Ken Gullette's Internal Fighting Arts Blog

How to Develop a Body Method in Tai Chi, Xingyi and Bagua

body mechanics body mechanics martial arts principles of body mechanics in martial arts principles of body method tai chi body method taiji body method what is body method what is body method in tai chi Apr 06, 2023

In martial arts, a body method (also known as "body mechanics" or "body structure") refers to the way a practitioner uses their body efficiently and effectively to generate power, maintain balance, and execute techniques. It is a fundamental aspect of martial arts training and involves understanding how different parts of the body work together to produce force, maintain stability, and move fluidly.

Body methods can vary significantly between different martial arts styles and systems. You can even go to different teachers in Taiji and some will have a strong body method and others won't even mention it. The ones who don't mention it usually have weak gongfu. The more a teacher promotes health and "moving" meditation, the lower the quality of their body method, in my humble opinion.

In all sports that require your body to produce force and power, there are specific ways of moving the body most efficiently, although there are a lot of different personal styles of doing that. Look at...

The Tai Chi Skill of "Dang" -- a Rounded Crotch

body mechanics internal mechanics tai chi dang taiji dang Sep 16, 2019

There are a lot of things to think about when you do internal movement.

One of my teachers said that when you are first learning, you can be paralyzed by well over a dozen principles of structure and movement that you are trying to achieve in each movement.

Chen Xiaowang says, "If Taiji were easy, everyone be master."

It is NOT easy, which is why, after a lot of hard work, it is satisfying when you enter a room full of Taiji people and you realize that you understand internal movement at a different level.

The other night, a student looked at me funny when I said, "I want to talk about your Dang."

It's pronounced "Dahng."

Yes, we both laughed.

So I clarified.

"I want to talk about your groin."

That did not help the situation, but you probably know by now that laughter is an important part of my practices.

So I explained.

The term "Dang" is the shape of the legs when you are in a stance. When you look at the...

Song in Taijiquan - A Relaxed State of Readiness

body mechanics taiji Aug 26, 2019

The picture here shows me and Colin starting the movement "Six Sealings and Four Closings" from the Laojia Yilu form.

One of the problems I see in a lot of beginners, and even people who have been in the arts for a while, is a lack of peng throughout the body during movements or postures.

It is not just a problem in Taiji, but I also see it in students doing Xingyi and Bagua.

It is common to see someone in a yang movement with the "attacking" hand, and the rear hand has lost its peng. It is limp. There is no "song."

The word "song" to me means "a relaxed state of readiness."

I recently saw a Yang-style practitioner doing the Yang 24 form. He did "Brush Knee Twist Step" and his lower hand was held with fingers pointing downward. There was no peng in his hand and it was hanging limply with the fingers hanging toward the ground.

I pointed out that if his hand was this way when someone kicked him, he would have some broken fingers.

He had...

Translations of Ancient Tai Chi Classics Can Point You the Wrong Way

body mechanics tai chi May 15, 2019

I was reading a book by well-known martial artist and teacher, and he wrote something that could send people down the wrong path.

I like Dr. Yang Jwing-Ming. He has done some good things for the arts. He has tried to save some of the older texts and Chinese "songs" and "poems" related to martial arts.

He is a dedicated martial artist and scholar, and apparently a very nice guy. This is not about his skill.

But in his book, "Advanced Yang Style Tai Chi Chuan," he should have gone one step further when he translated and interpreted some old Tai Chi classics.

The first of the classics he presents in the book is supposed to be by Chang San Feng (also spelled Zhang San Feng), but we all know that there is absolutely no evidence that Chang San Feng was a real person. He is a "legend," which means he probably didn't exist. A lot of people who refuse to say the Chen family created the art insist that Chang created it centuries earlier.

Dr. Yang should have mentioned this in the...

Ken Gullette's Internal Fighting Arts

How to Develop a Body Method in Tai Chi, Xingyi and Bagua

The Tai Chi Skill of "Dang" -- a Rounded Crotch

Song in Taijiquan - A Relaxed State of Readiness

Translations of Ancient Tai Chi Classics Can Point You the Wrong Way

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