On fajin in Yang style taijiquan.
Where is the Fajin in Yang style Taiji:
Recently I saw an ad for the teachings of an august and popular figure in the American Taiji scene about Yang style Taiji offerings he was making. This person, who I must again state is an important, influential, and generally productive figure in the scene made a claim about Fajin practice in Yang style Taiji that I think needs to be addressed and argued against.
Just a bit of personal background, since I don't talk about Taiji too much here:
I've studied Taijiquan since I was 20, so that is going 22 years now.
During that time I studied Yang, Chen, Wu (HK), and Sun style in Canada and Shanghai.
My Yang style teacher is Yin Qin, he is a lineage holder and standard bearer for the Tian Zhaolin middle frame variation of Yang style and he also practices large and small frame as well.
Even though I have studied Taiji for a long time, my education in Xingyi and Bagua is much more detailed and complete, so I prefer to discuss those styles and simply practice Taiji and teach a couple students in my home town rather than add more noise to the already confused internet discussion surrounding Yang style.
Having said that, I do know about the inner workings of Yang style insofar as its methods, development and pedagogical approach are concerned, so I feel it is important to point out a contentious issue in order to provide edification, at least to those who read this substack.
The statement made by that teacher can be paraphrased as follows:
“Yang Chengfu was the first person to teach Taiji in public in China, but he held back and did not teach the use of the back, thus meaning that practitioners of Yang style under his lineage did not know how to perform Fajin, or martial release of power.”
Then the speaker went on to describe that martial power is actually delivered by a waving of the back so the fist is essentially thrown by the locomotive action of the spine.
Let me correct a few mistakes in his narrative:
1: Yang Luchan, Banhou and Jianhou (the founder of Yang style and his two sons) all had disciples outside of the family and those disciples disseminated Taiji extensively in China, so Yang Chengfu was not the first person to teach publically. Furthermore, Wu Jianquan was already teaching before Yang Chengfu and is considered as a senior generation,so Chengfu was not first and Taiji was already very famous even before he was born.
2: The use of the back is not universal in Taiji, each style has a specific interpretation and Yang style Taiji is split into three frames, the large, middle and small frame, each having a different use of the back. Yang Chengfu advocated the large frame and his use of the back was standard in that style. This style is the same one that influenced masters such as Dong Yingjie, Fu Zhongwen, as well as most other Yang style masters in China. The frame the teacher who made those claims teaches is actually large frame Yang style from Yang Chengfu and his use of the back is inconsistent with the large frame method as it breaks the force as the waist which is taboo in all styles of Taiji.
3: The large frame of Taijiquan does not have a fajin method built deeply into its methods, but Yang Chengfu famously practiced fajin by shaking a waxwood pole which was also a practice among his disciples. It is impossible to say what the indoor practice of his disciples was without being deep in one of their lineages, so if they have preserved a fajin method that is something you would only find by studying under authentic lineages which trace back to YCF.
4: Wu style Taijiquan is an analogue to Yang style and his a clearly defined method of fajin. Wu Jianquan was highly influential on Yang Chengfu since Yang's father Jianhou died before he could complete teaching Taiji to YCF, thus the YCF large frame has many similarities to Wu style (even though Wu style claims to be a small frame). As a result of the close relationship of YCF large frame and Wu style, it is possible to understand a possible mode of fajin in Yang style practice through Wu style basic practices which include fajin training.
5: Fajin in Yang style is mainly expressed in the small form: This is the most important part of this article so please read attentively...
Yang style is made up of three routines, the large, middle and small frames.
This is true of Baguazhang and can be true of Xingyiquan as well depending on various factors.
Most internal styles are like this and for good reason, since the three frames make up different important aspects of training which can help people master core points about the style in a systematic way.
Here are what the three frames do in Taiji:
Large frame:
the large frame is based on a large circle model, it is done at a level, even and often slow pace, typically with long, extended and graceful movements. This approach trains the alignment of soft tissue and bones so that practitioners attain good, relaxed and powerful structure. In old times it was the first training routine and can be done in a high, middle or low posture. Today most Yang style practitioners only practice the large frame since it was the one YCF passed down and the other styles of Yang style are much less popular.
Middle frame:
middle frame is a combination of large and small circles, its movements are more complex, there is variation of fast and slow, and advanced students may incorporate some fajin in the movements in specific places as a result of the small circle aspect of the training (subtle movements in every part of the body which allow smooth delivery of power). Traditionally middle frame was the intermediate routine, but some methods like Tian Zhaolin's approach mainly focus on middle frame because it was the preferred practice of Tian's teacher Yang Jianhou.
Small frame:
small frame emphasizes small circles, it is tight, small, and fast, as well as consisting mostly of fajin movements. For people who are not well versed in Yang style they might not recognize it as Taijiquan.
It is the advanced method and with the exception of modified styles such as Wu Style which create a path to get from basic Taiji skills to fast application of the small frame, typically it is reserved for people who have at least completed large frame practice if not both large and middle.
In the Yang style approach it is not possible to do meaningful fajin in large frame and it requires a great deal of experience to do it well in middle frame, with small frame being the main mode of fajin in the traditional approach to Yang style.
The majority of Yang style practitioners do not practice middle or small frame, so they are relegated to either not having fajin practice, learning it through spear and pole practice, or importing it from other places.
The person I mentioned who gave the talk on the lost fajin of Yang style is a white crane practitioner. White crane is a southern style which incorporates whipping of the spine into its fajin method, thus the fajin method of that teacher should be considered as a synthesis of white crane and Yang style rather than an orthodox version of the style.
I don't want to take it any farther than this since everything I stated here are the facts as I understand them and I don't want to let my own emotions color the article.
I hope you found this useful.