Four Important Skills For Push Hands and Fighting
By Zhang Yun
There are four basic Taiji Quan push hands and fighting skills - Zhan, Nian, Lian, and Sui. They are also called four basic Nei Jin - internal trained force. Without use these skills, one is not doing Taiji Quan. So that people usually say that these four skills are the foundation of all Taiji Quan techniques. They should be included in everywhere. They are the most important characteristics of Taiji Quan. They show the biggest difference between Taiji Quan and other martial arts style. It is why people always use them to express Taiji Quan. They are used as the brief definition of Taiji Quan.
Zhi Ji Zhi Bi - "know yourself and your opponent"
To understand
these four skills is the first step to reach high level Taiji Quan skills.
Pushing hands practice is only way to learn these skills. Sensitivity is the
basis of these skills because all of them requires people to know their
opponent's reaction and from the reaction to decide the right way of their
response. This idea is sometime started as Zhi Ji Zhi Bi - "know yourself
and your opponent". Without this, one cannot do Taiji Quan correctly.
These four skills embody some basic Taiji Quan principles, typically refereed
to as Jie Li Da Li - "borrow force from your opponent and use his force to
beat him back"; Yi Jing Zhi Dong - "using still to control
motion"; Hou Fa Xian Zhi - "launching later but reaching first";
and She Ji Cong Ren - "forget yourself and obey (follow, yield) your
opponent".
1. Zhan 
The original meaning of Zhan is to adhere or stick something up. In Taiji Quan practice it means to get your opponent to follow you a while under your control. It looks as if your opponent is struck to your hand (or the other part of your body). The technical term of this is “stick a person up” (It does not mean to grip or hold him up!). If you can do this well continually, your opponent appears to follow you and jump as if you have bounced him. This works because you have shaken and moved his root and cause him to lose his balance and he will try to use you to regain it. When the opponent has lost his balance and tries to use you to keep his balance, he must follow you to move. While most of the time Zhan is used to get your opponent to follow you in an upward direction, it can be in any direction. When using Zhan, you do not use your force to move your opponent, instead of he is moved by his own force but by your control. So it is called "borrow force from your opponent and use his force to beat him back". To do Zhan well, you must have really good basic kungfu, like sensitivity and integration, and also understand the basic principles very well. Thus the level of your Taiji Quan skill always can be judged from this skill.
Jie Li Da Li - "borrow force from your opponent and use his force to beat
him back"
The key point of
making Zhan well is to make your opponent lose his balance. Basically there are
two kind of methods for doing Zhan. With the first method, you can use some
skill to lead or seduce your opponent to loss his balance. It is called
"lead coming in to fall down into a empty place". It will cause that
he wants to use something to maintain his balance. At this time, give the part
of your body (most time just use the touching point between you and the
opponent) to him and then he will be controlled by you. The more balance he
lose, the more force he will be use for keeping balance, so the more available
force you can borrow from him and the easier you can do Zhan. Most time, it is
difficult to seduce the opponent to lose his balance directly, so that the
second method is used more often. With this method the first thing you need to
do is to unsettle your opponent, sometimes called giving him some trouble
first. This means that you should use some skills to make him feel
uncomfortable, as if lose his balance, and must adjust his body. When he feels
in the trouble or off-balanced, his reaction offers you a chance to do Zhan.
Choosing the right
time and direction is important to do Zhan well. For example, if you can make
your opponent feel compressed down really, you will probably have a good chance
to use Zhan on him. Pay attention to his reaction, if you feel his legs push
his body up, just raise up your hand and you can make him jump up by his own
force. When he jumps, you can use some other technique to beat him. This will
save a lot of energy and is thus real Taiji Quan skill. For timing, if your
hands raise too early, there is no enough reaction force from the opponent; if
your hands raise too late, the opponent just get time to regain his balance and
you lose your chance. In both cases your Zhan will not work. The best time to
use Zhan is when his reaction force almost at its maximum and the next change
has not happened yet. This is the time when it is most difficult for him to
make a change. For direction, you should follow the direction of the opponent's
reaction force. Although it is the best direction, it may be too difficult. For
additional safety, you can use the technique of changing his direction
slightly. For example move your hand in an arc. A little bit of change can
confuse your opponent and thus be very helpful. The other important technique
is to keep a little bit force in the reverse direction of the opponent's
reaction. It is called "Yin and Yang supplement each other". In above
example, when you raise your hand up, at the same time keep a little bit force
to push down, it will make the opponent feel your downward push still there so
that he will keep his reaction to against you. If your opponent's reaction
force is not enough, you can use one hand to Zhan him and your other hand to help,
that is push him according to the direction of his reaction. But this help
should be light, smooth, soft, and coordinate with the other hand. It is a
common technique which require a good integration of your body. If your
opponent does not really know Taiji Quan, that is if his sensitivity is slow
and his changes are clear and straight, Zhan can be done easy and you can have
incredible results. But if your opponent has Taiji Quan skills, using Zhan will
be difficult. The interesting thing is that usually the result is not good if
you use your mind too much to do this skill. You should keep in natural way and
do it naturally. In fact, most times Zhan is not used big and clearly. It is
always mixed with or included in some other skills.
