Secret techniques of Yang style taijiquan read. Chen Jiazhen - secret techniques of Chen style Taijiquan

Birth of Taijiquan - Chen School

Chen Fake Family Chen Fake comes from a long line of Tai Chi masters. His great ancestor Chen Changxing (1771-1853) was the teacher of Yang Luchan (1799-1872), the founder of Yang family taijiquan. Only many years of study with Chen Changxing made Yang Luchan a master of real martial arts.

The exploits of Chen Fake Many legends are told about the battles of Chen Fake. These legends could provide fodder for many great movies and television series. However, if we talk about something exciting, it may attract attention, but we will learn little about real Tai Chi.

Liu Musan studies the Chen family's taijiquan with his students When Hong Junsheng was young, his health was not very good. In 1930, he studied Wu Family Taijiquan from Liu Musan on the advice of his neighbors. Liu Musan was a senior student of the founder of Wu Family Taijiquan,

Xu Yusheng studies Chen Family Taijiquan Xu Yusheng (1879-1945) was born into a noble family in the Qing Dynasty. His family placed great importance on martial arts training. From a young age he studied with many masters. He studied Ba Guazhang from Liu Fengchun, a student of Dong Haichuan.

Can we educate people like Chen Fake? We know how great Chen Fake's skill was in martial arts. We also now know why he became so good. This leads us to the question: is it possible to become like Chen Fake? In other words, can modern

1-1 ZHANG SANFENG AND TAI CHI QUAN Although there are many different versions regarding the founder of Tai Chi Quan, the one most often recognized first is Zhang San Feng, who was, of course, the greatest teacher of this system. Zhang Sanfeng is also known as Zhang Junpao and Zhang Tong.

1-4 TAIJI_CHUAN OF THE CHEN FAMILY Taijiquan has been mentioned in documents since the time of Chen Wangting. Chen was born in Henan Province (Northern China) at the end of the 16th century and was promoted to army officer in Shandong Province in 1618. He returned to his native land in 1644, when the Ming Dynasty

4 -2. WANG ZUNYUE, “THE BOOK OF TAI CHI QUAN”

The specifics of our School and the explanations of Teacher Chen Yu I. Images of Taijiquan Question: “Teacher, how would you characterize Taijiquan from the point of view of animal images?” Teacher Chen Yu: “The body movements are like leaning on a bear, the gracefulness of the efforts of the hands is like wings

The first complex of Taijiquan of the Chen style 1st form Preparatory pose Stand with the body exactly in the middle, the feet are placed slightly wider than the shoulders, the toes of the feet are slightly apart, the arms hang freely, the gaze is directed forward horizontally (Fig. 1).Features. Preparatory

Chapter III Diagrams and explanations for the second track of Chen style Taijiquan The second track of Erlu (abbreviated as the second complex of Er Tao) is also called “cannon strikes” of Paochui. In the second complex, the first 5 movements, including the preparatory pose, coincide with the first, so you should

Chapter IV Pushing Hands in Chen Style Taijiquan The method in which two people push each other with their hands was originally called "pushing hands" jiashou or "pushing hands" dashou, this is the world of competition in technique related to the technical striking of jiji. It was distributed in

Gu Liuxin Cannon strikes Paochui 2nd complex of Chen style taijiquan Translation from Chinese and commentary by M.M.

Chapter 4. Schemes and explanations for the second complex of gymnastics - the great limit of the Chen style (cannon strikes). Names and order of forms.1. Preparatory pose (yubei shi).2. Initial form (qi shi).3. Diamond pounding (jingan daodui).4. Lazy tugging at clothes (lan zha yi).5. Six

Current page: 1 (book has 27 pages in total)

Chen Jiazhen, Gu Liuxin
Secret techniques of Chen style Taijiquan

From the translator

Tai Chi Chuan is an amazing gymnastics. It is unique: there is nothing similar either in European culture - in physical education, especially in sports, or among other world systems of self-regulation, and even in the Chinese martial arts (wushu) it stands apart. What is striking is the depth of development of this system, the construction and constant maintenance of harmony in a person - from the ratio of movements of individual parts of the body relative to its center to the harmony between the body (form), energy and consciousness. Needless to say once again that any system in the East has a spiritual basis, without which higher advancements are impossible. A striking example: if in sports the main task is to surpass others, to rise above them, then eastern systems only involve raising oneself today above oneself yesterday, and so on endlessly.

Modern types of taijiquan have developed in the direction of simplification. This is the Yang style as a simplified Chen style, and the simplified taijiquan (the so-called “24 forms”), which is quite widespread in our country, developed by the Committee on Physical Education and Sports of China. However, some people are not attracted to primitive forms of gymnastics. This book is for them. Fans of oriental gymnastics will receive rich material on which they can work for a long time, rack their brains, understanding the underlying meaning hidden behind unusual terms, often absent in Russian and in European languages ​​in general.

Turning to primary sources, the author cites numerous excerpts from old books. Often these are four-syllable or other short formulas (you have to add conjunctions and prepositions in translation). In this Procrustean bed of half-verses, the predecessors laid the meaning often allegorically, with the hint that even the Chinese reader is forced to take a long time to understand and read, rack his brains, and write comments. A person who does not know this tradition, at least the tradition of Chinese martial arts, cannot understand it.

Translating such a book is always a deep study, impossible without many years of studying the theory of Chinese gymnastics and personal practice (to feel everything for yourself). Unfortunately, the translator does not have enough experience to understand everything 100%.

If karate fans prefer to communicate in Japanese, yogis speak Sanskrit, musicians are comfortable with Italian, which is good for a narrow circle of specialists, then the translator would not want to pollute the Russian language with excessive Chineseisms. Let everything that is possible be in Russian. The exception is words like yin-yang, qi, which are already widely known and difficult to translate due to the lack of Russian analogues.

The peculiarity of the Chinese root language is the absence of tense, gender, declensions, and conjugations. Without knowing thoroughly what the author intended, one can translate in a variety of ways. For example, ici: and - one, qi - or energy in general, or the vital energy of a person. You can translate: one energy, single energy, unity of energy, etc. It’s not easy to translate verbs: either in the third person (do, attack), or in the imperative form (do, attack). In Chinese it is impersonal and indifferent, but in Russian it has different intonations. How to translate hieroglyphs that are not in dictionaries, that appeared either due to the author’s illiteracy, or that were invented on purpose? It also happens that in Wushu the meaning of a hieroglyph is not at all the same as in another context. Ancient texts did not know punctuation, so colons, dashes, etc. are the translator’s imagination.

