Tai Chi uses strength, not force. This sentence is an important magic weapon for practicing Tai Chi. There are also “invigorating strength”, “lifting strength” and “flying strength” in Tai Chi’s unique skills. Not only are some people, but also some people in the industry reject these words as idealistic. But some people are confused about these words. What is strength? What is force? Aren’t force and strength the same thing? If so, there will be no Tai Chi’s law of using four ounces to move a thousand pounds and defeating the strong with the weak. As Mr. Wang Zongyue said in “Tai Chi Boxing Theory”: “From familiarity, you will gradually understand strength, and from understanding strength, you will reach the level of the gods.” Therefore, in-depth analysis and understanding of strength, force and the relationship between strength and force can fully understand the true meaning of Tai Chi.

All practitioners know that Tai Chi is a sport that uses the heart to move the mind, the mind to guide the qi, and the qi to move the body. A sentence often heard during training is that Tai Chi uses the mind instead of force when practicing boxing and walking. Since Tai Chi is a traditional Chinese martial art, it is a Chinese Kung Fu widely known around the world, and it has a strong attack and lethality in combat. In the long river of history, it was first used in military wars in the cold weapon era, and later people widely used it to guard homes, escort goods, etc. If you don’t use your strength, how can you defeat the opponent who once fought to the death? In fact, in essence, Tai Chi is not a martial art that relies on strength to win, otherwise it would not be Tai Chi. As Wang Zongyue said in “Tai Chi Boxing Theory”: “There are many side doors to this skill, although the postures are different, they are all about the strong bullying the weak, and the slow giving way to the fast. The strong beats the weak, and the slow gives way to the fast. These are all innate natural abilities, not acquired through learning.” This means that there are many traditional martial arts boxing styles, and although each has its own merits, objectively speaking, the strong defeats the weak, the powerful defeats the less powerful, and the fast hands defeats the slow. These rules are innate instincts, and they are the result even without acquired practice. They are not the result of Tai Chi strength. Therefore, the magic weapon of Tai Chi is strength, not strength. The same principle is mentioned in the Thirteen Postures Exercise Method: “The whole body is focused on the spirit, not the qi. If you focus on the qi, it will be stagnant. If you have qi, you will be weak, if you have strength, you will be strong without qi, and if you have no qi, you will be pure and strong. This is the principle of Qianxingjian.” It emphasizes that when Tai Chi is performed, it is mainly about the spirit, not the qi. If you concentrate on the qi, the clumsy force will appear. The force of bone strength is limited. If the mind is calm, the body is relaxed, and the qi is naturally gathered into the muscles and bones, then the strength will appear, and the firmness will be invincible. This is the principle of the natural law of Tai Chi. Fundamentally speaking, what we pursue in diligent study and hard practice of Tai Chi is this kind of Tai Chi strength.

1, Tai Chi Kung Fu Zhuang Gong practices this kind of strength

    Zhuang Gong practice is the foundation of Chinese martial arts. No matter what kind of boxing school, you must go through this stage of hard practice. Through long-term standing practice, the human body can adjust the state of human energy in an external static state, and finally achieve the goal of neutralizing the yin and yang of the human body, unblocking the meridians throughout the body, and regulating the circulation of qi and blood, so as to cultivate the internal potential of the human body and store energy in the body. Through readjustment, nourishing the essence and storing energy, the human body’s energy is round and full, which naturally improves the body’s ability to resist blows and release capabilities, and can also hone nerve endings and increase reaction sensitivity. Through standing, the dantian opens and closes, and the qi and blood in the whole body are agitated. Because the dantian is the source of the qi, only by fully activating the dantian can the body be like an air bag and the energy penetrates the whole body. People will gradually achieve this physical sign through long-term practice. Mr. Sun Lutang said in “On the Difference between Internal and External Martial Arts”: “I practiced martial arts and was also seen by the world. Every day, I accumulated energy in the dantian, and my lower abdomen was as hard as stone. I could push people away from me, walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, all the time. I thought that the accumulated energy was sinking, and I could get the internal strength of the boxing.” Through the practice of Tai Chi standing, the energy is full. When practicing, use your mind to guide the Qi, and use the Qi to move your body. Under the guidance of your mind, use the Dantian breathing to drive the opening and closing of the boxing movements. When you exhale, everything opens, and when you inhale, everything closes. With long-term practice, internal strength will naturally arise.

