Grandmaster Tse’s Tàijí Fist 198

Advanced Level Bā Jìn 八勁 – Part 7

The last pair of Bā Jìn 八勁 is Zhǒu 肘 and Kào 靠. Zhǒu means elbow so Zhǒu Jìn 肘勁 is an elbow strike. In Tàijíquán 太极拳 we strike with the fists and palms, but when an opponent gets close to our body the fists and palms are inconvenient, and so we can use the elbow to strike them. In Dān Biān 单鞭 – Single Whip, we can use the elbow strike after we have grabbed the opponent’s hand and we are standing behind them. In Pào Chuí砲捶, we can see even more elbow strike we have Yāo Lán Zhǒu 腰攔肘- Waist Blocking Elbow, Shùn Lán Zhǒu 順攔肘 – Smooth Blocking Elbow. At the end of Lǎojià Pào Chuí 老架砲捶 double elbow strikes.

When we strike with the elbow we will use the power from the whole body, whether we are stepping or stationary. In all cases we must use the waist to the upper body and then out to the elbow. There are many elbow strikes. The Gǔn Dì Tàijí Quán 滾地太極拳 – Rolling Taijiquan we have Fēi Bù Ǎo Luán Zhǒu 飛步拗鸞肘- Jump Forward With Twisting Phoenix Elbow，Shùn Luán Zhǒu 順鸞肘 -Continuing Phoenix Elbow and Tuìbù Luán Zhǒu 退步鸞肘 – Step Back Phoenix Elbow. We can use the elbow to strike in all directions and in combination with our footwork. We can also strike up, down, forwards, backwards, left, right and even clockwise or anticlockwise and we can use all areas of the elbow! This is the power of Zhǒu Jìn