In general, there may be many flaws in translation for various reasons. It will help the reader, however, that the author repeats himself many, many times. And since it is unclear which translation can be considered ideal, ancient expressions (but not individual terms) in different places of the book may not be translated in exactly the same way - let the reader choose the most attractive (in his opinion) version. Practice and, of course, a good teacher will help you understand more precisely.

In Chinese, the structure of phrases is rigid, but in Russian it is quite loose, which made it possible to preserve the word order of the Chinese text in translation as closely as possible.

A sense of the rhythm of an ancient Chinese phrase will make it easier to get used to its inner meaning.

The authors, unfortunately, do not explain the concepts they use from the very beginning, so the reader is advised to use the included dictionary and, if necessary, look for an explanation further in the text or understand the context. You can also use the “Health Dictionary” published by the translator. This explanatory dictionary explains many concepts of wushu, qigong, and Chinese medicine. To even greater regret, although the author constantly mentions internal energy qi and do x-shen, emphasizes their importance, but does not explain in detail what he means or how to work with them. The book was written by Chen Jiazhen and the ending was added by Gu Liuxin.

The authors credit the creation of Taijiquan to Chen Wangting. However, according to another version, it was known much earlier and arose in areas much south of the Chen Family Ravine. There is no scientifically verified history of Taijiquan.

The translator cannot help but express his gratitude to Master Liu Guanlai. A student of the student Chen Fake, he, according to his stories, was exiled “for re-education” to the Chen Family Ravine (Chenjiagou), where he spent 10 years. Before that, from the age of five, I studied wushu. As a result, the negative (exile) manifested itself as positive in his life. Unfortunately, due to the short duration of contacts with Master Liu, not all questions have been answered. Liu called this book “famous.” The translator is also grateful to Andrey Struchkov for persuading him to take on the translation. It’s sad that knowledge and experience are not enough to make a perfect translation of this famous book, the most serious of which we have never come across in the field of wushu. And one cannot help but express gratitude to Taoist Zhou Jinfu - the only one who could explain complex parts of the text without hesitation.

In conclusion, it remains to wish the readers great progress on their path. The great limit, taiji, on the one hand is a cycle, a ring without beginning or end, but, on the other hand, a spiral that allows you to go further and further into unknown endless distances.

Unmarked notes belong to the translator.

The most problematic terms for a translator – qi And jing. Translator translates qi as energy, meaning vital energy, which is written about in old treatises of many peoples and which is felt during training, one works with it practically, controlling thought. Concerning jing, then we don’t have a Russian analogue. A. Milyanyuk calls it internal strength. It manifests itself in relaxed muscles through thought and is extremely powerful. Chinese authors emphasize: it should not be confused with physical force, which is used to push, for example, a stone. Indeed: what is the force if the muscles are relaxed? We will conventionally call jing an effort to somehow name it (all terms are conditional) and not to pollute the Russian language with Chineseisms - many translators do not translate foreign words, leaving the transcription, and this is a “under-translation”.

M. M. Bogachikhin. Moscow, 1993-2004

Introduction

Chen style Taijiquan Chen Shi Taijiquan(or Chen style, or Chen style, meaning the Chen family) at the end of the Ming dynasty - the beginning of the Qing dynasty (17th century) was created by the famous master gymnastics Chen Wangting, who lived in the village of Ravine of the Chen Family (Chenjiagou) of Warm (Wenxian) County, Henan Province. His descendants improved the gymnastics complex, and the now famous first and second complexes were gradually formed.

Continuous movements, transforming into one another, have been precisely calibrated. Their speed and intensity are not the same, ways for the body shenfa, The amount of movement and difficulty are also not identical. However, they all correspond to the principles of cyclicity and consistency, as well as mutual support of hard and soft.

Movements in the first track lu Gymnastics are relatively simple, there is a lot of soft, but little hard. Mainly, the four orthogonal jin efforts are used: reflection pen, rollback liu, squeezing ji and pressing anh, and plucking is used as auxiliary movements tsai, dismemberment le, elbow action zhou and support kao, directed at four corners. The method of using force is mainly the force-jin of winding the thread. chansi, and the auxiliary one is the release of effort-jin fajin. In movements one strives for softness and consistency, the basis is the transformative effort-jin Hua-jin. Using the soft, they meet the hard and transform the hard. The external form contains such features as slowness, softness, stability. At the initial stage of training, they strive to ensure that the movements are as slow as possible, and focus on practicing the force-jin of winding the thread.

In movements, methods for the body shenfa control ways for hands showa, at the same time, they achieve the decomposition of movements (using centrifugal force) and static harmony (using centripetal force), which are constantly replaced. Since the speed of movement is relatively slow, the amount of movement can be adjusted using high, medium and low stances, allowing you to choose the most comfortable stance for a person to strengthen the body. It is also useful for curing some chronic diseases and promoting health in weakened practitioners.

In the second track Lu, called "cannon strikes" pao-chuy, the movements are the most difficult. Speed ​​and a hard rhythm are necessary, there is a lot of hard and little soft, in the use of jin effort the main thing is tearing, dismembering, elbowing and supporting, and reflection, rolling away, squeezing and pressing play a supporting role. Movements should be light and fast. When training, they focus on elastic force-jin. The complex includes “running jump” movements, combat with maneuvering and evasion, characterized by speed, rigidity, and jumping. Considering from the standpoint of external form, although this complex is no different from other gymnastics in terms of speed, rigidity, and jumps, in essence it has the following features: during the movement, they continuously “twist” the lower back and “fold” the spine, “roll” the wrist and “ twist” the arms, turn the feet and “twist” the knees, with the result that when one thing moves, everything moves, a single spiral movement is formed that covers the entire body. From here you can get opening and releasing, closing and collecting, as well as closing in opening and opening in closing, which form a single action. Due to its high speed and powerful explosive force, this gymnastic complex is more suitable for young and strong or relatively strong people.

