The key training method of Zhaobao Tai Chi is to mobilize the function of crotch and hips. Zhaobao people take the use of crotch and hips as the main training method, which is also the most important feature of Zhaobao Tai Chi. Although there are many other features, it runs through the entire internal strength of Tai Chi, so this feature is particularly important, and it is also a rare statement that is not found in other Tai Chi.
I have also learned other types of Tai Chi, but I have never mentioned this method. Some are just superficial or not involved in depth. As Zhaobao Tai Chi, it is the main training method, the key to practice, and the shortcut to entry. You must learn to mobilize the crotch and hips. Without the operation of the crotch, using the crotch to send hands and using the crotch instead of hands, there can be no real Zhaobao Tai Chi, let alone how to use it, and it is impossible to enter the advanced level of Tai Chi. The real practice of Tai Chi and the practice of Zhaobao Tai Chi cannot be separated from the crotch and hips. This method of operating the crotch and hips is difficult to teach and even more difficult to learn. Some teachers don’t talk about crotch and hips, and some only teach within the school. Whether Tai Chi can be learned depends on the body method, and the most important thing is the operation of crotch and hips. Some people practice for a lifetime but don’t know how to “use crotch to lead hands” or “use crotch to replace hands”, so they can’t even talk about learning, and can’t discuss advanced things. Of course, this is limited to Zhaobao Tai Chi, because other types of boxing don’t have such a saying, nor such training methods. It’s only known that hips are important, and how to practice them is still vague. Regardless of other people’s views, each school has its own views. For Zhaobao Tai Chi, its internal strength is always connected with the operation of crotch and hips. Whether the internal strength is good or not depends entirely on the correctness of this operation. In the past, teachers did not teach outside the school, but only taught it to the disciples, so it was little known to the outside world. Sometimes we see how great the teacher’s kung fu is, and want to learn his moves and his fighting methods, but in fact we can’t learn it. The key is to learn his fundamentals, the operation of his internal strength. Internal strength seems to be something that cannot be explained clearly, hidden inside and not visible outside, but it is generated by the movement of the crotch. This kind of movement is very subtle, and there is no movement when it moves, and there is no stillness when it is still.
When practicing, the crotch strength should be used as the main method of cultivation, and coordinated with the limbs and body. When fighting, the crotch and limbs should be combined and complement each other to be handy. It is not only manifested in all external movements (limbs and body movements), but more importantly, it affects the operation of Dantian, which is the root of internal strength. It controls both reverse abdominal breathing and the operation of Dantian. The operation of Dantian controls the operation of the whole body’s qi. Internal and external training are inseparable from the operation of the crotch. Only by completely and thoroughly mastering the operation of the crotch and hips can one be said to have understood the true meaning of Zhaobao Tai Chi. “The crotch leads the hands”, the crotch and hips play a very important role in Zhaobao Tai Chi. As early as Du Yuanhua’s “The Authentic Tai Chi”, the ribs and hips were listed as a very important position. In his article “Tai Chi Enlightenment Rules”, he listed it as a compulsory rule: “Two ribs and hips are four major joints. The ribs are the roots of the upper joints, and the hips are the roots of the lower joints. The liveliness of the whole body depends on this.” Eight sections: two elbows, two knees, two hands, and two feet. Each joint moves in sequence with the ribs and hips. Don’t let it stagnate, it will follow naturally and become one with the ribs and hips. So Zhaobao Taijiquan is mainly based on the hips and flanks, that is, all the movements are carried out in sequence under the activation of the hips and flanks. Don’t let it be stagnant, Taijiquan is alive and dead. This is what we in Zhaobao attach great importance to. If you don’t learn how to use the hips and flanks, or don’t know it at all, this is not a real Zhaobao Taijiquan. No wonder our teacher proposed that practicing Zhaobao Taijiquan must be “using the crotch instead of the hands, and using the crotch to lead the hands”. The most vivid and moving thing is that the teacher compares “using the crotch instead of the hands, and using the crotch to lead the hands” to a puppet show.
When I was a child, I saw a puppet show performance. A large box was considered the stage, and various plays were performed. There was only one person in the box under the stage, singing and singing. The characters were made of puppets, and all were operated by an actor, who used to be called a juggler. He put his hands into the clothes of two puppets and performed as vividly, lively and lifelike as possible. It is also a not-so-easy art. What does this have to do with the “using crotch instead of hands” in our Zhaobao Tai Chi?
The teacher said that the “crotch” is the hands of a juggler in a puppet show. The life or death depends entirely on the crotch. The “crotch” plays a very important role in Tai Chi. It directs all movements and runs through the entire internal strength. It symbolizes internal strength and power. In pushing hands, it can unconsciously dissolve the opponent’s force.
