Use of Force in Bagua, Xingyi and Taijiquan
Part One - Baguazhang
The three Northern Chinese martial arts of Baguazhang , Xingyiquan and Taijiquan share many qualities , for example the integration of Shen (spirit) into the Xing (form) and the Shi (force), but the way that each art deals with the critical issues of perceiving and making use of incoming forces is quite distinct. This short introduction to the subject offers a few ideas about the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of these distinctions. If you know ‘why’ an art reacts as it does, it becomes clear that its special techniques developed from that point to overcome the perceived problem.
The biggest single problem for a man facing a violent enemy is the utter randomness of the event – we know force is heading our way but what shape or direction, and in what combination, is very hard to predict outside of a few obvious factors. The trained fighter knows that the way to overcome this problem begins with perception – that is, his mindset and state of being must ‘merge’ with the enemy in some way such that he is no longer reacting to an attack but actually a part of it. In other words the gap between the two has to be bridged before physical contact takes place, or in a worse case scenario where attack was unexpected and sudden the same merging of minds must be instantly ‘on tap’ at the first touch.
The Bagua fighter has been training his mind/body in such a way that he allows force to act on him as it wishes, offering it just enough resistance that he can be safe in the moment plus , in a manner not unlike a huge spring , use the force to move him to the next quadrant of the theoretical circle which is his constant companion. In the same moment of being moved he will use the concept of ‘changing centers’ to instantly strike the enemy along a different (and thus quite unexpected) plane. The enemy may feel as if he has been hit with his own power or even his own strike. If this first exchange is not a finishing strike then at every moment onwards the enemy will be faced with a boxer who changes in such a way that it feels he is always half a beat ahead of the attack.
Ok great theory, but how can the Bagua man really pull this off against random attack? Two big things – first, he must train in such a way that all of his basics, all his circling forms, stepping, everything, reflect and are infused with this principle of using force to change in a spiralling manner whilst the body is like a huge spring filled with many smaller springs (the joints) . Or in other words, integrity of principle and form (a good principle for life) . And second, he must develop the knack of knowing exactly how much pressure to bring to bear on the incoming force. How? Well there are many partner exercises in Bagua which do exactly this, some done whilst one man walks the circle and others attack him, some done on straight lines which repetitively work single changes of line before progressing to using every possible combination of body and limbs. In the same way that a revolving door knows which way to turn against your push so too the trained Bagua man will have made the theory alive and real through plenty of hard work with a partner. The theory holds true for groundwork, against gang attack and with weapons.
Where other arts seek to hold their ground, Bagua allows the ground to vanish beneath one’s feet and thus changes something crucial in the enemy’s perception – the feeling of solidity. Whilst it is a simple concept it depends on the practitioner remaining completely centered in the midst of chaos, the eye at center of the hurricane.
Part Two – Xingyiquan Moving now to the art of Xingyi, we find a boxing which is derived from an ancient method of military spear – move forward with a penetrating strike, if blocked change to a ferocious horizontal whipping attack, and have up your sleeve (so to speak) the ability to spiral the weapon in and out to lead the enemy’s weapon to a position of comparative weakness. Xingyi empty hand skill shows exactly this. The boxer manifests an intent – steady and unwavering due to absolute focus of mental force, rather than emotion-led raving – to completely destroy the physical center of the enemy, in other words his troops are on a one way mission to enter the enemy’s castle. This mindset brings forth attacking methods of exquisite simplicity and effectiveness for the only thing to do is keep progressing against the opposing force, giving way only when overwhelming pressure demands it and even then only changing by a few degrees of body motion until yet another clear route to the castle is opened up. The Xingyi boxer has developed a mind-body which perceives incoming force as something to be destroyed, hence he hones his five main tools (the five fists) such that each one is a potent weapon whose job is to split open, crush, drill through, explode into and grind to pieces the attacker. That he may be hit on the way in is par for the course, mitigated in part by the rubber like quality of the torso and steel likeness of the limbs which comes from the neigong inner force work of the art. Where the Bagua boxer waits calmly for an attack, treating it as a chance to be changed to another space, the Xingyi man aggressively pre-empts any motion towards him and takes change into his own hands. I am sure all of you who have trained hard in one of these arts would have noticed in yourself or perhaps your seniors, how much these types of qualities tend to manifest in not only fighting, but in daily life. The Xingyi man demands a refund for his badly made shoes, giving little ground for compromise until the money is in his hand, whereas the Bagua man changes tact in his dealings with the shopkeeper such that the ground for refusal is taken from beneath their feet and they have no option but to change their way of dealing with the situation – and if refusal persists than the Bagua man may simply walk (barefoot) out of the shop and change brands. Yes it’s a sweeping statement but I think you get the point. This also shows why Wude (martial ethics) are a necessary sheath to guard against misuse of such power. Another insight may have already gone BING! In your mind by this point, before we even begin talking about Taijiquan, and that is that it would be very difficult to truly become more than one method. It would be akin to a giraffe taking up a zebra suit – yes he could get away with it for a while but he would be sticking his neck out. I studied with one Bagua expert who could perform Taijiquan