By practicing the complex, you can gradually learn to fulfill such a requirement of Taijiquan as “hard and soft support each other”, i.e., as they say, to carry out “work on self-knowledge.” In order to use techniques such as sticking, tying and following to achieve "understanding of effort-jin", "pushing hands" are also created in Chen style Taijiquan gymnastics. tuishou of an opposing nature, i.e. “work of knowing the other.” In these “pushing hands” it is required to “throw yourself away to accompany the person”: in accordance with the external strength of the opponent, they use their own technique. If the enemy’s movements are fast, they respond quickly; if they are slow, they follow them slowly. Therefore, the complex and “pushing hands” must be practiced one by one, only then can one master the work gongfu to understand effort-jin and achieve a certain level of training.

Chen style taijiquan is an ancient school, other areas of taijiquan have all developed on the basis of Chen style taijiquan. This is the Yang style, the Wu Noisy (Wu Jianquan), the Warlike (Wu Yuzhang) style, and the Sun style. Taijiquan of the Chen style has retained quite a lot of the features of technical strikes, such as the soft one being transformed into the release of a hard one. Mastering and studying this gymnastics is very important for inheriting the past wushu and creating a new one.

This book introduces us to the first and second tracks, compiled in the later years of Chen Fake (1887–1957), a descendant of Chen Wangting. 1
The second complex is described in more detail in the book by Gu Luxin: “Cannon Strikes” - M., Libris, 1998. The description of the theory is also continued there. – M.B.

Chapter I
Eight features of gymnastics

Tai Chi Chuan is an outstanding gymnastics created and gradually developed by our ancestors over a long life practice. Practicing for hundreds of years and gaining experience, people were able to identify internal connections and laws of motion. The treatises left to us sum up this experience. They give us a precious thread that allows us to explore taijiquan and contribute to better mastery of this gymnastics. However, people of the past, due to the limitations of their era, were often not theoretically prepared, so in practice we are forced to involve modern knowledge. Having discarded the gross, extracting the subtle, it is necessary to master the correct theory so that this gymnastics better serves to strengthen the health of the people. Therefore, when mastering Taijiquan, first of all, it is necessary to correctly master the theory of Taijiquan set out in the treatises, master its key points and, on this basis, move forward, gradually penetrating it deeper and deeper.

Taijiquan in the process of movements from beginning to end is permeated with yin-yang and empty-full. This is reflected in every form of Taijiquan in the form of opening and closing, round and square, folding and unfolding, empty and full, light and submerged, soft and hard, slow and fast. In addition, in movements there is left and right, upper and lower, internal and external, large and small, advance and retreat - that is, special forms where opposites are united together. These are the basic principles that form the essence of Tai Chi Chuan.

Taijiquan is unique not only in its external form, but also in its internal work neigong also has its own special requirements. When practicing, first of all, you need to use consciousness, but not use brute force. Therefore, movements should not be performed mechanically, but with the connection of mental energy ici, and rely externally on the excitation of oscillations of psychic energy Shenqi. That is, you need to work on a thought And, and above life energy qi. Features of thought movements And and energy qi - subtlety inherent in Tai Chi Chuan. They control other features of this gymnastics. In addition, when practicing taijiquan, the whole body undergoes alternating movements of stretching, twisting, coiling, as well as forward and backward movements. These movements should be both soft and hard, and should be full of elasticity. It is required that one movement be accompanied by the next one, link after link is sequentially connected, connecting with each other, not interrupted, making up a single whole. The speed of movements should be either small or large, fast and slow movements replace each other. Force can be soft and hard, soft and hard rely on each other. In stances and movements it is necessary to maintain balance in the center without bending, in empty there is full, and in complete empty, in opening there is closing, and in closing there is opening. Only when these conditions are present can Taijiquan fully manifest its special properties. In terms of physical education and health, you can not only strengthen the organs of movement and internal organs, but also learn to connect and control the consciousness, and using the principle “use thought, do not use force,” you can successfully manage vital energy throughout the body. In this way, a person gets the opportunity to learn how to manage life energy and control thoughts. Thought and energy strengthen and strengthen each other, as a result the body naturally becomes strong and strong. At the same time regarding technical strikes jiji The specific effect of gymnastics manifests itself: you can turn light into heavy, slow into fast. Overcoming and mastering nature; by moving, you can make your whole body “work” with one movement (“the whole body is one family”). Thus, you get to know yourself, you get to know others, and you also know the technique and know the form 2
Understanding technology is understanding and mastering the duration of time, and understanding form is understanding and managing space. – Approx. author.

This is the work of understanding effort-jin. Theory of Taijiquan style gymnastics

Chen has something in common with the "great limit" theory of other gymnastics, but there are also differences. Below we will look at the features of the Chen style.

First feature: movements of thought and energy are controlled by the brain

The treatises on gymnastics give the following requirements:

1) Energy is guided with the help of the heart, you need to command, plunging deeply, then you can collect and pick up, penetrate into the bones. 3
“Heart” – often, a spiritual mood. – M.B.

2) The body moves with the help of energy, you need to command, following along, then you can successfully follow the heart.

3) The heart is the commander, energy is the banner. Energy when cultivated directly will not cause harm.

4) The thought of the whole body is in the psyche Shen, not in energy qi, because if in qi, then this is a mistake.

From the above four rules, you can see that Taijiquan is a gymnastics that uses and trains the thought, and also guides and trains vital energy. However, during classes you need to lead energy with the help of the heart: the heart gives the order, and the energy, having received the order, goes, “carrying the banner.” Any movement requires the use of thought, but not force. First – the movement of thought, and then – the movement of form (body). This is the only way to achieve the implementation of the principle: “thought reaches - energy reaches”, energy reaches - effort-jin reaches. This is how the movements become deeper. And only after long training can you concentrate energy and direct it into the bones. This can achieve the most complete penetration into the “circulation of energy” sinci. Therefore, we can say that Tai Chi Chuan is a gymnastics for thought and energy. So, the first feature of Taijiquan is the following: thought leads energy, with the help of energy they move the body, and also: they use thought and do not use brute force.

1. Internal energy and use of thought

As stated above, qi controlled by thought, but this qi is not the air we breathe, but a kind of “inner qi." like this qi in Chinese medicine is called the original qi, the correct qi, qi the old sky qi, passing through energy channels. It is believed that it comes from the mother's embryo. In acupuncture, moxibustion and qigong therapy, this concept is still used. In this Wushu qi called average qi (zhongqi), internal qi ( nei-qi), internal effort-jin ( neijin) etc., believing that only when training achieves the manifestation of this qi and master it, work gongfu reached the goal. 4
In Chinese qi - air, gas, and energy. Energy in general and vital energy in the body. We mean: energy. – M.B.

