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In two previous articles I presented unorthodox views of the four primary jin (勁 refined power) of Taijiquan’s (太極拳) thirteen energies/techniques (十三式 shi san shi), peng (掤 rebound), lu (履 divert), ji (挤 squeeze) and an (按 press or push) as they relate to an elastic sphere/ball. Although people are not balls, the energy that we train/develop uses spheres and circles (and spirals, arcs, etc.).

This article presents explanations of the four secondary energies/techniques (corresponding to corner trigrams of the bagua 八卦, eight symbols): 採 cai (grabbing or “plucking”), 挒 lie (applying torque or “splitting”), 肘 zhou (“elbowing”) and 靠 kao (bumping or “shouldering”). Since human bodies are not simple spheres, these four jin give other ways that one can express energy/power.

A whole body Taijiquan “sphere” can be viewed like the Vitruvian Man, as one that connects the feet and hands, with the lower dantien (丹田 cinnabar/elixir field, an area inside the abdomen a few inches below the navel) as its center (our center of mass). But since we have joints in ourarms and legs that allow “folding,” we can use sections of our bodies other than our hands and feet (our first sections) to interact with partners/opponents.

Zhou can be viewed as being when we use our elbows or knees (our second sections). Kao can be viewed as being when we use our torso (shoulders, hips, back or chest; our third section). It is similar to having three nested spheres that we can switch between, rather than being a ball with only one surface.

I use bumping for what is often translated as “shouldering” because it better describes this jin that can be applied with any part of the torso. Using the shoulder is the most common, but the hips, back, and chest are all also capable of applying this bumping energy. Additionally, there is nothing inherent in the word kao that refers to a shoulder. Kao translates into English more like “lean on,” “near to,” “adjoining,” etc.

Even though the elbow is specifically referred to for zhou, I view it as actually referring to techniques that use the sphere that includes the knees. Nowhere else in the names of the eight jin are specific attacking physiology like the fingers, palms, fists, shoulders, hips, knees, feet, head, etc. mentioned, and I doubt that such a specific energy as the elbow alone is being referred to here.

While opportunities to use the knee against a partner/opponent’s leg, or to strike their torso with it in a one-leg stance, are not uncommon, it is clearly not as readily available for use, nor as versatile, as the elbow. This is due to the importance of the knee in maintaining one’s stances, and in agile footwork, whereas the elbow is free to be used whenever the range is appropriate.

The “second” and “third” sections of the body can still be used to express the four primary jin (corresponding to cardinal direction bagua trigrams). For example, Chen style has training where partners contact knees (the “second section”) and perform peng, lu, an and ji at the same time that the hands/wrists/forearms cycle through these four jin. Likewise, Wu Gongzao (吳公藻) stated that zhou (elbowing) includes six other energies (e.g., peng zhou, cai zhou, lu zhou and even kao zhou), although he seems to equate the energies more in terms of directions (using the elbow from inside, outside, above, below, or while turning left or right).

We can also use peng, lu, an and ji when contacting a partner/opponent with our torso (the “third” section); being like a mountain that bounces them away (peng), rotating to divert their attacks (lu), attacking partners/opponents by using our torso to press or push against their body or body parts (an), or attacking weaknesses/gaps in their structure (ji).

Elbowing and bumping techniques are also often included in the concept of folding. For example, if the hand is neutralized by one’s partner/opponent, then one can fold (bend) and attack or defend with the elbow, and if that is neutralized one can fold and attack or defend with the shoulder. Of course, unfolding also illustrates this concept of changing the body section being used (e.g. if the elbow is blocked, one can unfold and strike with the fist).

Instead of having one, or three, spheres, we can be viewed as having an infinite number of different size spheres that can interact with partners/opponents. Each elbow or knee can act like a separate sphere, as can our shoulders, hips, back, chest or other places on our bodies. We want to have the energy of an infinite number of spheres at every point of contact with a partner/opponent. Chen Xin’s (陳鑫) boxing treatise states that even the smallest place is circular.

