oragami_itto wrote:Taijiquan is the 13 postures, those being 8 Gates and 5 steps.
I've been thinking about this statement for a few days, and it hit me that oragami-itto's definition is the same as Wu Tunan's when he asked Chen Fake if he did Taijiquan. Chen said to Wu, if that's the way you define Taijiquan, then no, I do not do Taijiquan.
All of the arguments about the "true" meaning of the 5 steps fall away when you realize that Chen Taiji (from which all other styles are derived) never had any reference to 5 steps. All 13 techniques in the Chen system are essentially upper body techniques, there is no mention of stylized foot work. The 5 steps came about after Yang Luchan arrived in Beijing and started teaching the art to the city intellectuals. They attempted to make all of the internal systems adhere to centuries old Taoist philosophy, so they made Xingyi bend to the 5 element theory, made Bagua bend to the Bagua diagrams, and made Taiji a combination of both the Bagua (8 gates for hands) and the 5 elements (for feet). This Taoist philosophy overlay of the internal arts had absolutely nothing to do with self-defense.
Chen family boxing, which is what it was called before it went to Beijing, was developed centuries before, and hence was never affected by the Taoist philosophical overlayin Beijing until Chen Fake got there, and to this day still teach the original 13 postures. They consist of the usual 8 found in all Taiji systems, and the following 5 which the literati deleted in favor of the 5 footwork pattern. They are:
TENG - To strike from bottom to top, or from lower to upper, like an uppercut.
SHAN - To yield from top to bottom, that is, to neutralize incoming force by dropping downward (often followed up by TENG).
ZHE - To twist, wind, fold to lockup the opponent. Screw him into the ground. Like a toilet flushing.
KONG - To be empty. To not being there. Create a hole for your opponent to fall into. Ability to change from substantial to insubstantial. Maintain central equilibrium so as not to fall into your opponents hole. Bob and weave.
HUO - Mind and body in unison. Yi actively involved. Be lively, agile and nimble. Adaptable. Develop "sense of enemy" and "animal spirit." To stay within the Taiji principle.
I don't know whether or not it proved advantageous for these 5 techniques to have been deleted from the newer Taiji systems, but there they are if anybody wants to put them back in.