Talking about the life of folk boxers, why taijiquan frames are slow, and an introduction to the teaching of push hands

Seeing that some friends in the group mentioned the practice and practice of boxing by foreign professional learners, and also mentioned the folk boxers, I feel that many people lack of understanding of the real folk boxers. Or think it is like the previous period of very hot that Yan Fang, are all liars; or think like Jin Yong wrote martial arts characters, away from the real society. I would like to single up a post, from what I know of the traditional folk boxer situation, by the way, talk a little bit about the traditional teaching methods of taijiquan - of course, the boxer's situation is basically based on the Shanghai taijiquan community, many other cities may have their own special characteristics, and I have yet to learn.

There is one extra point to be made here: as far as I know, the life of the folk boxers is really suitable for the survival and development of the Chinese martial arts, but it is a pity that the modern Chinese society is becoming more and more restrictive to the traditional activities of the folk boxers. ----------

The folk boxers I know either have money in their families and don't have to go to work, or they are extremely idle in their regular jobs, or they teach boxing as a profession, and in any case, they can devote a lot of time to practicing boxing. The most important activity they do every day is to "stand on the field", that is to say, in a park or a school or other places, long time to go to a fixed field to practice boxing.

Once a venue is established, it is seldom changed. It has several roles: First, a signboard, so that peers or enthusiasts know "a park someone". Secondly, it is a place for students to gather in the same place every day, so that they can be taught the art of martial arts and at the same time expand their own strength and influence through teaching and guidance. Thirdly, to meet the challenges, the real practice of martial arts teachers, no not encounter "Pandao", a boxer can "stand" in a field, rely on not being knocked down by the challenger. My former teacher used to say that you can be defeated, but not knocked down, if you feel that your opponent is much stronger than you are. If you feel that your opponent is much stronger than you are, you must be able to "stand and admit defeat". Because once you lie down, according to the unwritten rules, you have to leave the venue, find another place to teach boxing. Or, in other words, "can not stand".

When responding to a challenge, if the teacher teaches a large enough number of disciples, and the quality of the students' kung fu is high enough, then there is more room for maneuver, and the students of the appropriate level can be allowed to meet the challenge first. The teacher then observes the level and characteristics of the visitor from the sidelines.

If the person coming to challenge is a taijiquan master, then the challenge will inevitably be in the form of push hands. If the person is practicing other martial arts, or has not practiced anything, just tall and big, or even on the street bricks, ash and squinting hooligans, then the challenge may also take the form of trial push or loose hands. The so-called "trial push" is the name I gave to it, that is, the teacher stands there and lets you push him. Depending on the teacher's technical characteristics and level, there are several possible outcomes: the other side can not be pushed, the other side is unsteady, the other side was grabbed or lightly hit the head, ribs and other vital parts of the reminder, the other side fell down or out of the far, the other side of the feet off the ground to fly out. Of course, it is also possible that the boxer is pushed or falls. The result of a loose hand could be a fall, a takedown subdue, a striking cue, or control of a vital area (such as a choke).

The method of teaching also varies greatly depending on the teacher's heritage and personality. I'm afraid there's no particular consensus among the masters as to what the basic skills are, with some emphasizing staking, others walking, i.e., practicing a set of fixed movements over and over again in conjunction with breathing, and most emphasizing training of the muscles and bones, i.e., stretching and pressing of the legs.

On top of the basic skills, some teachers emphasize the boxing frame, and believe that the disk for a number of years boxing frame, in order to say push hands. Some teachers emphasize pushing hands, and from the very first lesson have students try to push with their older brothers to understand the application of the frame in pushing hands. Some teachers talk about the theory of boxing first, thinking that if the theory of boxing is not explained, the boxing is bound to go wrong, and even if it is corrected, it is still not clear why. Some teachers do not talk about the theory of boxing, but first teach you to stand and punch one posture at a time, and then tell you why when you have reached a certain level. Of course, some teachers will treat students differently according to their qualifications. The following is an introduction to the teaching methods of the folk martial arts masters, starting with the fist frame.

