The Taìjítú (太極圖) displaying the Yīnyáng (陰陽) complementary pair is certainly the most recognizable and abused symbols linked to chinese martial arts - it is easy to grasp and easier still to overextend it. However, as it permeates the whole of chinese culture - medicine, arts, cuisine and martial arts - it is useful to try to have a sober understanding of its application in martial arts based on the martial arts texts.
The idea is ancient, the different texts of the pre-Han age point to a system explaining the universe by what became widely known as the of the Yin-Yang school or School of the Naturalists (陰陽家). These first written records survived to us through mentions to Zōu Yǎn (鄒衍) who lived at the end of the period of the warring states (475 – 221 BC) . This cosmological system was based on the principle of ressonance (感應) observed in music, and correlations were made between directions, seasons, calendar, colors, numbers and musical notes that were codifiend through the Yīnyáng (陰陽) and the Five Phases (五行). These correlations are the basis of the Early-Han consolidation of the cosmological view and the different schools (Taoist, Legalist, Confucionist) and survived to our days to be adopted in new age and esoteric circles in the west.
Given its depth, it is naturally ingrained in the culture. Close to Martial Arts, there is for example the Confucian saying "Inner Sage Outer King" (內聖外王) that a balanced ethical approach to the world, with introspective learning and extrovert participation in society are developend by an individual. Even closer, there are the ideas of Learning (文) and Martial (武) cultivation as a pair that is fundamental to the practice.
Anne cheng explains it clearly in her "Histoire de le Pensée Chinoise" (History of Chinese Thought):
"The Yang/Yin couple, thus becoming the prototype of all duality, can serve as a paradigm for all couples (Heaven-Earth, above-below, in front-behind, masculine-feminine, etc.). Although of opposite natures, Yin and Yang are at the same time united and complementary: one cannot operate without the other, the decline of one signifying at the same time the development of the other. In this, the duality of Yin and Yang is the characteristic par excellence of Chinese thought which willingly conceives of opposites as complementary and not as mutually exclusive. Even when placed in a position of superiority, Yang does not exclude Yin in the way that good excludes evil, truth excludes error, or the absolute excludes the relative."
It is useful to look for these characteristics in the instructions and concepts advanced by Martial Arts Masters:
It is worth noting that the transformations of phases can happen fast or slow, but they are never abrupt - there is continuity in them, and this points to one of the fundamentals of Tàijíquán (太極拳) pointed by Yang Chengfu (楊澄甫), "The practice is a single thread throughout" (一線串成), commonly translated as "continuous without breaking".
陰陽 in Martial Arts texts
In fact, Yang Chengfu (楊澄甫) explains it at the very begininning of his book "Methods of Applying Taiji Boxing" (太極拳使用法):
太極圖
Diagram of the Grand Polarity
陰 陽
The Passive (Yin) / The Active (Yang)
太極圖之義陰陽相生剛柔相濟千變萬化太極拳即由此而出也推手即太極之圖形
The idea within the Taiji diagram is that passive and active generate each other, hardness and softness assist each other, and the polarities endless transform into each other. Taiji Boxing comes from this, and the pushing hands is the manifestation of this symbol.
In his "Taiji Boxing Explained" (太極拳釋義) by Dong Yingjie (董英傑), Yang Chengfu's (楊澄甫) student writes:
太極拳象徵陰陽循環之理。陰陽也。虛實也。動靜也。開闔也。循環周行。貫串延綿不斷也。
Taiji” Boxing signifies the principle of the alternation of the passive and active aspects. Complementary opposites such as passive and active, empty and full, movement and stillness, opening and closing, and so on, cycle continuously and ceaselessly. This is why the movements are endlessly transforming.
Probably the most primary use the 陰陽 (yīnyáng) is for positional instruction. The correlation of yáng (陽) with sky (天) and upwards (上) direction, and conversely of yīn (陰) with the earth (地) and everything that is downwards (下), allow for easy descriptions of positions relative to the vertical axis.
For example in the 武當劍手法陰陽圈 (Wudang's Sword Hand Positions Modeled upon the YinYang Circle) where the position of the palm, either upwards or downwards, or anything in the middle is described using the yīnyáng (陰陽):
In his Study of Bagua Boxing (八卦拳學), Sūn Lùtáng (孫祿堂) even classifies the direction of circle walking:
左旋之而為陽。右轉之而為陰。
Leftward circle walking is active. Rightward circle walking is passive.
Beyond the direct positional instruction using Yīnyáng (陰陽), a large number of complementary pairs appears in the Internal Martial Arts instructions, specially, but not limited to, in the Tàijíquán (太極拳) literature .
Complementary Pairs in the Body
The first type of instructions is related to identifying the complementary pairs in the body. In this kind of instruction, the emphasis is put on the complementarity itself, and less on the dynamic nature of the relation of the Yīnyáng (陰陽) pair.
