無極者。當人未練拳術之初。心無所思。意無所動。目無所視。手足無舞蹈。身體無動作。陰陽未判。淸濁未分。混混噩噩。一氣渾然者也。夫人生於天地之間。秉陰陽之性。本有渾然之元氣。但為物欲所蔽。於是拙氣拙力生焉。加以內不知修。外不知養。以致陰陽不合。內外不一。陽盡生陰。陰極必敝。亦是人之無可如何者。惟至人。有逆運之道。轉乾坤。扭氣機。能以後天返先天。化其拙氣拙力。引火歸原。氣貫丹田。於是有拳術十三勢之作用。研求一氣伸縮之道。所謂無極而能生太極者是也。一氣者即太極也。十三勢者。掤捋擠按。採挒肘靠。進退顧盻定也。掤捋擠按。即坎離震兌四正方也。採挒肘靠。即乾坤艮巽四斜角也。亦卽八卦之理也。
進步。退步。左顧。右盻。中也。即金木水火土也此五行也。合上述之四正四斜為十三勢。此太極拳十三勢之所由名也。其中分為體用。以太極架子。進退顧盻定言。謂之體。以掤捋擠按。採挒肘靠言。謂之用。又或以五行謂之經。八卦謂之緯。總而言之。曰內外體用一氣而己。以練架子。為知己功夫。以二人推手。為知人功夫。練架子時。內中精氣神。貴能全體圓滿無虧。操練手法時。手足動作。要在周身靈活不滯。先達云。終朝每日長纏手。功久可以知彼知己。能制人。而不為人所制矣。
進步。退步。左顧。右盻。中也。即金木水火土也此五行也。合上述之四正四斜為十三勢。此太極拳十三勢之所由名也。其中分為體用。以太極架子。進退顧盻定言。謂之體。以掤捋擠按。採挒肘靠言。謂之用。又或以五行謂之經。八卦謂之緯。總而言之。曰內外體用一氣而己。以練架子。為知己功夫。以二人推手。為知人功夫。練架子時。內中精氣神。貴能全體圓滿無虧。操練手法時。手足動作。要在周身靈活不滯。先達云。終朝每日長纏手。功久可以知彼知己。能制人。而不為人所制矣。
"Nonpolarity is the state you are in before beginning the boxing set. Your mind is without thoughts. Nothing motivates your intention. There is nothing to draw your gaze. Your hands and feet are without movement. Your whole body is without movement. Passive and active are not yet distinct. Clear and unclear are not yet differentiated. All is mixed and vague, a single homogeneity.
A person is born between the sky and ground, and raised by the passive and active aspects. Originally there is a pure vitality, but then there is distraction by material desires, and thus arises an awkward energy and awkward effort. Added to that, one does not understand how to cultivate oneself internally or nourish oneself externally, until finally the passive and active aspects can no longer blend, and the internal and external are no longer one. When the active aspect reaches its peak, it gives rise to the passive, then when the passive aspect reaches its limit, it wears out, and there is nothing such a person can do.
Only a wise person has the method of reversing this movement, inverting Qian and Kun [“Creative” and “Receptive” (When the “Creative” trigram is placed on top of the “Receptive” trigram, they form hexagram 12: “Stagnation”. When they are flipped over so the “Receptive” trigram is placed on top of the “Creative” trigram, they form hexagram 11: “Peace”.)] with the mechanism of turning the energies, and is able to return from the acquired condition to the innate, transforming one’s awkward energy and awkward strength to ignite a retrieval of one’s original condition of energy penetrating to the elixir field. Thus the function of the thirteen dynamics in this boxing art is to delve into the method of continuous shrinking and extending. It is said that nonpolarity [wuji] can give rise to grand polarity [taiji] (this continuousness meaning the grand polarity [as opposed to the nothingness of nonpolarity]).
“The thirteen dynamics are: warding off, rolling back, pressing, pushing, plucking, rending, elbowing, bumping, advancing, retreating, going to the left, going to the right, and staying in the center. [Warding off, rolling back, pressing, pushing, plucking, rending, elbowing, and bumping relate to the eight trigrams:]
☴☲☷
☳ ☱
☶☵☰
Warding off, rolling back, pressing, and pushing correspond to ☵, ☲, ☳, and ☱ in the four principle compass directions [meaning simply that these are the primary techniques]. Plucking, rending, elbowing, and bumping correspond to ☰, ☷, ☶, and ☴ in the four corner directions [i.e. are the secondary techniques]. Advancing, retreating, stepping to the left, stepping to the right, and staying in the center relate to metal, wood, water, fire, and earth – the five elements. These combined [8+5] are called the Thirteen Dynamics.” This is where Taiji Boxing’s “thirteen dynamics” gets its name.