2. Nian 
The original meaning of Nian is stick, adhere or paste to. In Taiji Quan practice it means to keep contact your opponent, and through this contact to make him feel uncomfortable. Keep this contact and never let him go away, like something adheres on his body. Be careful, it does not mean to use big force to hold your opponent. It should be light touching. When you use this skill, you should try to use the minimum force. We always say to unsettle your opponent a little bit each time but continually, until the opponent is in big trouble. Do not let him feel too much is important.
In pushing hands,
when you touch your opponent, you should unsettle him. Do not use too much
force, just let him feel that he must do something to solve the problem. Then
he will give you a reaction. From his reaction, you can determine how you
should respond. If you cannot make a chance, keep doing Nian, that means follow
him, keep touching and giving him a little bit more trouble, and wait for him
to give you more reaction. So Nian is also used to sound the opponent out. That
means to give him questions and await his answers. The questions should hit his
weakness point continually. If you have question for him one by one and he
cannot give you the right answer on time, you are controlling him. The
important things are to never let the opponent get away and to sense the right
time and direction to make your next move. Be careful, do not use extra force,
because if you use too much force, you will be difficult to relax, and it will
cause your sensitivity to be sluggish. Then you will be slow to change, and
even maybe fall into your opponent's trap. So do not worry how big movement
your opponent does, just to keep relax and touch him with a little bit change.
Do not worry how fast movement he does, the interesting thing is just keep quite,
relax, and touch him, and then you can get your chance. This basic Taiji Quan
idea is called "using still to control motion".
Yi Jing Zhi Dong - "using still to control
motion"
3. Lian 
The original meaning of
Lian is continue or link. There are two meanings of Lian in Taiji Quan
practice. They are continually follow and change. The first one means that you
maintain continually contact by following your opponent and never let him
leaving. Most time when people say Lian, they mean this. Basically Taiji Quan
skills depend on your sensitivity. If you lose contact with your opponent (not
just means physical, but mind and Shen), you cannot feel him any more, so that
you cannot apply your Taiji Quan skills.
With Lian you
just maintain continually contact with your opponent while waiting for a chance
to use other skills. Lian is always included in other skills. It is also used
to link changes, that means it like a transfer skill. If you can keep Lian,
that means you can feel your opponent all time so that you can know him always.
It is why sometimes we think it is first thing you should do in pushing hands
or fighting. The basic Taiji Quan idea, "launching later but reaching (or
getting control) first", is base on Lian skill. Also if you do some skills
but failed, you can use Lian to get other chance. For example, when you use
Nian to your opponent but he gets away. At that time you should use Lian to
keep contact him and to try another chance. If your opponent gives you some
trouble, Lian can also help you to adjust your position and go back safe and
comfortable situation. For example, when your opponent uses Zhan to destroy
your balance, you should use Lian to follow him and adjust yourself, then wait
a chance to beat him back. This is most common way to use Lian.
Hou Fa Xian Zhi - "launching later but
reaching (or getting control) first"
The other way of Lian
means continually change as you are following, that means each of your
techniques are joined together like the links in a chain, never breaking your
mind and movements, and never giving your opponent any chance to change. Link
all changes one by one continually, smoothly, and never stop. The most common
change of movement during Lian is to change the direction of your force and the
most common way to change your force is to make your movements circular which
keeps their direction continuously changing smoothly.
4. Sui 
The original meaning
of Sui is follow or obey. In Taiji Quan practice that means to follow your
opponent's movement or mind. According to Taiji Quan principle, you should
avoid to against the opponent by your force directly. You should make the
opponent feel that he can get you but do not really let him get you. You should
make him use some techniques that cannot really work on your body. If you can
keep relax, you can do Sui well and from Sui you can feel and know your
opponent well.
