Note: Mr. Zhang Yaozhong's (张耀忠) lecture was at China University of Political Science and Law (中国政法大学的演讲) on April 26, 2010.
Translated by Joshua Hehr
Thank you to Professor Xiong for arranging this opportunity, and thank you to China University of Political Science and Law for providing such an excellent platform, creating favorable conditions for our exchange and discussion of Taijiquan.
The main topic of my talk today is "The Divine Skill of Chinese Culture: Taijiquan 华夏神功太极拳." Everyone has heard the song "Chinese Kung Fu 中国功夫," which contains the lyrics "Taiji, Bagua, and Lianhuan Palm, China has divine skills 太极八卦连环掌中华有神功." These lyrics are not artistic exaggeration but truly reflect the situation. If we look at Wang Zongyue's (王宗岳) "Treatise on Taijiquan 太极拳论," there is a line: "Consider the phrase 'four ounces deflecting a thousand pounds,' clearly not winning by force 察四两拨千斤之句,显非力胜." This means Taijiquan can use four ounces to deflect a thousand pounds. It's not about winning with greater strength, but about using skill to overcome weight, taking advantage of the opponent's momentum, borrowing their force, and using the opponent's strength against them. Isn't that divine?
There's also another line: "Observe how the elderly can fend off many opponents; how could speed be the answer 观耄耋能御众之形,快何能为?" Seventy is considered 'mao (耄)' and eighty is considered 'die (耋)' (traditional age designations). People in their seventies and eighties can still resist multiple attackers—at least three people—and this is not because they move quickly or have great strength; this is where the divine skill of Taiji lies. This is what the texts tell us.
In the history of Taijiquan, there was the ancestor Yang Luchan (杨露禅) who shook the martial arts world with his divine Taiji skills and was honored as "Yang the Invincible (杨无敌)." In what environment was he called Yang the Invincible? He was in the Qing Dynasty's (清朝) royal palace, in the military camps—places where he could be called invincible. The Qing army came through Shanhaiguan (山海关) Pass and unified all of China. They were formidable with their horsemanship, archery, wrestling, and stone lock exercises. Yet none could defeat Yang Luchan. Even the martial arts champion in the Qing court became Yang Luchan's disciple.
Wu-style Taijiquan (吴式太极拳) practitioner Wu Gongyi (吴公仪), in his sixties, accepted a challenge from a younger White Crane Kung Fu (白鶴拳) master Chen Kefu (陈克夫). During their match in Macau, he struck his opponent's nose with a single punch, causing unstoppable bleeding and rendering his opponent unable to continue. This incident had far-reaching influence.
There was also Wang Peisheng (王培生), one of the "Five Tigers of Beijing Taiji 北京太极五虎." The title "Five Tigers" was published in the Sports News. Wang Peisheng engaged in countless matches throughout his life without a single defeat, earning him the title of "Unrivaled First of the Contemporary Era (独步当代第一人)."
Their accomplishments fully demonstrate the divine skill of Taijiquan and are very convincing. Even today, the Taiji community remains full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers, with many practitioners in society possessing extraordinary skill and wisdom, though they remain low-key and unwilling to show off, so they are unknown to the public. This proves, both in theory and in practice, that China possesses divine skills.
China's divine Taiji skill is not beyond reach—everyone here can strive toward it and master Taijiquan. Where does it reside? Within yourself. Develop yourself from head to toe, bring out your latent capabilities. Open your biological switches and trigger energy resonance. Your body has many biological switches—some are specialized, while others are like "universal passes" that work everywhere.
Today I want to share with you what my teacher passed down to me and what I've realized through personal experience. I hope you can also become people with Taiji divine skill. After attending today's lecture, you'll leave with real skill. Don't laugh—we're not speaking empty words, just practical matters. I have experience with this; men and women, young and old, can all develop "extraordinary energy," even those who have never practiced Taijiquan before. Once this energy is developed, you can't resist it—with just a hand extended, you can't resist it.
