Grandmaster Tse’s Tàijí Fist 215

Body Movements – Part 4

The seventh and eighth Tàijíquán 太极拳 body movements are Fǎn 反 and Cè 側. Fǎn means circling forwards and backwards. When fighting or doing Tuī Shǒu 推手 – Pushing Hands, if we catch hold of the opponent’s wrist or hand, we can circle it over their head and step forwards, causing them to fall backwards. Whenever we make the opponent lose their balance by making a circle forwards or backwards, this is Fǎn. Also, if we grab hold of their head and circle down to floor with hand, making them fall forwards, this too is Fǎn.

If we grab hold of any part of the opponent and circle them left or right, e.g., we hold their palm using Qínná 擒拿- Locking and Controlling, this is Cè (pronounced Tse, though not the same as my surname, which is Xiè 謝). The application of Cloud Hands, which makes the opponent fall is also Cè.

So any circling forwards or backwards is Fǎn, and any circling left and right is Cè. Remember all the circling must come from the Dāntián and the body movement must come from the footwork or movement from the legs. This is how Tàijíquán body movements work.