Zhaobao Taichi kungfu（趙堡太極拳） is a school of taichi that combines three techniques in one. These three techniques are movement forms（套路）, push-hands（推手）, and san shou（散手）. The techniques are designed to develop an individual’s overall health, fighting ability, and self-defense.
Movements in Zhaobao Taichi kungfu are graceful, soft, smooth, and natural. They look elegant, and they continuously change from one to another. The movements can be big or small, high or low, and fast or slow. It depends on what is natural for individuals. But there are a few principles that must be followed by practitioners: 1) You must always keep your body straight and upright, so your movements can be even, circular, light, quick, soft, and lively. 2) You should imagine yourself moving like a wheel spinning silk, making a continuous silk thread. Your energy “Qi”(氣) is like a three-foot strip of gauzy silk hanging from a tree branch and swinging freely in the wind: weightless and without any physical limit; moving like a river flowing smoothly or a cloud drifting lightly. It goes up or down and left or right, and it twists and turns in any direction. 3) Your body movements should be circular, and not linear. This means that your hands, arms, shoulders, hips, elbows, knees, and whole body moves in circles or curves. You must reach the point at which your feet step in the pattern of a circle, your hands turn in a circle, your limbs twist in a circle, and your body moves in a circle. The whole set of movements should consist of many circles turning and twisting until you stop moving because you have completed the pattern. Although we use the term “circle” in this article, we really mean a series of three-dimensional spheres linked together. The flow of these moving spheres is the basis and origin of power in Zhaobao Taichi kungfu.
The basic fighting technique in Zhaobao Taichi kungfu（趙堡太極拳） is push-hands（推手）. San shou（散手） is the application of push-hands to fighting at arm’s length. Grappling（擒拿） is the application of push-hands to fighting at a closer melee distance. Push-hands is good for testing the accuracy of your postures and movements. These live movement exercises can also help you to improve the level of your fighting techniques in push-hands and San shou.
The basic theory of push-hands in Zhaobao Taichi kungfu comes from The Book of Changes（易經）: yin（陰） and yang（陽） are constantly in flux as they adjust to each other, and the changes of yin and yang are always present. The fighting techniques of Zhaobao Taichi kungfu use soft to overcome the hard, submission to conquer the strong, and stillness to control motion. Always remember these principles. Keep your body straight and upright, and your movements even and circular. Do not attack your opponent with force. Keep yourself in a position from which you can easily move left or right. Follow your opponent’s energy without asserting anything of your own. In combat, search for the chi flow of your moving spheres. By keeping your body upright and your movements circular, you ensure that your center of gravity will be well-balanced. Then, apply your spherical movements to draw your opponent in and counter your opponent’s attack along a tangent line. Through manipulation of centrifugal force, you can force your opponent to lose his or her balance and fall. There is a Chinese saying, “four ounces of your strength can throw an opponent who attacks you with one thousand pounds of force.” Which is why, the real technique of push-hands is not blunt force. Rather, it is based on the manipulation of circular movements and the manipulation of energy. In this way, Zhaobao Taichi kungfu brings the technique of push-hands into full play.
The traditional characteristics of Zhaobao Taichi kungfu include expressing softness like cotton（軟如棉）, hardness like steel（硬如鋼）, slipperiness like a fish（滑如魚）, and stickiness like glue（粘如鰾）. You should think about how to use soft to overcome the hard, submission to conquer the strong. In push-hands exercises or in combat, if the force of your opponent’s energy is “hard” and linear, yours should be “soft” and yielding. Draw your opponent’s energy inwards and counter your opponent’s attack along a tangent line. Harmonize your motion to the motion of your opponent and follow your opponent’s motion as closely as if you were glued to him or her, and then strike when your opponent has an opening.
Movements in Zhaobao Taichi kungfu are graceful, soft, smooth, and natural. They look elegant, and they continuously change from one to another. The movements can be big or small, high or low, and fast or slow. It depends on what is natural for individuals. But there are a few principles that must be followed by practitioners: 1) You must always keep your body straight and upright, so your movements can be even, circular, light, quick, soft, and lively. 2) You should imagine yourself moving like a wheel spinning silk, making a continuous silk thread. Your energy “Qi”(氣) is like a three-foot strip of gauzy silk hanging from a tree branch and swinging freely in the wind: weightless and without any physical limit; moving like a river flowing smoothly or a cloud drifting lightly. It goes up or down and left or right, and it twists and turns in any direction. 3) Your body movements should be circular, and not linear. This means that your hands, arms, shoulders, hips, elbows, knees, and whole body moves in circles or curves. You must reach the point at which your feet step in the pattern of a circle, your hands turn in a circle, your limbs twist in a circle, and your body moves in a circle. The whole set of movements should consist of many circles turning and twisting until you stop moving because you have completed the pattern. Although we use the term “circle” in this article, we really mean a series of three-dimensional spheres linked together. The flow of these moving spheres is the basis and origin of power in Zhaobao Taichi kungfu.
The basic fighting technique in Zhaobao Taichi kungfu（趙堡太極拳） is push-hands（推手）. San shou（散手） is the application of push-hands to fighting at arm’s length. Grappling（擒拿） is the application of push-hands to fighting at a closer melee distance. Push-hands is good for testing the accuracy of your postures and movements. These live movement exercises can also help you to improve the level of your fighting techniques in push-hands and San shou.
The basic theory of push-hands in Zhaobao Taichi kungfu comes from The Book of Changes（易經）: yin（陰） and yang（陽） are constantly in flux as they adjust to each other, and the changes of yin and yang are always present. The fighting techniques of Zhaobao Taichi kungfu use soft to overcome the hard, submission to conquer the strong, and stillness to control motion. Always remember these principles. Keep your body straight and upright, and your movements even and circular. Do not attack your opponent with force. Keep yourself in a position from which you can easily move left or right. Follow your opponent’s energy without asserting anything of your own. In combat, search for the chi flow of your moving spheres. By keeping your body upright and your movements circular, you ensure that your center of gravity will be well-balanced. Then, apply your spherical movements to draw your opponent in and counter your opponent’s attack along a tangent line. Through manipulation of centrifugal force, you can force your opponent to lose his or her balance and fall. There is a Chinese saying, “four ounces of your strength can throw an opponent who attacks you with one thousand pounds of force.” Which is why, the real technique of push-hands is not blunt force. Rather, it is based on the manipulation of circular movements and the manipulation of energy. In this way, Zhaobao Taichi kungfu brings the technique of push-hands into full play.
The traditional characteristics of Zhaobao Taichi kungfu include expressing softness like cotton（軟如棉）, hardness like steel（硬如鋼）, slipperiness like a fish（滑如魚）, and stickiness like glue（粘如鰾）. You should think about how to use soft to overcome the hard, submission to conquer the strong. In push-hands exercises or in combat, if the force of your opponent’s energy is “hard” and linear, yours should be “soft” and yielding. Draw your opponent’s energy inwards and counter your opponent’s attack along a tangent line. Harmonize your motion to the motion of your opponent and follow your opponent’s motion as closely as if you were glued to him or her, and then strike when your opponent has an opening.
