| 'Grasping the Sparrows Tail' is considered one of | | | | movements could be used for self defence. When |
| the 'fundamental' movements of Tai Chi Chuan, | | | | performed slowly, the movements look graceful |
| and is common to most of the major styles of | | | | and elegant and there is hardly any clue to the |
| Tai Chi Chuan. It is actually a sequence of primary | | | | martial usage. There are no obvious punches or |
| hand movements which consist of Peng (ward | | | | kicks and often times the movements look too |
| off) Lu (Rollback) Ji (press) and An (Sinking). In | | | | soft to be of any use! |
| our Wahnam style of Tai Chi Chuan these hand | | | | Important Factors |
| patterns are given beautiful and poetic names. | | | | This leads to some very important factors |
| The hand pattern of 'Peng' is called 'Immortal | | | | regarding the use of traditional Tai Chi Chuan for |
| Waves Sleeves', Lu is called 'Dragon Plays with | | | | combat. The most important factors in being able |
| Pearl', 'Ji' is called 'Push the Boat According to the | | | | to use these beautiful patterns effectively in |
| Flow' and 'An' is called 'Brown Bear Sinks Hips' and | | | | combat depends on having sufficient 'skills' to be |
| the continuation of 'An' is called as 'Open Window | | | | able to apply them, not just knowing the |
| to Observe the Moon' | | | | applications. These skills include 'internal force', |
| The profundity of these 'Basic' movements in the | | | | 'energy flow' and 'body movement'. The |
| hands of a Master is quite simply astounding. For | | | | applications must also be trained diligently with a |
| with this sequence of movements it is possible to | | | | training partner. |
| defend against most types of attack, including | | | | Without these skills most traditional Tai Chi Chuan |
| hand strikes, kicks, grips, and felling techniques! | | | | patterns would be useless for Combat, as the |
| That is if you have the necessary skills. | | | | patterns are simply not designed to be used with |
| 'Yang The Invincible' | | | | muscular strength and tension. Another interesting |
| In the past, the great Tai Chi Chuan Master 'Yang | | | | factor is that Tai Chi Chuan utilises 'Soft' Internal |
| Lu Chan' was given the nickname 'Yang The | | | | force, but it can also be very 'hard' when needs |
| Invincible' for never losing in combat. He travelled | | | | be. For example once an attack is softly |
| China looking for worthy opponents to test his | | | | deflected, the counter attack may be a hard |
| combat skills and still was never beaten. Legend | | | | strike, a grip or a fell, executed which can be |
| has it he only ever needed to use the martial | | | | executed with considerable Internal force. Off |
| applications of 'Grasping the Sparrows Tail' to | | | | course when training with friends and training |
| defeat all his opponents. | | | | partners there is no need to use excessive force |
| Looking at the movements alone, unless you are | | | | and safety is the priority. |
| a martial artist, it is very hard to see how the | | | | |