Ken Gullette's Internal Fighting Arts Blog

Defend from All Directions - What Does It Mean?

chen bing chen xiaowang taiji strategy zhan zhuang Oct 08, 2025

Chen Xiaowang corrected Chen Bing's posture in a video, when Chen Bing was a young man. He stood in a posture from "Buddha's Warrior Attendant Pounds Mortar." After adjusting him a bit, Chen Xiaowang turned to the camera and said, "Now, he can defend from all directions."

Defend from all directions? That sounded intriguing. I began thinking about that concept. After a few years, I honed in on what it means.

The picture at the top of the post shows Chen Xiaowang correcting my posture in 2000.

"Defend from all directions" sums up a core principle of being prepared and being able to adapt in the face of a self-defense situation.

It emphasizes that a Taiji person should not simply focus on defending against a single, anticipated attack from one direction. Instead, it means to cultivate a state of mind and body that can remain aware of everything around you and respond to threats from any angle at any time.

This is why when you practice Zhan Zhuang with Chen Xiaowang, he says, "Calm d...

Chen Bing Gives My Former Teacher A Lesson in Taiji Push Hands

chen bing chen tai chi training tai chi push hands taiji push hands Oct 02, 2015

My former Taijiquan teacher, Mark Wasson, spent a lot of time in the Chen Village training with members of the Chen family, including Chen Xiaowang, Chen Xiaoxing, and Chen Bing.

On one visit, the weather was bad so Chen Bing came to Mark's hotel room to practice push hands.

Chen Bing and the Skill of Relaxing Against Force in Taiji

chen bing chen tai chi chen taiji tai chi training Jun 25, 2007

Chen Bing is the nephew of Chen Xiaowang and Chen Xiaoxing. He has a college degree, and it doesn't take long to realize that he has a different style than his uncles--more involved, more accessible.

I met him in Chicago at a push hands seminar. He put one hand on my left shoulder, and I put my hand on his left shoulder. The object was to push the other person off-balance. Each time I pushed, he relaxed, and before I knew it I was falling off-balance.

It's the same thing that I felt when pushing hands with Chen Xiaoxing. When force comes in, it's met with relaxation and neutralization, not force. It's one of the things that really marks the difference between "external" and internal arts. I've rarely met a karate or TKD person, or even another kung fu person for that matter, who understands the concept of relaxed strength. Force comes in and you relax and deal with it.

This is a skill that I grapple with, trying to ingrain it into my reflexes. One of the most difficult things to do ...

Ken Gullette's Internal Fighting Arts

Defend from All Directions - What Does It Mean?

Chen Bing Gives My Former Teacher A Lesson in Taiji Push Hands

Chen Bing and the Skill of Relaxing Against Force in Taiji

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