THE TAIJI CLASSICS

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郝和珍藏
FOR HAO WEIZHEN TO CHERISH:
王宗岳太極拳論
後附小序並五字訣
“WANG ZONGYUE’S TAIJI BOXING TREATISE”
APPENDED WITH MY PREFACE & “FIVE-WORD FORMULA”
[A manual handwritten by Li Yiyu,
presented to his student, Hao He (Weizhen) – 1881]

[translation by Paul Brennan, May, 2013]

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山右王宗岳太極拳論
THE TAIJI BOXING TREATISE OF WANG ZONGYUE OF SHANXI

太極者。無極而生。陰陽之母也。動之則分。静之則合。無過不及。隨曲就伸。人剛我柔。謂之走。我順人背。謂之粘。動急則急應。動緩則緩隨。雖變化萬端。而理唯一貫。由著熟而漸悟懂劤。由懂劤而階及神明。然非用力之久。不能豁然貫通焉。虚領頂劤。氣沈丹田。不偏不倚。忽隱忽現。左重則左虚。右重則右杳。仰之則彌髙。俯之則彌深。進之則愈長。退之則愈促。一羽不能加。蠅虫不能落。人不知我。我獨知人。英雄所向無敵。蓋皆由此而及也。斯技旁門甚多。雖勢有區別。概不外壯欺弱。慢讓快耳。有力打無力。手慢讓手快。是皆先天自然之能。非闗學力而有也。察四兩撥千斤之句。顯非力勝。觀耄耋禦衆之形。快何能為。立如枰凖。活似車輪。偏沈則隨。雙重則滯。每見數年純功。不能運化者。率皆自為人制。雙重之病未悟耳。欲避此病。須知陰陽。粘即是走。走即是粘。陽不離陰。陰不離陽。陰陽相濟。方為懂劤。懂劤後愈練愈精。默識揣摩。漸至從心所欲。本是舍已從人。多悞舍近求逺。所謂差之毫厘。謬之千里。學者不可不詳辨焉。是為論。
Taiji [“grand polarity”] is born of wuji [“nonpolarity”], and is the mother of yin and yang [the passive and active aspects]. When there is movement, they [passive and active] become distinct from each other. When there is stillness, they return to being indistinguishable.
     Neither going too far nor not far enough, comply and bend then engage and extend. He is hard while I am soft – this is yielding. My energy is smooth while his energy is coarse – this is sticking. If he moves fast, I quickly respond, and if his movement is slow…