Sui requires that you really relax your body. Follow the direction and timing of your opponent' s force, whatever he does, do not let his force work on your body. It does not mean to use your force against his force. It means he cannot find a point to use his force on your body. Sui also does not mean leave and just run away. It means to keep touch with your opponent, never lose touch points. You should let your opponent feel he will have a chance to get you so that he will keep doing something.
There is a famous
sentence about Sui. It said: "forget yourself and obey (follow, yield)
your opponent". It is a basic Taiji Quan idea. People always say if you
cannot do this, you cannot do real Taiji Quan skills. But many misunderstanding
also come from this point. The most common misunderstanding is to think Sui
just means following or obey the opponent. To do Sui in this way will cause you
become weak finally because anyone's movements have a limit, just do to follow
in this way, finally you will in a very bad situation. This wrong way even
causes some other misunderstanding or wrong impression, for example Taiji is
too soft and cannot be used to fight, or Sui is wrong idea that means real
Taiji Quan skills can never do it. In fact a real Sui skill should follow your
opponent first, maybe just in very short time, that means whatever he wants to
do, just follow him and never against him. From this following you can get time
to feel your opponent and then you should try to find a chance to make change,
be careful for this change the smaller the better, usually to lead and seduce
him to wrong way. It just like another classical sentence said: "to follow
your opponent is for finally let him to follow you". A real Sui skill must
include this idea. In fact Sui should be used in the beginning of almost every
Taiji Quan skill, especially to defense some hard attacks, but cannot be used
too much, that means never use it in all of the way, else Sui is going to weak.
How much you should to do is really depend on the situation. The key point of
Sui is how to transfer it to other skill. Unfortunately, many people overlook
this point.
5. Main Difference
The meanings of Zhan,
Nian, Lian, and Sui are similar at some points, or we can say there are some
parts mixing or overlap. So that for understanding them clearly, we need pay
more attention to what is difference between them. The main difference between
Zhan and Nian is that with Zhan you should make your opponent to stick to you
by himself, but with Nian you should stick to your opponent, let him feel bad
but can never leave you off. The main difference between Nian and Lian is that
with Nian you should always follow your opponent and at the same time make
trouble for him, but with Lian you just follow your opponent and do not try to
unsettle him. The main difference between Lian and Sui is that with Lian your
following like to chasing your opponent, you should always keep touch him and
never let he go away. With Sui your following like go away (does not mean
losing contact) from your opponent, although he can always touch you, he can
never really get you. The main difference between Sui and Zhan is that with Sui
you should follow your opponent's active action, but with Zhan you should
follow your opponent's reaction which is his passive action.
6. Combination
Generally, Zhan and Nian are skills which are to find a chance to give your opponent trouble. Lian and Sui are skills which are to solve the problem that your opponent gives to you and wait a chance to beat him back. Although they are different skills, in fact, they cannot be really used separately. They are always mixed and used together. For example, most times you should include Nian in your Zhan. Usually before you do Zhan, you should unsettle your opponent first. If your Zhan does not work well, you should use Nian immediately. At that time Nian will help you to adjust yourself and to make another chance to continue your Zhan. You always need to include Lian in your Nian also. When you do Nian, if your opponent can do Sui well, you will difficult to get him. So your Nian will not work well, you should use Lian to keep touching him and wait another chance to do Nian again. You should do Lian and Sui together. When you do Lian, your opponent may get a chance to beat you back. So you should do Sui to follow him. You should do Sui and Nian together. If you only do Sui without do Nian at the same time, it is so easy to make you become too weak. To do Nian with Sui will help you a lot. Sometimes people say to do these four skills successively, that is to do Zhan, if it does not work well, then to do Nian; if Nian does not work well, then to do Lian; if Lian does not work well, then to do Sui. But, in fact, they can never be really separated.
Sometimes,
different part of your body does different skills. For example it is very
common that one side the touch point in you body does Sui and at the same time
another part of your body does Nian. The good practitioner should have all
these four skills (or Jin) when he touches his opponent. All other Taiji skills
will include some of them. So that they are the basic skills of all Taiji
techniques. For example, when you do Yin - lure or seduce, you should use Sui
and Lian in the beginning. When you do Fa - release force, you should do Nian
and Zhan first. So that people said they are the foundation of all Taiji Quan
skills.
7. Common Mistakes 
Ding 
Bian 
Diu 
Kang
When we do these four
basic skills, there are four kinds of likely mistakes, Ding, Bian, Diu, and
Kang. Ding and Kang will happen when you do something too much, usually called
Guo. Bian and Dui will happen when you do something not enough, usually called
Buji. For the beginners, to do Gou is very common mistake. Usually it means too
hard or tight. For the advance students, to do Buji is very common mistake.