The art separates into form and function. The solo set’s advancing, retreating, going to either side, and staying centered provide form. Warding off, rolling back, pressing, pushing, plucking, rending, elbowing, and bumping provide the function. Or it can be said that the five elements are the basis and the eight trigrams are the framework. In short, the internal and external, form and function, work together. To practice the set is the work of knowing the self, whereas when two people are practicing pushing hands, it is the work of knowing the opponent. When practicing the solo set, within there is essence, energy, and spirit. It is important that you be able to get your whole body to have a rounded fullness, without gaps. When training the hand techniques, the movements of your hands and feet should with your whole body be nimble and not stagnant. An early master said: “All day every day, develop in your techniques. After long practice, you can know both opponent and self, and will be able to control the opponent and not be controlled by the opponent."
Excerpt from the translation by Paul Brennan, to be found in the Brennan Translation blog.
A person is born between the sky and ground, and raised by the passive and active aspects. Originally there is a pure vitality, but then there is distraction by material desires, and thus arises an awkward energy and awkward effort. Added to that, one does not understand how to cultivate oneself internally or nourish oneself externally, until finally the passive and active aspects can no longer blend, and the internal and external are no longer one. When the active aspect reaches its peak, it gives rise to the passive, then when the passive aspect reaches its limit, it wears out, and there is nothing such a person can do.
Only a wise person has the method of reversing this movement, inverting Qian and Kun [“Creative” and “Receptive” (When the “Creative” trigram is placed on top of the “Receptive” trigram, they form hexagram 12: “Stagnation”. When they are flipped over so the “Receptive” trigram is placed on top of the “Creative” trigram, they form hexagram 11: “Peace”.)] with the mechanism of turning the energies, and is able to return from the acquired condition to the innate, transforming one’s awkward energy and awkward strength to ignite a retrieval of one’s original condition of energy penetrating to the elixir field. Thus the function of the thirteen dynamics in this boxing art is to delve into the method of continuous shrinking and extending. It is said that nonpolarity [wuji] can give rise to grand polarity [taiji] (this continuousness meaning the grand polarity [as opposed to the nothingness of nonpolarity]).
“The thirteen dynamics are: warding off, rolling back, pressing, pushing, plucking, rending, elbowing, bumping, advancing, retreating, going to the left, going to the right, and staying in the center. [Warding off, rolling back, pressing, pushing, plucking, rending, elbowing, and bumping relate to the eight trigrams:]
☴☲☷
☳ ☱
☶☵☰
Warding off, rolling back, pressing, and pushing correspond to ☵, ☲, ☳, and ☱ in the four principle compass directions [meaning simply that these are the primary techniques]. Plucking, rending, elbowing, and bumping correspond to ☰, ☷, ☶, and ☴ in the four corner directions [i.e. are the secondary techniques]. Advancing, retreating, stepping to the left, stepping to the right, and staying in the center relate to metal, wood, water, fire, and earth – the five elements. These combined [8+5] are called the Thirteen Dynamics.” This is where Taiji Boxing’s “thirteen dynamics” gets its name.
The art separates into form and function. The solo set’s advancing, retreating, going to either side, and staying centered provide form. Warding off, rolling back, pressing, pushing, plucking, rending, elbowing, and bumping provide the function. Or it can be said that the five elements are the basis and the eight trigrams are the framework. In short, the internal and external, form and function, work together. To practice the set is the work of knowing the self, whereas when two people are practicing pushing hands, it is the work of knowing the opponent. When practicing the solo set, within there is essence, energy, and spirit. It is important that you be able to get your whole body to have a rounded fullness, without gaps. When training the hand techniques, the movements of your hands and feet should with your whole body be nimble and not stagnant. An early master said: “All day every day, develop in your techniques. After long practice, you can know both opponent and self, and will be able to control the opponent and not be controlled by the opponent."
Excerpt from the translation by Paul Brennan, to be found in the Brennan Translation blog.
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