Grandmaster Tse’s Tàijí Fist 196

Advanced Level Bā Jìn 八勁 – Part 5

The third pair is Cǎi 採 and Liè 裂. Cǎi means to pick or grab. We say Cǎi Zhāi Huā Guǒ 採摘花果 which means to picking flowers and fruits. So Cǎi means picking something and in the situation, it means picking fruit and flowers from a tree. In Tàijíquán太極拳, when we practise Tuī Shǒu 推手 – Pushing Hands we often hold our opponent’s arm, neck or another part of their body. This is Cǎi. In Dān Biān 单鞭 – Single Whip, when we close our fingers, this is Cǎi and this is true in any situation where we hold on to any part of our opponent’s body. However if we are only touch, with our palm or forearms, this is not Cǎi. After we have taken hold of the opponent’s, palm, forearm, elbow etc. we can twist it, either clockwise or anticlockwise. This will hurt the opponent and can cause a lot of damage, even breaking the tendons and joints. At this moment we are using Qínná 擒拿 – Locking and Controlling. So using Cǎi with a technique to cause pain and injury is Qínná. Qínná is used in all Chinese martial arts. Tàijíquán has a lot of Qínná. Qín 擒 mean catch and Ná 拿 means take it – catch and take it. We catch and then control the opponent.