• About

Thoughts On Tai Chi

~ My Personal Thoughts About The Art of Tai Chi Chuan as Philosophy and Martial Art

Thoughts On Tai Chi

Tag Archives: Kai he

On Open-Close (开合) and The Six Harmonies ( 六合 ) in T’ai Chi Ch’uan

26 Wednesday Dec 2018

Posted by David in Advanced Tai Chi Theory

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Body method, Kai he, liuhe, six harmonies

There are two important concepts in the Internal Chinese Martial Arts that has one character in common. This character is the “He“,合, in the concepts of “kai he” (open-close) and “Liuhe” (Six Correlations, or Six Harmonies). The first concept is very much essential for Tai Chi practice, and the other one was first used in Xingyiquan and only later adopted by Tai Chi Masters.

Kai-He (开合) is usually translated to “open close” in Tai Chi, but if you have a good understand of this concept, you would probably have a hard time to understand where “harmony” fits into the picture.

The character 合 Hé looks like a building and has in fact something to do with a house.  This character concists of two characters. The one for “Mouth” (口, kou) is below and the character for “assemble” or “gather together” (亼 / 亽, Ji) is above. 合 Hé​ means to perfectly fit something together, like the upper and lower jaws making the mouth shut, two parts designed to match together. So why does the character looks like a house? A coincidence? No, not really. But you have to know something about the Chinese pagodas to understand. This Chinese architecture genius construction is built without any kind of nails or screws. The wooden parts are stacked together by incisions in the wood that fits perfectly together. This is to “he” or connect something together. This construction has helped many centuries old pagodas to withstand many storms and earthquakes. As other modern buildings are destroyed in earthquakes, A pagoda just shakes and falls into place again.

The character “He” in Kai-he and Liuhe is usually translated as “connect”, “fit together” or to “correlate”. In some ways a better translation of Kai-he would be “disconnect-connect” or “loosen up to stabilize”.  “Kai” means open as in open a door or to start a new business. In the more philosophical explanation, here in the concept of Kai-he, the movement of Kai means to open up the body so the qi can flow. This can be compared to turning on a hose, letting the water flow. And after opening the flow, then the movement of “He” acts like connecting this hose to a system, like letting the water have a constant flow and circulation. In this sense “He” means connecting the structure so that you can circulate the qi through the limbs. So Kai and He together means to “Open the flow and connecting it”. First you need to “Kai Qi”, to open up for the qi to flow. Then we connect the structure or the qi, or He qi. This is why we also can use the term “Heqi” instead of just “he”, two characters together which is translated to Japanese as the concept as “Aiki”. So “harmony” has really nothing to do with the term Aiki, and instead it means to physically structure the body to let the qi flow, or in an Aikido sense to connect your qi with the opponent’s. In a more modern way of describing this relationship between opening and closing without using the more philosophical word “qi” is to view Kai as an internal stretching of tissues, a physical stretching motion from the core of the body, which is structurally stabilized by the opposite contracting movement of ”he”. There is a certain sensation when you do it right. If you call this sensation Qi or something else doesn’t matter, But what you do in a practical sense does.

The other concept, the concept of Liuhe, mostly translated to The Six Harmonies, is something rather common in the Chinese culture and has been adapted to the internal martial arts. First and foremost by Xingyiquan that uses the name liuhe to summarize the Xingyi principles of internal and external connection. In Xingyi, it consists of three internal correlations and three external correlations (neisanhe and waisanhe). The internal three correlations are: 1) mind (xin) connects to intent (Yi), 2) intent is connected with energy (qi), 3) energy is connected with power(Li). And the external three correlations are: 1) hand unites with foot, 2) elbow unites with knee, and 3) shoulder unites with hips.

The term or name liuhe 六合 is a general name used in Chinese culture and historia, for instance in names as the “Six Harmony Bridge”, “Six Harmony Pagoda”, “Six Harmony Spear”, etc. The term consists of the character liu which means six and he that stands for “connection” or “correlation”.

Why many calls the ”he” in Kai-He and Liuhe “harmony” instead of connect might originate from a translation mistake as there is another character with the same pronunciation, he, written 和, that actually means “harmony” in Chinese. But probably, as translating this character to “harmony” is common in literature, this might have to do with literary qualities. A name as Six Harmony Bridge sounds more beautiful than “Six Correlations Bridge”. After all, in literature it’s only a name and doesn’t need any explanation. But if a certain level of meaning is necessary for understanding, then wrong associations due to translation might be a problem.

