What Does the Term "Tai Chi Energies" Really Mean?
You read and hear about different types of "energies" or "jin" in the internal arts. For example, people talk about the "Eight Energies" or the "Thirteen Energies."
Four primary energies (jin) of Taijiquan are:
1. Peng (Ward Off)
2. Liu (Roll Back)
3. Ji (Press)
4. An (Push)
Rounding Out the Rest of the 13 Energies are:
5. Cai (Pluck-Pull Down)
6. Lie (Split - often pronounced like the name Leah)
7. Zhou - (Elbow)
8. Kao - (Shoulder - often called Bump)
9. Teng (striking at an upward angle from the bottom to the top)
10. Zhe (winding, spinning to the ground)
11. Kong (Empty)
12. Huo (lively and active while maintaining internal principles)
13. Five Moving Directions: Front (Forward), Back (Backward), Left, Right, and Middle (maintaining your balance - your Center)
It's important to remember -- despite what some teachers will tell you -- the Taiji "energies" do not involve some invisible energy in your body called Peng, or Liu, or whatever.
It's a lot more accurate ...
Internal Energies and Takedowns - The Holy Grail of Taiji Self-Defense
The Holy Grail of Tai Chi self-defense -- in my opinion -- is when you can "feel" an opponent's energy when you are in a clinch and you can break his structure and use Tai Chi "energies" to take him down.
On Saturday, about a dozen martial artists of different styles gathered at Morrow's Academy of Martial Arts in Moline, Illinois and we practiced some of the basic concepts and energies. We recorded the workshop and the video is already going up on my website -- www.internalfightingarts.com -- and I am putting it together for a DVD.
Anyone can use muscular force to pick someone up and throw them to the ground.
But can you use Tai Chi energies to unbalance, uproot, and control your opponent's center so you can take them down?
You have to be able to do a few things:
** Determine how your opponent's center is turning
** Break his structure to unbalance him
** Have your hands and legs in place to help his center turn
** Then turn his center and take it where it wants to go.
The te...
What is Silk-Reeling Energy?
Silk-reeling energy is one of the unique qualities of the internal arts of Chinese kung-fu, particularly Tai Chi and Bagua, but it is also found in Hsing-I, at least the way I practice it. The Chinese refer to this skill as "Chan Ssu Jin."
Silk-reeling energy is a physical skill. There is nothing metaphysical or mystical about it.
Many people around the world have been fooled by the word "energy," which is a poorly translated way of saying "method" or "power" in Chinese. When we hear the word "energy" being used in this way -- including peng energy or liu energy or any of the "energies" of Tai Chi -- we think that it is referring to a scientifically valid electrical or chemical/physiological energy coursing through our bodies.
If that were the case, Michael Jordan used "slam energy" to dunk a basketball. Babe Ruth was a master of "swat energy" when he hit a home run.
That would be wrong. Silk-reeling "energy" is a physical method of using spiraling movement through the body, conne...
Peng Jin is the Most Important "Energy" in Tai Chi
"Jin" means "energy," although that has been misinterpreted by some literal-minded folks who believe it is an actual scientifically real "energy" in the body. It has also been called "power" by some.
I tend to think of jin as "skill" or "method."
The term "energy" is an abstract way of describing the skill that you develop with practice. Liu jin, for example, is "roll back" energy. It's a physical skill that combines reflexes and sensitivity when someone pushes or punches or attacks in another way. The skilled fighter who uses liu can deflect the attack, rolling it away and often causing the attacker to go off-balance. Naturally, this takes a lot of practice. It's impossible to develop this skill just by doing a form. It is a method of dealing with force coming in.
The most important of all the so-called "energies" of tai chi and the internal arts is peng jin. It MUST be present in all of your movements, even when you walk. If it isn't, you're not doing tai chi (or hsing-i or bagu...
Peng is the Most Important Concept in Tai Chi
The most important "jin" (strength or force) in tai chi is peng jin. Chen Xiaowang has described peng jin as "chi flowing, everything full, nothing broken."
Peng jin is an expansive feeling directed outward from the body--beginning with the ground, transmitted by the legs, directed by the dan t'ien and manifest through the hands and fingers. It must be delivered without "local" muscular tension--in other words, you use your entire body as your fist, you don't strike with primarily your arm and shoulder muscles.
Peng jin works with the ground path to provide a solid structure in the body.
This is the foundation of internal strength.
In every movement in Taijiquan, the ground and peng must be present or your movement is empty. This is my the first thing I teach new students is the ground path, then peng jin.
Peng jin feels a bit like the same type of force that exists when you push a beach ball beneath the water. The potential force is ready to be released when you let go of the ba...
What Do They Mean By "Energies?"
You read and hear about different types of "energies" or "jin" in the internal arts. I read an interesting interpretation of this the other day. Something was apparently lost in the translation from Mandarin. When we talk about energies such as peng energy, we aren't talking about a "real" energy circulating through the body.
Instead, it's a cultivated energy or skill. I like to think of a baseball player who has spent many years practicing. He can swing a bat and hit a baseball out of the park, while I'd be lucky to even connect enough to hit a foul. His use of the bat represents a particular strength, or energy. Another example could be that of a carpenter. He can drive a nail with expertise, while I might hit my thumb with the hammer.
Americans, however, don't refer to the baseball player as having great "bat jin," or the carpenter as having great "hammer jin." It isn't part of our culture. When the heavyweight champion of the world knocks out an opponent, we don't say he has tre...
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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