In general, since ancient times, both in the theory of Chinese medicine, and in wushu, in religion - everywhere it is believed that there is such qi, various kinds of practical experience also speak of its existence. However, modern science has not ultimately determined what this is. qi. Domestic and foreign scientists studying the doctrine of longitudinal and transverse energy channels of Chinese medicine have not come to a common opinion. For example, some say that this qi– nerves, others – bioelectricity, special secretions, a special functional system, etc., so further research is required. However, physiological phenomena in the human body are complex in nature, and it cannot be said that if a thought moves, then there will be no movement in the nervous system, biological electricity, etc. So we, considering qi, which is discussed in the theory of gymnastics, we temporarily consider it as a kind of complex product consisting of nerves, bioelectric current, blood oxygen, etc. The existence of some as yet unidentified function is assumed. Our goal is to somehow explain the previously used terminology, which requires further study.

When doing “great limit” gymnastics, it’s as if they are performing “mental physical training.” Emphasis should always be placed on the use of thoughts, and the movement of parts of the body should be considered nothing more than an external manifestation of thought. This “mental physical training” is a hidden process of internal movement. qi, and what manifests itself outwardly is the state and wave-like movement of the external qi. Therefore, internal qi can be emitted from the inside out, or can be collected inward from the outside.

Although in training it is necessary for the body to move with the help qi, however, it is unacceptable to just monitor how qi circulates throughout the body, but it is necessary to pour thought into movements, otherwise the state will become inhibited, qi not only will not be able to walk freely, but may lead to such an abnormal phenomenon as misalignment qi and form, which will be bad both for thought and for qi. The treatises say about this: “Thought is in the psyche Shen, and not in qi, if in qi, that's a brake." And that is why you need to be especially attentive to external manifestations, since they are the external expression of the heart’s thought located inside. The inner thought and the outer spirit-shen should not be separated for a moment. 5
From the text it follows that the thought And - internal, i.e. when a person thinks about something internal, and shen - external mental energy, i.e. when a person focuses attention on something outside his body. Shen - abbreviation for jingshen – psyche. – M.B.

As soon as you think and relax a little, the Shen spirit will dissipate. It is unacceptable to forget about this in class.

In Chen style taijiquan it is assumed that movements should be soft and hard, round and square, slow and fast, opening and closing. We believe that this corresponds to the physiological laws of the body. Everyone knows that when a person moves, bioelectric potentials increase and when at rest they decrease, and since movements in Taiji are variable, this stimulates electrical potentials to rise or fall accordingly. When potentials increase, blood circulation accelerates, partial pressure decreases, oxygen is also separated from hemoglobin faster, and a person can feel that there is energy qi. In a normal situation, nerves cannot maintain the same excitation for a long time, so bioelectricity usually rises and falls, and the variability in Taijiquan movements corresponds precisely to this law

Considering from the standpoint of thought and energy, one can also see the correspondence to the above law. It was said above that the appearance and movement of external energy are manifestations of thought and energy on the outside, they represent the thought and energy existing inside on the outside. The central link of this external manifestation of spirit and energy is mainly manifested in external movements caused by internal consciousness, which helps to concentrate, strengthen and activate without hindrance the powers of attention expressed in movement. However, the power of attention, like nervous activity, is characterized by a wave-like character: it sometimes increases, sometimes it decreases. Therefore, if this feature is taken into account during training, then the power of attention can become stable. At the same time, only if there is a stable power of attention there will be no large errors in thinking. However, during training it is necessary to maintain the power of attention at the same intensity for a long time, which is not easy to achieve. In fact, for some moments the power of attention deviates up or down, so if in the process of movements you make movements that do not have fluctuations (“there is no wind, and the waves calm down”), then this will not only violate the physiological law described above, but can also damage the stability of the force attention. Therefore, Taijiquan uses a number of rules (for example, changing fast and slow, opening and closing, square and round, hard and soft) to stabilize the power of attention and makes them unite in a single movement. 6
Square fan the author calls the polygon M.B.

These rules lead the movements of thought-energy ici to very naturally occurring vibrations, while the excitation of vibrations of the external psyche-energy comes into harmony Shenqi and fluctuations of internal thought-energy ici, and therefore the movements of thought-energy existing within are increased, which in turn stimulates the outer movements.

Since Taijiquan is the movement of thought and energy, those who practice a lot need only think about a certain area, and energy activity can arise. So there were quite a few people who for many years performed complexes in the mornings and evenings and corrected them more than once, all in order to achieve these goals. After training has achieved a stable form, the processes of excitation and inhibition in the cerebral cortex can precisely change to a strictly defined extent. At the same time, muscles can also contract and relax harmoniously. And if unexpected stress suddenly arises, this too will not be able to disrupt such harmony of movements. Achieving such a result shows that an extremely strong harmonious connection has formed between muscle movements and internal organs, and as soon as you want the thought to come, the energy comes, and when the energy comes, the effort-jin also comes.

2. Realization of movements of thought and energy

It should also be noted that with regard to thought and energy, Taijiquan and static work (including sitting, standing and lying down) similarly emphasize training of thoughts and training of energy. However, taijiquan requires training in movement (they seek peace in movement), that is why they talk about movements of thought and energy, but in static work they do not make movements, they only achieve peace, so they cannot be mixed.

And precisely because in taiji one trains the inner and outer, and seeks peace in movements, it is necessary to achieve movements of thought and energy. That is, you need to properly demonstrate the spirit (psyche) and energy operating outside. As it is said in the book “The making of movements is revealed by the heart” "Xing gong xin jie":“The species resembles a kite catching a hare, and the shen spirit resembles a cat catching a mouse.” And only with the help of skill gongfu, achieved by training, when internal and external are mutually combined and interdependent, it will be possible to achieve the implementation of those seven requirements that will be discussed in this chapter below. In other words, only the realization of these seven features allows us to understand the movement of thought and energy. However, although there are eight features, in fact all of them are in a single body and have an internal connection, and we consider them separately only for convenience.

Before describing in detail the remaining seven features, let us briefly consider their connection with the movements of thought and energy.

