Harmonization of the Yin and Yang

The Taiji Classic said "to 'understand the force', we have to harmonize Yin and Yang".

But what does this mean?

The idea of "soft embodies the hard and the hard embodies the soft" sounds great but it brings you nowhere.

It does not mean, as those misinformed speculate / imagine, using 50% hard force and 50% relaxed force.


Yin and Yang, in the context of "understanding the force" (and in the "Know Your Own Self Stage" to be more specific), refer to the Yin portion (the contracting muscle group) and the Yang Portion (the extending muscle group) of the body.

To understand what is the harmonization of the Yin and Yang, you have to know what it meant by Turning Yin and Yang Upside Down.

The classic was referring to the harmonization of the contracting muscle group and the extending muscle group, so that these two antagonistic muscle groups work together.

Workable? Yes, but to achieve this you need the "bowl" to deal with the "fire" and the "water".

What represents the bowl?

Think about it.

The ABC's of the Multiple Rings

First, we build two rings.

Think of a perpendicular ring and a horizontal ring.

Connect the two rings together.

If we look at it from the front, the two rings' connection part looks like a cross. There are 2 crosses - don't forget the cross at the back.

We now have a basic structure of a ball.

It rolls back and forth. It turns left and right. It diverts incoming force from the front , the back and from the two sides.

Build more crossed rings. The ball can then turn side ways and it can now divert incoming force from all directions.

In any combating action, there is always a set of master rings.

The "cross point" of the master rings , in particular the one at the back, is a weak point. Once the connection is dislocated, the structure collapses.



-last edit 05.05.2011