第六章 三合
Chapter 6 Three He (Harmonies) [he – to join, to fit, together]
五脏既明,再论三合,夫所谓三合者,心与意合,气与力合,筋与骨合,内三 台也。
The meaning of the five internal organs is clear; there is another triad to discuss and this is called the three harmonies - xin (heart/mind) together with yi (intention), qi together with li (strength/force), and jin (muscle/tendon) together with bone, these three are internal.
手与足合,肘与膝合,肩与胯合,外三合也。
Hand together with foot, elbow together with knee, and shoulder together with kua (hip), these are the three external harmonies.
若以左手与右足相合,左肘与右膝相合,左肩与右胯相合,右肩与左亦然。
The harmony of left hand together with the right foot, the harmony of left elbow together with the right knee, and the harmony of left shoulder together with the right kua (hip), is also correct.
以头与手合,手与身合,身与步合, 孰非外合。
The harmony of head together with hands, the harmony of hands together with body, and the harmony of body together with stepping, are these not external?
心与目合,肝与筋合,脾与肉合,肺与身合,肾与骨合,执非内合。
The harmony of heart together with eyes, the harmony of liver together with jin (muscle/tendon), the harmony of spleen together with flesh, the harmony of lungs together with body, the harmony of kidneys together with the bones, are these not internal harmonies?
然此特从变而言之也。
These are distinguished through the changes.
总之。
In a word,
一动而无不动,一合而无不合,五脏百骸悉在其中矣。
regarding the five internal organs and one hundred bones of the body, if one moves then they all move and if one part is in harmony then all are in harmony.
第七章 六进
Chapter 7 Six Advance
既知三合,犹有六进。
The six advance are similar to three harmonies.
夫六进者何也?
How do the six go forward?
头为六阳之首,而为周身之主,五官百 骸莫不体此为向背,头不可不进也。
Since the six yang channels meet at the head, the head is the chief, the head is the master (host) of the whole body, the five sense organs (nose, eyes, lips, tongue, ears ), and the various bones, are subordinant to it, the head must advance.
手为先锋,根基在膊,膊不进,则手却不前矣;是膊亦不可不进也。
The hand leads the way, the shoulder is the foundation, if the shoulder does not advance, then the hand does not move forward, if the shoulder must advance +
(or the hand does not move forward, and the shoulder must advance +)
气聚于腕,
the qi gathers in the wrist.
机关在腰,腰不进则气馁,而不实矣;此所以腰 贵于进者也。
The mechanism is located in the yao (waist/lower back), if the yao (waist/lower back) does not go forward, the qi will be deficient, and not be solid; therefore the yao (waist/lower back) is noble when advancing.
意贯周身,运动在步,步不进而意则索然无能为矣;此所以必取其进也。
The idea is that the whole body is strung together, movement depends on the steps, if the step does not advance forward then correct the problem.
以及上左必进右。
If the left advances the right will as well.
上右必进左。
If the right advances the left will as well.
共为六进,此六进者,孰非著力之地欺!
Together six advance, these six go forward, without effort, taking the best position!
要 之:未及其进,合周身毫无关动之意,一言其进,统全体全无抽扯之形,六进之道如是而已。
This is important: prior to moving forward, the intention is to harmonize the whole body unconcerned with moving, one brief remark about advancing, unify the whole body leaving nothing out, this is the method of the six advances.
第八章 身法
Chapter 8 Body Method
夫发手击敌,全赖身法之助,身法维何?
The hand strikes the enemy and all depends on the body method to assist. How do you maintain the body method?
纵、横、高、低、进、退、反、侧而已。
Release (zong), across (heng), high (gao), low (di), advancing (jin), retreating (tui), turn around (fan), to the side (ce). That is all there is.
纵,则放其势,一往而不返。
Zong, to release, to release its power the whole moves and does not return.
横,则理其力,开拓而莫阻。
Heng, to push aside, the principle of its force is to open, expand, and do not hinder.
高,则扬其身,而身有增长之意。
Gao, high, the intention is to expand upward.
低,则抑其身,而身有攒促之 形。
Di, low, to duck down, the body appears to gather together.
当进则进,弹其力而勇往直前。
Jin, go forward, like the force of a catapult, advancing bravely.
当退则退,速其气而回转扶势。
Tui, retreat, quickly, gathering qi.
至于反身顾後,後即前也。
As for fan, to turn the body around, pay attention to the back, the back becomes the front.
侧顾左右,左右恶敢当我哉。
Ce, to lean on the side, consider the left and right side, left and right are fierce, frightening, daring.
而要非拘拘焉而为之也。
But it is important to not be too rigid and restrained.
察夫人之强 弱,运乎己之机关,有忽纵而忽横,纵横因势而变迁,不可一概而推。
Observe the unyielding strength of the young lady (?). It is unreasonable to neglect zong (release) and heng (across/expand) when moving one's body. Zong (release) and heng (across/expand) generate power and change, do not hesitate.
有忽高而忽底,高底随时以转移,岂可执一而论。
High and low can be used to change at any time. How can one grasp the whole theory ignoring the high and low?
时而宜进不可退,退以馁其气。
Sometimes it is proper to advance, there is no retreat, to retreat reduces courage.
