Re: Wang Yan and Neutralization
Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2024 1:47 am
twocircles13 wrote:
@origami_itto,
I’m going to agree and then disagree.
Initial taijiquan training, especially in push hands, may train you to be reactive, but this is primarily to train you not to be anticipatory.
Then, with that under your belt, you learn to be proactive. In @johnwang’s waiting-for-the-girl-to-call analogy, you hack the girl’s phone, so all the calls she makes go to you.
I don't disagree. There's a story, don't know if it's true, about two masters who faced off. One put their foot on the other's chest and the other put his palm on it or something and they just stopped. The story goes they both recognized if they attacked they'd be countered and so left it a draw.
In most situations, we don't have to wait for it. They bring it. In sports they have to bring it or they get penalized. In self defense, what they're bringing is the whole point of the exercise.
I don't know about girls, I'm so attractive they literally fight over me. Frankly it's a bit of a problem.
Usually I've got time to wait for it to come or not happen.
Specifically and technically and philosophically....
In general you don't want to be following their initiative. You don't want to just run from check till it's mate.
You want them to commit, expose a weakness, and exploit that.
If you look at the five elements, in Taijiquan they map onto the taijitu.
In the center, where it's perfectly balanced between yin and yang is earth, central equilibrium. I wrote an article about that. It's the state we want to be in to control everything.
At the top in the Yang side is fire, advance. If it's time to advance we should advance and continue to advance without hesitation, but in the advance there is vulnerability, the black dot. We have to avoid overcommitted attacks and we want to draw them into overcommitted attacks.
At the bottom is water, retreat. When we need to give ground we do it, but if we do it right, there is a reversal into an attack, the white dot.
To the left is wood, expect/gaze left. This is prompting and awaiting action actively (Yang) by creating false impressions of attacking.
To the right, metal, watch/look right. Prompting and awaiting action passively (yin) by creating false impressions of vulnerability.
That's the basic method. "React don't attack" is a strategic choice that becomes more important the better your opponent is at responding.