A rose by any other
name
JULIET:
'Tis but thy name that is my
enemy;
Thou art thyself, though not a
Montague.
What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor
foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other
part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other
name!
What's in a name? that which we call
a rose
By any other name would smell as
sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo
called,
Retain that dear perfection which he
owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy
name,
And for that name which is no part
of thee
Take all myself.
In
Shakespeare's lyrical tale of ill fated lovers, Romeo Montague and
Juliet Capulet meet and fall in love. As members of two warring
families, they are doomed from the beginning. . In the passage
above, Juliet tells Romeo that a name is an artificial and
meaningless convention, this is also the opinion of many a Tai Chi
student, and regrettably some teachers, In this article I shall
reveal something of the occluded meaning, of some of the names of
Tai Chi techniques
Every
style of Tai Chi Chuan has, as its primary means of solo practice,
a hand form. The traditional styles (of Tai Chi Chuan) that have
emerged, were at first only distinguished as people noticed
significant differences in the practice methods of subsequent
teachers, and therefore named the style after that particular
teacher.
One of the
features that changed with the development of the different styles
was the order of the techniques, which technique was performed in
conjunction with another; this was simply a result of a teacher
finding applications (self defence techniques) which worked well in
that combination, it is also why techniques occur in varying
combinations.
Another obvious development, perhaps
more significant, was the changing names of some techniques. In
some cases this may be a matter of dialect, or class / education
related speech idiom, In others it pertains more to the way the
technique is conceived and this is where I finally get to the point
of this article:
What is the purpose of the names of the
techniques in the forms?
To begin with lets look at some fairly
obvious examples `Step back to ride the
tiger´ in this technique, the performer is
responding to a number of fierce attacks by a skilled opponent, who
attacks high and low in close combination, in this case the term
tiger refers to the ferociousness, of the attacker, Similarly the
technique `Step back to beat the
tiger´ indicates a similar
ferocious intrusion, but this time it is against a classical double
handed technique as seen in many Shaolin forms or Goju Ryu Kata.
The theme is developed later in the form with `Draw a
bow to shoot an arrow at a tiger´ when
different responses are indicated against similar types of attack,
indeed most techniques may contain several applications against
differing attacks. The tiger theme continues in the sabre form for
example where the association of the tiger with being low, and
having a long back is significant in `Chop the
tiger´ and the sudden nature of a tigers spring
in `Hungry tiger leaps the
stream´.
Some times a name appears simple and
straightforward, this may be because the original term has been
changed or indeed forgotten over time, or simply lost in
translation. Such an example would be `Parry and
punch´ which appears obvious, however its
Chinese term (perhaps not the original?) is more informative; Boon,
Lam, Choi, respectively indicate an upper parry, lower parry, and
punch. Perhaps of most significance here is the term `Parry´
rather than `Block´, as the latter is more than somewhat out
of line with Tai Chi Chuan techniques, yet frequently shown in
demonstrations by those who do not understand the
difference.
In
`Grasping birds tail´ we are being
given more than just the advice of what kind of attack to expect,
and how to meet it, but also the sensitivity that’s required
in the situation. This technique contains the four primary
techniques of Tai Chi Chuan Peng, Lu, Ji, and An (ward-off,
roll-back, push, and press) and as such is an adaptable technique
often used to enter inside an opponents guard. The bird is the
opponent who is quick and flighty, or changeable, you must be swift
to grasp the tail of this bird, but if too forceful, you will be
left with nothing but a handful of feathers, instead you must be
sensitive to every change in the opponent so as to counter it
before it begins.
There
are other kinds of information hidden within the names of
techniques, sometimes not in the most obvious names (many if not
all techniques have multiple names) or in the name for the inner
techniques (the form within the form) for example
`Unity posture´ is
also known as `Embracing the one´
and alludes toward the use of this posture in standing meditation
amongst other things, whilst the stars of the eponymous
`7 star style´ and similarly named
pushing hand technique is a reference to the astral constellation
Ursa Major, reflected in the shape of the performer, this
constellation is of great significance in Taoist schools, and may
often be seen engraved in to the blades of weapons.
Speaking of weapons, the forms for the
various weapons are rich in cultural references, both
`Li Gwong shooting an Arrow´ and
`Pui Kung cleaving a snake´ are
direct references to historical events, and persons associated with
Tai Chi or its weaponry, whilst ´Taking off the
boots while drunk´ ( a means of extracting a
sword from a stricken opponent amongst other things) is an indirect
reference to the famous poet, swordsman, and drunkard, Li Mu Bai,
not surprisingly one of those characteristics is usually missing
when he is portrayed as a hero as in “Crouching tiger, hidden
dragon.” yet ´Retrieving the moon´ also alludes
to the same character and characteristic.
So,
cultural heroes, historical (and hysterical) events, descriptions
of tactics, opponents tactics, mind set, technique, meditation,
mysticism, alchemy all are hidden within the names of our
techniques, it’s a fascinating game of discovery thought
provoking and informing as well as inspirational. If after all this
you still wonder of what use are all these archaic names and
martial references to you? Consider this; the names are pneumonic,
you can always just create a story that helps you remember the
form….before the beginning there was nothing,
then as the Tao divided in to yin and yang, the 7 stars appeared in
the night sky, and I lightly grasped the birds tail, with a single
whip I threw it into the clouds, waving my hands as I did so. I
bent to pat the horse on high and turned to face
left…..
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