There are numerous Taiji styles; each teacher has his or her teaching methods and although all teachers venerate Wang Zongyue’s classic Discourse on Taijiquan each of them has his or her own specific way of understanding and individual way of practicing.

Some practitioners find it easy to comprehend what is meant by opening and closing through moving their palms to face one another, and then to move their hands so that they separate outward, a rationale for opening and closing since there are two movements; but it may be hard to extract the essence of Taijiquan by these means. The internal power of Taiji is generated by opening and closing at the waist area. There are various quotations in Taiji classics, such as “waist is the principal force”, “waist is the army banner” and “waist as the axis”. Moving one’s hands to open and close in various directions seems to be too obvious a movement; instead, opening and closing should be done in a split second at the waist area.

1. Opening and Closing when practicing the Form
   

Opening and closing movements are the major energy conduit in Taijiquan, playing a dominant role like an army banner or the axis of the form, they could be termed the soul of taijiquan. Without these two elements, your legs are like two pillars, your arms are no different from two rods, and your waist is merely a stiff board without any suppleness or relaxation. What is the point of practicing Taijiquan if one is not mindful of looseness and softness while there is a lack of opening and closing?

As quoted above, “the waist is the principal commander” in the Discourse on Taijiquan does not refer to a bodily posture where you use your waist as an axis to move your limbs. Rather, it refers to opening and closing (of energy) at the waist area. Anyone who delves into Taijiquan must study and practice this. A lack of understanding will hinder you from tapping into the internal power of Taiji, not to mention reaching any higher level of mastery. Those who practice by just doing a set from the beginning to the end can do it for health purposes only, but may not achieve a deeper level of understanding. How can we perform opening and closing in practice?

After all, the practice of Taijiquan has all along been guided by its principles. There is a Chinese proverb to the effect that “nothing can be accomplished without a framework or standards”. If there are principles that guide ordinary life, how can we do away with the principles for a martial art as profound as Taijiquan? Understanding the principle of Yin and Yang, as mentioned elsewhere in this book, is considered a prerequisite. Every single movement, be it a Yin-movement or Yang-movement, has to be done with precision. In other words, transitioning from the end-point of a Yin-movement to the starting point of a Yang-movement has to be smoothly and exactly executed to achieve the utmost emptiness (weightlessness) and fullness (weightedness) as can be reached in the movement. This is clearly indicated in Taiji classics that one must pay attention to the point of transition between “emptiness” (Yin) and “fullness” (Yang). This is not to be done in a perfunctory manner. A practitioner ought to know the way and the rationale behind this. One should loosen up at the level of the waist in a split second upon completing the first move in every Taijiquan posture and while transitioning to the next posture–this is what is called Taiji “opening” and “closing”. Is it as simple as that? Yes! I have, on a number of occasions, insisted that Taijiquan teaching methods should be simplified in three ways, that is, make it easy to understand, easy to learn and easy to practice. It is easy to practice loosening up at the level of waist when one move connects to the other, or when a Yin-movement migrates to a Yang-movement, or vice versa.

Can the principles of “opening” and “closing” in Taijiquan be defined as loosening at the level of the waist? The answer is both yes and no. Loosening up at the level of the waist in Taijiquan is different from simply relaxing your waist by a physical movement as we generally do when practising our style of Taiji. Rather, doing so between the moves is a way of “practice” or a preparation for tapping into the internal power flow in “opening” and “closing”. By familiarizing oneself first with the physical movement, one can, over time, deepen the practice by utilizing the internal power of “opening” and “closing” at the level of the waist. Once the transition has become natural between the moves, one should simultaneously tuck in the tailbone. Synchronizing both movements, one should relax each segment of the spine in an upward manner for the internal power of “opening” and “closing” to manifest itself.

2. The Application of “Opening” and “Closing” in Push Hands

You inherently hold the key to winning in push hands once you have internalized the principles of “opening” and “closing”.

Pushing hands using brute strength and mechanical skill is prevalent at the present time.  People pushing and shoving each other in various ways can also be seen in municipal, provincial and national push hands competitions. Both contestants are pushing each other using external force. The person who pushes the opponent out of a circle or the ring scores and wins — this is the modern version of Taiji push hands. But traditional Taiji push hands is very different. So we ought to seek proper advice if we do not know what Taijiquan is and should refrain from passing along our mistaken views. The practice of traditional Taijiquan and its internal power work under certain inherent principles. Anyone who wishes to study this martial art in depth must follow, understand and practice according to these principles, developing internal skills at a calm and steady pace.