时而宜退, 即以退,退以鼓其进。
Sometimes it is proper to retreat, to use the retreat in order to strike forward,
是进固进也,即退亦实以助其进。
to advance with confidence. A retreat is really a means to advance.
若反身顾後。
When turning around,
而後不觉其为後。
then don't act as if the back is 'behind'.
侧顾左右,而左右不觉其为左右。
To lean to the side being aware of what's on the left and right, they will not be a distraction.
总之:现在眼,变化在心,而握其要者, 则本诸身。
In short: Observe with the eyes, direct changes with the mind (xin), and it is vital to hold the source of the body (center of gravity/dantian).
身而前,则四体不命而行矣。
The body moves forward followed by the four limbs doing the same.
身而怯,则百骸莫不冥然而处矣。
If the body is scared, then the numerous bones all hide.
身法顾可置而不论乎。
Attending to the body methods prevents such problems.
第九章 步法
Chapter 9 Footwork
今夫四肢百骸主于动,而实运以步;步者乃一身之根基,运动之枢纽也。
The four limbs and the bones determine the movement, but the movement is due to the stepping; the step is the the foundation and the hinge/pivot of the whole body, when moving.
以故 应战,对战,本诸身。
If you attack, to fight correctly, the body is the source.
而所以为身之砥柱者,莫非步。
As a result the body acts like a stone piller.
随机应变在于手。
The hands change according to the situation.
而所以为手之转移者,又在于步。
The hand changes depend on the stepping.
进退反侧,非步何以作鼓动之机,抑扬伸缩,非步何以示 变化之妙。
To advance or retreat, to step to the side or turn around, stepping is used to drive the movement and strike. Rising and falling, stretching and contracting, stepping is used to reveal the wonderful changes.
即谓观察在眼,变化在心,而转变抹角,千变万化,不至穷迫者,何莫非步之司命,而要非勉强可致之也。
Observe with the eyes, change with the heart/mind (xin), and through countless changes do not tire. How is it possible to manage the steps?
动作出于无心,鼓舞出于不觉,身欲动而步以 为之周旋,手将动而步亦早为之催迫,不期然而已然,莫之驱而若驱,所谓上欲动而下自随之,其斯之谓欤!
Spontaneous movement, striking, wielding, unthinking. The body moves by means of a step - circling and revolving. A step will set the hand in motion acting as a pressing force. Unexpected and yet already realized, not driven, but it seems like it's driven; that is called the upper moves and the lower naturally follows. That is the meaning!
且步分前後,有定位者,步也。
Steps are distinguished as before and after, early and later. The location of the step determined.
无定位者,亦步也。
The location of the step is not determined.
如 前步进,而後步亦随之,前後自有定位也。
If a step goes forward that may be followed by a step forward or backward, the location determined by one's self.
若前步作後步,後步作前步,更以前步作後步之前步,後步作前步之後步,前後亦自有定位矣。
If the previous step goes backward, the step after that goes forward, or changed to another step going still further back than the previous step. After that a step goes first followed by another step, the first step or the following step each have their own position.
总之:捶以论势而握要者 步也。
In short: To strike using this theory of power it is important to master stepping.
活与不活,在于步,灵与不灵亦在于步。
To live or die, depends on stepping; effective or ineffective, depends on stepping as well.
步之为用大矣哉!
Stepping is very useful!
第十章 刚柔
Chapter 10 Hard and Soft
夫拳术之为用,气与势而已矣。
This method of boxing uses qi together with power (shi) and nothing more.
然而气有强弱,势分刚柔,气强 者取乎势之刚,气弱者取乎势之柔,刚者以千钧之力而扼百钧,柔者以百钧之力而破千钧,尚力尚巧,刚柔之所以分也。
Qi can be strong or weak and power can be hard or soft. A person with strong qi may choose to use hard power while someone with weak qi may choose to use soft power. The strong person uses 1000 pounds of strength (li) to control 100 pounds, one who is soft uses 100 pounds of strength (li) and splits 1000 pounds in two. Strength and skill are both valued; this is the difference between hard and soft.
然刚柔既分,而发用亦自有别,四肢发动, 气行谙外,而内持静重,刚势也。
Hard and soft have been described in part. To issue mobilizing the four limbs qi circulates to the extremities. It's very important to maintain inner calm – this is hard power.
气屯于内,而外现轻和,柔势也。
Qi is stored inside and outside appears soft and harmonious – this is soft power.
用刚不可无柔,无柔则还不速。
To use hard should not lack soft. Without softness there is a lack of speed.
用柔不可无刚,无刚则催逼不捷,刚柔相济,则粘、游、连、 随、腾、闪、折、空、挤、捺,无不得其自然矣。
Using softness should not lack hardness. Without the hard there is no urge to win. Hard and soft complement each other - zhan to stick, you to swim, lian to link/connect, sui to follow, teng to soar, shan to dodge, she to break, kong to empty, ji to press, na to press down, all must be naturally so.
刚柔不可偏用,用武岂可忽耶。
Hard and soft should not stray from the useful; how can you ignore the martial applications?
Chinese text from:
http://tucsonchentaiji.org/ChenChangxin ... iples.html