太極拳十要 Ten Keys to Tai Chi Chuan

 

太極拳十要

 Ten Keys to Tai Chi Chuan

九大環節為 1.          上三節: 肩，肘，腕 2.          中三節: 頸椎, 背脊, 腰 3.          下三節: 髖，膝，踝	The nine major joints in the body are 1.          Upper three joints: shoulders, elbows, wrists 2.          Middle three joints：neck, spine, waist 3.          Lower three joints: hips, knees, ankles
放鬆九大環節是太極拳的重要功課. 鬆 : 不用力??	Relaxing the nine major joints in the body is an important object of any Tai Chi Chuan practice.
用檢驗九大環節來鑑定你的太極拳是否鬆柔	Checking the nine joints helps you assess whether or not you practice Tai Chi Chuan in a supple way.

太極拳十要，楊澄甫 Yang Chengfu’s Ten Keys to Tai Chi Chuan：

	楊澄甫十要	Yang Cheng-fu，ten keys	鄭曼青	Cheng Man-chin	鬆柔太極拳	Supple Tai Chi Chuan
1.	虛靈頂勁	Forcelessly press up your headtop, and lead the Jing up.	吞天之氣	Swallow qi from heaven	頂正頸鬆	Head upright, neck relaxed
2.	含胸拔背	“Draw in the chest, push out the back.”
3.	鬆腰	“Relax the waist.”
4.	分虛實	“Tell emptiness and fullness apart.”—the first key of all.	接地之力	Receive the force of the ground	足下有根 （放鬆所有的關節）	There is root underfoot (by relaxing all joints).
5.	沉肩墜肘	“Sink shoulders, drop elbows to point downward.”			鬆肩鬆肘	Relax shoulders and elbows.
6.	用意不用力	“Use the mind, not brute force.”
7.	上下相隨[1]	“Upper and lower follow each other”—all parts of the body move as one[2].			上下亦含左右，前後	Upper and lower include left/right and front/back.
8.	內外相合	“The inside and the outside act in unison.”—When the form opens, the mind open with it.			內在，外在。身心靈	Outward appearance and inward mindfulness. Body, mind, spirit.
9.	相連不斷	“Continuously connected and unbroken”—just as an old energy wanes, a new energy waxes, leaving no breaks in between.			陰陽相濟	Yin and Yang are complementary.
10.	動中求靜 動靜合一	“Seek stillness in movement. The pair is one.”—move so slowly as to seem to hold still.			如原體位，原空位	Such as OBP (original body position) and OSP (original space position)

 

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[1] 陳微明註解：“上下相隨者，即太極拳論中所云，其根在腳，發於腿，主宰於腰，形於手指，由腳而腿而腰，總須完整一氣也。”

[2] As Chen Wei-ming explained,上下相隨means “feet rooting, through the legs, mastered at the waist, and expressed at the fingers. From feet, legs, and waist, all should act as one.”

鄭曼青易理談陰陽相濟 Cheng Man-Ching used I-Ching to interpret “yin and yang supplement each other”

 鄭曼青易理談陰陽相濟

Cheng Man-Ching used I-Ching to interpret “yin and yang supplement each other”

Cheng: “yin and yang are indispensable parts of Tai Chi Chuan.

Defense (yielding and neutralizing) comes before all others. For example, the upper three yang yaos and the lower three yin yaos form the Hexagram Pi (否卦), signifying that everything is being blocked, a scene of stagnation; that is, Heaven Earth Entangled  (天地否); the upper three ying yaos and the lower three yang yaos form the Hexagram Tai (泰卦), signifying everything is smooth, unobstructed, a peaceful and harmonious state; that is, Earth Heaven Engaged (地天泰).

 You must be able to defend before you can attack. To make progress, you must work on defense in the hope that you may progress to “yin and yang supplement each other” It’s like Hexagram Ji Ji (既濟卦): fire and water help each other (水火既濟); alternating ying yaos and yang yaos forms Hexagram Ji Ji(既濟卦) 

太極拳需分「一陰一陽」之謂道，守勢為第一。譬如「一陽一陰」便成為「天地否 」。「地天泰 」，能守方可言攻，現在要求進步，必須從守方面著手，等於「水火既濟 」。

Cheng Man-Ching used the Hexagram Pi （天地否）the Hexagram Tai（地天泰）and the Hexagram Ji Ji (水火既濟), three guas in I-Ching, to lead learners into the realm of yin and yang supplementing each other.

鄭子以易經的「天地否」「地天泰」「水火既濟」等三個卦象，引導習者進入陰陽相濟的領域，

 

The Hexagram Pi「」:

The yang (hot) air of the upper trigram (three yang yaos) ascends, and the yin (cold) air of the lower trigram (three yin yaos) descends. Therefore yang and yin will never meet, so they have no chance to supplement each other.

「天地否」：上卦陽氣往上升，下卦陰氣往下降，陰陽二氣互不交合。不合乎太極拳之道。

The Hexagram Tai「」：

The yin (cold) air of the upper trigram (three yin yaos) descends, and the yang (hot) air of the lower trigram (three yang yaos) ascends. Therefore, yang and yin will meet, so they have a better chance to supplement each other.

「地天泰」：上卦陰氣往下降，下卦陽氣往上升，陰陽二氣相互交合，為太極拳之道。

The Hexagram Ji Ji「」：The six yaos of alternating yin and yang of the upper trigram and the lower trigram form Hexagram Ji Ji (既濟卦)。Yin and yang are neighbors, never far from each other, so they are best positioned to supplement each other,thus fire and water help each other (水火既濟) . To know how yin and yang supplement each other is one of the best ways to learn to be familiar with jing (ting-jing), understand jing (dong-jing), and approach all-knowing and those unfathomable to others, and it is also the best way to show how to “overcome hardness with softness.” 

「水火既濟」：陰不離陽，陽不離陰，陰陽二氣相輔相成，是太極拳聽勁、懂勁、階及神明的最佳訓練法，也是展現「以柔克剛」技藝最佳的途徑之一。