The Training of Tai Chi Internal Power
The internal power of Tai Chi is a necessary examination for any martial artist, and an important criterion for evaluating the skill level of a Tai Chi combat practitioner. A Tai Chi practitioner must master one particular style of Tai Chi and integrate the essence of multiple styles or other martial arts, absorbing and transforming them to become an expert. Any accomplished Tai Chi master does not merely specialize in one style; they can draw parallels and incorporate other martial arts into their own techniques. Therefore, we cannot simply or mechanically categorize them under a specific Tai Chi style.
When practicing Tai Chi, each individual forms a unique style, which has led to the emergence of various styles such as Chen, Yang, Wu, Hao, and Sun-style Tai Chi. The evolution of Tai Chi is not isolated; it involves mutual integration, absorption, transformation, and innovation. Precisely because of this, Tai Chi was invented through the accumulation of historical culture (traditional martial arts), creatively compiled by wise individuals, experts, and sages who fully combined the principles of Tai Chi's yin-yang theory with human body and limb movements. Tai Chi's internal power lies within rather than on the outside. It is cultivated over a long period through conscious control, combining breathing with movement exercises, focusing mental intention, and forming a force that is both heavy and light, both hard and soft. In other words, Tai Chi's internal power is developed through specialized combat training, where under the command of combat defense awareness, synchronized with breathing, the entire body performs various harmonious and orderly actions. These movements have specific directions and points of action, able to adapt quickly or slowly depending on the situation, following circular arcs, with varying amplitudes, whether upright or inclined, all capable of generating sudden powerful force. This flexible Tai Chi internal power feels soft during practice but becomes strong upon application. Thus, Tai Chi's internal power possesses a certain degree of hardness, which is not the brute strength of rigidity, but rather accumulated softness transformed into hardness, achieving a balance between hardness and softness.
As stated in the "Tai Chi Classics": "It appears extremely soft, yet in reality, it is extremely hard. It seems extremely hard, yet in fact, it is extremely soft." This "hardness" refers to the ability to instantly gather the full force stored within the body at a single point, exploding like thunder in a split second. This force does not dissipate after release but continues to move smoothly. Tai Chi's internal power is obtained through regular and prolonged training based on internal relaxation, transitioning the power skills into natural and effortless techniques. Long-term practice of gentle movements eventually leads to mastering the elasticity of the ward-off energy, allowing chest and waist transformations with ease.
In general, martial arts force is also expressed through bodily movement, generated under conscious control by integrating breathing and muscle contractions. Conscious control refers to neural regulation of breathing and muscles, while orderly coordination involves synchronizing breathing and muscle contractions according to the sequence and specifications of martial arts combat actions, reaching specific locations simultaneously. Tai Chi's internal power follows this principle, cultivating strength from the inside out, differing from external martial arts' methods of gaining power through hardness, direct strikes, speed, and vocalization. Tai Chi generates power through slow, relaxed, gentle, curved rotations, utilizing spirals, circular motions, wrist wraps, and chest-waist elongations, creating power from the inside out. Tai Chi's internal power places special emphasis on mental cultivation, advocating "using intention rather than force," with unique pathways for mental guidance, complemented by circular body movements, resulting in a unified circular force field. Within this circular force field, the body functions as a seamless Tai Chi entity, adept at responding flexibly to external intrusions. Continuous slow practice emphasizes understanding, highlighting defensive and offensive awareness through gentleness, borrowing force, sticking, and releasing. This forms a distinctive path of power characterized primarily by warding-off, pushing, squeezing, pressing, plucking, splitting, elbowing, leaning, advancing, retreating, guarding, looking around, and stabilizing. Combined with adaptable hand-eye-body-step coordination, Tai Chi's unique defensive and offensive combat characteristics are displayed.