The single most common and important one is mentioned in every Martial Arts manual - the instruction that leads to the upright posture of the body as making the distinction between Press Upwards (頂) and Sink (沉). Here, in the version found in "Taiji Boxing Explained" (太極拳釋義) by Dong Yingjie (董英傑):
虛靈頂勁。氣沉丹田。
Forcelessly press up your headtop. Energy sinks to your elixir field.
In the chapter "The Core Principle" (章) from "Chen Changxing's Ten Essentials of Taiji Boxing" ( 陳長興太極拳十大要論) that can be found in the "General Explanations of Taiji Boxing" (太極拳學入門總解) by Chen Jifu (陳績甫) one can find instructions on another two pairs: Inside (內) and outside (外); Front (前) and back (後), and where we are reminded that each of this pairs is a really a single unit:
內外相連，前後相需，所謂一以貫之者，其斯之謂歟！而要非勉强以致之，襲焉而為之也。
Inside and out are linked together. Front and back are relying on each other. When we talk of linking into one, this is what is meant. But it is crucial that you do not force it to happen or try to sneak up on it, for that will not make it work.
In the same text, on the chapter "Energy" (氣) there is a further reminder: these pairs occur naturally, and cannot be separated. Living beings cannot do without both Inhale (呼) and Exhale (吸), Movement (動) and Stillness (靜) :
然分而言之為陰陽，渾而言之統為氣；氣不能無陰陽，即所謂人不能無動靜，鼻不能無呼吸，口不能無出入，而所以為對待迴還之理也。
When separated, they are described as the passive and active aspects. When mixed together, they are described as a single energy. Energy cannot be without its passive and active aspects. Along the same lines, the body cannot be without its movement and stillness, the nose cannot be without its inhalations and exhalations, and the mouth cannot be without what comes out from it [as in talking] and what goes into it [as in eating].
This is the concept of the eternal cycling of opposites.
Complementary Pairs and the Mind
The complementary pairs apply not only to the body, but also to the "Mind" (心).There is a pair that is rarely presented as such, "Listen" (聽) and "Intention" (意). "Listen" is linked to sensitivity (感覺), the ability to sense and identifies the opponent position and intention, it takes into awareness the incoming signs from the opponent. It is possible to read in the chapter "Estimating the Opponent" (量敵) by Wu Gongzao's (吳公藻) in Taichi Boxing Explained (太極拳講義):
太極拳之所謂間答。卽問其動靜。目的在聽其勁之方向與重心。卽偵察敵情之意。所謂量敵也。彼我在未進行攻擊以前。吾應以靜待動。以逸待勞。毫無成見。彼未動。我不動。彼微動。我先動。貴在彼我相交一動之間。卽知其虛實而應付之。此均由於感覺。聽勁，虛實，問答，量敵，而來。學者應注意致力焉。
In Taiji Boxing’s “asking and answering”, inquire into the state of his movement or stillness, the purpose being to “listen” for the direction of his energy and the position of his center of balance. Estimating the opponent is therefore the same idea as reconnoitering the enemy’s situation. Before you and he and have advanced to attack each other, you should be using stillness to await his movement, using leisure to await his fatigue, and be entirely without any certainties as to what he is going to do. “If he takes no action, I take no action, but once he takes even the slightest action, I have already acted.” It is vital in the moment you connect that you learn the status of his emptiness and fullness in order to deal with it. To estimate the opponent is all down to sensitivity, listening to energy, asking and answering, and emptiness and fullness. You have to devote your attention to it.
Intention (意), on the other hand goes outward. Intention springs (意) from the mind towards the whole body, a point that is made over and over in the different schools. For example, in his Study of Xingyi Boxing (形意拳學), Sūn Lùtáng (孫祿堂) makes this point very clear:
是故心意誠於中。而萬物形於外。內外總是一氣之流行也。
The intention comes from the mind. Therefore when the mind’s intention is genuine within, effects will manifest externally, internal and external always operating in unison.
Tactics and Techniques
The utilisation of the complementary pairs in martial tactics is very ancient. There is a whole chapter in the Sunzi's Art of War (孫子兵法) that is usually translated as "Weak and Strong Points", but it litteraly means "Empty and Full". Here the emphasis is on the dynamic aspects of the complementarity - generating and transforming one element into another. In its closing paragraph, the chapter calls for the ability to understand and use the natural cycles to on's advantage:
能因敵變化而取勝，謂之神。故五行無常勝，四時無常位，日有短長，月有死生。
He who can modify his tactics in relation to his opponent and thereby succeed in winning, may be called a heaven-born captain. The five elements (water, fire, wood, metal, earth) are not always equally predominant; the four seasons make way for each other in turn. There are short days and long; the moon has its periods of waning and waxing.
