78: Chapter 78 The Principles of Tai Chi

Chapter 78: Tai Chi Theory

Jiangbei, Cuiyuan New Village.

The buildings here are dense, and most of them are quite old.

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There is a playground in the central location; although the area is very small, it has the advantage of being lush and green.

A group of children chased and played in the sandbox, kicking a leather ball around.

Several elderly people were basking in the sun, contentedly playing the erhu.

Surrounded by reinforced concrete, having a space for leisure and stopping by appeared extremely precious.

In another corner, someone was practicing Tai Chi forms.

"A-Cheng, when stepping out for Wild Horse Splits Maneuvers, you must lift your knees and sink your hips, paying attention to the spacing of your footwork."

"Grasped Bird's Tail is one of the mother forms of Tai Chi, and its purpose is to neutralize the opponent's strength. You need to experience more of the changes in the rotation of your body's center of gravity..."

"This Flash the Arm Move was executed very well, but you still need to pay attention to flexibly coordinating and using it with the subsequent Parry and Punch..."

Fang Cheng's expression was calm as he raised his hands, waved his palms, lifted his knees, and stepped forward, practicing the Tai Chi Move in a proper manner.

Wu Datong stood on the side to watch, and whenever he found a problem that needed correction, he would call a stop and give guidance.

After a set of twenty-four forms of the Ma-style Tai Chi was practiced.

Wu Datong finally summarized:

"The essentials of Tai Chi are a calm mind and relaxed body, using intent to guide the body, upper and lower following each other, and Qi sinking into the Dantian."

"The training method to follow is to train principle rather than strength, train the root rather than the branches, and train the body rather than the Moves."

"A-Cheng, when you first start practicing, don't use too much force, and don't cling too rigidly to the Moves themselves. As long as you truly comprehend this point, you can be considered to have entered the threshold."

Hearing this, Fang Cheng nodded slightly, understanding in his heart.

The method taught by Wu Datong ultimately pursued mastering the power-generating way of Tai Chi using softness to overcome hardness.

In fact, all martial arts routines are like this.

By constantly practicing fixed Moves and repeatedly pondering the punching principles within them, until one achieves complete mastery and can apply them freely in actual combat.

This is the true fighting method!

"As for after entering the threshold, your Focus should be placed on practicing in coordination with the Breathing Technique, pursuing the unity of intent and Qi, and capturing that strand of Innate Qi-mechanism, which is what Professor Wu called life energy..."

Fang Cheng picked up his mineral water and took a sip, listening to the teachings with Focus.

Because Tianxin Village was a bit far from Jiuchang Street.

Usually, Wu Datong would take the place to teach some basic skills and guide the practice.

There was a small playground behind his house with a nice environment, which was just right to be used as a practice venue.

"A-Cheng, Old Wu, you guys are finally done!"

While the two were talking, a rough and thick voice suddenly sounded, cutting into the conversation.

"Can you now fight a match with me and spar in Boxing techniques?"

Ma Donghe, who had been sitting idly and squatting on the side just now, stood up at this moment and swaggered over.

Fang Cheng was slightly speechless, looking at him:

"How can you box in your condition? Do you want to make me bear the charge of beating up a disabled person?"

Ma Donghe laughed heartily:

"It's fine, my body is very sturdy, you can feel free to strike."

The plaster cast on his injured right arm had already been removed. Following the doctor's orders, he wore a splint protector as rehabilitation protection, and his movements were much more agile.

Fang Cheng still shook his head, having no interest in bullying a half-crippled guy.

He stated that once his body fully recovered, he could accompany him at any time.

Ever since they met again at the gathering that day, Ma Donghe seemed very interested in Fang Cheng, frequently coming to hang out with him for no particular reason.

One had to admit that this guy, built like a bear, showed signs of superhuman physical fitness, and his injury recovery speed far exceeded the normal level of ordinary people.

"Why don't the two of you play Tai Chi Pushing Hands and see who can shake who down first?"

Wu Datong chimed in at this moment.

Hearing this, Fang Cheng instantly developed a hint of interest.

Pushing Hands is a unique sparring form of Tai Chi.

Its purpose is to train fighting skills and spar in martial arts on the premise of not harming the opponent's body.