Liuhe in a general sense refers to the six directions: above, below, east, south, west, and north. It can mean something that stretches in all directions or just mean vast or something that covers a very large area. In the Suwen 5 (The Great Treatise on the Responsive Manifestations of Yin and Yang 陰陽應象大論) The Liu Hé refers to the channels in the body with the six foot and hand pairs. As a chinese comment to the book explains:

“足太陽與足少陰為一合。足少陽與足厥陰為二合。足陽明與足太陰為三合。手太陽與手少陰為四合。手少陽與手厥陰為五合。手陽明與手太陰為六合 (Foot taiyang and foot shaoyin form the first coordinate; foot shaoyang and foot jueyin form the second coordinate; foot yangming and foot taiyin form the third coordinate. Hand taiyang and hand shaoyin form the fourth coordinate; hand shaoyang and hand jueyin form the fifth coordinate; hand yangming and hand taiyin form the sixth coordinate)” (Source)

The Liuhe can be used as the  concept of10,000 things, or everything under heaven – Tianxia” as here in the Zhuangzi: “六合之外,聖人存而不論;六合之内,聖人論而不議。” Or: “Outside the Six Coordinates, the sage is present yet does not discuss. Within the Six Coordinates, the sage discusses but does not dispute.”

So what does the Liuhe in the internal arts really mean? In Xingyi, it means how the internal connects with the outside, how the internal and the external should be coordinated together as one whole. In this art it is also said that when one part moves, everything moves, when one part stops (or is still) everything is put to a stop. Many regard this as something concerning the body only, but as nei and wai, the internal and external correlates which each other, moving and being still is controlled by mind and intent just as much as by the external body. Everything, every aspect of nei and wai moves together, directly without delay, without any sequential order or by this first and that later. Practicing in this way means that you will develop a very fast, sudden, explosive power. There is no need for mental or physical preparation, and instead everything happens directly, suddenly and together. The art of Xingyiquan is well known for its suddenness and explosive action.

Today many use the concept of Liuhe for Tai Chi, calling the art a “six harmony” art. Maybe it was Sun Lutang who first adapted this term to Taijiquan. He mentions the term in his book on Sun Shi Taijiquan. But he does change the concept a bit, or to be more precise, he changes the third internal connection. Instead of “qi connects with power”, he says: “Qi connects with Mind”, making the three internal correlations a full circle. This makes sense from a Tai Chi perspective. Xingyi and Bagua both speak about power, Li, and about connection between mind, qi and Li.  They rather use the term “Fali”, issuing power, rather than Fajin or to issue “energy”. But Tai Chi doesn’t speak about Li. Instead, in T’ai Chi Ch’uan it is said: “Don’t use Li, use Jin.” Jin is not the same as Li. Tai Chi Jin is a refined type of strength that is the consequence of internal conditions, it is the external expression of an internal state.

This is also the reason why I personally don’t use the term “Liuhe” for Tai Chi. The concept of Liuhe was not created for the Tai Chi process of creating and expressing jin, which makes the “six harmony” hype in Tai Chi a bit peculiar. In other Internal arts, the external is coordinated from the outside with the internal conditions to express power. In Tai Chi the progress goes steadily more towards the internal until the internal is completely in charge of the external. The outside is not longer coordinated from the outside. And instead, everything on the outside becomes an expression of the inside. The external movements are no longer important, only the internal movements are. In Tai Chi, the body moves as a whole, coordinated together as a unit. But the movements are arranged from the inside, from the center of the body. There’s a difference here between the Liuhe philosophy in Xingyi and how we look at the relationship between internal-external in Tai Chi. This difference might be hard to understand if you haven’t practiced both of these arts, or maybe it can still be difficult if you have. Respect for differences and keeping things clearly separated though can be a good thing if you want to be able to understand distinctive aspects of different arts.

Advertisements

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Like this:

Like Loading...

On Chansijin / Silk Reeling as a Non-Style Specific Concept

29 Tuesday May 2018

Posted by David in Advanced Tai Chi Theory, Basic concepts, General Tai Chi, Personal reflections

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Kai he, Silk-reeling, zhongding

What is Silk-Reeling in T’ai Chi Ch’uan? As you know if you have followed this blog, I have some very strong opinions about T’ai Chi related issues. Here I try to verbalise my idea on what Silk Reeling really is in T’ai Chi in a more general sense and I will certainly try to come up with some good arguments for my case.

Chansi, isn’t that a Chen thing?

First of all Silk-reeling, chansi (纏絲) or chansijin/chansijing (纏絲精), is mostly known as a Chen style specific term. It’s something that Chen style focus very much on and has a huge impact on basic training, both jibengong (foundation practice) form and application. Silk-reeling movement is a twisting or spiralling body movement that has its center in the Dantian, is supported by the gua and legs and spreads out through the limbs, right out to the fingertips. The most common basic exercise is the one arm movement where the practitioner stands in a broad horse stance. One hand rests at the waist and the other one makes a big wide circle with the whole arm while coordinating the movement from the gua and dantian.

