Sung is not a skill but a permanent state evident to all aspects of Tai Chi practice achieved through long term practice. Only through Sung can applications, Jin and Qi be used to the full.
Some people believe that ‘Sung implies being soft and applying no effort; when the opponent applies Jin on me, I retreat and wait for his Jin to subside.’ Such a method implies ‘being floppy’ rather than Sung and it often results in ‘collapsing’, one of the four common errors occurred in Tai Chi push-hand practice.
I would call Sung the pre-requisite for Tai Chi practice. As my teacher, Mr. Ma You Qing puts it moreexplicitly, ‘Sung is the soul of Tai Ji Quan’.
Qi Gong 气功
Great Grandmaster Wu Tu Nan defined Tai Chi Qi Gong as ‘the Qi Gong state derived through Tai Ji Gong practice’. The means for achieving Tai Ji Qi Gong is mainly Zhuang Gong, stationary postures. Tai Ji Zhuang Gong is not to be mixed with the ‘pole-standing posture’ (Wu Ji posture) or ‘embracing the ball posture’ (Hun Yuan Zhuang) commonly practiced for health and self-nurturing purposes which are no comparison in effects to the Gong postures practiced within our lineage.
The Tai Ji Zhuang Gong within our lineage is approached through 3 stages or levels. But once the results are achieved in all three stages, they mould into one complete system.
Stage one is called ‘Shi Gong’, postures, also called ‘the initial four postures’. These are four standing postures performed in horse stance. These postures are designed to cultivate the Jin in the practitioner in six dimensions – front, back, left, right, above and below. With practice over time, Qi in the practitioner sinks through Yong Quan (Bubbling Spring) on the soles of the feet into the ground and forms a Qi field around him which is shaped like a big bell.
Stage two of Tai Ji Qi Gong involves Jin Gong which is also referred to as ‘intermediate four postures’. These are performed in squatting postures to cultivate the rise and fall in the Qi movement of the practitioner and to help him distinguish the internal Qi circulation from the external Qi circulation. When this is practiced to a sufficient level, the practitioner will develop the sensitivity to feel the changes in his Qi movement when issuing Jin and the connection between internal Qi and external Qi.
The final or highest stage is Qi Gong. It is also the highest within the whole Tai Ji Gong system. The postures in this stage are designed to use special breathing-regulation techniques to change the regular mode of breathing in the practitioner into alternative modes such as tortoise breathing, skin pore breathing and internal breathing. As a result of cultivating these alternative breathing modes, the practitioner, when confronting an opponent, will be able to consciously connect his own Qi field with that of the opponent so as to control the breathing of the latter which will inevitably result in subduing the opponent.
3. Conclusion
The Tai Ji Gong system handed down by Great Grandmaster Wu Tu Nan is a comprehensive system which is both traditional and scientific. As a form of martial art, the practice of hand form which is practiced in Ding Shi (holding postures) and Lian Shi (fluid postures) is used by the practitioner as structural work while the fast form is used as the functions or applications of the practice form. Weapon forms such as sabre and sword forms are there for physique and footwork training. The Jin Gong postures are designed to help the practitioner to give up applications in order to seek the use of Jin while Sung Gong helps him to achieve the Sung, the loose and hollow state within his body. Finally there is Qi Gong practice to facilitate the processes of nurturing (Yang), accumulating (Xu), circulating (Yun) and applying (Shi) of Qi within the practitioner. Eventually the practitioner reaches a state where there is ‘nothing but fluidity, nothing but smoothness, nothing but sinking and rootedness, nothing but firmness’ (words of Wu Tu Nan).
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