The fist frame is a way of recording the effective technical movements of the ancient people during the time when they did not have good recording tools. Each set of technical movements in the frame should be applicable, and each teacher is generally only proficient in the practical variations of a few of these sets of technical movements, but when teaching a whole set of punches, all are still able to theoretically demonstrate the various uses of each move. Practicing boxing is akin to a modern day pharmacy or chemistry student doing experiments on "prescribed movements" without having to go through the poisonings or explosions of their predecessors to gain a significant degree of learning experience. Taijiquan students, too, do not have to go through the actual fights with broken hands and broken legs, as long as the repeated practice of boxing, while observing the application of technical movements to the enemy, but also to achieve a certain degree of proficiency in the effect of the stance.

Taijiquan's stance has a very obvious external characteristic, which is its slowness. This is the reason why taijiquan is often mistaken for "not being able to fight", "old man's boxing", or even a lightweight ancient fitness gymnastics. However, Taijiquan is by its very nature a very powerful and practical fighting art, and many people understand this and then turn around and ask themselves a new question: why is it that such a powerful fist is slow to fight? Here is an explanation that I think is quite comprehensive:

First of all, it is important to realize that boxing is a form of exercise, not a practical fight. The fact that it is slow does not mean that it is slow in use. In fact, taijiquan does not "pursue" slowness, but rather slows down to make it easier for the learner to achieve a constant speed of movement. Uniformity transcends both speed and slowness, so to speak, slow but not rigid, fast but not floating. What's more, it is called "no bumps and no breaks", so that the learner's body can get used to the rhythm of "seamless transition between advance and retreat" from the very beginning, which is conducive to the practice in the future. Also, by slowing down the stance, the learner can feel more freely and efficiently whether his center of gravity, technique, footwork, body posture, breathing, and path of power transmission are accurate in the process of completing a technical movement, and get accustomed to controlling his own movements in a correct and subtle way. In addition, the boxing frame is both a form of exercise, slowing down the scholars will be able to better adjust the breathing to even fine and deep, so that the limbs are flexible and relaxed, blood flow through the smooth, through this exercise, not only skillful strokes, but also the body itself to become stronger, more coordinated, balanced, but also to make the human body's senses to become more sensitive.

Of course, there is a considerable distance between boxing frame training and actual fighting. To move from boxing to actual combat, to apply the moves in boxing to actual combat, and to further develop the flexibility, coordination and sensitivity that characterize taijiquan, one needs to rely on a unique form of exercise: push hands. Push Hands is a game of attack and defense played by two people under certain rules, with the purpose of enhancing the sensitivity of the participants' senses, as well as enabling them to develop the habit of subconsciously making movements that do not violate the laws of taijiquan fighting.

There are many kinds of rules of Push Hands, some of which can indicate striking, some of which cannot strike, some of which can step in and out, and some of which require fixed steps. By the way, a personal opinion: currently on the market there is a Chen-style taijiquan pusher handed down from Chen Jiagou, is a big open step, which is not very common in all generations of famous boxers, including Chen-style taijiquan boxer's boxing photos and videos, I think there is a problem. I have personally practiced this kind of push hands for several years, and I feel that it is a little bit biased towards wrestling and top cow double, which is totally against the spirit of Taijiquan theory. Later, with insightful friends talk up, only to know that this way of boxing is practicing the frame of the big gun, the big gun is the traditional red tasseled spear, zhang eight long spear. Practicing the gun, is bound to be a big open step, footwork changes do not require flexibility, but requires stability. Used to push hands, obviously not very suitable.

Taijiquan used to be called the thirteen style, meaning it has thirteen kinds of technical action, including shed, stroke, squeeze, press, pick, 挒, elbow, leaning on the eight kinds of maneuvers, and in and out of the five kinds of footwork. One of the shed stroking squeeze press is known as the four hands, the general push hands is based on the four hands cycle, in which the addition of a variety of random changes. The general requirement is not to top not to lose, dip sticky even with, self-subordination, in the process of obedience to the other side of the process of sensitive to feel the other side of the direction of force, looking for cracks.

There are a lot of Push Hands, and I feel that this article has been a bit long, so I'll stop here, and I hope that we can have a lively discussion in the group, and talk about our own Push Hands experience, or the style of the teachers we've seen.