If you use force, then it's not T'aiChiChuan (by Peter Tong)

Translated by: 龔振勝

Tai Chi Chuan applies a water-like quality, sinking both one's own weight on top of the weight of the opponent coming down on me, sending it into the ground, and then rebounding upward from the ground. This "rebounding energy" was called "劤" by the late Qing martial artist Li Yi-yu(李亦畬), though it’s commonly written as "勁" (Jin). The ability to use this sinking and floating energy at will is called "understanding jin" (懂劤). T'aiChi uses the "jin" generated from weight to strike, without needing muscular force, which is why it is said, "using no force to defeat force." Master Wang Zhuang-hong believes: "If you’re using brute force, then it’s not T'aiChi!"

虛領頂勁 Hollow the Neck, let the Energy Rise to the Crown

"Jin" is the energy derived from the integration of sinking and floating. Sinking and floating are the cyclical movements of weight within the body, starting with the principle of "Hollowing the neck, to let the energy rise to the crown." (虛領頂勁)

頂 refers to「頭頂」(top/crown of the head), and not「頂撐」(pushing upward). The crown of the head should be relaxed, creating a space for upward floating. As the head floats upward, the body’s weight naturally sinks downward. The sinking weight, combined with the buoyancy created by the leg bow formed through opening the hips and expanding the knees, and the empty space above the head accommodating the floating weight, causes the body’s weight to rebound upward like a spring. As the weight rises to the crown of the head, it then sinks again, creating a continuous cycle of "sinking-floating-sinking-floating..." This ongoing cycle forms the "unification of sinking and floating energy." The back-and-forth flow of Jin aligns with T'aiChi’s continuous cycle of Yin and Yang.

開胯擴膝 Opening the Hips and Expanding the Knees

Master Wang once explained "opening the hips" as: "You need to loosen, as if separated by a layer of sky."(「要脫開，也要好像隔着一層天一樣」) The upper body and legs are connected through the hips. Opening the hips and expanding the knees creates a round shape in the crotch, forming a leg bow with elasticity akin to water. The upper body, above the hips, is like the rounded bottom of a boat floating on the water formed by the leg bow. Below the hips, the leg bow is the water, and the upper body is like a boat floating on the water, connecting to the sky. This connection between water and sky is both unified and open. "Opening the hips" is a mental and practical loosening, like a boat floating on water.

不丟不頂 Neither Disengage Nor Resist

With the leg bow enabling the cyclical flow of weight as an energy source, this energy can only move directly in and out without much efficiency. To enhance efficiency, the body’s joints and limbs need to open and close in a spiraling motion in an orderly manner, forming the "Eight Gates and Five Steps"(八門五步). This spiral motion expands outward by a factor of 1.618 or contracts inward by 0.618. Only through this can the energy flow be multiplied. When the limbs and joints follow the spiraling opening and closing of the "Eight Gates and Five Steps," advanced practitioners naturally acquire the characteristics of "sticking, adhering, linking, and following, neither abandoning nor resisting."(粘黏連隨、不丟不頂). When engaging with an opponent, this provides a tremendous advantage!