詳論形意八卦太極之原理
拳術之犖犖大者。約分三派。一少林。二武當。三峨眉。其餘門類繁多。大半不出此三派之範圍，少林始於達摩之易筋、洗髓、兩經。至有宋岳武穆。始有形意拳之名。卽易筋之作用也。謂之形意。形卽形式。意卽心意。由心之所發。而以手足形容也。其拳有五綱十二目。五綱者。金、木、水、火、土，五行也。而拳中、有劈、崩、躦、炮、横、之五拳。十二目者。卽十二形也。有龍、虎、猴、馬、鼍、鷄、鷂、鴿、燕、蛇、鷹、熊、是也。其取此十二形者。卽取性能。而又能包括一切。所謂盡人之性。則能盡物之性。何以知其然也。劈拳屬金。在人〔屬肺。崩拳屬木。在人屬肝。鑽拳屬水。在〕人屬腎。炮拳屬火。在人屬心。横拳屬土。在人屬脾。練之旣久。可以袪五臟之病。此謂居人之性也。至若龍有搜骨之法。虎有撲食之猛。猴有縱山之靈，熊有浮水之性。推之其他八形。各有其妙。此所謂居物之性也。人物之性旣居。起落進退。變化無窮。是其智也。得中和。體物不遺。是其仁也。心與意合。意與氣合。氣與力合。為內三合。肩與胯合。肘與膝合。手與足合。為外三合。內外如一。成為六合。是其勇也。三者旣備。動作運用。上下相連。手足相顧。至大至剛。養吾浩然之氣。與儒家誠中。形外之理。一以貫之。此形意拳之大槪也。
拳術之犖犖大者。約分三派。一少林。二武當。三峨眉。其餘門類繁多。大半不出此三派之範圍，少林始於達摩之易筋、洗髓、兩經。至有宋岳武穆。始有形意拳之名。卽易筋之作用也。謂之形意。形卽形式。意卽心意。由心之所發。而以手足形容也。其拳有五綱十二目。五綱者。金、木、水、火、土，五行也。而拳中、有劈、崩、躦、炮、横、之五拳。十二目者。卽十二形也。有龍、虎、猴、馬、鼍、鷄、鷂、鴿、燕、蛇、鷹、熊、是也。其取此十二形者。卽取性能。而又能包括一切。所謂盡人之性。則能盡物之性。何以知其然也。劈拳屬金。在人〔屬肺。崩拳屬木。在人屬肝。鑽拳屬水。在〕人屬腎。炮拳屬火。在人屬心。横拳屬土。在人屬脾。練之旣久。可以袪五臟之病。此謂居人之性也。至若龍有搜骨之法。虎有撲食之猛。猴有縱山之靈，熊有浮水之性。推之其他八形。各有其妙。此所謂居物之性也。人物之性旣居。起落進退。變化無窮。是其智也。得中和。體物不遺。是其仁也。心與意合。意與氣合。氣與力合。為內三合。肩與胯合。肘與膝合。手與足合。為外三合。內外如一。成為六合。是其勇也。三者旣備。動作運用。上下相連。手足相顧。至大至剛。養吾浩然之氣。與儒家誠中。形外之理。一以貫之。此形意拳之大槪也。
"The major boxing arts are generally divided into three schools: Shaolin, Wudang, and Emei. As for the rest, there is a great variety, but more than half can be classified under these schools. Shaolin began with Damo’s two classics – Sinew Changing and Marrow Washing. Then Yue Fei in the Song Dynasty started what was called Xingyi Boxing, applying his own Bone Changing Classic and calling his art Xingyi [“form” & “intent”]. “Form” means the shape. “Intent” means the mental intention. What is expressed from the mind manifests in the hands and feet.
This boxing art has “five cores” and “twelve imitations”. The five cores are the five elements – metal, wood, water, fire, earth – which make the five boxing techniques of chopping, crashing, drilling, blasting, and crossing. The twelve imitations are the twelve animals: dragon, tiger, monkey, horse, alligator, rooster, hawk, kestrel, swallow, snake, eagle, and bear. Strive for the instincts and abilities of these twelve animals, and to be able to incorporate within yourself everything they can do. Thus it is said [in the Zhong Yong]: “Giving full expression to human nature, one is thus able to give full expression to the nature of animals.”
What should we understand to be the nature of this art? The chopping technique corresponds to metal, and in the body to the lungs. The crashing technique corresponds to wood, and in the body to the liver. The drilling technique corresponds to water, and in the body to the kidneys. The blasting technique corresponds to fire, and in the body to the heart. The crossing technique corresponds to earth, and in the body to the spleen. After practicing for a long time, it can dispel the ailments of the five organs. This is called “ingraining human nature”.
As for the animals, the dragon has the method of shrinking its body, the tiger has the fierceness of pouncing on prey, the monkey has the nimbleness of bounding up hillsides, the bear [alligator] has the quality of floating on water, and the other eight animals each have their own ingenuities. This is called “ingraining the nature of animals”.
When both human and animal natures are ingrained, then lifting and dropping, advancing and retreating, transforming without limit, will all as a result be performed with resourcefulness.
Obtaining a state of centered harmoniousness, the essence of the animal does not get discarded and yet the result is humanity.
Mind is united with the intention, the intention united with the energy, and the energy united with the power. These are the three internal unions. The shoulder is united with the hip, the elbow united with the knee, and the hand united with the foot. These are the three external unions. The internal and external unions merged together makes the six unions, and the result is courage.
Once these three things [resourcefulness, humanity, courage] are prepared, then in every action and movement, upper body and lower will be coordinated with each other, hand and foot will be aligned with each other, and you will be [from Mengzi, chapter 2a:] “nurturing your noble energy… until it is vast and strong”. It is within the Confucian concept of sincerity that can be found the key to these external shapes, the [from the Lun Yu, 15.3:] “single principle running through the whole thing”. These are the main ideas of Xingyi Boxing."
Translation by Paul Brennan of "A Detailed Look at the Theories of Xingyi, Bagua and Taichi" (詳論形意八卦太極之原理) by Sūn Lùtáng (孫祿堂), to be found in the Brennan Translation blog.
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