Grandmaster Tse’s Tàijí Fist 213

Body Movements – Part 2

The third and fourth Tàijíquán 太极拳 body movements are 高 Gāo and 低 Dī. Gāo means high and Dī means low.

In the forms, we have high positions and low positions. If the opponent is in a low position, we can make them high, and then they will be weaker. If they are in a high position, then we can make them weaker again by making them low. This means that we change the situation and this is Tàijí, for example, if your opponent is strong, holding onto a position and you cannot move them, but if you can make them higher or lower, then you can deform their position and then control their centre of gravity. In we are fighting or doing Tuī Shǒu推手with an opponent, where they are moving up, we can sometimes us this and follow their energy and keep going higher, we just need to move fast enough. Then the opponent will not be able to catch and follow our speed or height, and then they will lose their balance. It is the same if they are going low, we can go even lower and a bit faster, then they will lose their balance. If we know how to use Gāo and Dī – high and low well, then we can win every time.