Next, I'll explain from head to toe, covering as much as I can.
I hear there are acupuncture professors in the audience, which aligns perfectly with our topic. You only know that acupuncture can treat illness, but you don't know that acupoints can be used to strike people. Today I'll tell you about this.
Crown of the Head 头顶
Let's first talk about the crown of the head. When practicing Taijiquan, discussing body method involves "suspending energy from the crown 虚灵顶劲," "lifting the crown 提顶," and "hanging the head from above 顶头悬."
The crown of the head is divided into five regions: front, back, left, right, and center. Front crown, back crown, left crown, right crown, and center crown. These five regions correspond to five acupoints: the center is Baihui (百会) point, and the front, back, left, and right are the Sishencong (四神聪) points: front Shencong, back Shencong, left Shencong, and right Shencong—five acupoints in total.
When we're in a sitting stance (坐步), we lift the back crown; focusing on the front crown definitely won't work. When you think about lifting the back crown, your whole body becomes energized. In a bow stance (弓步), lift the front crown as you bow forward. Lifting the back crown won't work; if you lift the back crown, the energy retreats.
For diagonal stances (隅步), like "Wild Horse Parts Its Mane 野马分鬃"—stances that are wide horizontally but short vertically—lift either the left or right crown. As soon as you raise your foot, energy arrives. So lifting the crown can't be done in a general way; you must consider what stance, what posture, and which part to lift. This requires careful study, breaking it down and analyzing thoroughly.
The Baihui (百会) point has two specific applications in Wu-style Taijiquan. One is in "Wild Horse Separates Mane"—after opening the posture, simply thinking of Baihui (百会) causes the body to suddenly relax downward, generating leaning energy. The other is in "White Crane Spreads Wings 白鹤亮翅," where the outer Laogong (外劳宫, back of the palm) point aligns with the Baihui (百会) point; after alignment, when the lower hand turns over, this area can generate tremendous warding energy (掤劲).
The side crown is used in "Bend Bow to Shoot Tiger 弯弓射虎." If you push against my fist, how is the energy in this fist generated? I'm thinking about this point (the side crown), not about the fist. You know, Taijiquan has a characteristic: you shouldn't think about the hand making contact, but rather about this point (the side crown). If your hand comes to strike me, watch how my "Bend Bow to Shoot Tiger" can shoot someone away—it's the crown of the head doing the striking. The fist becomes the head, the head becomes the fist, using the head to push, like a bull's horns. There's also the "drilling jar energy 钻坛子劲"—what's that? Like a pickling jar. Small opening, big belly. Imagine an upside-down jar, and the head needs to drill into this jar, which generates this energy. You can try this when you go back. The "Strike Tiger" posture works the same way, as does "Bend Bow to Shoot Tiger"—just focus on the crown of the head, not the fist. First, don't use force in the fist; second, don't place your intention in the fist. Instead, place your intention here, in this part of the head.
The ancients said: "When coiled, it retreats and hides in secrecy; when released, it fills the six directions 卷之则退藏于密,放之则弥六合." As long as you withdraw your intention to this point (the side crown), something will emerge from this point (the fist).
Eyebrows 眉毛
Below the crown of the head are the eyebrows. These eyebrows can actually strike people! Have you heard of this? Any random person can come up. I'll tell you, you can strike people.
头顶下来就是眉毛。这眉毛都能打人的!你听说过吗?你随便上来一个人。我告诉你,你就能打人。
Take your right index finger and touch the outer end of your left eyebrow, then stare at this finger. Just look at it, don't think about anything, and at this moment the function has already emerged, but you don't know it yet. When will you know? Only when I push you will you know. Just keep staring at the pad of your finger, keep staring! But if I'm not touching you? What do you feel? You feel nothing! Without using force, without using intention, only when I push you—while you're just staring blankly—will the function activate! How powerful this energy is!