2nd feature: elasticity of movements, i.e. release by tension Fanchan the body and limbs or, in other words, the birth of elasticity as a result of releasing the body and limbs into tension. Soft, cotton-like elasticity is an internal factor that contributes to the vibrations of the body and limbs. If there is no elasticity, then the movements can become ossified, i.e., vibrations of the psyche-energy that manifest themselves outside will not be able to form again. And, of course, there cannot be harmony with the vibrations of thought-energy located inside.

3rd feature: spiral movement. It can enhance the wavy nature of lifting and lowering in movements. If the forward and backward movement goes in a straight line without rising and falling, without twisting in and out, then it is impossible to carry out wave-like oscillations of rise and fall for the psyche, thought and energy and methods for the body Shen-fa. Therefore, it is necessary to combine the twisting of the arms, legs, lower back, and spine, making forward and reverse spiral movements, which are arbitrarily combined into a movement that results in the great limit of effort-jin. Thus, without moving, they stop, but while moving, they naturally form oscillatory postures that create centers for the movement of thought-energy.

4th feature: regulation of empty and full. This is the basis for a gentle change of thought-energy, which gives a person the sensation of a rolling ball. In other words, this is the dynamic basis for the excitation of oscillations. They follow up - they adjust at the bottom, they follow down - they ground at the top, empty and full replace each other. Then the spirit-energy, connecting with the methods for the body, is active and knows no obstacles. This is where vibrations of spirit-energy are born. If the top and bottom cannot follow each other, and the empty and full are not adjusted, then it is impossible to achieve alignment at the center of the internal force-jin without deviation. If it deviates, then the methods for the body and the internal force-jin are inclined to one side, and thus the requirement of support on eight sides is violated. And one can imagine that in such a position, when the internal force-jin is tilted to the side, it is not easy to achieve vibrations in the spirit-energy.

5th feature(joint by joint are strung and pierced) and 6th feature,(formation of a single energy) actually represent two stages of one feature. The first says that in one pose it is necessary for the main joints of the body to form a ligament like a dragon, with sequential movement joint by joint. The second requires that technique after technique occur continuously, connected with each other, forming a single flow of energy. In this case, the amount of motion increases and the specific requirement for excitation of oscillations link by link is fulfilled. When they cannot string sequentially link by link, an interruption of the jing effort may occur. duanjin, then we can talk about the absence of hesitation. If it is impossible to form a single energy, then there will be an interruption, continuity will be broken, and then the individual forms will become independent, not forming oscillations of the single energy. Therefore, if these two features are not taken into account, then vibrations of spirit-energy cannot be achieved, so they depend on each other.

7th feature(hard and soft support each other) and 8th feature(fast and slow replace each other) form a unity of opposites and also serve to excite vibrations of spirit-energy. This should be taken into account in technical strikes. If fast and slow, and hard and soft are not connected with each other, then it is not easy to properly combine the above features, undulating rise and fall, since these two features require achieving “soft and slow” and “hard and fast.” It is required that what emerges, hard and fast, resembles the head of a rolling wave, and soft and slow - the tail of a rolling wave, and that these mutual changes can have a continuous exciting effect. This kind of action of hard and soft, supporting each other, as well as fast and slow, replacing each other, makes it possible in physical education to achieve softness and slowness of moving energy, hardness and speed at the point of application of movement, as a result, energy will flow throughout the body, without slowing down anywhere . In technical strikes, the rule is followed: “when it moves quickly, I react quickly, and when it moves slowly, I follow slowly.” As a result, you can achieve the following: a hard person - I walk softly, a soft person - I stick hard. These two features make it possible to achieve a high peak in the fact that the movements of internal mental energy and the psychic energy manifested outside in their excited vibrations reach a wave-like movement.

Annotation

The book you are holding in your hands is very famous among experts in the Chen style. It is famous because it describes the subtleties of “inner work” that are practically not found in other books on this topic. Written by renowned Chen Style Taijiquan masters, it is intended for those seriously interested in this unique practice of self-improvement.

Translation: May Bogachikhin

Chen Jiazhen, Gu Liuxin

From the translator

Introduction

Chapter I Eight features of gymnastics

First feature: movements of thought and energy are controlled by the brain

Second feature: elastic movements of the body and limbs when released into tension

Third feature: the movements are spiral like winding a thread back and forth

Fourth feature: the body is aligned in the center, the top and bottom follow each other, the movements contain empty and full

Fifth feature: in the movements, joint after joint is pierced and strung, so that the loin and spine guide the head, the inner and outer close together

Sixth feature: movements are connected and continuous with the formation of a single qi

Seventh feature: in movements, the soft turns into hard, hard turns into soft, hard and soft support each other

Eighth feature: from slow to fast, from fast to slow, movements divided into fast and slow

Conclusion

Chapter II First track di and lu

The first complex of Chen style Taijiquan

Chapter III Diagrams and explanations for the second track of Chen style Taijiquan

6th form Displacement-blocking elbow (chest directed to the south)

7th shape Fists in support of the heart (chest pointing northeast)

8th form Broken step, oblique move (chest directed to the east with a turn to the southeast)

9th Form Elbow and fist suppressing threat to the lower back (chest pointing southeast)

10th form Direct entry, stirring the well (chest pointing north)

11th form The wind sweeps away plum blossoms (chest points south)

12th form Diamond strongman pounding in a mortar (chest pointing south)

13th form Covering the body with a fist (chest directed to the south)

14th form: Retract the body and strike with the fist (chest is directed to the south with a transition to the southeast)

15th form Cut off the hand (chest is directed to the southeast with a turn to the north)

16th form Rotating flower, dancing sleeve (chest is turned to the south and again to the northeast)

17th form Strike with a fist covered with the hand (chest directed to the northeast with a turn to the east)

18th form Flying step, like luan broken elbow (chest pointing east with a turn to north and south)

19th form Circulation of the hands (first three, chest pointing south)

20th uniform High Mounted Scout (chest pointing west)

21st form Circulation of hands (last three)

22nd uniform High mounted scout (chest points north with a turn to the northeast)

23rd form Cannon – string of pearls, or automatic cannon (1) (chest directed to the northwest with a turn to the west)

24th Form Automatic Cannon (2)

25th form Automatic cannon (3)

26th Form Unicorn Flip (chest pointing west with a turn to the east)

27th form White snake spits out a letter (1) (chest pointing east)

28th form White snake spits out a letter (2)

29th form White snake spits out a letter (3)

