Grandmaster Tse’s Tàijí Fist 197

Advanced Level Bā Jìn 八勁 – Part 6

The next one is Liè 裂. Liè means crack. So it means the something is broken. In Tàijíquán太极拳, we will hold a part of the opponent’s body, usually it is their arm. One of hands will hold their wrist and the other will hold the elbow. We will keep their arm straight and make it rigid so that they cannot move it. This holding is Cǎi 採. Then we can snap their arm. This snapping is Liè. If we are holding any part of the opponent and break it, this is Liè. We will usally use Cǎi to hold on to them, usually the arm, but we can also hold their shoulder, leg, neck, and then we can break them with Liè. So, Cǎi and Liè are together and this is called Qínná 擒拿 – Locking and Controlling. We can use the forearm, palm or elbow to create our Cǎi, and then break them with Liè. Cǎi and Liè have some many techniques and they can cause a lot of damage, so we must be careful when we are using them on an opponent.