The two eyebrows, two eyes, plus the nose form the character "fire" (火). A fire character with its head pointing downward. When we're in our mother's womb, the "fire" character points upward, but after birth, the fire character points downward. Southern Bing-Ding fire can transform all things. For example, if you come to push me, I'll ignore you and just stroke my eyebrow—this is fire transforming all things. Here is the Southern Bing-Ding fire (heart), in the waist is the Northern Ren-Gui water (kidneys), between the two shoulder blades is the Eastern Jia-Yi wood (liver), the chest is Western Geng-Xin metal (lungs), and the lower abdomen is Central Wu-Ji earth (spleen). The yin-yang, five elements, and eight trigrams are all in your body. Once you develop them, they become useful.
Eye Spirit 眼神
The eyes can strike people, which is spirit striking. A true teaching in one sentence: wherever the eyes look, the hand extends, and it's always right. The hand follows the eye spirit, the foot follows the hand, the rear hand follows the lead hand. When the spirit moves, the intent follows, the qi propels, and force arrives. Spirit refers to the eye spirit; once it moves, intent follows—this is intention (pointing finger). Once intention follows, qi goes, and force also arrives.
Nose 鼻子
Do you believe the nose can also strike people? It really can! Any of you can come up. Raise your right hand and position your thumb tip horizontally level with your nostril. Don't tilt it, just keep it like this. Right now you don't feel anything, right? Now I'll tell you, flare your nostril, flare it! Flare it! See how he struck me! It was your nostril that lifted me up. This (right) hand used neither force nor intention. Look when I connect hands with him, I use my nose tip to strike him. How does the nose tip strike? Think of the nose tip, kneecap point, and big toe tip. Connect them in a line. This is how you strike. It must be the three points aligning—nose tip, kneecap point, and big toe tip. Both hands pull along this line, as if these three points are pulling a harp string, and both hands are playing this vertical harp. There are several other explanations for this. One explanation is that the nose tip is the upper lip, the big toe is the lower lip, and both hands are chopsticks. When the opponent comes, you're pinching this piece of meat to put in your big mouth, wanting to eat meat. Another explanation is that the foot operates the bellows while the hands act as iron tongs—like a blacksmith forging iron. The ankle is the air sack pumping air, the hands are the tongs, and you're forging iron on the knee for three years. It's the same principle as before—both hands converge toward the knee. The opponent's body becomes unstable, stumbling and uncontrollable, without any chance to counter. This is a universal key, guaranteeing your skill will emerge. The nose tip, the kneecap—just this one intention guarantees you're not just an empty form. Your hand always contains something. What is it? It's that taiji force. The opponent cannot resist or refuse it, as if something just passes through them.
Ears 耳朵
Ears can strike people. Let me tell you, this is exactly why I sought out my teacher. It was said that Wang Peisheng could strike with his ears, and that's why I went to him. After studying with Wang Peisheng for over 20 years, I never once asked, "Teacher, how do you strike with your ears?" I never brought it up. But after spending time with my teacher for a long while, he inadvertently revealed it himself. I took note of it.
These ears, for example, when we perform Wild Horse Shakes Its Mane, once you align your pinky fingertip horizontally with your ear tip, then think back to your ear tip, the leaning force emerges. In Wild Horse Shakes Its Mane, the shoulder leans against the opponent, but it's not just the shoulder—it's the whole body leaning. Listen to my hand's back—I'm simply thinking about my ear tip. This is only half the story; the complete version is even more powerful. On the outer side at the base of the pinky fingernail, there's an acupuncture point called "Shaozé." On the outer side of the little toe's nail, there's a point called "Zhiyin." Both sides have these points, symmetrically. When you perform Wild Horse Shakes Its Mane, after Shaozé and Zhiyin communicate with each other, your entire back leans against the opponent—they can't withstand contact anywhere.