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Whether you are taking part in a class indoors or by yourself outdoors, wearing comfortable clothing for practicing Tai Chi is a must. You want clothing that allows you to move without restriction, that is cool in the summer, and keeps you warm in the winter.

Shirts

I tend to like to wear long-sleeved shirts that fit a little on the loose side. Some of the shirts have Tai Chi designs or logos on them, some are just a plain one coloured shirt. But which ever shirt I wear for practice that day, it has to be comfortable, so the fit is not a distraction to my practice.

Some of my favourite T-shirts are getting worn out! I have had them for years now. They are so comfortable to wear while practicing, that I just do not want to give them up. There are holes in the armpits, and the collar and cuffs are getting stretched and frayed.

Pants

Over the years, I have worn many different makes of pants for my Tai Chi practice. I tend to like the fit to be loose in the legs. Preferably cotton, but not always. I used to have a pair of light cotton Kung Fu pants I bought at a local martial arts supply store, pants for hiking/climbing, and lately pants from Lululemon which I received as a present for Christmas!.

Shoes

Shoes or no shoes. Personally, I like to wear shoes when I practice Tai Chi. I understand that some people like to practice with bare feet, but I tend to find being barefoot can be a distraction for myself (with temperature differences from the rest of my body, to small particles of whatever between my feet and the floor and uneven surfaces of the ground itself).

Indoors I have always liked to wear the cotton soled Tai Chi shoes. They are flat and not too stiff, so the whole foot feels the floor. Outdoors, I have worn a variety of types of shoes over the years. What I try to find, is a flat soled shoe that is fairly light and flexible. One of the best shoes I had was the martial arts shoe that was made by Converse. It had a flat black rubber sole and mesh sides. It was a very comfortable shoe to practice in, and fit my feet which tend to be on the wide side. Unfortunately, Converse stopped making them some years ago.

In summary, whatever one wears when practicing Tai Chi, it will be a personal choice (unless you are required to wear a school uniform or shirts for classes). One must feel comfortable and not distracted by clothing to be able to focus on the task at hand… To practice Tai Chi Chuan.

Two of the thirteen energies/techniques (十三式 shi san shi) of Taijiquan (太極拳) are peng (掤 rebound or “ward off”) and lu (履 divert or “roll back”). Since I like using the image of a properly inflated rubber ball floating on water when I teach interactive principles, I view peng and lu in the context of how the ball responds to incoming forces.

A ball/sphere can basically respond in two ways to incoming forces; it can compress/expand (peng) and rotate (lu) [we can discount collapsing inward or exploding outward if the energy of the ball/sphere is not compromised/burst]. A sphere that is floating on water can also move/shift instead of staying in a fixed location, but that takes us into the five phases (五行 wuxing) and will not be addressed in this article.

This approach to understanding the energies of peng and lu is rather general, and it likely differs from those who use these energies to describe style specific applications or those who use other frames of reference (for example, force vectors, or as they relate to the bagua 八卦 trigram lines, or describing what the recipient would feel or how they would be affected by the energies, etc.). Hopefully it will be compatible enough with other approaches to be useful to readers.

The benefit of this approach is that it can be applied to almost every instant of one’s interactive Taijiquan practice when receiving a training partner or opponent’s energy. While responses could be just peng (rebounding without any rotation) or lu (rotation without any compression/expansion), many will be a combination of these two actions.

The following video of a tiger playing with a ball illustrates how a sphere responds:

This example’s ball is not as resilient as the rubber ball image that I use for Taijiquan, but its buoyancy in the water, which allows it to sink and rise back up, is a similar expression of peng [rooting into and springing back from the ground/water, as compared with compressing/expanding of a resilient rubber ball; both of which describe aspects of peng used in Taijiquan]. Lu is the ball’s ability to rotate and divert the incoming energy.

While humans are not spherical, Taijiquan should be rounded (圆 yuan), which facilitates the elastic sphere analogy. Peng and lu should be complementary; lu corresponding to the yin (阴) and peng the yang (阳) aspects of receiving energy. Note that I do not address the approach that would correspond to being a hard ball that overpowers or damages incoming force, which is the approach that “hard” style martial arts often pursue (being stronger and tougher than the opponent).

PENG (Rebound or “Ward Off”)

Peng energy, in its general sense, could be viewed as the structural force that allows an elastic sphere to maintain its rounded shape (the structural integrity of the Taijiquan postures, and therefore this is why it is said to be present throughout Taijiquan forms and applications). It is the air that properly fills the rubber ball; the air that allows the ball to bounce, or to bounce things off of it – which is the application of peng.

This energy would expand in every direction simultaneously. This concept helps practitioners respond to unexpected attacks from any direction and any angle, as well as preventing overextending (or falling short) during applications or forms. There should be an active dynamic between simultaneously absorbing and projecting (like a ball’s surface containing the air inside, while the air pressure is trying to expand).

A common application example is one that “tends to float or buoy up” the partner/opponent’s energy like water supporting a boat. Because the “sphere” in Taijiquan is rooted to the earth (i.e., it contacts the ground/water), a force exerted straight forward against it would tend to roll/bounce upward unless the incoming force comes in level with, or lower than the center of the “sphere” (hence the common principle of getting under your opponent’s center).

Since force is typically issued through the arms, which are attached to the shoulders and is therefore typically applied above the waist, this would mean that this force would typically come above the defender’s center (the dantian 丹田, cinnabar/elixir field, an area inside the abdomen a few inches below the navel) and would be “floated or buoyed up.”

Although Taijiquan training teaches us to apply force from the ground and transmit it through the structurally integrated body, therefore generating the force originating below the partner/opponent’s center, when it is expressed through the arms it still has a tendency to have its effect above their center.

Lest someone interpret the statement “rooted to the earth” as making the idea seem too rigid or fixed [Taijiquan does move, and these principles must be applicable to the fluid stepping exhibited during Taijiquan as well], this illustration works equally well if the “sphere” is viewed as floating on the surface of water, allowing it to move freer than if viewed as being fixed to the ground.

In my opinion, the typical view of peng “tending to float or buoy up” or “uproot” is just one subset of possible peng applications. I feel that it can be applied in every direction. This is similar to a ball typically bouncing up due to the downward effect of gravitational forces, but the ball actually being able to bounce in any direction. Just as we can use the force transmitted from the ground to push in numerous directions, we can rebound forces back in those same directions.

Peng, then, would be simply what results to an incoming force due to one’s integrated structure’s resistance to deformation, the body’s “springiness” (or muscle tonus). Peng application energy is similar to the energy that enables a ball to bounce, but in this case, since a Taijiquan practitioner trains to maintain their root (even when stepping), the incoming force is itself rebounded out. If one’s center is below the opponent’s force, then one can peng upwards easily, but I feel that one can also peng straight, downwards, to the side, and even to the back.

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To some, the link between Tai Chi Chuan and tea may not be immediately apparent. One involves slow precise breathing exercises, performed with complete relaxation and focus. The other is a beverage made with leaves and hot water.

Yet both tea and Tai Chi come from China and during my years exploring these art forms it has become obvious that along with cultural connections they complement each other.

You could look at the relation to tea preparation and Tai Chi from many angles.

As with Tai Chi, green tea – especially Japanese matcha tea – is praised for its health-giving qualities. In recent studies, high doses of EGCg, one of the antioxidants found in tea, have been effective in treating all sorts of ailments and the Chinese have used tea medicinally for millennia. Tea and tea ceremony even take on symbolic significance in Chinese ceremonies. In the Li-family system of martial arts, for example, brewing and pouring a pot of tea is part of the ritual for passing down an advanced meditation technique.

