Pan jia is traditional Tai Chi comprehensive training way, organically combine Tai Chi’s various skills from single practice. Tai Chi’s basic skills like calligraphy strokes, pan jia is like combine strokes into perfect characters.
In Tai Chi pan jia, every posture and even every small movement is permeated with Tai Chi Yin Yang philosophy. Otherwise, even practice for decades, just stay in physical fitness stage, cannot reach martial arts high level. For martial artists, not only know how it works but also why it works, then can keep improving. Purpose of pan jia must be clear: only through pan jia, can really grasp the whole body movement rules, achieve coordination of hand, eye, body, method, step; spirit, energy, intention, strength, mind, whole body as one family.
About Tai Chi practice method, many predecessors wrote much, summarized their own practice insights, enlightening for later learners. No doubt, these experiences and rules very helpful for beginners, but also must notice, Tai Chi’s connotation cannot fully expressed by language and words, not through personal experience, cannot have comprehensive, thorough understanding, language, words described Tai Chi not real, full Tai Chi! This is no doubt. Martial proverb says: entrance need verbal instruction, learn boxing easy, change boxing hard. For beginners, at entrance must have clear teacher guide, can avoid detours. Once form bad habits, will cause great hidden danger to later practice, this issue cannot be overstressed. In martial arts community, injuries from improper practice not few, predecessors’ mistakes, later learners should not repeat.
For beginners in entry stage, key is learn rules well. Master each movement’s origins and developments, clarify each movement in sports’ empty and solid, opening and closing, direction, angle, hands and feet movement routes etc. When practice boxing, mainly grasp basic movement principles of head, chest, waist, abdomen, back, shoulders, elbows, hips, knees, feet. In each movement’s practice, change of empty and solid, loose and tight switch, movement trajectory, always changing in movement. Any action’s form requirement different, follow situation to change, cannot rigid, otherwise cannot grasp Tai Chi essence, create unnecessary obstacles for own martial arts practice, easy mislead others and self. Like Tai Chi manual “sink shoulders, drop elbows” is specific situation demand, cannot stick to it in any situation, not seek flexibility. Tai Chi essence is Yin Yang switch, circular movement. Since circular movement, should have rise and fall, opening and closing, rotation. If always maintain sink shoulders, drop elbows without change, will have stiff, unsmooth movement, how to talk about “nine curves linked pearls, section by section connected”? Predecessors when teaching each posture have clear instructions. Like: when relax shoulders, when rotate shoulders, when sink shoulders; when drop elbows, when cover elbows, when open elbows; when sink wrists, when rotate wrists, when relax wrists; when contain chest, when open chest, when stack chest; when pull back, when round back, when relax back; when collapse waist, when relax waist, when rotate waist; when open knees, when rotate knees, when lead knees; when push feet, when twist feet, when sink feet etc. In practice movement changes, must strictly observe, carefully feel. This is most basic external form requirement, although complicated, practitioners must know. As long as practice seriously, can grasp in short time. If not seek change during training, how to use in fighting? After body movement basically meet requirements, should gradually learn Tai Chi’s eight gates five steps’ practical application, clear each posture’s technical meaning, clarify force starts from where, ends where, learn a clear set of boxing. This stage’s practice still stay at external round level, far from inner round distance. This stage practice must have clear teacher correct guidance, integrate Tai Chi principles into boxing walking framework, not stay on verbal, can step into correct path, to have gains.
After beginners enter door, should deeply feel each action’s requirements’ connotations, carefully ponder movement’s body rotation, folding, opening and closing. For each action’s requirements’ subtleties, should carefully feel, deeply understand, not be biased, to avoid misunderstandings in understanding. Stand upright, not rigid board, should correspond with rise and fall, empty and solid switch. Also like energy sink to Dantian, energy downward can stabilize center of gravity, if only focus on energy sink to Dantian also cause limbs movement slow, so during boxing should pay attention to Dantian internal turn and energy sink Dantian’s coordination, in different situations have different requirements, different levels adopt different intentions. Need point out, during pan jia each small movement, all imply folding switch, practitioners must know. Folding includes chest waist folding, back abdomen folding, limbs wrapping folding. Not understand folding whole body like rigid board. Chen Tai Chi predecessors early clearly stated: “Not know folding vainly learn skill, switch all in folding.” At same time folding with loose tight opening
closing, developing calling also have direct relation. In actual combat, instant contact between two sides, force switch play decisive role, only with clear teacher guidance and self realization, can grasp real content. Through Tai Chi pan jia can train whole body mixed Yuan force (organs mixed Yuan Qi).
About whole mixed Yuan force, different schools training methods different, but principles basically same. I talk about early learned Chen Tai Chi old frame basic requirements. Pan jia each posture must use mind lead energy, energy move body, intention to energy, start from Dantian, penetrate to extremities, return to Dantian, use Dantian internal turn drive whole body rotation (Dantian engine). Yang Qi rise, Yin Qi fall (note: Yin Yang two Qi must rise and fall in switch); double rise is float, double fall is stagnation; up and down connected, flow ceaselessly, body like air bag, meticulously, simultaneously penetrate whole body movement. Have pull one hair move whole body situation, one move no part not move, make neck, back, waist, hips, knees, ankles, shoulders, elbows, wrists nine curves linked pearls, section by section connected, through whole body spiral movement make whole body joints force linked as one. Only integrate internal and external training effectively, make hand, eye, body, method, step; spirit, energy, intention, strength, mind effectively linked together, can form real whole mixed Yuan force. This whole mixed Yuan force is guarantee for push hands, fighting. All Chen Tai Chi boxing force come from whole mixed Yuan force. Martial proverb says: Train Dantian mixed Yuan force, travel all under heaven no rival. If rely only on limbs’ change and sensitivity, impossible exhibit real level of Tai Chi fighting.
In pan jia also pay attention to empty and solid switch, in Tai Chi boxing method empty and solid everywhere, have movement stillness impossible not have empty solid. No empty solid then no change can speak, no change cannot called boxing. Empty solid are mutually permeate, also relatively stand, from Tai Chi boxing method whole body movement perspective, mainly divide three stages: one, body (waist) lead hand (foot). Two, hand (foot) lead whole body. Three, spirit lead whole body. Must point out, lead not mean separate, but play pivotal, leading role in each stage, in different situations reflect different cultivation levels, mainly divide into active, passive, sudden three situations. From first stage speak, empty solid dominate by waist, waist is whole body’s master, whole body movement pivot, with waist as axis, one branch move, hundred branches follow, one move whole body all move, if axis not move, how balance, lose balance how talk about empty solid change. Like Tai Chi masters Tang Hao, Gu Liuxin wrote in “Tai Chi Boxing Study”: “Now some people practice boxing regard central upright comfortable as rigid, regard shaking leaning as flexible, abandon essence pride self-create, central not bias principle turn obscure.”
In Tai Chi pan jia and push hands, training eight gates five steps must let own eight lines with center set as foundation, must look ahead must consider behind, also must take care upper lower left right etc sides, can achieve stand upright central. If empty solid not separate, fundamentally not talk about eight sides spiral force. Tai Chi boxing from its own whole speak, human body nowhere not separate empty solid, whether up down, front back, inside outside, down to any joint, even every point all separate empty solid, empty have solid, solid have empty. In pan jia not deliberately discuss change in real foot and empty foot, whether empty foot or real foot, itself separate empty solid, just in different situations have different choices only. Whether empty foot or real foot, in different situations have advantages and disadvantages, Tai Chi boxing fundamentally no absolute empty solid, only relative empty solid, if have it then not Tai Chi boxing. Empty have solid, solid have empty is this reason. If Yin Yang half and half, return to pre-heaven, then is Wuji. Empty solid contain light heavy float sink, each kind can divide into double, bias, half three situations,其中 most common faults are double heavy and double float. Have empty no solid is double float, have solid no empty is double heavy, half is not enough, bias is too much. Heavy and float are faults, sink and light not faults. Tai Chi boxing emphasize contain chest, solid abdomen, contain abdomen is one empty, energy sink Dantian is one solid, this can make center of gravity sink, achieve top light agile bottom sink steady, Yang Qi rise, Yin Qi fall; fall must have rise, rise must have fall, two are harmonious unified, inseparable. Above viewpoints are for beginners. After body movement meet requirements, gradually explore Tai Chi eight methods—peng, lu, ji, an, cai, lie, zhou, kao eight basic force methods, like Chen Tai Chi boxing “Diamond Pounder” one posture, two hands rise fall, include peng
, lu, ji, an; one left turn left rotate, contain cai, lie, zhou, kao, carefully ponder each posture’s fighting function, master force trajectory, not only know how it is, also know why it is, step by step, self verify. In boxing always intention first, do each move each posture intend real combat with person, in pan jia always imagine have person front back left right follow boxing posture change change, conduct attack defense switch, can improve pan jia quality.
And in push hands, fighting from consciousness not in push hands with person, but in boxing, can avoid emotional tension in push hands fighting, achieve mind like still water, let spirit consciousness completely release, thus effectively exert self-learned, also what predecessors said “pan jia is for fighting, fighting is for pan jia” principle. Worth noting, Tai Chi boxing’s eight methods have hand divide eight methods, foot divide eight methods, body divide eight methods, upper middle lower eight methods combine one. As for each level requirements for eight methods different, another detailed explanation, here not elaborate. Scholars must understand, Tai Chi eight methods—peng, lu, ji, an, cai, lie, zhou, kao not peng in two arms, or lu in palm, or other some part, but human body upper middle lower three disks everywhere. Because in fighting opponent not according your imagination boxing, your body any part可能 is opponent attack target, match number only make self in fighting suffer setback, Tai Chi boxing require whole body nowhere not Tai Chi aim just at this.
Talk about pan jia, cannot not talk pan jia’s health preserving function. Persist in pan jia can strengthen body, prolong life, this is one important reason Tai Chi boxing popular China land even Europe America, Southeast Asia. Remove disease strengthen body is most basic requirement practice Tai Chi boxing. Some people practice Tai Chi boxing many years, although in fighting have certain achievements, often neglect health care, overemphasize fighting, thereby harm self, medicine difficult apply, cause great harm, some very talented martial artists die young, end with illness, become one big regret in martial arts community, this issue, practitioners should fully pay attention. For health fitness speak, Tai Chi pan jia is more ideal choice. If can long persist, practice by standard, have very good effect on enhancing physique. Regarding pan jia, Tai Chi door have five elements adjusting method, according to five organs six entrails different diseases, in same set boxing, can adopt different practice methods for different diseases, through intention adjust qi blood direction, make organs diseases get adjusted. This practice method most direct effective, adopt pan jia whole therapy, make qi blood circulate whole body, nourish five organs six entrails, can fully enhance person’s body quality, and relative treat single disease some regular methods, its治疗 treatment time correspondingly slower or ineffective, but对 for practitioner自身 self body quality improvement then have more ideal effect. Tai Chi pan jia can limited energy according five elements generate conquer principle,用于 used for nourish某个 needed organ, can very well achieve remove disease strengthen body effect. Through pan jia training can change temperament, strengthen body, lay good foundation for further study practice Tai Chi push hands.
