Taijiquan’s ‘Starting Stance’ – What Was It Really Called? Many People Don’t Know
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Regarding the starting stance of Taijiquan, many practitioners with considerable kung fu skills have written articles to elaborate on it, describing its requirements in terms of posture; demeanor; line coordination; lucking methods; and techniques for striking... covering various aspects.
It’s admirable to see so many articles on this topic. However, the original first stance of Taijiquan is not called “starting stance” but “Taijiquan Outbirth”. As far as I know, in Yang style Taijiquan and Wu style Taijiquan, the first stance is ‘Taijiquan Outbirth’.
“Taijiquan Outbirth” is self-explanatory; all the techniques within the Taijiquan system originate from this stance. It’s a matter of establishing the foundation. The movement and form of “Taijiquan Outbirth” is the practice of the current various Taijiquan styles, such as “hand wave pipa” shifting center of gravity, converting between empty and full; converting between long and short hand movements; converting between hand palms and backs; and so on, fully embodying the principle of yin and yang interchange and its root foundation.
It’s almost the case that every stance in this “big but simple” style boxing technique is like this posture and this opening and closing. When practicing boxing styles, you can change the direction, position, and coordination of your hands and feet, and the methods of attacking and defending are different, resulting in various stances such as “hold up stance”, “cross hand stance”, “left and right foot split stance”, “lift and block stance”, “white crane shining wings stance”, “knee bent and elbow raised stance”, and “hold and squeeze stance”, as well as “single whip”, “single”, “double”….
Such as Chen style Taiji Sword’s “turn over and split”, “return body and draw sword”, “seek the sea”, “Dragon Out of Water”… If you can correctly understand and master “Taijiquan Outbirth”, you can learn Taijiquan from this foundation to learn Taiji Sword, Push Hands, and Free Styles, which will be more efficient.
Taijiquan’s starting stance is a matter that can be explained in a few sentences, but some friends have complicated it, making it sound like a thousand words and it’s completely meaningless. It’s just making things difficult for beginners.
Stand upright with your feet about shoulder-width apart, with your toes pointed forward or slightly inward, with your lower jaw slightly retracted, with the Baihui point receiving emptiness, with your shoulders sinking and your elbows dropping, with your arms slightly rotating, with your empty sleeves relaxed, with your waist loosened and your hips lowered, with your tailbone slightly tilted forward, as if sitting on a high stool, with your knees bent and your ankles relaxed, with your toes spread wide, with your toes slightly retracted, and your arches supporting emptiness. Pause briefly, maintaining a relaxed and loose body.
Look straight ahead with your eyes, as if seeing or not seeing, relax your facial muscles, as if smiling or not smiling, with your teeth lightly tapping, with your tongue lightly rolling, relaxing your back and abdominal muscles, with your rounded hips, with your hands loosely grasping, with your knees slightly bent, and your ankles loosened, shifting your center of gravity slightly towards the front of your body. 'Heavenly Gate connected to the Earth, with the universe in your chest.’
Maintain overall relaxation, calm your mind, take long, slow breaths, gather your energy in your dantian, lead your intention upwards, let your flesh sink and your bones loosen, let your spirit be light and your intention be agile, like a Buddha or a Taoist master, pointing with your finger, smiling, and bestowing blessings on all beings.
Taijiquan’s Kung Fu is in the starting stanceA way to test if Taijiquan is useful and can be used is to check the starting stance. There are two situations: 1. When two people put their hands on top of each other, if the person can easily initiate the starting stance, it means their Taijiquan is useful. 2. When two people put their hands on their shoulders, the person sitting down can easily stand up, it means their Taijiquan can be used.
These two situations are based on not losing or blocking, naturally and effortlessly. Without any tricks or techniques, it’s just naturally and effortlessly not losing or blocking. When two people put their hands on top of each other, if the person can easily initiate the starting stance, it means their Taijiquan is useful.
If you can't even raise your hands, and say you can do all kinds of things, that’s nonsense. If two people are both Taijiquan practitioners with some experience, they will immediately enter a state of balance when they touch, and those who are relatively good will be able to initiate the starting stance.
When two people put their hands on their shoulders, the person sitting down can easily stand up, it means their Taijiquan can be used. If you stand up with difficulty, and say you can do all kinds of things, that’s madness. If two people are both Taijiquan practitioners with some experience, they will immediately enter a state of balance when they touch, and those who are relatively good will be able to initiate the starting stance.