30th form Turning over a flower on the bottom of the sea (chest points east with a turn to the west)

31st form Strike with a fist covered with the hand (chest pointing west)

32nd form Six closings with body rotation (chest is directed to the west, from the north they turn to the south)

33rd form Cotton with left-hand winding of the whip (1)

34th form Cotton with left whip winding (2) (chest pointing south)

35th form Cotton with right winding of the whip (1) (chest directed to the south with a turn to the north)

36th form Cotton with right whip winding (2) (chest pointing north)

37th form “Beast head” pose (chest pointing south, turning to northeast)

Form 38 Chopping pose (chest facing northeast)

39th form Rotating flower, dancing sleeve (chest pointing southeast with a turn to northeast)

40th form Strike with a fist covered with the hand (chest directed to the northeast with a turn to the east)

41st form Tiger in ambush (chest facing east with a turn to southeast)

42nd form Paint eyebrows red (chest points southeast, turning north, then south)

43rd form Yellow dragon muddies the water three times on the right (chest points south)

44th form Yellow dragon muddies the water three times on the left (chest points south, turning north)

Form 45 Left heel push (chest pointing north)

46th form Push with the right heel (chest pointing north with a turn to the south)

47th form Turning over a flower on the bottom of the sea (chest pointing west)

Form 48 Punch with a fist covered with the hand (chest pointing west)

49th form Sweeping leg, or cannon - rotating shin (chest points east, turning north, then south and north again)

50th form Strike with a fist covered with an arm (chest pointing north and turning east)

51st Form Left skirmish (chest facing east)

52nd form Right skirmish (chest facing east)

53rd form Reverse insert (chest points east with a turn to northeast)

54th form Turning over a flower on the bottom of the sea (chest to the east)

55th form Strike with a fist covered with the hand (chest directed to the east)

56th form Pull out two arms (1) (chest facing east with a turn to the south)

57th Form Pull out two arms (2) (chest points south, turning west and south again)

58th Form Cannon Strike Series (chest facing west)

59th form Jasper maiden threads a shuttle (chest points west, turning north and east again)

60th form Turn around and shoot at goal (chest pointing east)

61st form Jasper maiden threads a shuttle (chest is directed to the east with a turn to the north and west)

62nd form Turn around and shoot at the goal (chest to the west)

63rd form Fist strike with a turn of the body (chest directed to the west with a turn to the south)

64th form Elbow – broken luan (chest pointing south with a turn to the north)

65th form Elbow – longitudinal luan (chest pointing north)

66th form Elbow piercing the heart (chest pointing north)

67th form Cannon in the lair (chest pointing north)

68th form Take into the well, direct entry (chest directed to the north with a turn to the south)

The wind sweeps away the plum flowers (the chest is directed south with a turn to the west and north)

70th form Diamond strongman pounding in a mortar (chest pointing north)

71st form Collecting pose (chest pointing north)

Chapter IV Pushing Hands in Chen Style Taijiquan

Chapter V Extracts from treatises

Biography of Chen Xin

Taijiquan language A brief dictionary of common terms

Available for sale:

Chen Jiazhen, Gu Liuxin

Secret techniques of Chen style Taijiquan

From the translator

Tai Chi Chuan is an amazing gymnastics. It is unique: there is nothing similar either in European culture - in physical education, especially in sports, or among other world systems of self-regulation, and even in the Chinese martial arts (wushu) it stands apart. What is striking is the depth of development of this system, the construction and constant maintenance of harmony in a person - from the ratio of movements of individual parts of the body relative to its center to the harmony between the body (form), energy and consciousness. Needless to say once again that any system in the East has a spiritual basis, without which higher advancements are impossible. A striking example: if in sports the main task is to surpass others, to rise above them, then eastern systems only involve raising oneself today above oneself yesterday, and so on endlessly.

Name: Secret techniques of Chen style Taijiquan

The book you are holding in your hands is very famous among experts in the Chen style. It is famous because it describes the subtleties of “inner work” that are practically not found in other books on this topic. Written by renowned Chen Style Taijiquan masters, it is intended for those seriously interested in this unique practice of self-improvement.

