大師張三豐在身體完全靜止的時候,他體內的氣開始流動.在太極拳的說法,就是「靜極生動」。這也是陰和陽互動的體現。當他放空一切,他的動作變得更加流暢,有如流水行雲。
後來張三豐將這些動作連結成為自成一格的「武當三十二長拳」,而這一套功夫,也逐漸演變為我們現在所謂的「太極拳」。
我相信，太極拳首要在於動作的流暢，其次才是各門派的招式。我們也可以說，這些逐漸定型的招式，主要是為了學拳者的便利而生。
我們要特別強調的是，太極拳在一開始，應該是在行氣中自現招式，而非從招式的演練中產生氣的運行。可惜的是，現在很多練太極的人做的都是後者。我並不是說後者是錯的，而是，當我們了解到太極拳最原始的概念，我們就能在短時間將自己的太極拳提升到很高的層級。
在少林華南，我們運用了相同的理念在功夫教學。從功夫的歷史演進，多是先有實戰應用才後有套路。所以毫無疑問地，功夫招式是用來進行實戰的。了解到這一點，即便你只是功夫初學者，都能有效的進入實戰。
少林華南太極拳法最主要的概念就是重在流暢、實用性，以及容易學習。
When the great Zhang San Feng entered perfect tranquility, his chi started to move. In Taijiquan terms, this is expressed as “Extreme stillness generates motion”, and is a manifestation of yin-yang interaction. As he let go, his movements became more vigorous, and were poetically described as “liu shui xing yun” (“lau shui hang wan” in Cantonese) or “Flowing Water, Floating Clouds”.
Later this great kungfu and Taoist master stylized these flowing movements into patterns which were later linked in a set, called “Wudang Thirty Two Pattern Long Fist”. This Wudang kungfu set evolved into Taijiquan.
In Taijiquan the flowing movements, I believe, came first; stylized forms came after the flowing movements. In other words, originally Taijiquan was preformed as a continuous flow; individualized patterns were later invented for the convenience of learning.
It is also significant to note that in Taijiquan, originally it was chi flow that generated forms, and not performing forms in the hope of generating chi flow, as many modern practitioners do, or hope to do. This does not mean that it is wrong to perform forms to generate chi flow (in fact we do this often), but if we understand the original concept and are able to put it into practice, we can bring our Taijiquan to a remarkable high level within a relatively short time.
Our Shaolin practitioners have a parallel concept. In the historical development of kungfu (including Taijiquan), combat application came first; individual patterns came later, and not vice versa as many modern kungfu practitioners believe. Hence, asking whether kungfu patterns can be used for combat, is irrelevant. Understanding this and being able to put it into practice will enable us to be combat efficient within a relatively short time.
Our Wahnam Taijiquan Simplified Set was composed with this flowing movement concept as one of the main considerations. Other considerations include functionality and comprehensiveness.
When the great Zhang San Feng entered perfect tranquility, his chi started to move. In Taijiquan terms, this is expressed as “Extreme stillness generates motion”, and is a manifestation of yin-yang interaction. As he let go, his movements became more vigorous, and were poetically described as “liu shui xing yun” (“lau shui hang wan” in Cantonese) or “Flowing Water, Floating Clouds”.
Later this great kungfu and Taoist master stylized these flowing movements into patterns which were later linked in a set, called “Wudang Thirty Two Pattern Long Fist”. This Wudang kungfu set evolved into Taijiquan.
In Taijiquan the flowing movements, I believe, came first; stylized forms came after the flowing movements. In other words, originally Taijiquan was preformed as a continuous flow; individualized patterns were later invented for the convenience of learning.
It is also significant to note that in Taijiquan, originally it was chi flow that generated forms, and not performing forms in the hope of generating chi flow, as many modern practitioners do, or hope to do. This does not mean that it is wrong to perform forms to generate chi flow (in fact we do this often), but if we understand the original concept and are able to put it into practice, we can bring our Taijiquan to a remarkable high level within a relatively short time.
Our Shaolin practitioners have a parallel concept. In the historical development of kungfu (including Taijiquan), combat application came first; individual patterns came later, and not vice versa as many modern kungfu practitioners believe. Hence, asking whether kungfu patterns can be used for combat, is irrelevant. Understanding this and being able to put it into practice will enable us to be combat efficient within a relatively short time.
Our Wahnam Taijiquan Simplified Set was composed with this flowing movement concept as one of the main considerations. Other considerations include functionality and comprehensiveness.