A few years ago, a junior practitioner pushed an eminent Taiji teacher onto a chair, pressing him down and asked him to free himself from the downward pressure. Having struggled for a while, the master still found it difficult to stand up, and I think, even after a few years, the teacher was still at a loss as to why he could not break free. Whether in hand-to-hand combat or push hands, what matters is not winning or losing but the level of internal power, or how adept one is in the application of “opening” and “closing”. The person who “opens” and “closes” with the minimum of movement will not be easily detected by an opponent. This is the true testimony to the practitioner’s ability to access the rich resources of internal power and the profundity of your Taiji practice. It is spelled out in the Treatise on Taijiquan that “a hero is invincible if his opponent is oblivious to what he does while he alone knows his opponent.” This is a very terse statement but exactly explains the essence of Taiji’s internal power. Only those who have utilized this power can reach this advanced level. The teacher in the above story who was being immobilized on the chair, must have been as stiff as a board. Failing to master the internal power of “opening” and “closing”, he was caught in a very embarrassing situation

The waist is your center of gravity. To perform “opening” and “closing” is to continue shifting one’s center of gravity so that one is not subject to the opponent’s control. Those who have mastered the internal power of “movement/stillness” and “opening/closing” always hide their center of gravity deep within.  They do not allow it to be exposed. They would not use their waist as an axis to turn their body or move their limbs in pushing hands or in combat. Being caught at the waist is extremely perilous. I always emphasize that “you haven’t internalized the principle of ‘opening’ and ‘closing’ if your waist is not loose”. I advise against pushing hands with anybody else at all costs because the habit of using brute force will jeopardize the ability to feel Yin and Yang with one’s hands, rendering it difficult to practice with  “empty (highly sensitive) hands” in the future. Practising the form and pushing hands operate under the same principle—loosening the waist is imperative from one movement to the other. This is what we refer to “movement/stillness” and “opening/closing”. In other words, in “movement” you “open” and “close”; in “stillness” you do the same. Before coming into contact with an opponent, you ought to rest in the neutral state by loosening the nine major joints starting from your feet moving upward to the ankles, knees, pelvis, waist, shoulders, elbows, wrists to your hands. You should calm your mind and spirit and center your intention. Hip and tailbone should also be relaxed. When I push hands with others, I empty my hands and feet upon contact in a totally relaxed state. By anticipating the opponent’s moves through “opening” and “closing” at my waist, I don’t get entangled in dangerously (destabilizing) situations from which I cannot free myself.

Obviously, the application of the principle of “movement/stillness” and “opening/closing” is the same whether you practise the form or push hands.  Li Yiyu, a great master of Wu style Taiji, explained the principle of “opening” and “closing” as follows:

“The purpose of developing internal energy is to divert it to one’s spirit. You are vigorous and agile in action, yet remain focused and composed in your mind. You ‘open’ and ‘close’ with precision and there must be a complete separation between the weight on one foot and weightlessness on the other. Weightlessness does not refer to the complete lack of strength. One ought to display a sense of vigor and agility in one’s form. The crux lies in one’s chest with the waist as a pivot for rotation. These are not external movements. One should direct all the energies and sink them to the lower part of the body, absorbing them from the two shoulder blades to the spine and diverting them to the waist. This is the ‘closing’ of one’s energy from the upper to the lower part of the body. Conversely, one diverts the energies from the waist to the spine, spreading them to the shoulders and manifesting them at the fingers. This is ‘opening’ of one’s energy from the lower to the upper part of the body. ‘Closing’ and ‘opening’ respectively signify ‘absorption’ and ‘manifestation’. Any person who grasps these insights knows what Yin and Yang are. At this stage, making efforts in one practice for just one day will elevate your skills to an even higher level, gradually reaching the state where you achieve whatever you want to your utmost satisfaction. ”

“‘Absorption’ and ‘manifestation’ respectively signify ‘closing’ and ‘opening’. Stillness means ‘closing’ in which everything lapses into absolute tranquility, but in ‘closing’ there is contained ‘opening’. Movement means ‘opening’ in which everything becomes totally active, but in ‘opening’ there is contained ‘closing’. One should seek the way through Yin/Yang and opening/closing. By doing so, one will be invincible by knowing oneself and one’s opponent.”