Grandmaster Tse’s Tàijí Fist 223

Shísān Gān 十三杆 – 13 Long Pole – Part 7

9. Héng 橫
Héng means horizontal to across. It is like when we walk across or walk sideways. When we walk across a road we, Héng Guò Mǎ Lù 橫過馬路. The application is to stretch out the pole sideways to block the opponent’s weapon. This means that the opponent is not in front of us, they are to either side. In the 13 Long Pole form, just before we Dǒu 抖 – Shake the Pole, we extend the pole out to the side, holding the thicker end with two hands close together, this is Héng. Héng can be used to block ether side or to prepare for to Dǒu.

10. Zā 紮
Zā means to shoot. This is a long weapon technique, but usually Zā means to tie something up, but it also means put everything together so that it become powerful. When we shoot the pole, we put all our power together and focus it on the end of the pole, and this is what makes Zā shooting. We use Zā with the spear as well.
You can imagine if we were to Zā the pole into an object or a person it would be very serious, but being able to Zā the pole accurately is not easy and needs a lot of practise and with a heavy long pole, this is even harder.