Two heroes meet

I am not sure how true this story is, but it is certainly plausible that it did happen. Two of my Taijiquan heroes are said to have met in real life and had a minor showdown during the early 20th century. I found this story on a Chinese website and have translated it as best I can. Some of the Chinese is in classical form [especially the verse at the end] and I don't profess to be an expert, so I just picked up the general meaning and ran with it.

The two masters in question are Song Shuming [宋書銘] and Yang Shaohou [楊少侯].

Song Shuming practiced an ancient Daoist martial art said to have been passed down through his family and learnt from Xu Xuanping during the Tang Dynasty. Song Shuming was an enigma in the Taiji world at that time, and reputed to have considerable martial ability, making him a formidable opponent.

Yang Shaohou, as we all know, mainly learnt from his uncle Yang Banhou [楊班侯], and had an equally important status in the Beijing martial arts world at that time. He represented the 3rd generation of the Yang family tradition, perhaps the last generation that really deserved to carry the torch.

Because of his reputation many famous martial artists went to visit Song Shuming to try out their skills, but most were politely refused and sent away. But, when Yang Shaohou paid a visit accompanied by Wu Tunan and others, Song Shuming, aware of Yang Shaohou's reputation, immediately invited him into his house.

After exchanging greetings and chatting for a while, Yang Shaohou indicated the reason he was there was to "compare notes" on martial practice. Understanding the meaning, and knowing of Yang Shaohou's fame, and because he had made a special effort to pay a visit, Song Shuming felt both honoured and obliged to participate.

They both stepped outside; Song and Shaohou made contact and instantly it was as if nothing would happen, it seemed that each had met their match!

Shaohou sensed there was no stiffness to exploit throughout the whole of Song's body. The two were almost still, almost no perceptible movement. It seemed that Shaohou was practicing his Qigong, head erect, body straight, Qi deep and body relaxed; on the other hand Song started to move, raising his Qi up, daring not to lose concentration. Suddenly, Shaohou raised his hand and with a pull and a push Song Shuming flew away, as if blown by the wind, tumbling more than ten steps away before slowly coming to a halt.

After a while, Song stood up and kept repeating "What amazing Ling Kong Jin [凌空勁], teach me, teach me!!"

Inspired, he recited this verse:-

Formless shapeless
Complete body just void
Transcending all that is natural.

[Listen]
Far in the Western hills the stone chimes
The tigers roar and the apes howl
Where springs are clear and rivers are still.

Just as the river returns to the sea
One can return to the source of all creation.

Oh, twisted me!

Actually until very recently I thought that my posture was pretty good and upright. After many years of practicing Taijiquan [太極拳] I would have expected it be so, but all of that is changing rapidly.

Starting Zhan Zhuang [站樁] practice is giving me a new insight into how well I stand. Learning how to stand well seems to be something that I wasn't doing well at all, or at least not to a required level for understanding the basic Taiji concept of Zhong Ding [中定] or Central Equilibrium.

As it states in the Taiji Classics:-

"静如山岳, 動如江河"

"Be as still as great mountain peak, move with the power of a great river"

And so it is that standing well comes first, before learning how to move correctly and powerfully.

I am finding that after standing in the basic Zhan Zhuang posture, my upper torso will twist around one way or the other depending on how NOT upright I am standing. Getting that right posture requires me to constantly adjust my standing so that my torso will balance correctly without holding it in place with muscle tension.

To be frank, I thought that practicing Zhan Zhuang would be far too basic for me, but I have quickly realized that my skill level is far too basic for the basic Zhan Zhuang posture.

But, learning something new is never easy, and to be honest, when I think about I do stand really badly, leaning this way or that! Zhan Zhuang is giving me a new sense of awareness about my body posture, relaxation, sense of balance and stability.