Many of the writings on Taijiquan point to this chapter explicitly or implicitly. For example, there is a chapter in Wu Gongzao's (吳公藻) Taichi Boxing Explained (太極拳講義) that has exactly the same title, where one can read:
知虛實而善利用。雖虛為實。雖實猶虛。以實擊虛。避實擊虛
Understand emptiness and fullness, and be good at making use of them. Being empty, become full. Becoming full, seem still to be empty. Attack a place of emptiness by filling it in. Avoid a place of fullness by emptying.
Almost as a corolary in the same book, we can read softness (柔) and hardness (剛) :
用剛不可無柔，無柔則還遶不速。用柔不可無剛，無剛則催逼不捷。剛柔相濟，則粘，遊，連，隨，騰，閃，折，空，掤，攄，擠，捺。無不得其自然矣。剛柔不可偏用，用武豈可忽耶。
When using hardness, it must not be completely without softness, for if there is no softness at all, actions of coiling will lack swiftness. When using softness, it must not be completely without hardness, for if there is no hardness at all, actions of crowding will lack decisiveness. With hardness and softness properly complementing each other, the actions of sticking, adhering, connecting, following, agitating, evading, folding, emptying, warding off, rolling back, pressing, and pushing will all be executed with naturalness. You cannot decide to use only hardness or only softness. You have to have both. To apply martial techniques, this point must not be ignored.
Other manoeuvers are hence classified according to this principle. For example, Advance (進) and retreat (退) in the Wang Zongyue's Reveal and Conceal Spear Manual (王宗岳陰符鎗譜) published by Tang Hao (唐豪), one can read:
陽進陰退，
Advance is active. Retreat is passive.
In another text attributed to Wang Zongyue (王宗岳), in this case his Taiji Boxing Treatise (太極拳論) one can read (here in the version found in Taiji Boxing Explained" (太極拳釋義) by Dong Yingjie (董英傑), the capabilities of Bending (曲) and Extending (伸) are combined with the tactics of Complying (隨) and Engaging (就):
無過不及。隨曲就伸。
Neither going too far nor not far enough, comply and bend, then engage and extend.
And in the same text, one can find the complementarity of two of the most mentioned abilities in Taijiquan: Sticking (黏) and yielding (走):
黏卽是走。走卽是黏。
In sticking there is yielding and in yielding there is sticking.
The Art of War (孫子兵法) also warns against giving away too much information to the opponent. It actually calls for an intelligent use of information, and places a confrontation as an war for information:
故策之而知得失之計，作之而知動靜之理，形之而知死生之地，角之而知有餘不足之處。
Scheme so as to discover his plans and the likelihood of their success. Rouse him, and learn the principle of his activity or inactivity. Force him to reveal himself, so as to find out his vulnerable spots. Carefully compare the opposing army with your own, so that you may know where strength is superabundant and where it is deficient.
In the Treatise of Taiji Boxing (太極拳論) by Wang Zongyue (王宗岳) as reported by Dong Yingjie (董英傑), the notion of manipulating the information that is given, using hide (隱) and appear (現):
忽隱忽現。
Suddenly hide and suddenly appear.
This idea is also captured in the description of many of the pairs that are usual in martial arts litterature. For example, Chen Yiren (陳亦人) adresses gather (收) and release (放):
收放勿露形
Gathering and releasing should not be telegraphed.
Chen Yiren (陳亦人) adds that the utilisaation of the pairs does not just happen by themselves, their utilisation is strategic and deliberate, for example on the passage about Loose (鬆) and Tight (緊).
鬆緊要自主
Loosening and tensing should be deliberate actions rather than unconscious reactions.
And finally, Wu Gongzao (吳公藻) also mention the generation of force as an outcome of paying the correct attention to complementary pairs:
全體彈簧力。開合一定間
Your whole body has a springy force in the instant between opening and closing.
The direction of practice
In his "History of Chinese Philosophy" Feng Youlan (馮友蘭) points to a very ancient pair that was central to Daoism (道) though, the non-being (無) and being (有) pair. It is introduced straight into the first chapter of the Dao De Jing (道德經), here in his translation:
道可道，非常道。名可名，非常名。無名天地之始；有名萬物之母。
The Dao that can be trodden is not the enduring and unchanging Dao. The name that can be named is not the enduring and unchanging name. (Conceived of as) having no name, it is the Originator of heaven and earth; (conceived of as) having a name, it is the Mother of all things.
Sūn Lùtáng (孫祿堂) is the first to bring these notions into the practice of Martial Arts, which is described in all his books. The Daoist (道) notions of non-being (無) and being (有) pair and return to non-being (無) was introduced through the traditional concepts in traditional chinese thought that also work in pairs: indifferentiation (無極) and grand polarity (太極). Sūn Lùtáng (孫祿堂) frames the beginning of practice moves from indifferentiation (無極) to maximum polarity (太極). For example in his Study of Xingyi Boxing (形意拳學), one can see how the non-polarity, indifferentiated state (無極) is a static, disorganised and fragmented state, that precedes practice:
無極者。當人未練之先。無思無意。無形無象。無我無他。胸中混混沌沌。一氣渾淪。無所向意者也。
Nonpolarity is the state you are in before commencing practice, without thoughts or ideas, without form or shape, without a sense of “me” or “him”. In the mind, all is mixed and without distinction, a continuous vagueness, nothing being thought about.
In his Study of Bagua Boxing (八卦拳學) we can find an account of how the grand polarity (太極) emerges from indifferentiation (無極) and organises the movement and sets a continuous flow in movement:
太極形式者。無極而生。陰陽之母也。左旋之而為陽。右轉之而為陰。旋轉乃一氣之流行。太極即一氣。一氣即太極也。
The Grand Polarity Posture arises from nonpolarity, then gives rise to the passive and active aspects. Leftward circle walking is active. Rightward circle walking is passive. In either case, it is a continuous flow. The grand polarity is continuousness. Continuousness is the grand polarity.
In one of his essays, Some Things I Have Told About Martial Arts (拳術述聞), Sūn Lùtáng (孫祿堂) completes the cycle, putting the return to non-being (無) "Boxing without Boxing" (拳無拳) as the ultimate goal:
余曰。拳劍之理。大别有三。其一。上下相連。手足相顧。內外如一。其二。不卽不離。不丢不頂。勿忘勿助。其三。拳無拳。意無意。無意之中。是真意也。
I said: “The principles of boxing arts and sword arts roughly amount to three:
References:
楊澄甫 Yang Chengfu, 太極拳使用法 Methods of Applying Taiji Boxing, 神州國光社 Society for Chinese National Glory, Jan, 1931, translated by Paul Brennan, Nov 2011
黃元秀 Huang Yuanxiu, 武當劍法大要 Essentials of the Wudang Sword Art,商務印書館 The Commercial Press, LTD, Shanghai, July, 1931,translated by Paul Brennan, Jun 2014
董英傑 Dong Yingjie, 太極拳釋義 Taiji Boxing Explained, 1948, Translated by Paul Brenna, July 2022
陳亦人 Chen Yiren, 六合八法拳學 A Study of Liuhebafa Boxing, Hong Kong, 1969, Translated by Paul Brennan, May 2021
吳公藻 Wu Gongzao, 太極拳講義 Taiji Boxing Explained, 1935, 湖南國術訓練所 Hunan Martial Arts Training Institute, Translated by Paul Brennan, December 2018
陳績甫 Chen Jifu, 太極拳學入門總解 General Explanations of Taiji Boxing Fundamentals, 1930, Translated by Paul Brennan, September 2019
唐豪 Tang Hao, 王宗岳太極拳經 / 王宗岳陰符鎗譜 An Analysis of Wang Zongyue's Taiji Boxing Classics and Conceal and Reveal Spear Manual, May 1st, 1936, Translated by Paul Brennan, November 2023
孫福全 Sun Fuquan [Lutang], 形意拳學 A Study of Xingyi Boxing, 1915, Translated by Paul Brennan, May 2015
孫福全 Sun Fuquan [Lutang], 八卦拳學 A Study of Bagua Boxing, 1917, Translated by Paul Brennan, April 2015
孫福全 Sun Fuquan [Lutang], Some Things I Have Been Told About Martial Arts”, 1929, Translated by Paul Brennan, May 2015
Yu-lan Fung, Bodde, Derek A History of Chinese Philosophy, vol.1: The Period of the Philosophers,Princeton University Press,August 21, 1983, ISBN-13 : 978-0691020211
Anne Cheng, Histoire de la Pensée Chinoise, Edition Points, October 23, 2014, ISBN-13 : 978-2757844441
孫子兵法 - The Art of War, 虛實 - Weak Points and Strong, Chinese Text Project
The idea is ancient, the different texts of the pre-Han age point to a system explaining the universe by what became widely known as the of the Yin-Yang school or School of the Naturalists (陰陽家). These first written records survived to us through mentions to Zōu Yǎn (鄒衍) who lived at the end of the period of the warring states (475 – 221 BC) . This cosmological system was based on the principle of ressonance (感應) observed in music, and correlations were made between directions, seasons, calendar, colors, numbers and musical notes that were codifiend through the Yīnyáng (陰陽) and the Five Phases (五行). These correlations are the basis of the Early-Han consolidation of the cosmological view and the different schools (Taoist, Legalist, Confucionist) and survived to our days to be adopted in new age and esoteric circles in the west.
Given its depth, it is naturally ingrained in the culture. Close to Martial Arts, there is for example the Confucian saying "Inner Sage Outer King" (內聖外王) that a balanced ethical approach to the world, with introspective learning and extrovert participation in society are developend by an individual. Even closer, there are the ideas of Learning (文) and Martial (武) cultivation as a pair that is fundamental to the practice.
Anne cheng explains it clearly in her "Histoire de le Pensée Chinoise" (History of Chinese Thought):
"The Yang/Yin couple, thus becoming the prototype of all duality, can serve as a paradigm for all couples (Heaven-Earth, above-below, in front-behind, masculine-feminine, etc.). Although of opposite natures, Yin and Yang are at the same time united and complementary: one cannot operate without the other, the decline of one signifying at the same time the development of the other. In this, the duality of Yin and Yang is the characteristic par excellence of Chinese thought which willingly conceives of opposites as complementary and not as mutually exclusive. Even when placed in a position of superiority, Yang does not exclude Yin in the way that good excludes evil, truth excludes error, or the absolute excludes the relative."
It is useful to look for these characteristics in the instructions and concepts advanced by Martial Arts Masters:
- The elements in these pairs cannot exist one without the other, and they effectively work as one
- Opposed, interdependent and complementary pairs, they support each other
- They exist in a dynamic equilibrium, when one declines the other rises continuously
- In each one of the pairs exists the seeds of the other
It is worth noting that the transformations of phases can happen fast or slow, but they are never abrupt - there is continuity in them, and this points to one of the fundamentals of Tàijíquán (太極拳) pointed by Yang Chengfu (楊澄甫), "The practice is a single thread throughout" (一線串成), commonly translated as "continuous without breaking".
陰陽 in Martial Arts texts
In fact, Yang Chengfu (楊澄甫) explains it at the very begininning of his book "Methods of Applying Taiji Boxing" (太極拳使用法):
太極圖
Diagram of the Grand Polarity
陰 陽
The Passive (Yin) / The Active (Yang)
太極圖之義陰陽相生剛柔相濟千變萬化太極拳即由此而出也推手即太極之圖形
The idea within the Taiji diagram is that passive and active generate each other, hardness and softness assist each other, and the polarities endless transform into each other. Taiji Boxing comes from this, and the pushing hands is the manifestation of this symbol.
In his "Taiji Boxing Explained" (太極拳釋義) by Dong Yingjie (董英傑), Yang Chengfu's (楊澄甫) student writes:
太極拳象徵陰陽循環之理。陰陽也。虛實也。動靜也。開闔也。循環周行。貫串延綿不斷也。
Taiji” Boxing signifies the principle of the alternation of the passive and active aspects. Complementary opposites such as passive and active, empty and full, movement and stillness, opening and closing, and so on, cycle continuously and ceaselessly. This is why the movements are endlessly transforming.
Probably the most primary use the 陰陽 (yīnyáng) is for positional instruction. The correlation of yáng (陽) with sky (天) and upwards (上) direction, and conversely of yīn (陰) with the earth (地) and everything that is downwards (下), allow for easy descriptions of positions relative to the vertical axis.
For example in the 武當劍手法陰陽圈 (Wudang's Sword Hand Positions Modeled upon the YinYang Circle) where the position of the palm, either upwards or downwards, or anything in the middle is described using the yīnyáng (陰陽):
In his Study of Bagua Boxing (八卦拳學), Sūn Lùtáng (孫祿堂) even classifies the direction of circle walking:
左旋之而為陽。右轉之而為陰。
Leftward circle walking is active. Rightward circle walking is passive.
Beyond the direct positional instruction using Yīnyáng (陰陽), a large number of complementary pairs appears in the Internal Martial Arts instructions, specially, but not limited to, in the Tàijíquán (太極拳) literature .
Complementary Pairs in the Body
The first type of instructions is related to identifying the complementary pairs in the body. In this kind of instruction, the emphasis is put on the complementarity itself, and less on the dynamic nature of the relation of the Yīnyáng (陰陽) pair.
The single most common and important one is mentioned in every Martial Arts manual - the instruction that leads to the upright posture of the body as making the distinction between Press Upwards (頂) and Sink (沉). Here, in the version found in "Taiji Boxing Explained" (太極拳釋義) by Dong Yingjie (董英傑):
虛靈頂勁。氣沉丹田。
Forcelessly press up your headtop. Energy sinks to your elixir field.