 

Charles Tauber presents his ideas on Chen style silk reeling in very well thought out instruction videos

Chen style has a certain expression, but is it silk reeling that gives Chen style a certain expression, or is it the Chen style specific expression that makes silk-reeling what it is? Some Chen stylists claim the silk-reeling is what separates Chen style from other T’ai Chi styles. So do other styles have the same?

Mike Sigman presents Silk Reeling from a more general Tai chi perspective

Chousi, similar but not the same.

Now, there is another, related concept in Yang and other styles, namely Chousi, or pulling silk. What is meant is not the same as twisting silk reeling or chansijin. Pulling silk is the way of performing a movement with perfectly even, smooth movements. When pulling the very fine silk thread out from the silk cocoon, the slightest break or jerk would break it. So you need to move with awareness throughout your movement, move very carefully, perfectly even, just like a surgeon operating with a scalpel. Moving like this takes a lot of focus and attention, but this is the way a Yang style form always should be practiced.

As Wu Tunan commented the issue:

‘If you pull the silk abruptly it will break, when you pull it improperly, the silk won’t come out. This is a metaphor for training the energy (jin) of taijiquan. It cannot be excessively forceful, nor excessively fragile; it has to be just right. These kinds of metaphors are numerous, such as: “mobilize jin that is like well-tempered steel,” “as though drawing a bow,” and “issue jin as though releasing an arrow.” There are some people, then, who have illogically contrived to make the words chou si be regarded as a designation for a kind of jin, even mistakenly giving explanations of some sort of “chousijin.”

So chansijing is something different than chousi as Chansi focuses on a continuous twisting and winding movement? Maybe the focus on twisting and spiralling is what is different. At least twisting and winding does not need to have the focus on exact speed and even, smooth movements? So maybe it’s Chansi that lacks something and not Chousi? But still, can’t you combine chousi and chansi together so that they overlap or at least have the same qualities?

(source: Aikiweb)

So what about Yang style and Chansijin? Is it a good match or what?

Yang zhenduo, has at several different occasions answered on the question if Yang Style has silk-reeling. A couple of his answers are:

(From an Interview with Yang Zhenduo in 1990):
“T’AI CHI: Is there chan ssu jing (silk reeling energy)in the Yang style?
Yang Zhenduo: The Yang style does not have such a word as chan ssu jing. Chen style is unique to have that. But in the Yang style what we have is twisting and continuous motion. It has the chan ssu jing element, but we do not call it chan ssu jing.”

(1995, Yang Zhenduo on Yang Style’s Growing Potentials):
“Chan Si jing (silk coiling energy) in the Yang style involves changing of the hand positions, Yang said. He cited the example of the movement Wave Hands Like Clouds where there is emphasis on the rotation of the arms and hands.
“In the Yang style, it (chan Si jing) is not as apparent as in the Chen style. But that content is incorporated in the Yang style,” he said. “It is done subtly in the change of the hand position.
“In the Yang style,” he said,” most energy has the nature of peng jing (ward off) energy. In T’ai Chi’s development, each style has its own characteristics and specialties, and in the Yang style peng jing is No. 1. Everything is based on peng jing and compared to chan Si jing it is totally different. If emphasis was all on chan Si jing, then Yang style would be the same as the Chen style.”

(Source: Yang Family Tai Chi Discussion Board)

Interesting, but would Yang style style be the same if the focus was on silk reeling? I don’t agree. There are other things in Chen style that stands out and make the movements feel different. Chen style often work with changing tempo, sometimes it’s fast, sometimes slow. When it’s slow it mostly don’t become “Yang slow”. It has jumps and it has movements that are different from other Tai Chi styles. The stances are mostly lower and wider and the limbs can move freely from a stationary stance without the transition of weight. Chen style is not afraid to lose connection or suddenly burst out in fajin. So if all of these ingredients remained the same, Chen style would still look different. Yang style would not be the same.

So what is Chansijin really? I mean from a general Tai chi perspective.

I would rather express silk reeling and its place in Tai Chi a bit different than Zhenduo. Look again at how silk reeling is usually defined, or how I defined it above: Silk reeling is a “twisting or spiralling body movement that has its center in the Dantian, is supported by the gua and legs and spreads out through the limbs, right out to the fingertips.” Think about it. Doesn’t Yang connect the movements to the Dantian? Yes of course it does. Doesn’t Yang have spiralling, circular movements? You often see very little spiralling movement in Yang style performances.