However, I don’t want to dwell on health or ritual here. Articles raving about tea’s health benefits are too common, often exaggerated and rarely of interest to anyone but nutritionists and body builders. As for the ceremonial aspect, I don’t feel qualified to comment. Although I’ve lived in China and studied Chinese religion, the rituals are not from my culture. I might partly understand, but I didn’t grow up immersed in the three teachings – Daoism, Confucianism and Buddhism – and therefore much of the significance of the ritual passes me by and I would have to make my own interpretations.

I want to approach this from a more subjective angle: what similarities does tea preparation have to Tai Chi practice and how do I include it in my routine?

There is a saying in Chinese: 禪茶一味 chanchayiwei – ‘tea and Zen are one flavour.’ Through their history, developing together in East Asia, tea etiquette and Zen (Chan, in Chinese) became intertwined. The phrase “Tea and Zen are one flavour can be read as an allusion to the cultural and symbolic connections between tea and the Zen tradition. But I like to read this idiom differently.

Everyone practises Tai Chi in their own way. Some systems start with silk reeling, others may do a standard warm-up working the joints and tendons before moving on to the muscle fibres. Whichever way you go, all systems share something in common: we all use this time to settle our breath and bring our minds to task. If we have been wrestling with problems – both work-related and personal – we put them aside and focus on what we are doing. If you skip this stage you notice; the mind-body connection ensures that when our thoughts are stormy and turbulent, our tai chi form is jerky and disconnected.

Tea preparation shares this with Tai Chi practice. To make good tea takes a calm, Zen-like, focus. Everything has to be in place: the water has to be heated to the right temperature – never over-boiled; all the vessels – teapot, decanter and cups – have to be warmed; the tea leaves need to be washed; and all this even before you get to take your first sip. Unlike putting coffee on to brew, or making tea-bag tea, if you try to multitask, you miss a beat and end up with bitter, possibly undrinkable, tea.

Both tea preparation and Tai Chi bring you to centre and punish you if you aren’t concentrating. I use both for the same reason. They help me carve out a slice of distraction-free space within an increasingly stacked schedule.

Preparation method aside, drinking tea in itself has the awesome capability of bringing you to the point of calm, ungrasping focus – the sort of stillness fabled in Zen literature. (I said I wouldn’t bore anyone with pharmacology, but for those interested, l-theanine is responsible for smoothing out the effects of caffeine and gives tea the mellowness coffee lacks.) I often drink tea before I do Tai Chi or meditation. It enhances both.

However, I don’t go all out and prepare tea with thoroughness described above (this approach is known as gongfu tea in the tea world). If I tried to concentrate on qigong and tea gong at the same time one or both of them would suffer. Instead, I use a simple method – I prepare tea in a bowl. This technique requires less concentration. You can drink at a leisurely pace and top up with hot water every now and then, leaving you free to focus on your practice. (This brewing method is also good when writing.)

I have found when used in this way, the extra boost to concentration helps me track orbits and meridians, and the lower dantian sensation is more acute – though maybe that’s just warm tea sitting in my belly!

Different people favour different types of teas. Green tea is fresh and spring-like – good for an afternoon pick-me-up, but it can be too intense for meditation. Black tea makes you alert, but not overbearingly so, and is great for static meditation. Personally, I like oolong tea, and that is what I turn to for tai chi. Oolong sits between green and black: enlivening, but relaxing, and complex in flavour. Most important is the standard of the tea and water. Bad quality tea tastes foul and makes you uncomfortable – not a great starting point if you want to practise Tai Chi.

If you haven’t experienced it already, go to your local teahouse and ask them to take you through a gongfu tea tasting experience. I’m interested to hear if it opens up the same meditative space for other people as it does me. Or if tea is already part of your practice, let us know how it fits in.

I previously wrote about receiving energy from a partner/opponent using a ball (elastic sphere) analogy. This article addresses attacking a partner/opponent’s defensive “sphere” using an (按 press or push) and ji (挤 squeeze), two of the thirteen energies/techniques (十三式 shi san shi) of Taijiquan (太極拳).

