Master Tse’s Tàijí Fist 131

Five Bows 五弓 – Part 3

The body has Five Bows —身備五弓. Two arms, two legs and one body. When we relax the whole body, all of the Five Bows, the two arms, two legs and body will relax so that we can Fa Jìn 發勁. As we talked about last time, we can use the fist, strike with the palm and chop with the side of the hand, and they can all aim at any angle and be used at many distances, depending on the situation. A straight punch is easy to use as and so is the chop, so if both are easy to use will choose to use the one that will finish the fight or control our enemy quickly. Even when we with the fist or the palm, we must connect the five Bows together each time we strike. This means if we hit with a right palm strike, the left hand must also cooperate with the striking arm and this means the left arm will pull back or go in the opposite direction to the right arm in order to create balance and power. Then every part of the body will be connected when we strike, and when we defend. We must move with the whole body and balance the opposite sides. This is what the Five Bows are for and then each time you Fa Jìn you will create a serious strike.