If the opponent uses both hands to press my right arm, and the force used is 10 kilograms, then I have to use 15 kilograms of force to easily rebound the opponent’s pressure. If I don’t have this kind of power, I can only be crushed or overwhelmed by the opponent, or I can get rid of it. If I can’t get rid of it, we can use the crotch force to rotate upwards, so only a small amount of force can send away the opponent’s pressure. This is not asking you to resist the force, which means this is a way to resolve it.
Let me give you another example. If the opponent grabs your right wrist and arm with a force of 20 kilograms, and you don’t have the corresponding power to get rid of it, your arm is under the opponent’s strong force, unable to go up or down, unable to move forward or backward, how can you get rid of it? The power difference between the two sides is like an eagle grabbing a chick, no matter how much you move, how can you get rid of it. Then I can start the crotch and hips, so that the crotch and hips are combined with the arms, just like the main shaft of an engine is started, and the crotch and hips are pulled and driven to the wrist. The power is not in the wrist, so the opponent can no longer grab your arm. It’s like holding a rolling gear, and there is no such ability to hold the opponent. I once tried to hold the teacher’s wrist. At that time, I thought that if my wrist grip strength was not 40 kilograms, it must be at least 20 to 30 kilograms. I held the teacher’s arm and the teacher could not move at all. He had to use free-hand fighting to hit me, because he could use other methods to hit me, such as elbows, shoulders, kicks and knees. After all, I was young and strong, while the teacher was almost 70 years old. The teacher repeatedly asked me to grab it with force, but I was skeptical and did not dare to try my best. The teacher said it was okay. I started to grab the teacher’s wrist with 80% of my strength, but the teacher activated the crotch force. My wrist had no strength at all. It seemed that I was not holding the arm, but the rolling gear of the engine. Not only could I not hold it, but I also felt a sense of fear. Later, I learned that the teacher used the crotch force, and this crotch force could be directly expressed in the hand, using the crotch instead of the hand, and using the crotch to lead the hand. This means that you are not holding the teacher’s hand, but the teacher’s thigh, which is the main shaft of the engine. Of course, you cannot hold it. How to achieve “using the crotch to lead the hands” is all about practicing the form. There is no other shortcut. Each movement has a circle, that is, the crotch circle, and the crotch drives the movement of the arms. Of course, this should have strict requirements and certain standards. First, it is required to loosen the hips and the hip roots, and the crotch and hips rotate in an arc to drive a series of limb operations. For example, the Vajra style of Zhaobao Tai Chi requires loose hips, and the crotch draws a circular arc to send out the two hands to support the spear, also called the style. When the second movement rotates from the pull style to the pull style, it is also mainly based on the right hip to pull the two arms back, one by one, and the crotch and hips just turn a vertical circle, and the following two squeeze and press styles just complete the second crotch circle, and then continue to draw a circle. When the right fist hits the left palm, the crotch moves the second circle by drawing a circle. The so-called Vajra three pairs are composed of these circles in a chain, and the key lies in the operation of the two hips. The ever-changing Tai Chi depends entirely on the movements of the crotch and hips, and the crotch and hips are the mysterious secrets of Zhaobao Tai Chi. How to use the hips to coordinate the movements of the whole body is very important for Zhaobao Tai Chi. In his early years, Du Yuanhua was more precise about the movements of the hips in his book “The Authentic Tai Chi”, especially in his explanation of the Vajra Form. He said: “The two hips are the secrets of heaven, and it is important to be loose and flexible.” He compared the two hips to the secrets of Tai Chi. I think there is nothing more important than the hips? How to experience Tai Chi “leading the hands with the crotch”. If we really achieve “leading the hands with the body”, the body movements drive the hand movements, that is, the crotch drives and directs the movements of the hands, you seem to feel that you have reached the level of “shooting with the crotch”, then you might as well test your crotch strength. When you are walking the frame routine, put your hands in your trouser pockets without moving, or put them behind your back without doing any movements, that is, use your two pairs of feet to perform a set of frames. People with good crotch strength can naturally perform body movements.
Those who think they have good body movements actually have no crotch strength, or can only lead the body with the hands. When you practice Tai Chi, you can only walk and do some body movements, but you have no crotch strength, and it is very ugly.
Sometimes we also use this test method to test whether we have really mastered “leading the hands with the crotch”. Those with crotch strength can drive the movement of the hands. If the hands do not move, our crotch can still operate a set of Tai Chi postures.
Whether it works or not can be tested on the spot. For beginners, the circle can be larger, which proves that we have the crotch power to drive the limbs. There is a key point between having a crotch circle and not having one. Those without a crotch circle need to practice it. For those who really have a crotch circle, we need to adapt to the needs of routines and fighting. We need to change the big circle into a small circle, and the circle seems to be without a circle, and the big circle is within the small circle, forming an unpredictable Tai Chi circle. It is just as the “Authentic Tai Chi” says, “Those who practice this boxing should take this as a must, so that they can find the true way of Tai Chi and create the true lead and mercury of Tai Chi.”