In the chapter "The Core Principle" (章) from "Chen Changxing's Ten Essentials of Taiji Boxing" ( 陳長興太極拳十大要論) that can be found in the "General Explanations of Taiji Boxing" (太極拳學入門總解) by Chen Jifu (陳績甫) one can find instructions on another two pairs: Inside (內) and outside (外); Front (前) and back (後), and where we are reminded that each of this pairs is a really a single unit:
內外相連，前後相需，所謂一以貫之者，其斯之謂歟！而要非勉强以致之，襲焉而為之也。
Inside and out are linked together. Front and back are relying on each other. When we talk of linking into one, this is what is meant. But it is crucial that you do not force it to happen or try to sneak up on it, for that will not make it work.
In the same text, on the chapter "Energy" (氣) there is a further reminder: these pairs occur naturally, and cannot be separated. Living beings cannot do without both Inhale (呼) and Exhale (吸), Movement (動) and Stillness (靜) :
然分而言之為陰陽，渾而言之統為氣；氣不能無陰陽，即所謂人不能無動靜，鼻不能無呼吸，口不能無出入，而所以為對待迴還之理也。
When separated, they are described as the passive and active aspects. When mixed together, they are described as a single energy. Energy cannot be without its passive and active aspects. Along the same lines, the body cannot be without its movement and stillness, the nose cannot be without its inhalations and exhalations, and the mouth cannot be without what comes out from it [as in talking] and what goes into it [as in eating].
This is the concept of the eternal cycling of opposites.
Complementary Pairs and the Mind
The complementary pairs apply not only to the body, but also to the "Mind" (心).There is a pair that is rarely presented as such, "Listen" (聽) and "Intention" (意). "Listen" is linked to sensitivity (感覺), the ability to sense and identifies the opponent position and intention, it takes into awareness the incoming signs from the opponent. It is possible to read in the chapter "Estimating the Opponent" (量敵) by Wu Gongzao's (吳公藻) in Taichi Boxing Explained (太極拳講義):
太極拳之所謂間答。卽問其動靜。目的在聽其勁之方向與重心。卽偵察敵情之意。所謂量敵也。彼我在未進行攻擊以前。吾應以靜待動。以逸待勞。毫無成見。彼未動。我不動。彼微動。我先動。貴在彼我相交一動之間。卽知其虛實而應付之。此均由於感覺。聽勁，虛實，問答，量敵，而來。學者應注意致力焉。
In Taiji Boxing’s “asking and answering”, inquire into the state of his movement or stillness, the purpose being to “listen” for the direction of his energy and the position of his center of balance. Estimating the opponent is therefore the same idea as reconnoitering the enemy’s situation. Before you and he and have advanced to attack each other, you should be using stillness to await his movement, using leisure to await his fatigue, and be entirely without any certainties as to what he is going to do. “If he takes no action, I take no action, but once he takes even the slightest action, I have already acted.” It is vital in the moment you connect that you learn the status of his emptiness and fullness in order to deal with it. To estimate the opponent is all down to sensitivity, listening to energy, asking and answering, and emptiness and fullness. You have to devote your attention to it.
Intention (意), on the other hand goes outward. Intention springs (意) from the mind towards the whole body, a point that is made over and over in the different schools. For example, in his Study of Xingyi Boxing (形意拳學), Sūn Lùtáng (孫祿堂) makes this point very clear:
是故心意誠於中。而萬物形於外。內外總是一氣之流行也。
The intention comes from the mind. Therefore when the mind’s intention is genuine within, effects will manifest externally, internal and external always operating in unison.
Tactics and Techniques
The utilisation of the complementary pairs in martial tactics is very ancient. There is a whole chapter in the Sunzi's Art of War (孫子兵法) that is usually translated as "Weak and Strong Points", but it litteraly means "Empty and Full". Here the emphasis is on the dynamic aspects of the complementarity - generating and transforming one element into another. In its closing paragraph, the chapter calls for the ability to understand and use the natural cycles to on's advantage:
能因敵變化而取勝，謂之神。故五行無常勝，四時無常位，日有短長，月有死生。
He who can modify his tactics in relation to his opponent and thereby succeed in winning, may be called a heaven-born captain. The five elements (water, fire, wood, metal, earth) are not always equally predominant; the four seasons make way for each other in turn. There are short days and long; the moon has its periods of waning and waxing.
Many of the writings on Taijiquan point to this chapter explicitly or implicitly. For example, there is a chapter in Wu Gongzao's (吳公藻) Taichi Boxing Explained (太極拳講義) that has exactly the same title, where one can read:
知虛實而善利用。雖虛為實。雖實猶虛。以實擊虛。避實擊虛
Understand emptiness and fullness, and be good at making use of them. Being empty, become full. Becoming full, seem still to be empty. Attack a place of emptiness by filling it in. Avoid a place of fullness by emptying.
