Wuji - An Important Principle of Balance and Harmony in Tai Chi
In Taoism and Chinese culture, the term wuji (pronounced "woo-zhee") means a state of harm ony and balance -- emptiness, stillness and peace. It is limitless, infinite.
It is when everything begins moving and you lose balance that you also lose wuji.
In the Taoist view of the universe, if we were to look at it from a modern scientific view, the universe was in a state of wuji just before the Big Bang. There was a state of perfect peace and then all hell broke loose. Things separated into yin and yang. Dogs and cats living together -- MASS HYSTERIA! (Sorry, I watched Ghostbusters a lot when my daughters were little)
In Tai Chi, the goal is to maintain a sort of wuji -- balance and harmony; to remain centered. When someone attacks, and you must adapt and change to accept this person's force, your goal is to return to wuji -- the state of balance you were in before the attack.
I enjoy working with people who have never studied the internal arts. Almost every time when a newbie is wo...
High-Quality Video of a Young Chen Xiaowang
Here is a high-quality video, apparently shot perhaps in the 1980s, showing Chen Xiaowang doing Taijiquan.
Master Ren Guang Yi and a Compact Cannon Fist Form
Master Ren Guangyi, one of Grandmaster Chen Xiaowang's senior disciples, is an amazing martial artist -- very strong and athletic. I was fortunate to be introduced to him by my teachers Jim and Angela Criscimagna years ago when they hosted Master Ren for workshops in Rockford, Illinois. I learned the Chen 38 and the Broadsword form from him and refined them with Jim and Angela.
Apparently, Master Ren created his own compact Cannon Fist form for Hugh Jackman, as Jackman was preparing for a movie.
This is a beautiful and powerful example of real tai chi, and so much more difficult than it looks. His stomp at the end of "Buddha's Warrior" almost knocked my computer off the desk. :)
What is Fajin in Tai Chi - A Dog Shaking Off Water
Have you ever seen a dog shake water off itself? There is not one tense muscle in its body. The dog is totally relaxed and if you watch carefully, you'll see it grounding from its rear legs when it shakes the front half of it's body, and it will ground from the front legs when shaking the tail and rear half.
Without realizing it, the dog is practicing fajin.
Have you ever had something on your finger and tried to shake it off? Let's say....water. You have water on your hand and you give it a good flick -- a good shake. How tense are you? Not tense at all, are you? In fact, you relax it like a whip and snap it.
That same type of relaxation is needed for good fajin.
Good fajin is a matter of connecting all of the key internal body mechanics and taking full advantage of the relaxed power that can result from these mechanics.
--by Ken Gullette
What is Fajin and How Do You Do It?
I'm often stunned by the literal-mindedness of some internal arts folks (that's no secret, is it?). The subject of fajin is one example of how a simple concept is misunderstood and misinterpreted.
Fajin means "issuing energy." Unfortunately, the people who desperately need to believe in the supernatural think that in doing fa-jing, you are shooting chi out of your hands or body. They take it literally.
It's not magical or mystical. It's a matter of physics.
If you are a boxer, you're issuing energy when you deliver a jab, a cross, or a good left hook. If you're into kali, you're issuing energy when you hit someone with a stick (or even when you block another stick with yours), and if you're into karate, you issue energy when you break a board with your foot.
In the internal arts, fajin -- issuing energy -- is more complex, but the end result is the same. You knock the hell out of something or someone.
Grandmaster Chen Xiaowang (shown in the photo above working with students on fa...
There is No Such Thing as Easy Tai Chi
Grandmaster Chen Xiaowang was teaching a workshop in the U.S. when one of the students commented about how difficult tai chi is.
If you've ever attended a workshop by a member of the Chen family, you understand why the comment would be made. Students hold postures while the instructor walks around the room, correcting each student individually. By the time he gets to you, your legs are often shaking with fatigue, and if he puts you into the correct posture, you may just collapse to the floor (photo at left shows Chen Xiaowang correcting me during a private lesson a few years ago).