Usually it means too weak or loose.
When you start
to understand Taiji Quan but your skills are not good enough, these mistakes
happen in almost everywhere. The reason is that you cannot relax well and your
sensitivity is not good enough. If you cannot relax well, you cannot follow
your opponent smoothly. If your sensitivity is not good enough, you will always
lose change or use your mind too much. To understand and avoid these common
mistakes is very important for improving your skills.
The most
common mistake in Zhan application is usually Ding - to go against on touching
point. It means that your force is in the reverse direction of your opponent's
force too much. In Taiji Quan, you should avoid to use your force resisting
your opponent's force directly. But in Zhan if the timing and direction of your
force are wrong, the part of your force will be used to against to the
opponent's force, so that you cannot follow your opponent well. In this case he
can even feel and get you. The reason is your sensitivity may be not good
enough or you do not understand Taiji Quan principles well. If you cannot find
the right timing and direction from your opponent's reaction, you cannot really
borrow his force, and worse thing is that your force will help him to regain
his balance. At that time, your opponent's reaction force can even give you
trouble easily.
The most
common mistake in Nian application is usually Bian - weak or flat. It means
that you do not do Nian enough so that you do not get enough information from
your opponent and you will not know which way you should go. When Bian happens,
your opponent can go away from your control easily. In Nian, if you cannot find
the weak point from your opponent and make him fall into bad position little by
little, that means you cannot make trouble to him continually, it is said your
hand too weak. So you cannot control your opponent finally.
The most
common mistake in Lian application is usually Diu - lose the touching point. It
means that your opponent can get away or you cannot follow him any more. When
Diu happens, you lose contact and cannot follow him continually. So you cannot
feel him well and you cannot find a chance to control him. To do Lian, if you
cannot relax well, you will be easy to lose the touching point and let your
opponent get away. In this case you lose contact so that you cannot use your
sensitivity.
The most common
mistake in Sui application is usually Kang - resist in the touching
point. It means that you cannot follow your opponent so that you and your
opponent are in resisting case. In this case, who is stronger who will have
more chance to win. It is not follow Taiji Quan principle. In Sui, if you resist
and cannot follow your opponent, you cannot get a chance to adjust yourself
without to use big force. So your opponent can get you easily if he is
stronger, faster, or just in a better position than you.
Usually, many people
just like simply to use Ding and Diu to explain these general mistakes in their
Taiji Quan practice. Here Ding (here it is same as Guo) means too hard, too
much, too far, resist, or excessive. When you want to control your opponent but
do too much, you make this mistake. Diu (here it is same as Buji) means too
weak, no enough, short, lose, leave, or deficiency. When you want to relax but
do too much, you make this mistake. In fact, Ding (or Guo) and Diu (or Buji)
are the human's nature actions. They just like two extreme points of human's
behave. They are used in most martial arts skills. When you attack with a big
force, it is Ding. When you dodge or move away, it is Dui. They are the right
way there. But Taiji Quan skill require everything you do must be exactly right
according to the principle, like just enough and never waste your energy, and
the most efficiency way. So that to use these two points will become a wrong
way in Taiji Quan. For avoiding do them, you should get a special training. In
fact almost all training methods of Taiji Quan are designed to avoid them. In
the nature behave, you can only jump from one point to the other, that means
from the view of Taiji Quan you are either too much (too hard) or no enough
(too weak). Taiji Quan training will change this natural action. From the
training, you will study how to balance your skill and close to the center
point that means to do neither Ding (or Guo) nor Diu (or Buji). We can simply
use a figure to show this situation.
Ding (or
Guo) Neither Ding (or Guo) nor Diu (or
Buji) Diu (or Buji)
*----------------------------------------------*------------------------------------------*
This changing is the most important and difficult training in Taiji Quan
practice. Only when one can do this well, one can be consider really understand
Taiji Quan. It is the foundation of all Taiji Quan skills. So that it is as a
standard rule for measuring the level of people’s Taiji Quan skill.
The last sentence of
Da Shou Ge - Fighting Song, one of the oldest and most famous Taiji Quan
classical poem, said: "Zhan Nian Lian Sui Bu Diu Ding" that means you
should always do Zhan, Nian, Lian and Sui and never do Diu and Ding (the common
way of Bu Diu Ding is called Bu Diu and Bu Ding – not Diu and not Ding). It is
one of the most important key points in your Taiji Quan practice.
Zhan Nian Lian Sui Bu Diu Ding - "do Zhan,
Nian, Lian and Sui and never do Diu and Ding"