Almost as a corolary in the same book, we can read softness (柔) and hardness (剛) :
用剛不可無柔，無柔則還遶不速。用柔不可無剛，無剛則催逼不捷。剛柔相濟，則粘，遊，連，隨，騰，閃，折，空，掤，攄，擠，捺。無不得其自然矣。剛柔不可偏用，用武豈可忽耶。
When using hardness, it must not be completely without softness, for if there is no softness at all, actions of coiling will lack swiftness. When using softness, it must not be completely without hardness, for if there is no hardness at all, actions of crowding will lack decisiveness. With hardness and softness properly complementing each other, the actions of sticking, adhering, connecting, following, agitating, evading, folding, emptying, warding off, rolling back, pressing, and pushing will all be executed with naturalness. You cannot decide to use only hardness or only softness. You have to have both. To apply martial techniques, this point must not be ignored.
Other manoeuvers are hence classified according to this principle. For example, Advance (進) and retreat (退) in the Wang Zongyue's Reveal and Conceal Spear Manual (王宗岳陰符鎗譜) published by Tang Hao (唐豪), one can read:
陽進陰退，
Advance is active. Retreat is passive.
In another text attributed to Wang Zongyue (王宗岳), in this case his Taiji Boxing Treatise (太極拳論) one can read (here in the version found in Taiji Boxing Explained" (太極拳釋義) by Dong Yingjie (董英傑), the capabilities of Bending (曲) and Extending (伸) are combined with the tactics of Complying (隨) and Engaging (就):
無過不及。隨曲就伸。
Neither going too far nor not far enough, comply and bend, then engage and extend.
And in the same text, one can find the complementarity of two of the most mentioned abilities in Taijiquan: Sticking (黏) and yielding (走):
黏卽是走。走卽是黏。
In sticking there is yielding and in yielding there is sticking.
The Art of War (孫子兵法) also warns against giving away too much information to the opponent. It actually calls for an intelligent use of information, and places a confrontation as an war for information:
故策之而知得失之計，作之而知動靜之理，形之而知死生之地，角之而知有餘不足之處。
Scheme so as to discover his plans and the likelihood of their success. Rouse him, and learn the principle of his activity or inactivity. Force him to reveal himself, so as to find out his vulnerable spots. Carefully compare the opposing army with your own, so that you may know where strength is superabundant and where it is deficient.
In the Treatise of Taiji Boxing (太極拳論) by Wang Zongyue (王宗岳) as reported by Dong Yingjie (董英傑), the notion of manipulating the information that is given, using hide (隱) and appear (現):
忽隱忽現。
Suddenly hide and suddenly appear.
This idea is also captured in the description of many of the pairs that are usual in martial arts litterature. For example, Chen Yiren (陳亦人) adresses gather (收) and release (放):
收放勿露形
Gathering and releasing should not be telegraphed.
Chen Yiren (陳亦人) adds that the utilisaation of the pairs does not just happen by themselves, their utilisation is strategic and deliberate, for example on the passage about Loose (鬆) and Tight (緊).
鬆緊要自主
Loosening and tensing should be deliberate actions rather than unconscious reactions.
And finally, Wu Gongzao (吳公藻) also mention the generation of force as an outcome of paying the correct attention to complementary pairs:
全體彈簧力。開合一定間
Your whole body has a springy force in the instant between opening and closing.
The direction of practice
In his "History of Chinese Philosophy" Feng Youlan (馮友蘭) points to a very ancient pair that was central to Daoism (道) though, the non-being (無) and being (有) pair. It is introduced straight into the first chapter of the Dao De Jing (道德經), here in his translation:
道可道，非常道。名可名，非常名。無名天地之始；有名萬物之母。
The Dao that can be trodden is not the enduring and unchanging Dao. The name that can be named is not the enduring and unchanging name. (Conceived of as) having no name, it is the Originator of heaven and earth; (conceived of as) having a name, it is the Mother of all things.
Sūn Lùtáng (孫祿堂) is the first to bring these notions into the practice of Martial Arts, which is described in all his books. The Daoist (道) notions of non-being (無) and being (有) pair and return to non-being (無) was introduced through the traditional concepts in traditional chinese thought that also work in pairs: indifferentiation (無極) and grand polarity (太極). Sūn Lùtáng (孫祿堂) frames the beginning of practice moves from indifferentiation (無極) to maximum polarity (太極). For example in his Study of Xingyi Boxing (形意拳學), one can see how the non-polarity, indifferentiated state (無極) is a static, disorganised and fragmented state, that precedes practice:
無極者。當人未練之先。無思無意。無形無象。無我無他。胸中混混沌沌。一氣渾淪。無所向意者也。
Nonpolarity is the state you are in before commencing practice, without thoughts or ideas, without form or shape, without a sense of “me” or “him”. In the mind, all is mixed and without distinction, a continuous vagueness, nothing being thought about.