From the translator. 9
Introduction. 13
Chapter 1. Eight features of gymnastics. 16
First feature: the movements of thought and energy are controlled by the brain. 18
The second feature: elastic movements of the body and limbs when released into tension. 26
Third feature: the movements are spiral like winding a thread back and forth. 34
The fourth feature: the body is aligned in the center, the top and bottom follow each other, the movements contain empty and full. 46
Fifth feature: in the movements, joint after joint is pierced and strung, so that the lower back and spine guide the head, the inner and outer are mutually closed. 61
Sixth feature: movements are connected and continuous with the formation of a single qi. 70
Seventh feature: in movements, the soft turns into hard, hard turns into soft, hard and soft support each other. 77
Eighth feature: from slow to fast, from fast to slow, movements divided into fast and slow. 86
Chapter 2. First track di and lu. 97
The first complex of Chen style Taijiquan. 98
1st form. Preparatory pose. 98
2nd form. The diamond strongman is pounding in a mortar. 99
3rd form. Lazy tugging at clothes. 102
4th form. Seal with a six, lock with a four. 106
5th form. Single whip. 109
6th form. The second time the diamond strongman pounded in a mortar. 112
7th form. The white crane sparkles with its wings. 113
8th form. An oblique move, a broken step. 116
9th form. Initial gathering. 118
10th form. Knead from the front, broken step. 120
11th form. Secondary oblique move, broken step. 122
12th form. Re-collection. 122
13th form. Knead from the front, broken step. 122
14th form. A blow with a fist covered with a hand. 122
15th form. The third time the diamond strongman pounded in a mortar. 126
16th form. Opening the body and striking with a fist. 128
17th form. Spinal fracture and support. 131
18th form. A blue dragon emerges from the water. 132
19th form. Double pushing hands. 135
20th form. Triple change of palms. 138
21st form. Elbow punch. 139
22nd form. Reverse arm twist. 141
23rd form. Retreating step, pressing elbow. 144
24th form. Circling in the center. 147
25th form. The white crane sparkles with its wings. 149
26th form. An oblique move, a broken step. 150
27th form. Dodging and going behind your back. 150
28th form. A blow with a fist covered with a hand. 155
29th form. Seal with a six, lock with a four. 156
30th form. Single whip. 157
31st form. Rotation of brushes. 158
32nd form. Tall horse scout. 161
33rd form. Right foot rubbing. 164
34th form. Left foot rubbing. 167
35th form. Heel push off. 168
36th form. Knead from the front, broken step. 170
37th form. Punch, attacking the ground. 171
38th form. Inversion of the body and double lift of the feet. 173
39th form. Animal head pose. 175
40th form. Stop-vortex. 179
41st form. Heel push off. 182
42nd form. A blow with a fist covered with a hand. 184
43rd form. Small grab with a punch. 186
44th form. Holding your head, pushing the mountain. 189
45th form. Triple change of palms.191
46th form. Seal with a six, lock with a four.193
47th form. Single whip. 193
48th form. Front luring. 194
49th form. Rear luring. 195
50th form. Separating the mane of a wild horse. 196
51st form. Limit with six, lock with four. 201
52nd form. Single whip. 201
53rd form. Double foot shock. 201
54th form. The jasper maiden threads a shuttle. 203
55th form. Lazy tugging at clothes. 205
56th form. Six seals, four locks. 205
57th form. Single whip. 206
58th form. Circulation of brushes. 206
59th form. Leg swing and falling fork. 206
60th form. Golden rooster in a single stance, left and right. 209
61st form. Unrolling a hand scroll. 211
62nd form - see 23rd form. 212
63rd form - see 24th form. 212
64th form - see 25th form. 212
65th form - see 26th form. 212
66th form - see 27th form. 212
67th form - see 28th form. 212
68th form - see 29th form. 212
69th form - see 30th form. 212
70th form - see 31st form. 212
71st form - see 32nd form. 212
72nd form. Lotus swinging crosswise. 212
73rd form. Punch to the groin. 213
74th form. The white monkey gives fruit. 217
75th form. Six seals, four locks. 219
76th form. Single whip. 219
77th form. A dragon jumping on the ground. 219
78th form. Top step, seven stars. 221
79th form. Retreating step, ride the tiger. 222
80th form. Rotation of the body, double swing of the lotus. 224
81st form. From a cannon to the head. 226
82nd form. The diamond strongman is pounding in a mortar. 227
83rd form. Collecting poses. 228
Chapter 3. Diagrams and explanations for the second track of Chen style taijiquan. 229
6th form. Displacement-blocking elbow. 229
7th form. Fists in support of the heart. 230
8th form. Broken step, oblique move. 232
9th form. Elbow and fist, suppressing the threat to the lower back. 234
10th form. Direct entry, stirring up the well. 234
11th form. The wind sweeps away the plum flowers. 235
12th form. The diamond strongman is pounding in a mortar. 236
13th form. Covering the body with a fist. 237
14th form. Retract your body and punch with your fist. 239
15th form. Cut off the brush. 240
16th form. Rotating flower, dancing sleeve. 241
17th form. A blow with a fist covered with a hand. 243
18th form. A flying step, like a luan broken elbow. 245
19th form. Circulation of brushes. 247
20th form. Tall horse scout. 249
21st form. Circulation of brushes. 249
22nd form. Tall horse scout. 251
23rd form. Cannon - string of pearls, or automatic cannon (1). 252
24th form. Automatic cannon (2). 254
25th form. Automatic cannon (3). 254
26th form. Unicorn flip. 255
27th form. The white snake spits out the letter (1). 256
28th form. The white snake spits out the letter (2). 258
29th form. The white snake spits out the letter (3). 258
30th form. Turning over a flower at the bottom of the sea. 259
31st form. A blow with a fist covered with a hand. 260
32nd form. Six closing with body rotation. 260
33rd form. Cotton with left-hand winding of the whip (1). 261
34th form. Cotton with left winding of the whip (2). 263
35th form. Cotton with right winding of the whip (1). 264
36th form. Cotton with right winding of the whip (2). 265
37th form. Beast head pose. 265
38th form. Chopping pose. 267
39th form. Rotating flower, dancing sleeve. 269
40th form. A blow with a fist covered with a hand. 270
41st form. Tiger in ambush. 271
42nd form. Dye your eyebrows red. 272
43rd form. The yellow dragon muddies the water three times on the right. 274
44th form. The yellow dragon muddies the water three times on the left. 275
45th form. Push with the left heel. 277
46th form. Push with the right heel. 278
47th form. Turning over a flower at the bottom of the sea. 279
48th form. Hit with a fist covered with a hand.280
49th form. Sweeping leg, or cannon - rotating shin. 280
50th form. A blow with a fist covered with a hand. 281
51st form. Left skirmish. 283
52nd form. Right skirmish. 284
53rd form. Reverse insert. 285
54th form. Turning over a flower at the bottom of the sea. 286
55th form. A blow with a fist covered with a hand. 287
56th form. Pull out two hands (1). 287
57th form. Pull out two hands (2). 290
58th form. A series of cannon strikes. 292
59th form. The jasper maiden threads a shuttle. 294
60th form. Turn around and shoot at the goal. 294
61st form. The jasper maiden threads a shuttle. 295
62nd form. Turn around and shoot at the goal. 296
63rd form. Fist strike with a body turn. 297
64th form. Elbow - broken luan. 298
65th form. Elbow - longitudinal luan. 299
66th form. Elbow piercing the heart. 299
67th form. The gun is in the lair. 300
68th form. Take into the well, direct entry. 301
69th form. The wind sweeps away the plum flowers.302
70th form. The diamond strongman is pounding in a mortar. 303
71st form. Collecting poses. 304
Chapter 4. Pushing hands in Chen style taijiquan. 305
Chapter 5. Buckets from treatises. 351
Biography of Chen Xin. 352
1. Chen Xin. Spectrum of gymnastics rules “The Great Limit”. 354
2. Chen Xin. The spectrum of wrestling in gymnastics “The Great Limit”. 356
3. Classified extracts from Chen Xin’s books on gymnastics “The Great Limit”. 358
4. Thirteen sayings by Chen Xin about body parts. 402
5. About gymnastics “opening hands”. 411
6. Selections from the works of Chen Xin and others. 421
Taijiquan language. A brief dictionary of common terms.

