Grandmaster Tse Tàijí Fist 134

Five Bows 五弓 – Part 6

Now we understand, in Tàijíquán 太極拳, whenever we strike, we need to use the Five Bows 五弓 so that we can Fa Jìn 發勁. This means Fa Jìn is the Five Bows striking. When we think about kicking we can use the heel, ankle, side and also top of the foot, every part of the foot, apart from the toes as this would be damaged when we kick with that and there is also no power. When we kick forwards and sideways, we use the heel. Sometimes we kick around if outwards we use the top of the foot, if inward we use inside the foot or the ankle. If we sweep inwards, we use the sole of the foot and if we sweep outwards, we use the back of the ankle. If we are at a short distance, we can use the knees, thighs or calf. We can use almost every part of the leg and the leg is two to three times stronger than the arm. There is a downside though, and that is the balance. Whenever we kick, we are only standing on one leg and so we need to be careful and chose the right situation to use it.