    Since I started practicing Tai Chi, I have been doing this kind of training in an orderly manner. From the initial vague understanding and confusion about internal strength to the final physical experience of Kung Fu, I have personally felt the coordination between Dantian breathing and the opening and closing of movements, and the unity of inside and outside. Through long-term practice of Zhuanggong to nourish Qi and build a foundation, Qi returns to Dantian, and then practice Tai Chi Gong Jingong, such as sticking, jade girl throwing needles, hanging wrists to offer peaches, cutting steel and iron, bouncing and shaking, and rubbing, etc., I can feel the interdependence and integration of the opening and closing of Dantian and the development of external movements. The same is true when practicing Tai Chi. The opening and closing of Dantian and the development of boxing are inseparable. This is what Tai Chi theory says: to move the Qi with the heart and make the Qi flow throughout the body. The practitioners of Tai Chi will naturally develop from the initial application of Tai Chi movements and postures to attack the opponent to the stage of using Tai Chi power to attack and dissolve. Practicing Tai Chi is to replenish Qi and drain strength, which is different from the external exercises of bone strength with developed muscles. Tai Chi standing training increases internal strength, makes the tendons soft and the Qi full, the muscles round, and the essence and Qi strong inside. This is the six-sided power, also known as Hunyuan.

    2, Tai Chi boxing and walking form also practice this kind of power

      The author first got acquainted with Tai Chi. At first, he practiced fixed forms, which is also the traditional practice of Tai Chi. It is to subdivide the entire Tai Chi moves into multiple standard movements, and each standard movement must be performed for six breaths before the next movement can be performed. After fixed form training, on the one hand, the movements of Tai Chi are deeply imprinted in the mind, and these moves are also standard movements for boxing. Once these moves are connected, the boxing movements are stretched and naturally in place, and the standardization is also a natural result. On the other hand, fixed forms are also a kind of Zhuanggong practice. In long-term training, the mind slowly gathers and disperses from the inside to the outside to all parts of the body, so that the external movements gradually match the mind, and the internal strength slowly flows to the target of the mind, so that the qi and blood circulate throughout the body and dredge the meridians.

      Even after fixed form practice, the practice of boxing and walking frame routines is also slow. Due to the slow speed of movement changes, the time that the body weight stays on the legs will be longer, which increases the load on the legs. Long-term practice of such exercises can naturally promote the enhancement of leg strength more effectively, and then promote the enhancement of the practitioner’s physical strength, and then gradually train the strong and fast strength, which is also a way to cultivate Tai Chi strength. In boxing and walking frame, using intention without force is also to cultivate the perfect integration of Tai Chi strength and boxing frame. When completing Tai Chi frame movements, it is necessary to clarify the true meaning of Tai Chi’s emphasis on “sticking, sticking, and following”. Regardless of the changes in form, strength, and spirit, that is to say, regardless of the form and strength, they must be closely followed and implemented on the bright point of the changes in spirit. In all the changes of the eight gates and five steps in the physical movements, the feeling of the spirit and strength that are pulled back and forth with the opponent must not be missing, so that the qi and strength of each other can be integrated, so as to achieve the purpose of Tai Chi “pulling a little to move a thousand pounds”, and finally in actual combat, abandon the innate clumsy strength, use Tai Chi boxing postures and moves to defeat the opponent with Tai Chi strength.

      3, Tai Chi Kung Fu Push Hands is to practice this kind of strength

        Push Hands in Tai Chi Kung Fu is to continuously strengthen the Kung Fu awareness of the virtual and real conversion in confrontation on the basis of people’s proficiency in Tai Chi boxing and walking, so as to prepare for actual combat. When practicing Push Hands, it is key to distinguish between the virtual and the real, and the purpose is to listen to the strength and understand the strength. If you can’t distinguish between the virtual and the real, and don’t understand the strength, it will naturally cause the phenomenon of resisting and losing. Therefore, when pushing hands, you should make good use of softening, follow the opponent’s strength, and not resist the opponent; when pushing hands with the opponent, you should coordinate your movements and match them with the opponent, so that the opponent’s strength always falls on your empty place. You should use your own empty to correspond to the opponent’s real, and your own real to correspond to the opponent’s empty. In this way, the virtual and real of both parties can be harmonious. Through pushing hands, both parties constantly complete the process of virtual and real conversion and reciprocating cycle. If both parties are real against real, and virtual against virtual, then pushing hands will not be possible. Therefore, this is why when the author was practicing Tai Chi Push Hands, the master repeatedly emphasized that the two sides seemed to be touching each other, and there was always a distance between the two sides in consciousness, the purpose of which was to understand the strength in this treatment.