But does it have to be non-present, or even less present than in Chen style? In my opinion. this is more a question about how you as a Tai chi practitioner (regardless style) work active on “kai-he” / “open-close” movements using the whole spine and trunk. If you do that, I am sure that you will agree with me that your arms will automatically attain a natural sort of spiralling movements. Just do this very simple exercis: Stand straight and put out your arms in a “tree holding posture“. Now experiment with trunk and spine and eventually also scapula movements. If you tuck in and untuck your hips and focus on pressing together and release your dantian at the same time as you have this posture, you will see that your elbows will automatically sink and raise slightly. If you coordinate your movements in your form with spine, scapula and breath, this should have the same natural effect and result in a spiralling movement. So why do so many Yang stylists don’t show a circular, spiralling movement? This might depend on primarily two things: The first is that they can hide their body mechanics, or making it less pronounced. And the second is that they still haven’t practiced Tai chi for a very long time, so they focus more on relaxing and keeping their shoulders dropped. In Yang and some other styles, a more active use of spine and scapula movements is often not introduced until the person has practiced Tai Chi for a couple of years, sometimes several years. And sometimes, at least for some players, the body method stays at a rudimentary beginners level. It could be that they focus on health aspect or enjoy a very relaxed way of doing the form. I would not say that this is wrong, not even on more advanced levels, as everyone practice for different reasons.

But my point is that what is described with the concept of chansi is not only something styles specific or Chen related. In fact, what Chen style describes with the term Chansijin is just good, solid Tai Chi body mechanics. If you work with whole body movement that works around keeping zhongding, is rooted in the feet, is controlled by the Dantian and use open/close movements from the spine and scapula, well, then you will have exactly what is described with chansi. You don’t need to accentuate the spiralling movement, just coordinate the kai/he movement with your overall coordination and it will be there. Add the concept of chousi as well and regardless the style you are practicing and you’ll now have a great kind of body mechanics for your Tai Chi movements. This is in my own opinion the essence of the concept Chansi and chansijin.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Like this:

Like Loading...

Subscribe

  • RSS - Posts
  • RSS - Comments

Tai Chi Blogs

Top Posts

  • Tai Chi is Bullshit
  • How often should I practice my Tai Chi and for how long? (And some other stuff like a few points about "warming up the system")
  • Important points on Yi and Intent in Tai Chi and IMA
  • Tai Chi and the word Yielding as an incomplete concept
  • Tai Chi and Meditation
  • Q&A with Jonathan Bluestein

Recent Posts

  • Tai Chi and Meditation
  • Book Review: The Metamorphosis of Tai Chi by Robert Agar-Hutton
  • Q&A with Jonathan Bluestein
  • On Acceptance
  • Q&A with Michael Babin
  • Q&A with Robert Agar-Hutton
  • T’ai Chi Ch’uan and the Sushi Chef Approach to Martial Arts
  • Q&A With Master Wong
  • On Open-Close (开合) and The Six Harmonies ( 六合 ) in T’ai Chi Ch’uan
  • Q&A with Ken Gullette

Categories

  • Advanced Tai Chi Theory (10)
  • Basic concepts (44)
  • Form practice (10)
  • General Tai Chi (104)
  • Interviews (5)
  • Personal reflections (49)
  • Push Hands (5)
  • Reviews (1)
  • The Tai Chi Classics (3)
  • Uncategorized (5)

Recent Comments

  • Q&A with Michael Babin | The Tai Chi Notebook on Q&A with Michael Babin
  • Andrew Hill on Q&A with Ken Gullette
  • David on Q&A with Ken Gullette
  • Andrew Hill on Q&A with Ken Gullette
  • Salwa Shalaby on A Further Explanation of the Concept of Qi

Tai Chi related blogs

  • A Blog on Yang Style Taijiquan
  • Capitol Hill Tai Chi Blog
  • Cook Ding's Kitchen
  • Journey to Emptiness
  • Tai Chi Notebook
  • Taigerchi
  • Taiji Journal
  • The Internal Athlete

Resources

  • Brennan Translation Classic texts translated from Chinese to English
  • China From Inside Jarek’s page on the Internal Arts
  • Tai Chi Forum Portal and resource page for Tai Chi and related arts.
  • The Dao Bums Forum Daoist related discussions forum
  • The Qi Journal Tai Chi and Qigong Journal Online
  • The Rum Soaked Fist Forum Chinese Internal Martial Arts Forum

Thoughts on Tai Chi - Blog Directory OnToplist.com
Martial arts Blog Directory

Martial arts Blog Directory

Advertisements

Blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
%d bloggers like this: