Wahnam Tai Chi Chuan (Taijiquan) Thailand

‘Dragon Plays with Pearl’-Lu

 

‘Dragon Plays with Pearl’ is an extremely versatile pattern, which although not spectacular to observe, has many excellent combat applications. ‘Playing with a pearl’ suggests a small movement with a focus on turning the hands and wrists in a smooth and synchronised fashion, but the movement can also be large in application depending on the needs of the situation. Below are just some of the ways ‘Dragon Plays with Pearl’ can be used in application.

  

1. Catch a kick
2. Apply a wrist lock/Chi Na
3. Defend a shoot/takedown

 

1. Catch a kick

 This technique is very useful for not only avoiding front thrust kicks by sinking back into a stance, but also for catching them. Once the kick has been caught there are a variety of options. In a serious combat situation it is a prime position to break the kicker’s ankle with a sharp turn of the hands, but a kinder option is to twist the ankle so that they ‘gently’ travel head first to the floor. It’s also possible to just shift you body weight forwards to give them a push sending them backwards.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 2. Apply a lock

Playing with the Pearl’ is also a useful way to release a single handed grip. Both hands grip the attackers ‘gripping’ hand and twist the wrist to the outside whilst stepping away from attacker’s free hand to avoid possible strikes while at the same time increasing the leverage on the wrist lock. To increase the torque on the joint lock, pull the wrist into the body and sink down into a solid horse stance. There is the option of breaking their wrist, or forcing the person onto the ground. If they do not release their grip they run the risk of a very painful wrist injury.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 3. Catch the head and defend a shoot 

The ‘Double and Single leg Takedown’ is now a very common form of attack, particularly because of its successful application in Mixed Martial Arts events. Therefore it makes sense to have a few ways’ to try and avoid this attack. The nature of a takedown leaves the aggressor quite exposed in the initial stages of the movement; however this is normally not much of an issue for the ‘shooter’ as it requires good skill, trained over considerable time to effectively defend against a fast and forceful shoot. If you have time to dedicate to training this technique could come in very useful. As the ‘shooter’ comes in, sink your stance or take a full step back depending on the speed of the shoot. In the same motion grip the head and apply a strong grip. It is then possible too turn the opponents head and put him into the floor. Through regular training the movement should be spontaneous. NOTE this is a very dangerous technique do not attempt to try this without the supervision of a qualified Martial Arts instructor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next movement to be featured will ‘Push the Boat according the Flow’

 

‘Immortal Waves Sleeves’-Peng

 

The first movement of ‘Grasping the Sparrows Tail’ in Wahnam Tai Chi Chuan is ‘Immortal Waves Sleeves’. In Wahnam Tai Chi Chuan the poetic names of the patterns serve as a reminder as to how the pattern should be executed. Notice it is not called ‘Gorilla tenses muscles and shouts’. An Immortal is relaxed when waving his sleeves, which is a good reminder that we need to be relaxed when training, so the internal force can flow smoothly. Below are just some of the ways ‘Waves Sleeves’ can be used in application.

1. defence against a high strike
2. release against a double grip
3. to ‘wrong’ an elbow joint

 

 1. Neutralise a high strike

 The first application shown is a defence against a high strike. To apply the technique correctly requires body movement to neutralise the initial attack, then the hand/forearm gently deflects the strike up and to the side. This is the classic Tai Chi Chuan movement to showcase soft against hard and ‘seek the curved though the straight’; a straight attack arrives and is deflected by a circular motion. The key to correct application is the use of sinking body movement to avoid the strike.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Release a double grip

Next is using ‘Immortal wave’s sleeves’ to counter a double grip onto one arm. Once the grip is applied is essential to have a firm stance. Sink into a horse stance and using waist movement and a circular arm movement turn the hand that is being gripped over into the ‘Waves sleeve’s and pattern as you shift the weight back forward back into bow arrow stance. The grip should release. The strong stance and flowing body movement are necessary for applying this technique effectively.

Actually if you try to rely on muscular force using this technique to release this grip, and the grip is strong, you will probably not succeed; the movements of Tai Chi Chuan are not designed to be used with brute strength.  An interesting test maybe to try both approaches i.e. try using muscular force, and then try body movement. The ‘releasing’ arm must remain relaxed and not become tense during the application.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3.‘Upset’ the elbow

Many applications of Tai Chi Chuan are like secrets in the open. Would you have known that you can also use ‘Immortal Wave’s Sleeves’ to dislocate and attackers elbow?  Again body movement and internal force are the keys to successful application. First you sink back to avoid a strike then counter by following the retreating punch and gripping the arm/elbow joint. The left arm grips and pulls the attackers forearm down while the right hand grips and forces the elbow joint to bend the wrong way, thus dislocating the joint. This is a relatively ‘hard’ application which highlights the fact that Tai Chi Chuan can and should be hard and soft, therefore achieving Ying Yang harmony even in Combat application.

Notice, the detail in the last picture, the grip is underneath the elbow with the other hand pulling down to offer leverage. A solid grip is required.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 ‘Grasping the Sparrow’s Tail’- profundity in motion

A series of articles on just some of the applications of Grasping the Sparrows Tail

‘Grasping the Sparrows Tail’ is considered one of the ‘fundamental’ movements of Tai Chi Chuan, and is common to most of the major styles of Tai Chi Chuan. It is actually a sequence of primary hand movements which consists of Peng (ward off) Lu (Rollback) Ji (press) and An (Sinking). In our Wahnam style of Tai Chi Chuan these hand patterns are given beautiful and poetic names. The hand pattern of ‘Peng’ is called ‘Immortal Waves Sleeves’, Lu is called ‘Dragon Plays with Pearl’, ‘Ji’ is called ‘Push the Boat According to the Flow’ and ‘An’ is called ‘Brown Bear Sinks Hips’ and the continuation of ‘An’ is called as ‘Open Window to Observe the Moon’

 

The profundity of these ‘Basic’ movements in the hands of a Master is quite simply astounding. For with this sequence of movements it is possible to defend against most types of attack, including hand strikes, kicks, grips, and felling techniques! That is if you have the necessary skills.

‘Yang The Invincible’

In the past, the great Tai Chi Chuan Master ‘Yang Lu Chan’ was given the nickname ‘Yang The Invincible’ for never losing in combat. He travelled China looking for worthy opponents to test his combat skills and still was never beaten. Legend has it he only ever needed to use the martial applications of ‘Grasping the Sparrows Tail’ to defeat all his opponents.

 To the uninitiated or those who have yet to find traditional Tai Chi Chuan, these statements could easily seem redundant. Especially if the only Tai Chi you have seen is the Tai Chi ‘dancing’.

In fact when looking at the movements alone, unless you are a martial artist, it is very hard to see how the movements could be used for self defence. When performed slowly, the movements look graceful and elegant and there is hardly any clue to the martial usage. There are no obvious punches or kicks and often times the movements look too soft to be of any use!

 

(Below Yang Lu Chan’s grandson, Yang Chen Fu, performing Peng, Lu and Ji from ‘Grasping the Sparrows’ Tail’) 

   

 Important Factors

This leads to some very important factors regarding the use of Tai Chi Chuan for combat. The most important factors in being able to use these beautiful patterns effectively in combat depends on having sufficient ‘skills’ to be able to apply them, not just knowing the applications. These skills include ‘internal force’, ‘energy flow’ and ‘body movement’. The applications must also be trained diligently with a training partner.

Without these skills most  traditional Tai Chi Chuan patterns would be useless for Combat, as the patterns are simply not designed to be used with muscular strength and tension. Another important factor is that Tai Chi Chuan utilises ‘Soft’ Internal force, but it can also be very ‘hard’ when needs be. For example once an attack is softly deflected, the counter attack may be a hard strike, a grip or a fell, execute with considerable Internal force. Off course when training with friends and training partners there is no need to use excessive force and safety is the priority.

 In this coming series of short articles I will show three applications for the five hand patterns that make up ‘Grasping the Sparrows Tail’ in our Wahnam Tai Chi Chuan.

You will notice that in the Tai Chi ‘form’ demonstrated in application is almost exactly the same as the form of the pattern demonstrated when performing a Tai Chi Set (although there may be some adjustments depending on the situation). i.e. good hand patterns and stances are used. This is because in Wahnam Tai Chi Chuan we practice application and sparring the same way we perform the patterns in set practice. We are certain this is how past Masters practised.

At this point I must thank my Kung-Fu Brothers for there help with the pictures- Sifu Joshua Lawson for being and excellent last minute Photographer, and also Sifu Jamie Robson for being a perfect ‘Shaolin’ attacker. Here’s Jamies website http://www.wahnamscotland.co.uk

 I hope you find the forthcoming articles fun, informative and enjoyable

 The articles will be posted roughly once a week.

 Sifu Robin