The explosive release of Tai Chi's internal power occurs when the opportunity and advantage arise, after achieving "substantiality." At this moment, the internal power originates from the reaction force of the rear foot pushing against the ground, driving the whole body forward. During the instant of the rear foot propelling internal power, the back hip sinks down, the front knee points forward, the front foot suddenly drops, compressing the diaphragm, causing the abdomen to suddenly expand, tightening the stomach muscles as if a stone had fallen into water, splashing it high up. The requirement is for a sudden vibration in the lower abdomen, exerting force from the waist, originating from the feet, concentrating at the waist and kidneys, guided by the mind through the spine and sternum, spreading through the shoulders to the arms, and reaching the fingertips. This release of power actually mobilizes and concentrates potential inner strength from various parts of the body, accurately targeting the opponent's imbalance caused by misdirection, like a laser shooting out, making this high-pressure internal power unstoppable.
During power release, it is essential to remain calm, focused, and concentrated, using the waist and spine, with the front leg bending and the rear leg pushing, toes gripping the ground, ensuring coordination between upper and lower body movements, complete and elastic. All the stored power throughout the body is released in one breath, traveling from the feet to the legs, waist, shoulders, elbows, and hands, fast as lightning, with all three sections arriving simultaneously, increasing the force.
After understanding the principles, during daily Tai Chi routines and push-hand exercises, these principles should be followed repeatedly, progressing from applying and releasing power step-by-step until the hard power is mastered, consciously coordinating the entire body’s movements. Learning to release power starts slow, gradually accelerating, becoming proficient, and eventually reaching mastery. Besides occasional explosive power releases, Tai Chi often uses less force to overcome greater force, slowness to defeat speed. Its softening principle, or overcoming hardness with softness, is a flexible, agile, and cohesive internal power application. Although this internal power may not necessarily surpass the opponent's strength, even being weaker, through Tai Chi principles and techniques, it can still strike down the opponent to achieve victory. When a Tai Chi practitioner makes contact with the opponent, they initially use a weaker force to ward off, then follow the direction of the opponent's force to neutralize it. This avoids significant counterforce and allows the use of the opponent's force, employing combined forces to strike back. Typically, the hands, wrists, and forearms are used to connect with the opponent. Through highly sensitive reactions, the hands wrap, arms rotate, and roll along with the opponent's punches or kicks, aligning with their force. Generally, bending the waist, pulling it inward, sitting the hips, and rotating the feet, the practitioner reacts just as the opponent's sudden force is about to end, swiftly countering. The characteristic of this counterattack is starting to extend the arm and release power upon contact with the opponent's body, controlling the enemy at the moment of contact. The power is not instantly fast-released and retracted but aims to tilt the opponent's body, changing their center of gravity. This unique method of gradual softness followed by sudden release and then returning to softness enables the opponent to fall under control.
Simultaneously, maintaining clarity between substantial and insubstantial elements and shifting the center of gravity prevents eccentric torque, serving as the source of power for Tai Chi fitness. That is to say, the distinction between substantial and insubstantial in Tai Chi must be precisely controlled, as changes produce shifts in the center of gravity, which form the basis of generating momentum.
The above-mentioned forward bowing and backward stepping to release power requires speed, always paying attention to lowering and balancing one's center of gravity. This relies on footwork to continuously change between substantial and insubstantial states, coordinating various parts of the body to ensure balance and eccentric torque to strike the opponent.
Cultivating Tai Chi internal power is achieved through consistent, gradual practice. Specific training methods involve learning from traditional teachings while incorporating modern successful experiences, understanding and mastering the underlying mechanics. Start with basic postures, grasping the relationship between breathing, mental focus, and power, recognizing their interdependence. Dedicate time and effort, following the above insights, adhering to Tai Chi principles, selecting individual movements for careful practice until proficiency is achieved. Avoid superficial approaches. For example, the coiled silk shaking power transmitted by Mr. Chen Fakuo includes over 3,000 movements, while the Tai Chi method inherited by descendants of Song Yuanqiao, one of Zhang Sanfeng's "Wudang Seven Elders," focuses on perfecting each posture individually, unlike today's continuous routines, known as "Three Generations Seven." All these contribute to enhancing Tai Chi training levels. Additionally, strengthen push-hand practice, perform more power-release drills, elevating Tai Chi skills to new heights.
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