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Section 6, page 56. A center point without center is the most
sacred center. You must use weight instead of force. Weight can move freely, if you use
force then you need to generate it that force, and it either will be too fast or too slow.
Gravity from the earth is your root. Wherever you go, this gravity is with you. Don�t
perform fake relaxation, don�t use local relaxation.
Unless you really relax, you cannot generate the real water wave.
I would like to advise you to learn as early as possible to borrow force instead of generating
force. The more force you generate the more injuries you will incur. If you have force,
then other people will hit your force, if you don�t have any force how and where do
they hit you? For example, we are fluid, fluid can destroy solid. When a solid tries to deal
with fluid, if the solid attacks center then the fluid flows around on the side, if the
solid attacks the two sides, then the fluid would flow through the center. How can solid
win?
So you don�t want to be a solid. Solid can not flow, it is a clear target for your opponent.
More importantly, liquid can change angles, it can use the opponent�s force and surround
you, you can�t deal with it.
Page 57. Don�t use force means that you don�t fight
against gravity. When we push hands, we must pay attention forward and backward. Forward
and backward are complementary to each other. Remember Byron said when you push forward,
you body need move backward, that is my interpretation.
Back to page 58. Who invented Tai Chi? This is like asking
who invented the hand fan. There could be a thousand old ladies who cut different shapes
and sizes, how do we know who invented it? Popular myth attributes the creation of Tai
Chi Chuan to 张三丰Zhang San Feng. In fact there could be hundreds of Zhang San Feng in the
history. Why was the person called Zhang San Feng? �San Feng� or � 3 Feng� in Chinese
means one Qian Gua, one Kun Gua; in the middle a vertical line connects the Qian 3, and splits
the Kun to 6 sections, we see it is Yin & Yang! At that time, everyone who promoted Yin & Yang
was called Zhang San Feng. Thus there are many Zhang San Feng in different dynasties
through out the history.
Page 59. Positive and negative is the open-close. Close
is open, open is close, open-close is one unity. Don�t use force, use gravity, use
weight. This has to be natural, not deliberated. This is a process to help you become liquid
or gas. If you think this does not help you, then you may choose not to practice this particular
one. There are multiple ways to reach your goal. If you are inspired and discover a better
one, then that is fine. Even better, you discover and understand, we don�t have fixed process.
For any particular level, you will have understanding for that level, you will never stopping improving.
Don�t go straight line, go a circle. The better you are at Gong Fu, the more patience
you have. Once you learned, don�t use it lightly and injure someone. Use an analogy,
it is good you learned how to sharpen a knife, but you need to be very careful when you use
a sharp knife. A student asked a question: can we summarize
our Tai Chi into a few sentences? The answer is No. Our explanation is just an analogy,
the principle is in the nature itself. There is no beginning, no end. Whenever you have
a root, then you will have broken root, but water is not the same. There is a saying �???????Chou
"抽刀断水水更流 Dao Duan Shui Shui Geng Liu�, which means: if you use a knife to cut the water to stop
it, more water would flow as a result. That is, you can�t use a knife to cut the water.
For 虚领顶劲Xu Ling Ding Jin, you are not soft, not hard. Two ears straight, 70 percent looking
into inside, 30 percent looking surface. Feet are not solid, knees not locked.
If you have 虚领顶劲Xu Ling Ding Jin, then you must pair it with气沉丹田Qi Chen Dan Tian.
Page 60. I am now in the Seclusion stage already. If
I were still a Tai Chi teacher, still had Tai Chi as my career, then I would not teach
like this directly. I would teach you step by step, slowly teach you from one level to
another level, it may take 10 years for you to learn. What I am currently teaching may
be too early for you, but I hope you can comprehend it. This may avoid some problems in the future.
You may think I talk about many things that are only tangential, you may wish I would
only mainly focus on the Tai Chi forms. You know it may only take you 3 months to learn
one Tai Chi style, and then what? Does it do you any good?