How do you use your ears when practicing the form? Whichever side bears your weight, raise the ear tip on that side. Raise the right ear tip, raise the left ear tip—it's always correct, always generates power. Even old men become young again. The kidneys open into the ears. They always say to use the waist when practicing, but using the waist isn't actually advanced—it's intermediate. Using the waist can be quite tiring, and if done incorrectly, you might injure your waist. Using the ears, however, generates special power without causing fatigue.
Shoulder 肩
Taijiquan includes "leaning" techniques: distant fist, close elbow, and close-body leaning. Shoulder leaning, hip leaning, back leaning. This shoulder leaning, however, doesn't mean ramming your shoulder into someone. When I was young, in the countryside, we would do shoulder pushing contests—two shoulders pushing against each other—but that's not high-level skill; that's just strength winning. For the shoulder, we mainly use the Jianjing acupoint. For example, when you perform "Closing and Sealing" to push someone, don't think about pushing with your hands. What should you think about? Connect the outer Laogong point with the Jianjing point, and this will generate the forward pushing energy. Also, in the eighth movement of "Grasp Sparrow's Tail," think of the Jianjing point first, and the forward pressing energy will emerge. That's one aspect. Additionally, when the Jianjing point aligns vertically with the Yongquan point on the sole of the foot, your bearing capacity can greatly exceed your body weight.
If you're traveling far and can't find water to drink, align your Jianjing with your Yongquan points, do this two or three times, and you can bring up the "spring water" to relieve thirst. Also for bronchitis, bite your Jianjing point like this: left side once, right side once, left side once, right side once. Practice this technique to treat bronchitis.
Elbow 肘
When I went to Anshan to teach, there was a martial arts teacher there who had trained a student who won a pushing hands championship at the provincial level, but they had a problem they couldn't solve, so they came to me for advice. What do you do if someone supports your elbow from below? If you support my elbow from underneath, lifting it up. You see how uncomfortable this is. At this moment, use your knee! How do you use your knee? While they're supporting you, look—I'm thinking about lifting my knee to walk, but I'm not actually lifting it. Just think about your knee, constantly thinking about lifting it, about walking. That's it, just imagine lifting your knee to walk, and that's enough! Don't think about using your hand to pull and tug against them; forget about your hand, just think about lifting your knee to walk but without actually walking, and that's it. This is also a universal key! Remember this, and when you go back, your skill will improve.
Feet 足
Taijiquan texts have mentioned that its root is in the feet. The hands are two gates, but it's entirely the feet that strike the opponent. Don't think that using feet to strike means kicking, stomping, stepping, or stamping. Those aren't high-level skills—even children can be trained to kick, tap, step, and stomp. What we're talking about is striking without moving the feet. For example, if you know how to perform the Simplified 24-Form Taijiquan, there are movements like Ward Off, Roll Back, Press, and Push. When performing Ward Off, think about your front foot; for Roll Back, think about your back foot; for Press, think about your front foot; for Push, think about your back foot when withdrawing, and then think about your front foot when pushing forward.
Acupuncturists are especially helpful here—experts who understand meridians and acupoints. Look at me, listen to the energy in my hands. Where does this energy in the hands come from? Acupuncturists know that there's an acupoint here called "Zhongzhu" (Middle Islet), and on the outer front part of the foot there's an acupoint called "Diwuhui" (Five Convergences of Earth). When you extend your hand, connecting Zhongzhu with Diwuhui, energy emerges in your hand. For example, if I ask you to stand aside, I just think about my own Zhongzhu and Diwuhui communicating with each other, and internal energy is generated in my hand.
Also, in Wild Horse Parts Mane, after opening, think about the Hegu acupoint in your upper hand. Afterward, think about the Taichong acupoint in your rear foot. First think of Hegu, then Taichong—at this moment, the whole-body leaning energy emerges. The Hegu acupoint connects to heavenly energy, linking to heaven, while the Taichong acupoint connects to earth energy, linking to earth—connecting to heaven above and earth below. At this moment, whole-body leaning energy emerges.
