Originally published in "Beijing Sports" 1983 Issue 6 Translated by Joshua Hehr
Martial arts can be used for both offense and defense, as well as for health cultivation. Below we analyze some of the combat applications of sinking shoulders and dropping elbows in Taijiquan (this article follows the Wu Jianquan style throughout).
- Brush Knee and Twist Step The opponent kicks me with their left foot. I use my right hand to brush aside the opponent's kicking leg toward my right rear, while simultaneously stepping forward with my right foot and attacking the opponent's chest with my left palm. When my palm contacts the opponent, while continuing to shift my center of gravity forward, I relax my shoulders and drop my elbows, then suddenly thrust out my palm center and extend my rear leg, completing the Brush Knee and Twist Step posture, and can issue the opponent (the applications of Brush Knee and Twist Step are not limited to this).
- Deflect, Parry, and Punch The opponent attacks my front chest with their right fist. I use my left palm to parry the incoming fist to my right side, and attack the opponent's chest with my right fist. When my fist contacts the opponent's chest, I relax my shoulders and drop my elbows, extend my right leg, and simultaneously clench my fist firmly (the tips of the second, third, fourth, and fifth fingers curl toward the fist center), completing the Deflect, Parry, and Punch posture, and can issue the opponent. What is the function of relaxing shoulders and dropping elbows? Below we discuss our understanding.When my palm (fist) touches the opponent's front chest, the opponent generates resistance force. If I oppose it, this is double-weighting, and the result is that the stronger force wins. As the Taijiquan Treatise says: "Double-weighting leads to stagnation," "We often see those who after several years of pure practice still cannot transform, all because they allow themselves to be controlled by others, having not yet understood the disease of double-weighting," and also says: "To avoid this disease, one must know yin and yang," "Yin does not leave yang, yang does not leave yin, mutual support of yin and yang is what constitutes understanding jin." When the opponent generates resistance force, their chest is yang, I then relax my shoulders and drop my elbows, transforming from yang to yin. The opponent's resistance force falls empty, extreme yang generates yin. I then transform to yang and continue forward. At this time my whole body is coordinated, I gain opportunity and advantage, yin and yang mutually support each other, therefore I overcome the enemy and achieve victory.From the perspective of physics and mechanics, when striking the opponent with palm (fist), generally an elastic collision occurs, hard against hard. If one wants to avoid elastic collision, one can use the method of deceleration, but after deceleration the impact force is reduced, and the task of striking the opponent cannot be completed. Therefore, using the method of sinking shoulders and dropping elbows, one changes elastic collision into inelastic collision, to reduce the reaction force on the attacker caused by elastic collision, while simultaneously accumulating great energy through the action of relaxing shoulders and dropping elbows. After my palm (fist) contacts the opponent, the opponent generates resistance force to protect themselves. At this time the striker relaxes shoulders and drops elbows, causing the forward velocity of the palm (fist) to slow down, and the opponent's resistance force therefore falls empty, becoming without foundation. Taking advantage of the moment when the opponent has just lost balance, the gathered force is applied to the opponent's body, issuing them out. This technique is a component part of Taijiquan's overcoming hardness with softness. Comrades learning and practicing Taijiquan, in addition to paying attention to the accuracy of postures and movement paths, must certainly pay attention to the basic principles of Taijiquan. Not only is this true for Taijiquan, but the basic principles of other boxing styles are also connected to this: for example, the punching action—during preparation the fist is held at the side, fist center facing upward; when punching out the arm internally rotates 180°, and then suddenly terminates; when punching begins the acceleration continuously rises, during rotation the forward acceleration decreases, causing the forward velocity to slow down, only in this way can great energy be accumulated. When suddenly terminating, the gathered force reaches its maximum value; the mechanical principle lies precisely in this. Martial arts is the crystallization of practice, not research findings, therefore many movement principles are originally scientific, yet the scientific reasoning cannot be articulated—this is caused by history, and we martial arts enthusiasts should work together to fill this gap.