ideal basis for more advanced training.
They would have good basic posture, good stamina, good movement, a reasonable degree of sensitivity and a fair understanding of basic fighting strategy. However there will be many problems and insufficiencies that need to be addressed. The movement will not be as smooth as it should be, observation will not bet as good as it should be, the co-ordination softness and smoothness will be adequate but insufficient, there will be an overemphasis of either yin or yang qualities either using too much force or too little. Defence will be far better than attack as the emphasis has been on fighting applications which emphasise counterattacking.
The Reality of Practical Taijiquan
 The Grandmaster of our Style Cheng Tin Hung wrote a series of articles explaining his understanding of the art and how he was taught to use it as a fighting art. It is useful at this point to remind us of the core principles of the art and to see how the transmission has been passed on unbroken from him to my teacher, Dan Docherty, and from him to me and my fellow students. In the following pages I have espoused my interpretation of the meaning of his writings in terms more comfortable and recognisable to the English language and sensibilities. The language and terminology of Taijiquan is notoriously open to many interpretations but it is my belief that context of the writings informs the interpretation. Taijiquan was originally a Martial Art therefore in my view all the writings of the Old Masters should be interpreted in a Martial Context. However as this does not fit with the modern view of Taijiquan as a therapeutic exercise regimen for the old and the infirm or a method for obtaining the mysterious 'Empty Force' other interpretations that imply these things are mainly emphasised by other teachers. | |||
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