classical confusion...

[ashe]

http://www.fallingleaveskungfu.com/portal/node/169

i'm also publishing my blog via API to wusource as well.

[dragontigerpalm]

Very good post Ashe.

[D_Glenn]

I don't know about the interpretation of the song, yours is probably more practical but it's actually a song about developing listening skill to such a high level that a feather or a fly couldn't land on your body without you knowing it, and you actually know what your opponent is going to do before they even know what they're going to do, and the hero has no equal or rival because of this.

How is this achieved, as explained in other songs, by filling the dantian to the point it overflows into the whole body and essentially the whole body then becomes full of shen and everything is then done at the 'shen' level rather than qi, one feels/senses the shen of the opponent. Maybe in western terms this would be a very healthy nervous system with an abundance of required neurotransmitters etc.

[Wuyizidi]

This is from Wong Zongyue's first article "Discussion of Taiji Quan Theory". Here's the translation from the book my teacher and I are working on:




Wuyizidi

[charles]

This is from Wong Zongyue's first article "Discussion of Taiji Quan Theory". Here's the translation from the book my teacher and I are working on:

Excellent, succinct description of what its all about. Sounds like your book will be an important contribution to the available (useful) literature. Please let us know when it is available.

[ashe]

Echoing Charles, I look forward to your collaboration with Zhang Yun, David.

Thanks for posting the translation here.

qft. it'll make for interesting reading.

[D_Glenn]

I was hoping to find a certain link which is now, of course, a dead-end, but I believe the commentary I was looking for might be in this book: Taijiquan Classics By Barbara Davis, Weiming Chen

[Andy_S]

SNIP
Translation:
Such is the path leading to heroic invincibility.

Explanation:
When you mastered these skills, you can become great. Because these skills are special and are so high level and efficient, they will change you and make you stand out from the ordinary.
SNIP

David:

I prefer the translation to the explanation...a bit of "heroic invincibility" would come in very handy right now (esp as regards my financial situation). Seriously though, the excerpt was good stuff. There is so much fluff floating around the "Taiji Classics" that there is, I would guess, a tremendous market for a common sensical translation and explanation. Your comments about some of the goals of form and PH practice are gold. Look forward to seeing the finished work, should be a belter...

...though we would expect nothing less of you!

[chimerical tortoise]

英雄所向无敌，
a hero [is oriented towards] no enemy

because you have to regulate yourself first and foremost with structure, flow, tenets of what you practice, that may supersede the immediate fear or initial nervousness a non-hero might have when facing an enemy?

[Wuyizidi]

英雄所向无敌，
a hero [is oriented towards] no enemy

because you have to regulate yourself first and foremost with structure, flow, tenets of what you practice, that may supersede the immediate fear or initial nervousness a non-hero might have when facing an enemy?

It's simpler than that:

英雄: hero

所向: whichever direction you're headed
无: no
敌: the word di here is not used as a noun, but verb, as in 抵擋 - oppose, withstand, defend against.

所向无敌: no matter which direction you want to go, none can stand in your way.

The word by word translation of the whole sentence is: the hero is invincible no matter which way he goes, it is all because of this (previous sentence). Meaning, all else being equal, if you always know yourself and your opponent, but your opponent cannot know you, you will be invincible.

Wuyizidi

[Wuyizidi]

Thanks guys, the initial translation is done. Along with the translation there is notes on translation, explanation, and examples. My teacher is thinking he should add more practical examples.

Taiji Quan is blessed with complete writings articulating what all its core ideas and skills should be like. Those classics have been largely neglected today for many reasons:

• difficulty in translating classic Chinese and all its references,
• difficulty in translating Chinese to English - lots of time there is no one-to-one match, sometimes even when there is, meanings are different (ex. fire and water)
• unevenness in qualities (for example some of Chen Xin's articles are truly great, some just recite high level daoist concepts that will have no impact on our actual martial art practice, some looks like it was copied form Xinyi or Shaolin),
• differences between early and later writings (for example, in Wu Yuxiang/Li Yiyu articles, we can see at that time people did not clearly distinguish between li and jin. Li is used in many places where it really means jin),
• deeper meaning hidden in seemingly simple languages,
• lack of connection (in modern translations) between those principles and actual practices.

We want to make this a very practical book, one that can actually improves the reader's practice. Right now the key question is how to add those examples. Many things, for example skill vs conditioning, we can talk about separately in concept, but in practice they are inextricably intertwined. So if one part of the book talk about skill, and another part conditioning, the examples we give in each will contain both concepts. We don't want redundancy. If we give different examples, then will saying basically the same thing in different ways actually confuse people...

Either way the hard part is done. We started the project in May 2001, the wait shouldn't be long now.

Regards,

Wuyizidi

[Walk the Torque]

Again Wuyizidi,
Look forward to it.

Ashe,
Very nice writing, and high-lighting an almost perenial problem faced by anyone wishing to communicate in words, what is almost incomprehensible without the experiential understanding that comes from the practice itself. In the words of Joni Mitchell "people can tell you where thev'e been, they can tell you where to go; but till you get there yourself, you'll never really know".

Even using the same language, ones internal representation of the material can colour the message such that the entire meaning is taken in a whole knew direction. The word soft has completely different meanings for guy A than it does for guy B.

The stuff about not allowing a surface to land on is another example. I was guided towards the meaning of always rotation the point(s) of contact; where as some others (even from my own school) were convinced it was all about yielding.

[gretel]

at last, a serious and truly useful thread.

gretel

[dragontigerpalm]

at last, a serious and truly useful thread.

gretel

QFT and also looking forward to reading the translation.

[chimerical tortoise]

Wuyizidi: I stand corrected.