Look at us practicing the form—try pushing my fist—at this moment, I'm thinking about the Jiexi acupoint. The Jiexi acupoint is here at the ankle, and Jiexi connects to the fist. Why could Guo Yunshen "defeat all under heaven with a half-step crushing fist"? Because in prison, he wore leg shackles and couldn't walk, so he practiced like this. After leaving prison, he would still say, "I'm still wearing leg shackles"—that's how his skill emerged. Actually, it was this Jiexi acupoint, as the leg shackles were positioned right at the Jiexi acupoint location.
Therefore, Taijiquan is performed slowly—it's about slowly cultivating energy, you understand? Don't push out all at once. That damages your qi! Just think about the sole of your foot, the foot palm on the ground, the center of the foot on the ground, the toes gripping the ground, and after the weight shifts, then think about lifting your heel. This way, there's always something in your hands that the opponent finds difficult to resist.
Hands 手
Hands and feet working together—how do hands work with feet? When upper and lower follow each other, it's difficult for others to penetrate. Hands are above, feet are below; when hands and feet follow each other, it's difficult for others to penetrate. It's mainly the feet that strike. Don't use force in the hands, and don't place your intention there—everything is in the feet. Look at Brush Knee Twist Step: when I align my index finger with my big toe in a straight line, I think about my big toe, and as a result, power is generated in my index finger. The index finger already has quite a bit of strength, with the skill concentrated at the fingertip, right? Then there's the ring finger, which is the weakest, but it also needs to be developed. When you complete Grasp Sparrow's Tail and turn into Brush Knee Twist Step, as soon as my Baihui point aligns with the Yongquan point, the ring finger gains power. It's like in an organization where someone has the least ability, but the leader discovers this person's potential can be developed, so they activate and make use of them. When Baihui and Yongquan align, the ring finger becomes powerful.
The Secret of Taiji Power: Low-Frequency Resonance 太极劲的奥秘:低频共振
Why did he just exclaim "Aya"?
他为什么刚才哎呀一声?
Do you know why? It's what I explained at the beginning—opening the biological switch and triggering energy resonance. It's like when my Laogong point connects with the Yongquan point, it becomes a switch. After the Laogong and Yongquan connect, my body produces a kind of low-frequency vibration. Biological organisms are most sensitive to low-frequency vibrations, especially humans. When this low-frequency vibration is generated, I draw my intention inward and focus it in one place, concentrating my intention on the Yongquan point. After that, I produce low-frequency vibrations, though I don't feel them myself. When someone makes contact with me, in that instant, it's like an electric current—whoosh!—instantly transferring to their body, and once inside them, it causes their internal organs to resonate.
This is a matter of cultivation—cultivating one's intention. It's not something you achieve through hard practice. Cultivation—how does one cultivate? Taiji thinking is completely different from ordinary thinking; Taiji trains the unconventional. It's reverse thinking, inverse thinking. Laozi said: "Reversal is the movement of the Dao, weakness is the function of the Dao, achieving everything by doing nothing." Reverse thinking—that's one aspect. Second, using the conscious mind doesn't work; you need the subconscious. Using the acquired knowledge of the "conscious spirit" doesn't work; you need the innate "original spirit." You must use the acquired conscious spirit to invite out the innate original spirit to govern your body—that's when your abilities can be developed. As Laozi said, "Can you be like an infant?" Can you be like a baby without distracting thoughts, without a single stray thought? Buddhist practitioners call it the "non-dual method"; Daoist practitioners call it "single-pointed intention." Here, clever people must learn to be like fools—how foolish? So foolish that if I tell you to think about your ears, you only think about your ears and nothing else, knowing nothing else—that's when it works. As Wan Laisheng said: "Taiji can only be mastered when you reach the height of foolishness." Foolish as in ignorant, simple-minded. But it's not true foolishness—it's great wisdom appearing as foolishness. You must be able to draw your mind back, focus on just one point, forget everything else, even forget yourself—only then can you succeed. Clever people can't learn the real thing; their brains are completely occupied by the acquired conscious spirit, leaving no room for the original spirit, rendering it ineffective.
