How to NEUTRALISE & SEIZE in Tai Chi
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How to neutralise & seize in Tai Chi
I am still a beginner and in no way am I claiming to be an expert. But for those who wonder about how they would see certain martial arts exponents control their training partner as if they were puppet. And cannot understand the mechanisms. The explanation you about to read may give you an idea.
How to neutralise & seize in Tai Chi
Regardless of the title, these fundamentals apply not only to Tai Chi or Taiji Quan but are in other martial arts. Especially traditional Chinese martial arts.
Also, to be able to neutralise and seize, you will need to have certain prerequisites, that if you skip them, it will take you longer to achieve the ability to seize or neutralise.
Prerequisites such as your ability to ting jin.
How to neutralise & seize in Tai Chi
Seizing and neutralising an opponent will be dependent of your level of “sinking” or emptiness. And being able to sink and thus spiral, will determine how you can seize and neutralise an opponent.
The neutralisation or the hua jin, will be your ability to redirect incoming force or transform it. By redirecting you are transforming.
How to neutralise & seize in Tai Chi
If a person is pushing against your hands using ting jin-your ability to listen to their intent, you would pick up one hand is pushing harder no matter how minute and then redirect to the hand which is pushing with less pressure. And in doing so you are redirecting the force. This causes a split of yin and yang in the adversary. This is where the concept of “lieh” in Taiji Quan comes in, to split or confuse the opponent.
How to neutralise & seize in Tai Chi
Their fullness will be led to an emptiness-you absorb their brute strength. In that moment seizing them and then you can release or uproot them.
This is a fundamental basic in Taiji Quan and that is why one of its old names was neutralisation fist amongst the myriad of other names. From this basic you can further expand on the idea. The better the quality of seizing and neutralising the better you can have your opponent’s fate in your hands. And with this apply chinna (seizing and joint locks) and much more
Written by Narcisse Sadi, Tudi (student) of Dr Jeff Lan, certified (by the International Health Qigong Federation) 1st Duan Health Qi Gong and certified (by Dr Jeff Lan) 1st Duan Yang Style (Cheng Man Ching lineage) Tai Chi Chuan Instructor.
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“The lone wolf does not seek refuge, he is a refuge. He does not seek out the community. He is a community. Now melancholy might settle, and weakness may creep in. So, he seeks advice from the other lone wolves. Regardless, the lone wolf knows better than to blame the external first. Instead in true Daoist nature examines himself first!”–Harmonious Fist
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