Friday, July 18, 2014

The Application of Eight Gates and Five Steps (八門五步用功法) by Yáng​ Bān​hóu​ (楊班侯)

八門五步用功法

八卦,五行,是人生成固有之良。必先明“知覺運動”四字之本由。知覺運動得之後,而後方能懂勁。由懂勁後,自能階及神明。
然用功之初,要知知覺運動,雖固有之良,亦難得於我也。

楊班侯
"The Eight Trigrams and the Five Phases are intrinsic to human life. Prior to understading them, one needs to understand the foundations of the phrase: “consciousness in movement”. After understanding “consciousness in movement”, then one can be able to “Understand the Energy”. After being able to “Understand the Energy”, one can reach the rank of gods.
It is correct to practice diligently in the beginning to become aware of “consciousness in movement”. Although “consciousness in movement” is inherent to human nature, it is also very rare."

Based on the translation by Yang Jwing Ming (楊俊敏) presented in the book Tai Chi Secrets of the Yang Style (太極拳楊氏先哲秘要)

Friday, July 11, 2014

Twenty Sixth Secret Song (歌訣二十六) from the The Thirty-Six Songs of Baguazhang (八卦掌三十六歌) Vigésima Sexta Canção Secreta (歌訣二十六) das Trinta e Seis Canções do Bāguàzhăng (八卦掌三十六歌)

歌訣二十六

力要剛兮更要柔,
剛柔偏重功難收。
過剛必折真物理,
優柔太盛等於休。
"Power requires hardness, change requires softness,
If hardness or softness is unduly emphasized, it will be difficult to achieve results.
If there is too much strength in the movement, nature says it will be certainly broken,
If it contains too much softness, it is the same thing as ceasing the movement."

Based on the translations by Yang Jwing Ming (楊俊敏) and Liang Shou You (梁守渝) in "Baguazhang - Theory and Applications" (峨嵋八卦掌) and by Frank Allen and Tina Chunna Zhang in "The Whirling Circles of Ba Gua Zhang"
"Power requires hardness, change requires softness,
If hardness or softness is unduly emphasized, it will be difficult to achieve results.
If there is too much strength in the movement, nature says it will be certainly broken,
If it contains too much softness, it is the same thing as ceasing the movement."

Baseado na tradução de Yang Jwing Ming (楊俊敏) e Liang Shou You (梁守渝) apresentada em "Baguazhang - Theory and Applications" (峨嵋八卦掌) e na tradução de Frank Allen e Tina Chunna Zhang em "The Whirling Circles of Ba Gua Zhang".

Friday, July 4, 2014

The Study of the Chicken Form (雞形學) from The Study of Xing Yi Quan (形意拳學)

雞形學

雞形者,雞於世最有益者也。能以司晨報曉,又有單腿獨立之能,抖翎之威,爭斗之勇,故雞形拳中之功夫可謂甚大。在腹內而為陰氣初動,又為巽掛,在天為風,在人為氣,在拳中謂之雞形。又能起足根之勁上升,又能收頭頂之氣下降,又能散其真氣於四體之中。其拳順,則上無腦筋不足之患,下無腿足疼痛之憂。其拳謬則腦筋不足,耳目不靈,手足亦麻木不仁矣。學者於此雞形中最當注意。

孫祿堂
"The cock is the most useful of the animals there is. It is able to take charge for announcing the break of day, it is also able to stand on a single leg, the sternness of shaking the feathers and it is a brave fighter. Because all of this, it can be said that the chicken form within the martial arts is highly important within the martial arts. It is the beginning of the movement of the Yin Energy (Qi) in the body, it corresponds to the Wind Trigram (Xùn Guà), to wind in heaven, to respiration in man and in boxing it is called the chicken form. It can at the same time initiate the raise of the strength from the root in the feet, stop the decline of the energy (qi) from the top of the head and spread that real energy (zhen qi) through the core of the four limbs. If one complies with this boxing method, above the brain does not suffer from deficiency and below one does not worry about excessive pain in the legs. If one perform this boxing method erroneously then the brain will be deficient, the attention will be ineffective and the feet and hands will be apathetic. It is of greatest importance to take notice of the study of the chicken form."

From the book The Study of Xing Yiquan (形意拳學), by Sūn Lùtáng (孫祿堂), based on the translation by Albert Liu and Dan Miller