beautifully, but just when you were admiring the black and whiteness of it all here came the deep spiral and those funny little ears. You can only be one thing, although you may be able to explain, perform and understand two or three arts to a high level. And only in the being, the becoming, of your chosen system, comes the mastery, that is the non-seperation between you and the art. This is not to say that Xingyi is only yang or hard. It has many practices where a certain kind of softness and acute sensitivity to force is developed, such as tui-shou or feeling hands exercises coming directly from the five fists methods and their two-man forms. The question of speed, both how to react to fast attack and how to send out one’s own lightning fast strikes, is soon understood to be answered with deep relaxation, such a body state being the most conducive to development of this quality. As soon as contact is made the mind-body of the Xingyi man moves in close to strike, keeping enough pressure on the bridging limb of the attacker that he is mentally put on the back foot – even if his superior weight and strength prevail the Xingyi man will change using as small and subtle a circle as possible and immediately again seek the center. It is this continual crushing mental ploy which wears down an enemy, often in a matter of a second or two. The development of this fascinating fusion of yin and yang forces in the mind and body is an ongoing challenge for the Xingyi boxer, and he can be experiencing intense efforts to balance such forces and the accompanying joy that success in such matters brings, when all the while an onlooker sees a man holding a simple looking stance. Really a mind-boxing! With the study of the twelve animals a whole new and vast horizon of physical and mental dynamics is opened up – but this topic we will leave for another text. For now lets sum up the art of Xingyiquan – my mind will crush your center !! Part Three – Taijiquan Taijiquan – the Great Ultimate Boxing – is certainly one of the most misunderstood martial arts, despite being practiced by more people in the world than any other system. To make this art alive and practical, there is no way to escape the need for deeply infusing the postures with a very fine and subtle kind of awareness, as only from such a state can one begin to work on ‘one part moves, every part moves’, ‘merging of inner and outer’ and ‘constant awareness of the substantial and substantial’. These principles gives a hint as to the mindset developed by the Taijiquan expert – the ability to unite oneself with an attacker and allow his motion to dictate the dynamic much as a fine little cog inside of a Swiss watch (let’s not talk of poor imitations....) is acted upon by another cog. This relies on a skill which is taken to a very high level in this art, the Ting Jin or skill of listening. A Taiji boxer’s whole body develops acute sensitivity whilst keeping a very yin or passive state of being, and a physical state characterised by extreme softness – whereas the hard battering ram of Xingyi and the flexible steel spring of Bagua also require acute mental and physical sensitivity to apply , in Taiji the emphasis is on leading the enemy into emptiness such that his ability to issue force is entirely negated using the barest minimum of effort. This is the ‘steel hidden in the cotton’ , for at the very moment of the enemy being led into an energetic hole which has seemingly appeared out of nowhere (somewhat like a matador leads a charging bull to a place where its power is spent) the Taiji boxer manifests the yang energy held in reserve deep inside his center and defeats the attacker in what may seem to be a ‘mysterious way’. This is sometimes seen in push hands matches with an old master, where decades of working this listening skill allow him to defeat stronger, bigger men with what seems ridiculous ease. This ease, mental and postural, charactises Taijiquan much as explosive power and constant spiral change could be said to characterise Xingyi and Bagua respectively. Each of the three arts uses a blend of yin and yang forces in varying degrees. This brings us to the topic of tui-shou or push hands – what we see of this two person exercise in the parks and classes of today tends to resemble a kind of social/sportative/wrestling event (not to decry wrestling, for in its form of Sumo it displays very high levels of Ting Jin and explosive power....however it is not Taiji). You will even see people chatting as they practice! (Actually we have practices for singing and talking whilst training, but this is another thing....). My teachers never talked about ‘push hands’ but rather they did with me a wide range of contact drills which began slow set and worked up to very fast and spontaneous – the principles which rang in my ears during those years of learning were ‘don’t think, feel’ , ‘not useful, look – BAM!’ , ‘you are stuck, look – BAM!!’. ‘what? Its only a bruise!’ and ‘ok – how to change well from here?’ and such things – in such a way you can develop over time the knack of understanding a huge amount about your partner’s (read ‘enemy’ if you teacher is of a somewhat cruel or malicious disposition) postural weakness and strength, his mental state, where he is substantial and insubstantial, his breathing cycle, which gates are opened and closed and much about the yin and yang forces manifesting in him at any given moment. Much can also be gleaned about his ego-state which is a topic which has to be addressed at some point in the journey for oneself – a gongfu brother and I experimented for a period of a few years with projecting qualities such as jealousy , pride, ruthlessness, rage, sneakiness and others, and seeking to know their manifestations in ourselves and others. Once such things become clear, and one is not afraid of owning up to having them, many interesting things about posture and how we relate to each other start to make sense. For example, we see a western teacher demonstrating fighting techniques and as he completes the move he holds the posture for just a second in the air – its that little YEAH! That displays itself – or the training partner who always hits you as your back is turned and so on. I know my esteemed readers will not have such things within them, but I am sure you have seen them in others ! So much more can be said about these three arts way of dealing with force but I am keeping this as a brief introduction. The next texts will deal with technical aspects of the arts, the actual methods and practices and how they are applied.