A sphere can be attacked in two ways; by controlling its surface (an), or by penetrating its surface (ji). This approach to understanding the energies of an and ji is very general and most interactions attacking a training partner or opponent can be described using this approach. Although this approach is unorthodox, hopefully it will be compatible enough with readers’ understandings to be of use.

A useful analogy for understanding an and ji is an overstuffed suitcase that is difficult to close due to clothing protruding outside the opening. To close the suitcase, one would need to press down (an) on the top of the suitcase while poking the clothing into the crack (ji) until the suitcase can be closed fully. While an is pressing or pushing against the solid substance of the suitcase, ji would be squeezing into cracks, gaps, or weak places; in this case, the suitcase opening.

Another way of explaining this is that an would attack the partner/opponent through their dorsal or yang (阳) surfaces, whereas ji would attack them by squeezing past their yang defensive surfaces and into their ventral or yin (阴) surfaces. In the illustration, the yin (ventral) surfaces are depicted with the dark gray and the yang (dorsal) surfaces are white.

Yin surfaces are generally those that are covered when in the fetal position, and yang surfaces are those that are exposed and tan quickest from normal activity sun exposure. In many animals most yin surfaces are white (e.g., squirrels, deer) whereas most yang surfaces have colored fur.

The yang surfaces contain the extensor muscles which function to extend the joints and are typically used to issue force, or to resist or repel incoming force. The yin surfaces contain the flexor muscles which function to bend the joints and to pull or absorb an opponent’s force.

Attacking through the yang surfaces can be used to produce resistance in the partner/opponent and tends to lock their structure, allowing one to connect to their spine (or their center) in order to move and control them. Attacking through the yin surfaces can be used to collapse and penetrate their structure. Attacking through the yin surfaces makes it difficult for the opponent to counter, since the muscles located on the yin surfaces function opposite to what would be needed to push away the incoming energy.

The children’s playground trick of bumping the backs of someone’s knees and causing their legs to buckle is an example of using ji to attack the yin. One could instead attack the yang to topple someone by attacking their knees from the front using an, like making a football tackle.

Taijiquan seeks to avoid having protrusions (凸 tu, convex/to stick out/protrude) or indentations (凹 ao, a depression/indentation/concave/hollow). We seek to be smooth like the surface of a sphere (圆 yuan, rounded), without bumps or pits for our partner/opponent to catch hold of and exploit. Conversely, we want to take advantage of the lack of roundness of our partner/opponent.

One saying is:
毋使有缺陷處，毋使有凸凹處
“Do not allow any defects or deficiencies; do not allow any protrusions or hollows” [from the Taijiquan Classic attributed to Zhang Sanfeng 張三丰, as translated by Lee Fife (2016)].

Tu (“protrusions”) and ao (“hollows”) are ways of stating that there are excesses or deficiencies; or imbalances in yin and yang. An could be viewed as attacking an opponent’s tu (their yang excess, i.e. protrusions), while ji would attack their ao (their yin deficiency, i.e. hollows).

Xu (虚 empty or insubstantial) and shi (实 full or substantial) are two other terms that are used to describe yin and yang qualities in Taijiquan. Ji would attack through the opponent’s xu, while an attacks their shi.

If we use the water analogy that is frequently associated with Taijiquan, an would act like water pushing against the surface of a boulder and disturbing or dislodging it, for example, whereas ji would flow around the hard surface structures to penetrate and erode the softer areas as well as seeping into cracks and fissures to destroy the boulder from the inside.

Against a partner/opponent, ji could squeeze into the gap between the partner/opponent’s arms as is demonstrated in common push-hands drills. It could also penetrate into the gap between an arm and the torso, or into the weak (yin) side of joints (the gaps between bones), or into other weak places not defined by the opponent’s arm positions (e.g., the throat, the stomach, between the legs, etc.).

An has the mass or pressure of the practitioner’s body behind it. Ji crowds the partner/opponent by squeezing close through weaknesses (gaps, cracks, etc.). Both methods displace the partner/opponent since two objects cannot occupy the same space, but they are applied differently.

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