Blue dragon comes out of the water.
1st movement. The center of gravity is shifted to the left, the body is also slightly turned to the left. At the same time, the right fist, curling the hand, makes a direct winding, goes from above past the chest to the right in an arc down to the side of the right leg, the center of the fist is directed upward. The left fist moves away from the lower back, makes a reverse winding, goes upward in an arc from the left, the center of the fist is directed inward (Fig. 69). The right fist switches to a reverse reel and goes from the right in an upward arc and again changes to a forward reel until the center of the fist points to the left. At the same time, the left fist moves to a straight winding motion, the arm bends at the elbow and moves across in front of the chest, and then down, stopping in front of the stomach, the center of the fist is directed upward

Chen Jiazhen, Gu Liuxin

Secret techniques of Chen style Taijiquan

From the translator

Tai Chi Chuan is an amazing gymnastics. It is unique: there is nothing similar either in European culture - in physical education, especially in sports, or among other world systems of self-regulation, and even in the Chinese martial arts (wushu) it stands apart. What is striking is the depth of development of this system, the construction and constant maintenance of harmony in a person - from the ratio of movements of individual parts of the body relative to its center to the harmony between the body (form), energy and consciousness. Needless to say once again that any system in the East has a spiritual basis, without which higher advancements are impossible. A striking example: if in sports the main task is to surpass others, to rise above them, then eastern systems only involve raising oneself today above oneself yesterday, and so on endlessly.

Modern types of taijiquan have developed in the direction of simplification. This is the Yang style as a simplified Chen style, and the simplified taijiquan (the so-called “24 forms”), which is quite widespread in our country, developed by the Committee on Physical Education and Sports of China. However, some people are not attracted to primitive forms of gymnastics. This book is for them. Fans of oriental gymnastics will receive rich material on which they can work for a long time, rack their brains, understanding the underlying meaning hidden behind unusual terms, often absent in Russian and in European languages ​​in general.

Turning to primary sources, the author cites numerous excerpts from old books. Often these are four-syllable or other short formulas (you have to add conjunctions and prepositions in translation). In this Procrustean bed of half-verses, the predecessors laid the meaning often allegorically, with the hint that even the Chinese reader is forced to take a long time to understand and read, rack his brains, and write comments. A person who does not know this tradition, at least the tradition of Chinese martial arts, cannot understand it.

Translating such a book is always a deep study, impossible without many years of studying the theory of Chinese gymnastics and personal practice (to feel everything for yourself). Unfortunately, the translator does not have enough experience to understand everything 100%.

If karate fans prefer to communicate in Japanese, yogis speak Sanskrit, musicians are comfortable with Italian, which is good for a narrow circle of specialists, then the translator would not want to pollute the Russian language with excessive Chineseisms. Let everything that is possible be in Russian. The exception is words like yin-yang, qi, which are already widely known and difficult to translate due to the lack of Russian analogues.

The peculiarity of the Chinese root language is the absence of tense, gender, declensions, and conjugations. Without knowing thoroughly what the author intended, one can translate in a variety of ways. For example, ici: and - one, qi - or energy in general, or the vital energy of a person. You can translate: one energy, single energy, unity of energy, etc. It’s not easy to translate verbs: either in the third person (do, attack), or in the imperative form (do, attack). In Chinese it is impersonal and indifferent, but in Russian it has different intonations. How to translate hieroglyphs that are not in dictionaries, that appeared either due to the author’s illiteracy, or that were invented on purpose? It also happens that in Wushu the meaning of a hieroglyph is not at all the same as in another context. Ancient texts did not know punctuation, so colons, dashes, etc. are the translator’s imagination.

In general, there may be many flaws in translation for various reasons. It will help the reader, however, that the author repeats himself many, many times. And since it is unclear which translation can be considered ideal, ancient expressions (but not individual terms) in different places of the book may not be translated in exactly the same way - let the reader choose the most attractive (in his opinion) version. Practice and, of course, a good teacher will help you understand more precisely.

In Chinese, the structure of phrases is rigid, but in Russian it is quite loose, which made it possible to preserve the word order of the Chinese text in translation as closely as possible.

A sense of the rhythm of an ancient Chinese phrase will make it easier to get used to its inner meaning.

The authors, unfortunately, do not explain the concepts they use from the very beginning, so the reader is advised to use the included dictionary and, if necessary, look for an explanation further in the text or understand the context. You can also use the “Health Dictionary” published by the translator. This explanatory dictionary explains many concepts of wushu, qigong, and Chinese medicine. To our even greater regret, the author, although he constantly mentions the internal energy of qi and du x-shen, emphasizes their importance, but does not explain in detail what he means and how to work with them. The book was written by Chen Jiazhen and the ending was added by Gu Liuxin.

The authors credit the creation of Taijiquan to Chen Wangting. However, according to another version, it was known much earlier and arose in areas much south of the Chen Family Ravine. There is no scientifically verified history of Taijiquan.

The translator cannot help but express his gratitude to Master Liu Guanlai. A student of the student Chen Fake, he, according to his stories, was exiled “for re-education” to the Chen Family Ravine (Chenjiagou), where he spent 10 years. Before that, from the age of five, I studied wushu. As a result, the negative (exile) manifested itself as positive in his life. Unfortunately, due to the short duration of contacts with Master Liu, not all questions have been answered. Liu called this book “famous.” The translator is also grateful to Andrey Struchkov for persuading him to take on the translation. It’s sad that knowledge and experience are not enough to make a perfect translation of this famous book, the most serious of which we have never come across in the field of wushu. And one cannot help but express gratitude to Taoist Zhou Jinfu - the only one who could explain complex parts of the text without hesitation.

In conclusion, it remains to wish the readers great progress on their path. The great limit, taiji, on the one hand is a cycle, a ring without beginning or end, but, on the other hand, a spiral that allows you to go further and further into unknown endless distances.

Unmarked notes belong to the translator.

The most problematic terms for a translator are qi and jin. The translator translates qi as energy, implying vital energy, which is written about in old treatises of many nations and which is felt during training, one works with it practically, controlling one’s thoughts. As for jin, we do not have a Russian analogue. A. Milyanyuk calls it internal strength. It manifests itself in relaxed muscles through thought and is extremely powerful. Chinese authors emphasize: it should not be confused with physical force, which is used to push, for example, a stone. Indeed: what is the force if the muscles are relaxed? We will conditionally call jin an effort in order to name it somehow (all terms are conditional) and not pollute the Russian language with Chinese words - many translators do not translate foreign words, leaving the transcription, and this is “under-translation”.

M. M. Bogachikhin. Moscow, 1993-2004