This is one of the reasons I get annoyed when I see online ads that promise "easy tai chi." I'm sorry, my friends, there is no such thing. Fake tai chi might be easy. The health type of tai chi for "moving meditation" might be easy. Tai Chi for senior citizens might be easy.
Real tai chi is very difficult and takes years of practice to even begin to see proper body mechanics.
So when the comment was made ...
What Are the Six Harmonies in Tai Chi, Hsing-I and Bagua?
A member of the online school asked a question on the discussion board and I thought it would also make for a good post here on the blog.
What are the Six Harmonies and what does it mean? Does it mean the hands move with the feet, the elbows move with the knees and the shoulders with the hips?
Some people say the Six Harmonies are:
1. Shoulders
2. Hips
3. Elbows
4. Knees
5. Hands
6. Feet
So the shoulders harmonize with the hips, the elbows with the knees, the hands with the feet.
That isn't the complete story, however. These three groups of two (hips/shoulders, elbows/knees, hands/feet) make up the THREE EXTERNAL HARMONIES.
The other three harmonies that make up the six harmonies would include Yi (Mind/Intent, which is frequently paired with "Shen" or Spirit), Chi (Energy), and Li (Strength, pronounced "Lee"). These are known as the Three Internal Harmonies.
The "Shen leads the Yi," the "Yi leads the Chi," and the "Chi leads the Li (strength)."
You must have a strong spiri...
The Four Tigers of Chen Village Perform Laojia Yilu
All the Chen Tai Chi masters that you see--even the students of a master--will perform the same form with slight differences when they reach a certain level. It's fascinating to look at the differences. Since this is an art, these men have mastered the fundamentals and then added their own artistic flourishes.
Here are links to YouTube videos showing the "Four Tigers" of Chen Tai Chi performing Laojia Yilu.
Chen Xiaowang performs Laojia Yilu.
Zhu Tiancai performs Laojia Yilu.
No Sweating in Tai Chi?
I was on the patio this morning and practiced the following forms:
- Chen 19
- Chen 38
- Laojia Yilu
- Laojia Erlu
- Xinjia Yilu
- Chen Straight Sword
- Chen Broadsword
By the end of Xinjia Yilu, I was sweating like a pig (it's going to be in the low 80's today in beautiful Tampa and I'll sweat at the drop of a hat) and I was reminded of a tournament I attended a few years ago when I decided not to seek a trophy but to showcase Chen Tai Chi for the local crowd. I have a lot of trophies, so in recent years I've tried to perform Chen Tai Chi and Bagua just to publicize the arts before large crowds who don't realize the internal arts are, in fact, martial arts.
I warmed up in the already warm room, and did the Chen 38 for the judges and the audience, with a little extra fajing. This was a few years ago, before any of them had seen any Tai Chi performed at all in mixed martial arts tournaments, so as I expected, I didn't win a trophy. But I noticed one karate guy (who was usually quite full...
With the Internal Martial Arts It Has To Be Shown
I've studied several arts since 1973 -- Shaolin, wushu, taekwondo, boxing -- and attained ranks in Shaolin (brown belt) and TKD (green belt) before finding the internal arts.
The internal arts that I practice -- Hsing-I, Chen Tai Chi, and Bagua -- are the most difficult arts I've encountered. For a beginner, it's impossible to learn them properly from books, photos, or videos.
It Has To Be Shown (IHTBS).
My first encounter with top-level internal arts instructors (those with training in actual internal body mechanics) was Jim and Angela Criscimagna in Rockford, Illinois. They also introduced me to the Chen way of training and masters such as Chen Xiaowang and Ren Guangyi.
I met Jim and Angela after reading internal arts posts on the Internet that I didn't understand, using terms I'd never been taught. One hour after training with Jim for the first time, I drove away from Rockford realizing that I had to start over.
Not everyone can make that decision. We invest a lot of time, mo...
Author - Instructor
Ken Gullette
I have practiced martial arts since 1973 and began studying the internal arts in 1987. My goal is to cut years off your development time by coaching you in the real skills for high-quality Tai Chi, Xingyi, Bagua. To see more about my bio, click the "About Ken" link on the menu at the top of this page.
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