Good People Learn from the Disabled 好人学残废
When I make contact with you, I think of this arm (right arm) as no longer mine, and I focus on this one (left arm)—this is what works. As soon as my hand connects with my front foot, I can send the opponent flying. You must forget the hand that's in contact; the hand in contact with the opponent must be forgotten. Forget it as if it's no longer functional, no longer mine, no longer exists—just this one hand remains. That's the key—good people learn from the disabled. If you become like someone with high-level paralysis, it becomes even more powerful. For example, when I make contact with you and become like someone with high-level paralysis, I have no sensation in the lower part of my body, only my arms remain functional. The "press elbow" technique from the Eight Methods of Taiji is like high-level paralysis. Everything below is submerged in water, with only the arms floating on the surface—that's the "Gen trigram," Gen representing mountain, pressing down. When performing the downward posture, first empty the front foot, then empty the back foot, meaning neither the front leg nor the back leg is supporting. At this moment, the pressing power emerges—that's the Gen trigram. The Eight Methods of Taiji correspond to the Eight Trigrams.
Armpit 腋窝
Many parts of the body can strike an opponent, even the armpit can be used to strike.
身上好些地方能打人,还有这个胳肢窝也能打人呢。
When our hands make contact, look—when I activate my Jiquan point, I can strike him. Like in our "Jade Girl Threads the Shuttle," it only works when I activate the Jiquan point. Try it—push with force, go ahead, push against this hand. Can you move it? I'm activating the Jiquan point. I'm ignoring the hand that's in contact. See how I'm striking you?
Also, let me teach you another all-purpose technique: striking with the navel. How do you strike with the navel? When engaging with an opponent, no matter how they attack or move, don't worry about them or even your own hands—just place your intention on your navel, specifically the lower edge of the navel. During push hands, regardless of how the opponent attacks or moves, just steadfastly guard the lower edge of your navel. This way, your hands will have six-directional power—up, down, forward, backward, left, and right—with endless adaptability. Responding naturally to circumstances. One thought replaces ten thousand thoughts; unchanging yet responding to ten thousand changes; master one thing and everything is accomplished.
In the past, we never taught these things to outsiders.
Opening Posture 起势
Let me explain how to perform the opening posture. The opening posture is front ward-off followed by downward plucking, right? Imagine the opponent is gripping your arm, holding it firmly. How do I counter this? No matter how tightly they're holding or pressing, don't worry about it—first think of your toes reaching toward the center of your foot, then your fingers reaching toward the center of your palm. Toes gripping, fingers gripping.
There's another approach: if they press against you, ignore them and grip your knee—don't let your knee be gripped. That's one method.
And another way to perform the opening posture: there's an acupoint here called Hegu. Think about the Hegu point, and your index finger will naturally extend forward, with the thumb following the index finger forward, like holding up a wine glass to toast someone. That's three methods—what else?
There's yet another way to perform the Taiji opening posture. What's that about? It's when the opponent has grabbed me from both sides. At first, there's no sensation, but they've immediately caught hold. I've grabbed them and dare not let go. This means the opening posture contains all these variations.
As for downward plucking, listen to what I'm saying about my fingertips. If you lift upward, what's happening? If someone lifts my fingers, I ignore that and think about connecting my toe tips with my fingertips. That's one approach. Another approach, as I mentioned earlier: while you're lifting me, I think about raising my knee to walk, and that sends the opponent flying! I focus on my quadriceps, where there are two acupoints called the "Crouching Rabbit points"—the rabbit is crouching, two rabbits lying down. As the rabbits start to rise, pushing upward, this generates the sinking-plucking power.
Due to time constraints, we'll just discuss the opening posture. There's no time for more. I apologize for any shortcomings in my explanation and welcome your feedback.