Grandmaster Tse’s Tàijí Fist 235

Qínná 擒拿, Die 跌, Dǎ 打, Zhì 擲 – Part 5

When we use Qínná 擒拿 – Grabbing and Controlling, it is easy to make our opponent Die 跌(it does not pronounce to die as in dead, it pronounces as Die).  – Fall. In Dān Biān 單鞭 – Single Whip, the hand that is the hook can be used to grab the opponent’s hand and the other hand is used to sweep across to push the opponent’s head, at the same time we place our leg behind their. When we push across their head and pull their hand back, they will fall over our leg, this is Die. Any technique which causes the opponent to fall to the ground is Die. The most common Die technique is sweeping with the leg. In the Tàijíquán 太極拳, any movement where we kick and slap the leg can be sweeping the opponent’s legs, in Lǎojià Yīlù 老架—路 – Old Frame First form the movement Zhuǎn Shēn Shuāng Luó Lián 轉身雙攞蓮 – Turn Around with Double Lotus Kicks, in Lǎojià Èrlù Pào Chuí 老架二路砲捶 – Old Frame Second form Cannon Fist the movement Sǎo Táng Tuǐ 掃堂腿 – Sweeping Legs is sweeping the opponent’s leg and so is Die. Also, we might grab their hand and pull them in then sweep them, they even might fall just from the pull. So, any pushing and pulling can make the opponent Die. At the beginning of the form when we do Jīngāng Dǎo Duì 金剛搗碓 – Jingang Pounds the Mortar, we can hold both the opponent’s arms and pull them down and this can also make them fall, also in Bào Tóu Tuī Shān 抱頭推山 – Holding the Head and Pushing Mountain, this can be used for pushing the opponent to make them fall. So, when look closely we will see that most of Tàijíquán skill is actually to make people fall  – Die