        Tai Chi push hands practice has its own unique rhythm. This kind of rhythm is a natural response to things. As a perceptual induction, it is not controlled by the practitioner’s mind, but a kind of rhythm that takes the internal qi as the core, the external qi as the core, the internal breath changes, and the “mind” (the sublimation of the mind) as the leading factor. The body shape, strength and qi are combined with movement and stillness, and the spirit controls the boxing, and changes lightly and flexibly, so that “the mind can forget the hands” and naturally produce a rhythm of moving back and forth, ups and downs. When dealing with it, “the mind has no place to stay” and grasps the opponent’s offensive rhythm. This is exactly what Mr. Yu Dayou, a great general in the Ming Dynasty, said in his “Sword Classic”: “Be strong before others, be soft after others, be busy and wait quietly, and know how to fight.” Mr. Wang Zongyue said in “Taijiquan Theory”: “From familiarity, you will gradually understand the strength, and from understanding the strength, you will reach the level of the spirit. However, if you don’t use your strength for a long time, you can’t suddenly understand it.” This means that Taijiquan boxing and form are first standardized and accurate, and then skillful and fluent until it is connected from top to bottom. After practicing and experiencing the application of boxing techniques, you will gradually realize the changes in strength, and naturally enter the process of being good at using strength, until you can do it at will. Then Tai Chi Kung Fu will suddenly sublimate to a new level and reach the stage of “divine”. Familiarity, understanding strength, and divine are actually the three stages of the Tai Chi Road summarized by Mr. Wang Zongyue based on the experience of Tai Chi practitioners of all generations. Finally, he added another sentence to emphasize that “using strength” means working hard and practicing hard. Only through diligent study and hard practice can Kung Fu be improved. Otherwise, you will not feel and understand, and you will not suddenly understand and reach the state of enlightenment and understanding strength and reaching the state of divine.

        4, the magic weapon for winning in Tai Chi fighting is this kind of strength.

        There is Tai Chi strength training in Tai Chi training. Tai Chi boxing clearly defines that the thirteen postures must be: “Use the mind to guide, not clumsy force; use movement to control stillness, and take the initiative to move and stillness; use softness to overcome hardness, and combine hardness and softness; use smallness to defeat bigness, and use four ounces to move a thousand pounds.” Tai Chi boxing emphasizes “strength” rather than “force.” What is strength? Master Wu Tunan once said: “Strength is academic strength, which contains both academic technical strength. In other words, it contains the technical strength of thirteen postures.” There are dozens of Tai Chi training methods for strength, such as bouncing, rubbing, sticking, jade girl throwing needles, cutting steel and iron, etc., which are both technical and tactical. Take cutting steel and iron as an example. When practicing, the distance between the toes is one foot long, and the two feet stand on the inside and outside of a straight line, with the center of gravity on the two feet. Extend the two forearms forward. The left and right fists become side standing palms. When the left palm is in front, the left palm faces right, and the right palm covers the left elbow behind. The palm faces left. Both arms are loose at the elbows. Use the palm sides of the standing palms on both sides to cut forward and downward at the same time. The palms return immediately after cutting, and the force is crisp. With the continuous practice of internal strength, the power becomes deeper and deeper, and the force of cutting becomes crisper. Through the dantian, the force is stored inside. Instantly burst out, the energy of the dantian is quickly transmitted to the palms and hands through the waist to push the shoulders, the shoulders to push the elbows, and the elbows to push the arms, and the force is quickly transmitted to the palms and hands to defeat the opponent, truly realizing the five-character formula of Master Yang Shaohou’s “thin, smooth, short, crisp, and far” boxing realm.

        The ultimate goal of fighting is to defeat the opponent. However, the most basic process of Tai Chi fighting is to wait for action in stillness. The purpose of stillness is to use “listening to the force” to understand the opponent. Once the opponent attacks, I use “transforming force” to sacrifice myself and follow the opponent, lead the opponent into a trap, and finally send the opponent out and defeat the opponent. Here, the main means of perceiving the opponent is to use the sensitive skin to perceive the opponent’s strength and direction through physical contact, which is to listen to the strength; the opponent is hard and I am soft, I overcome the hardness with softness, lead the opponent into a trap, and achieve the transformation, which is to transform the strength; I seek straightness in the curve, I follow the opponent’s back, accumulate and then release, and completely defeat the opponent, which is to release the strength. From this, it can be seen that the magic weapon for Tai Chi to defeat the enemy is to have strength first, use strength well, and make strength.

        In summary, the strength of Tai Chi is a light and flexible thing, hard and soft, loose and tight, fast and slow, neither close nor far. If you only use strength to deal with the attack, then you will naturally be overwhelmed and lose sight of one thing while focusing on another. In addition to the waist and spine as the main part of the strength, the rest of the body can adapt to the situation and respond naturally. This is the exquisiteness of Tai Chi strength. Wang Zongyue’s “Taijiquan Theory” also concluded with this principle: “After understanding the power, the more you practice, the better you will be. If you meditate and ponder, you will gradually be able to do what you want. It is originally to sacrifice yourself and follow others, but many people make the mistake of abandoning the near and seeking the far. As the saying goes, a slight difference leads to a thousand miles of error. Scholars must carefully distinguish it.” The main meaning is that after understanding the power, you will become more and more refined with practice. If you are good at thinking and pondering the principles in practice, you will eventually reach the state of doing what you want.

        In short, Taijiquan power should be understood and recognized with the dialectical view of historical materialism, and Taijiquan power should be practiced with a peaceful mentality. You must not add many subjective understandings to deliberately seek it. As long as you practice Taijiquan for the purpose of strengthening your body, cultivating your character, and calming your mind, Taijiquan power will naturally come to you quietly over time, which is also an inevitable result.

        This article on the important magic weapon of Taiji Kung Fu is hoped to be helpful to you.