In Tai Chi diagram (it is diagram of cosmological scheme with Yin-Yang symbol), the line in
the middle is the S shape. You may incorrectly believe this S shape is just curved lines
or planes, this is not correct. If you don�t understand this, you can not have good Tai
Chi. This S shape is drawn temporarily, you should not see any visible lines, it is infinite
large. You should not think Yin & Yang are separate. Thus the middle can not be divided
by a straight line, rather it is a S line flowing, indicating Yin & Yang are joining
together any time like water.
Page 61. This S shape line is constantly flowing, any
moment has both positive and negative which is Yin & Yang. Positive generates negative,
negative generates positive, you can not separate positive and negative. Everything has two
sides. For a round ball, there are no initial points,
all points are ending points as well. If you really want to know this line, you
can imagine it in your mind. If you consider it as a solid line, you are wrong. If you
consider it as a dash line, you are wrong again. It is neither solid line nor dash line.
Which side of the line is Yin side? Which side is Yang side? You need to consider it
as one unit. In the beginning you may not understand it, thus you divide it into two
different sides.
Page 62. What is the biggest thing in the world? It
is the emptiness because it can contain many things. But empty is also the smallest thing
because it is so small there is nothing there. Empty is nothing, but it is not really fake.
Only emptiness is real. Nothing in the world is real, only emptiness is real.
Page 63. Using 意Yi (the mind) may not last long, it
is only temporary to help you to understand. When you reach certain level, it won�t be
useful to use your mind any more. The gravity effect may not be even. When you
are not using your mind, if this side sinks then the other side would float. This way
you starting moving. Use the gravity, this is natural law.
What you see may not be real. For example when a spinning top is turning very fast,
it looks standing still; when the spinning top looks like starting to move it is the
time when it would stop soon. The air plane is the same. When the plane takes off, it
starts shaking as if it moves very fast. When the airplane travels very fast, it is very
steady, you don�t feel the speed at all.
You ask me: how can I punch someone without using force? I would ask you the same question:
how can you use the force? Then you have to think about how. If you have to think, then
it is not natural, it is not right. It is Yin & Yang, Yin can convert to Yang, Yang
can convert to Yin, no mater how smart you are, you can�t tell. Our trick has no forward,
no backward, no inside, no outside, no beginning, no end. We must obey the natural law.
Page 64. You need to sink and then float naturally.
When it is the time to sink, you sink; when it is the time to float, you float naturally.
You need to follow gravity, you need to follow nature. When gravity points this way down,
you need to follow this way down. If I show you how to move, then you may not listen to
the gravity, you only follow the form, then that would not be correct. So don�t listen
to me, listen to gravity, listen to nature. In the beginning, you may use a training aid,
but gradually you need to get rid of the training aid.
Water flows to lower places, gas raises to high places. When your hands reach certain
height, can you raise even higher? When Yin reaches its limit, it generates Yang, this
is 8 Gates, 5 steps and 13 styles. A train has to run on a track. If you always
run on the track, even though you may run very fast, you may never reach the ultimate
level. Our liquid and gas does not follow any track, thus we have freedom. No mater
what style you use, the liquid can follow your change. It cannot lose, but you can lose.
It won�t attack you first. If you attack, it will borrow your force to hit you. This
way you follow the nature.
Page 65. If you learned the real Tai Chi, then you
learned the flow and steam. Your Tai Chi would be the best, you can never lose. If you cannot
lose, then you will win. Tai Chi does not initiate attack, if you attack
then you will lose. Some people come to me to learn Tai Chi. They
ask me what style is my Tai Chi. Is it Yang style or Wu style, and they ask me to show
them the form first. This kind of people are amateurish. They don�t understand my water
style. They may as well to watch the water in 黄埔江Huangpu River (last leg of Yangtze River).
The kind of Tai Chi you can understand by seeing, is not a good Tai Chi. There are three
kinds of people,
Page 66. There are three kinds of people. After they
listen to a lecture on Daoism, they would have different responses:
The first kind is the smartest people. After the lecture, they would follow and learn.