Ma Donghe had been recuperating from his injuries for more than half a month, and his bones were almost rusting.

Hearing this suggestion, he naturally agreed immediately; being able to stretch his muscles and bones a little was also good.

Given the condition that his right arm had not yet fully healed, Fang Cheng chose to play Single Pushing Hands with him.

The two stood their ground, each raising their left hand and placing them together.

As Wu Datong shouted "Start", their gazes instantly condensed.

Ma Donghe quickly executed a Move, pushing his wrist forward, pressing against Fang Cheng's arm and pressing downward to attack his head.

Following the downward pressing force, Fang Cheng slightly leaned his body to the side.

While neutralizing the attack, his palm stroked Ma Donghe, wanting to take the opportunity to trip him down.

However, Ma Donghe's reaction was not slow. Seeing this, he immediately leaned close like a dog-skin plaster.

The oppressive force brought by his massive body instead made Fang Cheng almost step back.

Ma Donghe had learned Tai Chi since childhood; he couldn't be called proficient in this Dao, but at least he was still very skilled in using various basic techniques.

Fang Cheng twisted his waist and sank his hips, barely managing to steady his stance.

Although at this time, he could completely use greater strength and directly topple the opponent with a horizontal arm.

But this way of playing belonged to a scoundrel's tactic, which obviously fell to a lower grade.

Pushing Hands could be said to be a purely technical sport.

Without a single wrong Move, a single release, a single internal method—watch carefully!

It pursued using technique to change the opponent's attacking point of force, creating a situation where I am smooth and the opponent is awkward, thereby defeating the opponent with the minimum cost.

If one only knew how to use brute force, then there would be no need at all to learn any combat techniques.

Fang Cheng's eyes were calm, entering a state of Focus.

All the noise in his ears, the children's laughter, and the harsh erhu sound gradually faded away and disappeared.

Only the guy standing in front of him, built like a bear, remained.

Fang Cheng stared fixedly, silently feeling the strength transmitted from his arm.

This force was sometimes large and sometimes small, constantly changing directions.

It was as if it was drawing irregular circles one by one.

The Eight Methods of Tai Chi: Peng, Lu, Ji, An, Cai, Lie, Zhou, Kao.

Peng is like a city wall, Lu is like leading an ox; induce into emptiness and strike as soon as they meet, adhering and following continuously without losing or colliding.

In Fang Cheng's mind, various power-generating techniques taught by Wu Datong flashed past like a slide show.

Gradually, he completely integrated these techniques into Pushing Hands.

Then after that, the opponent in front of him seemed to have disappeared as well.

Fang Cheng was completely immersed in the wonderful state of feeling force, neutralizing force, and emitting force.

His left hand lay horizontally in front of his chest, continuously tracing out circles one after another, large or small.

These circles rotated with the oncoming circles, constantly colliding and merging like ripples on the water surface...

Suddenly.

Fang Cheng's pupils slightly constricted, capturing the fleeting gap in the circles.

Instantly, the strength in his arm shook and squeezed, taking the momentum to expand the gap.

Even completely swallowing the opponent's circles with his own circles.

"Ah!"

A heavy exclamation sounded, and a massive figure like a bear stumbled outward.

Fang Cheng also instantly broke away from the state of Focus and looked closely.

He saw Ma Donghe stumbling with his steps, supporting the ground with his hands, and turning his head in astonishment:

"What kind of weird Move is this of yours? It looks like wrestling, and it doesn't belong to the Eight Methods of Tai Chi, right?"

"Sorry, the posture you struck just now was simply too alluring, I couldn't help but use this Move."

Fang Cheng wore a smile, withdrew his hands, and stood firm.

No one stipulated how Tai Chi must be used to be authentic, as long as it conforms to the basic punching principles of "receiving, neutralizing, and emitting".

True combat has always emphasized using formlessness to defeat form, exceeding the enemy's pre-judgment.

If Tai Chi is used in actual combat, naturally it cannot be completely confined within the Eight Methods of Tai Chi.

At this time, the panel flashed with light, and a prompt message appeared before his eyes.

[Congratulations, you have initially comprehended the concept of Punching techniques and successfully mastered a combat-type skill.]

[Unlocked Skill: Tai Chi lv0 (0 / 100)]