Overview
- Whatever Reaches Its Extreme Changes to Its Opposite
- Applying Circular Change to Body Movements
- Wáng Zōngyuè’s Tàijíquán Treatise
Whatever Reaches Its Extreme Changes to Its Opposite
If we accept the principle of hard and soft, how should we change between them? One way to conceive of it is as back and forth, or a switching between the two. But that’s easily too coarse and clumsy an approach. Instead, we should know the principle of circular change.
The best guidance for change is the Yìjīng (易經； I Ching; Book of Changes, antecedents date before the eleventh century BCE). That book of wisdom gives us this principle: any situation that reaches its extreme must change toward its opposite. However, if you search the entire Yìjīng you’ll never find this declared outright. It’s indicated by this passage:
The sun goes and the moon comes;
The moon goes and the sun comes.
The sun and moon advance together to produce brightness.
The cold goes and the heat comes;
the heat goes and the cold comes.
Heat and cold advance together to complete a year.
— Yìjīng, “Xìcí xià,” 5
Both the Dàodéjīng and the Yìjīng emphasize reciprocal pairs. “If you want to draw in, you must surely stretch” (Dàodéjīng, chapter 36) is one example. You can get the opposite effect by pushing anything to its limits. A “rebound” effect will move events toward their opposite. If we apply this to Pushing Hands, we let our lead our opponent to an extreme position and then the opposite effect will be possible and will lead to their disadvantage. We do this not by a back-and-forth motion, but by using circular motions.
The idea of circular change comes from an interpretation of the earlier title of the Yìjīng. Before its name was changed, the book was known as the Zhōuyì, 周易. While that formally means the “Changes of the Zhōu Dynasty,” we can take it as a metaphor. The word zhōu, 周, means, “to make a circuit; to circle; circle; circumference; lap; cycle; complete; all; all over; thorough; Zhou Dynasty (1046–256 BCE). Yì, 易, means “change.” There are two explanations for the word: it’s a picture of a lizard, or a picture of a pitcher pouring water. So if we look at the words, we can see a message of circular change.
Understanding circular change allows us to join the concepts of hard and soft. They are contained in the circle of a yin-yang symbol. We can facilitate their transition through circular change.
Applying Circular Change to Body Movements
While we can treat most of our body joints as if they’re hinges, most of them can also turn as ball-and-socket joints. Our backs and waists can turn. Our muscles can turn and twist. The internal martial artists discovered that these motions could be more powerful than mere back-and-forth movements. Moreover, they allow us to have perpetual movements—we don’t have to back up and we can keep going. Strategically, that means we can continue, exhaust our opponent, and preserve ourselves.
Wáng Zōngyuè’s Tàijíquán Treatise
王宗岳太極拳論
This excerpt from the Tàijíquán Classics will tie all these concepts together:
The supreme ultimate is born from the limitless
that is the mother of the ten thousand things.
They divide in movement.
They combine in stillness.
They never go to excess:
they follow, bend, engage, and extend.
When others are hard, I am soft;
that’s called going.
When I follow, then others are hampered;
that’s called sticking.
When others attack quickly, I respond quickly.
When others move slowly, I follow at leisure.
Although ten thousand variations may occur,
there is only one principle from start to finish.
Once this is familiar, you will slowly realize a strong understanding.
Once you realize a strong understanding, you will reach marvelous levels.
But unless you avoid using physical strength over a long period of time,
you will never have the flash of enlightenment that ties it all together.
Empty your neck, and raise your power to the crown.
Sink your breath energy to the dantian.
Move evenly and do not lean.
Vanish suddenly, appear suddenly.
If the left becomes heavy, then make the left empty.
If the right becomes heavy, then make the right vanish.
If others try to reach up for me, then they must go higher.
If others try to reach down for me, then they must go lower.
If they advance, then the farther they have to go.
If they try to retreat, then the more pressed they will feel.
A feather cannot be added.
A fly cannot land.
Others cannot know me but I alone know others.
A hero is unrivaled
because all possibilities have been covered.
There are many approaches and systems.
Although powerful and with different techniques,
they generally don’t go beyond the powerful bullying of the weak
and the slow losing to the fast.
The strong beating the weak
and the slow hand losing to the fast hand,
are a matter of innate ability
and have nothing to do with what can be learned.
Examine the phrase, “Four ounces deflect a thousand pounds.”
It’s obvious that mere strength doesn’t bring victory.
Observe a venerable elder fighting a crowd of many:
speed alone will not be enough.
Stand like a scale move just like a wheel.
If you slant to one side, you can proceed,
but if you are evenly weighted, you’ll be hampered.
Each time we see someone who has
many years of genuine practice
but who cannot move or adjust well,
it is usually because they haven’t learned to regulate themselves
and the error of being evenly weighted has not been realized.
Yin and yang must always be kept in mind.
To stick is to go.
To go is to stick.
Yang must never leave yin.
Yin must never leave yang.
Yin and yang multiply together.
To act with strength is to comprehend power.
To comprehend power is to practice thoroughly until you reach the essence.
Memorize this, know this, analyze it.
Gradually, you’ll reach the stage of doing as you please.
From the start, give up what others say you should do.
We often fail because we ignore the close to search for the far.
Thus it’s said: “Miss by a hair’s breadth, err by a thousand miles.”
To learn this means to distinguish all clearly;
that is why this treatise has been written.
(Note: Wáng Zōngyuè is thought to have lived c. fifteenth century. This text was handwritten by Lǐ Yìshē, 李亦畬 (1832–1892) presented to Hǎo Wéizhēn, 郝為真 (1849–1920) in 1881.)
Tàijíquán is often translated as “Supreme Ultimate Boxing.” We should probably keep several translations of the name in mind. In this context, though, Tàijíquán is indeed the supreme ultimate because it embodies and uses profound philosophical ideas to great effect. The fighting outcomes should be seen as minor. The implications for our bodies, our health, and our minds are the major reasons that it Tàijíquán is the supreme ultimate practice.