What Does "Jin" Mean When Talking about the 8 Energies of Taijiquan?

chen tai chi chen taiji tai chi chuan tai chi energies Mar 27, 2011

The Chinese language is complex to Westerners, and some of the terms of the internal arts such as Tai Chi, Hsing-I and Bagua are misinterpreted because of the way the words are translated. As a result, the internal arts are often described as "mysterious" or "mystical." That makes them seem out of reach. It harms our practice and our understanding, and these injuries are self-inflicted.

In Taiji, there is a concept known as the "energies," that include peng (ward off), lu (roll back), ji (press), an (push), etc.

The most important of all these is peng jin -- peng energy. It is one of the key elements of every movement, even when you step. You should never lose peng, and that is something that I see missing when I meet Tai Chi students, particularly those who have not studied Chen style. If you have studied Taiji and your teacher hasn't stressed and shown you how to maintain peng in all movement, you should be asking some serious questions about the quality of what you're learning.

So what does the term "energy" or "jin" mean when applied to the 8 Energies (there are more than 8 but I'm keeping it simple, hopefully)?

It does NOT mean what when someone is attacking you, you shoot energy out of your body. It does NOT mean that there is a specific type of energy in your body called "lu" energy that is scientifically real.

The term "jin" can be more accurately described as "a method used to adapt and deal with an opponent's force." There are different techniques involved, and to differentiate these techniques, each method has a different name.

When force is coming at you, there are stages in the process of self-defense that occur quickly. You must recognize the force. You must intercept and neutralize the force or lead it into emptiness. You must adapt and counter-attack (if neutralization isn't enough).

The method that you use is in response to the opponent's action -- the "energy" or "force" coming at you. Your strategy, of course, is to neutralize the force and cause your opponent to become unbalanced. From there, you counter to defeat your opponent. Only in the most abstract way can you describe your response as "energy." Naturally, it requires energy for you to move. The eight energies are more a description of technique and strategy in response to force -- NOT actual "energy."

I've put together many resources related to these concepts -- they are on my online school and in my DVDs, including the Internal Strength, Silk-Reeling and Push Hands DVDs. There are more to come, as we continue to delve into these internal arts. But one thing I want to address is the "mystery" surrounding these arts. Most of the mystery comes from our misinterpretation of language and the teaching of instructors who learned from instructors who either didn't know themselves or refused to instruct these concepts.

Skill in Tai Chi, Hsing-I and Bagua comes in the same way as skill in any other activity -- through correct body mechanics that comes from years of practice and very hard work (kung-fu).

--by Ken Gullette

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What Does "Jin" Mean When Talking about the 8 Energies of Taijiquan?

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