The second kind is middle intelligent. After the lecture, they are not sure, they feel
they should agree and at the same time they should disagree, they are confused.
The third kind is the lowest intelligent. After the lecture, they would laugh at the
teacher. Like after my lecture some people may laugh at me, saying they are in the business
for so many years, they have never heard of water wave style.
You may say: I don�t understand water wave. The tornado sometimes big, sometime small,
I don�t know what to look for. To me, the tornado is playing Tai Chi. Many
discoveries came from nature. For example, after studying the bat, people invented the
ultrasound device.
Page 67. We need to first understand empty. Every life
starts with flow. However flow depends on emptiness. If there is no emptiness, then
there is no flow. You say you want to get rid of the emptiness.
That is not possible, other things are changing. They change from large to small, they can
change at will. But emptiness can not be generated, can not be reduced.
You can get rid of everything except the emptiness. Without a vacuum, how can you breath the air
in? Without a vacuum, how can your blood flow?
Page 68. Sometimes I teach you push hands, actually
it is not teaching, rather you push yourself. You gradually understand, but don�t ask
me to teach you some practical trick. There is no trick. If the trick exists, then you
don�t have to come to me to learn, other people can teach you. They may even teach
you much better.
My method is like this: if you push me this way, I will have corresponding move. If you
raise your hands, I will make a custom glove for you. My glove is water glove. If you are
in the steam, then my water glove is gas. The glove is just the right size for you.
Nothing in this world can be better than this.
Whoever teaches you a special trick, the more special the worse it is. Everything will change,
they all belong to water or gas. The Tai Chi I am teaching you now, because
it is easy for me to use the form to teach you, later you need to get rid of it. I teach
you everything, I don�t keep any secrets.
Page 69. Pushing hands is a transition, a method to
learn. If you learn push hands, you need at least 100 hours.
A slight detour from the book here. My interpretation of this 100 hours push hand rule: it may be
the lower bound, the minimum amount of time you need to practice. What is the upper bound?
I had another video : �Tai Chi push hand and the physiology of the brain, part 1�
where I used the 10 thousand hours rule, described by Malcolm Gladwell�s book, the Outliers.
The Outliers book says that if you want to master something, you need 10 thousand hours.
Compare this 10 thousand hours rule with the *** Zhuang Hong�s push hand 100 hours rule,
this 100 hours rule is the minimum and it is for a single move, you may not have mastered
it yet. If you apply the 100 hours rule to other 13 forms, then at least you need 13x100=1300
hours of practice, which is the minimum to begin the Tai Chi learning. And the 10 thousand
hours rule, would be when you totally master it, which is the upper bound. So my interpretation
is that we need to spend between 1300 to 10000 hours. Anyway, make sure you read the Outliers
by Malcolm Gladwell, at least it gives you inspiration to learn, not just Tai Chi, but
anything you want to master.
Back to page 69. For water Tai Chi, you can use any style,
however you need to get rid of the original style and add water wave into it. Then you
will be free, you will be consistent with nature.
I will know your move as soon as you sink or float, this is very similar to Chinese
doctor feeling someone�s pulse. If you can reach that level, then other people
may not understand you, which is understandable. If common people can understand you, then
your level may not be too high.
Page 70. First we have point, line, plane and cube.
Then it is super cube. Then it is cube, plane, line and point, and hidden, combined with
super cube. If you know the principle of spiral, you will
understand Tai Chi. Spiral can change, has Yin and Yang.
Page 71. Language has its limitation. To interpret
the same thing, it may have multiple explanations. Tai Chi may look easy to you, I dare you to
try it, you may not understand it after 50 years. You don�t know how hard something
is until you try it, especially art. Tai Chi is an art, hard to explain. You may
not do it correctly if your force is too large, too small, too fast or too slow. Enjoy watching
other people�s Tai Chi is similar to enjoying other people�s art.
This is the end of section 6.