In his Study of Bagua Boxing (八卦拳學) we can find an account of how the grand polarity (太極) emerges from indifferentiation (無極) and organises the movement and sets a continuous flow in movement:
太極形式者。無極而生。陰陽之母也。左旋之而為陽。右轉之而為陰。旋轉乃一氣之流行。太極即一氣。一氣即太極也。
The Grand Polarity Posture arises from nonpolarity, then gives rise to the passive and active aspects. Leftward circle walking is active. Rightward circle walking is passive. In either case, it is a continuous flow. The grand polarity is continuousness. Continuousness is the grand polarity.
In one of his essays, Some Things I Have Told About Martial Arts (拳術述聞), Sūn Lùtáng (孫祿堂) completes the cycle, putting the return to non-being (無) "Boxing without Boxing" (拳無拳) as the ultimate goal:
余曰。拳劍之理。大别有三。其一。上下相連。手足相顧。內外如一。其二。不卽不離。不丢不頂。勿忘勿助。其三。拳無拳。意無意。無意之中。是真意也。
I said: “The principles of boxing arts and sword arts roughly amount to three:
- 1. Above and below coordinate with each other. Hands and feet look after each other. Inside and outside are as one.
- 2. Neither reaching nor separating, neither coming away nor crashing in, neither under-involved nor over-involved.
- 3. The boxing is without boxing. The intention is without intention. Within no intention is true intention.
References:
楊澄甫 Yang Chengfu, 太極拳使用法 Methods of Applying Taiji Boxing, 神州國光社 Society for Chinese National Glory, Jan, 1931, translated by Paul Brennan, Nov 2011
黃元秀 Huang Yuanxiu, 武當劍法大要 Essentials of the Wudang Sword Art,商務印書館 The Commercial Press, LTD, Shanghai, July, 1931,translated by Paul Brennan, Jun 2014
董英傑 Dong Yingjie, 太極拳釋義 Taiji Boxing Explained, 1948, Translated by Paul Brenna, July 2022
陳亦人 Chen Yiren, 六合八法拳學 A Study of Liuhebafa Boxing, Hong Kong, 1969, Translated by Paul Brennan, May 2021
吳公藻 Wu Gongzao, 太極拳講義 Taiji Boxing Explained, 1935, 湖南國術訓練所 Hunan Martial Arts Training Institute, Translated by Paul Brennan, December 2018
陳績甫 Chen Jifu, 太極拳學入門總解 General Explanations of Taiji Boxing Fundamentals, 1930, Translated by Paul Brennan, September 2019
唐豪 Tang Hao, 王宗岳太極拳經 / 王宗岳陰符鎗譜 An Analysis of Wang Zongyue's Taiji Boxing Classics and Conceal and Reveal Spear Manual, May 1st, 1936, Translated by Paul Brennan, November 2023
孫福全 Sun Fuquan [Lutang], 形意拳學 A Study of Xingyi Boxing, 1915, Translated by Paul Brennan, May 2015
孫福全 Sun Fuquan [Lutang], 八卦拳學 A Study of Bagua Boxing, 1917, Translated by Paul Brennan, April 2015
孫福全 Sun Fuquan [Lutang], Some Things I Have Been Told About Martial Arts”, 1929, Translated by Paul Brennan, May 2015
Yu-lan Fung, Bodde, Derek A History of Chinese Philosophy, vol.1: The Period of the Philosophers,Princeton University Press,August 21, 1983, ISBN-13 : 978-0691020211
Anne Cheng, Histoire de la Pensée Chinoise, Edition Points, October 23, 2014, ISBN-13 : 978-2757844441
孫子兵法 - The Art of War, 虛實 - Weak Points and Strong, Chinese Text Project
| Yīnyáng (陰陽) | |
|---|---|
| Passive (陰) | Active (陽) |
| Inner (內) | Outer (外) |
| Sage (聖) | King (王) |
| Learning (文) | Martial (武) |
| Ground (地) | Sky (天) |
| Downwards (下) | Upwards (上) |
| Sink (沉) | Thrust (頂) |
| Turn Right (右轉) | Turn left (左旋) |
| Back (後) | Front (前) |
| Stillness (靜) | Movement (動) |
| Inhale (呼) | Exhale (吸) |
| Come in (入) | Come out (出) |
| Listen (聽) | Intention (意) |
| Empty (虛) | Full (實) |
| Retreat (退) | Advance (進) |
| Bend (曲) | Extend (伸) |
| Comply (隨) | Engage (就) |
| Yield (走) | Stick (黏) |
| Hide (隱) | Appear (現) |
| Gather (收) | Release (放) |
| Opening (開) | Contain (合) |
| Softness (柔) | Hardness (剛) |
| Loose (鬆) | Tight (緊) |
| Non-being (無) | Being (有) |
| No Polarity (無極) | Grand Polarity (太極) |
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