The Importance of the Wrist

Some basics

Most of us are familiar with the ancient Chinese modelling of nature which represents the cyclical processes of the Universe as the dynamic interplay of polar opposite but complementary influences of . The popular ‘fisheye’ representation of Yin and Yang serves well to show this relationship; additionally, the continuous balance between Yin and Yang, and how one evolves from the other, are also implied in the diagram. Another feature of this representation is the clear difference between the two axes shown. The transitional axis is the one about which Yin begins to develop and then declines; likewise the Yang. The transformative axis represents where Yin transforms into the Yang and vice versa.

A good example of this in daily life is a pendulum where we see the weight dropping down and gathering speed and then rising again and slowing down to the point where it reverses direction. So the speeding up and down from one zenith to the other is transitional and the change of direction at either end is transformational.

In day-to-day life, and in our Taiji Form, this is often as far as we take it - constant movement back and forth, changing weight, and alternating movements to keep balance and so on. However, there is another factor at play, essential to everything we do, and to which we pay scant attention. This is the concept of or no- thing; the alternative variant of the diagram shown here denotes, again, the dynamic interplay of Yin and Yang but this time Wu is shown as a space in the centre indicating not only its pivotal role in the development of Yin and Yang but also its nothingness from which they evolve.

This representation is akin to the Daodejing’s Verse 11 whereby the axle hole in a wheel is what makes the wheel useful – ‘without its nothingness it would be nothing’.

Wu and Yuan

Language and terminology are always limiting factors; so, most probably to the chagrin of purists, the following is a very simple representation of the catalyst that keeps both us and the Universe going, but of which we are largely unaware. The other concept is that we as humans, just as a drop of water in an ocean, are simply smaller versions of the larger Universe - so the cosmological concepts of ‘the Big Universe’ can largely be applied to us as humans comprising ‘the Small Universe’.

The Daoists believe that, before the phenomenal Universe was created, Qi was in a primordial soup all mixed up in an undifferentiated state - this was called original or primordial Qi, or Yuan Qi. The Universe as we know it was created by lightweight Qi rising and forming the Yang Qi of Heaven, and heavier Qi descending and forming the Yin Qi of Earth. Humans, when they are born, are endowed with a finite reservoir of Yuan Qi which acts like a catalyst during their lifetimes to supplement and balance their use and abuse of life’s Yin and Yang Qi; when our Yuan Qi runs out, and the foundation of both Yin and Yang in the body ceases, then Yin and Yang separate and we die.

So the Yuan Qi of the Cosmos is an expression of the Wu state - namely primordial, formless, elemental, shapeless, invisible, imperceptible, originating and singular; likewise the Yuan Qi that we have in us is an expression of the root (of Qi), the vitality and the diversity of life - so we see the reflection of ‘the Big Universe’ in the ‘the Small Universe’. Except in Chinese Medicine, where Yuan Qi is fundamental to the treatment of the deeper energies, it is rarely recognised - not many sources of Taijiquan or instruction mention it. And yet without it, the transformational interchange of Yin and Yang simply would not happen. The Daodejing Verse 42 (tr. Jonathon Star) tells us:

All beings support Yin and embrace Yang and the interplay of these two forces fills the Universe. Yet only at the still-point, between the breathing in and the breathing out, can one capture these two in perfect harmony

This still-point, this no-thing, this pause, is something without which we couldn't function - imagine a conversation or piece of music without space between the words or notes, imagine the nothingness within cups or doors that allows them to function. This is the Wu, the transformational passing of Yin to Yang and Yang to Yin where, just for a moment, they merge to become one before parting once again having been transformed each into the other.

The Taiji Form

The Taiji Classics tell us that Taiji comes out of Wuji, it doesn’t replace it - Wu is still present in the Form at all stages. To better examine this, there is no better place to start than the Preparation phase. Cheng Man-Ch’ing likened this phase to the meditation posture of Standing Pole (Zhan Zhuang) - itself a Wu stance - and stated that it is the foundation for all the methods of training and application; the importance of this phase, regrettably, is often overlooked. In my experience, all Taiji Forms have a Preparation phase, each with a variety of hand and foot movements; nonetheless, they all start with the same purpose and incorporate the same fundamental feature of raising and lowering relaxed hands. Raising the hands ‘as if the wrist is being lifted by a cord’ followed by allowing them to descend ‘like a leaf floating to the ground’ is the process by which the Taiji comes out of the Wuji, and which is a precursor to moving into the full expression of the Form.

Earlier I spoke of Yuan Qi in our bodies being an expression of this Wu state - and this Yuan Qi can be accessed through a number of ‘source’ points, situated at the wrists and the ankles. The Sanjiao (or Triple Burner) Meridian, which runs up the outside of the arm, plays a fundamental role in distributing the Yuan Qi around the body; so the Yuan Qi ‘source point’ on the Sanjiao channel is very powerful and instrumental in activating the Wuji. You will not be surprised to learn that this point, Sanjiao 4 (Yangchi), is situated in the middle of the back of the wrist. Other Yuan Qi source points, more aligned to the upper organ functions, are situated on the inside of the wrist; in particular, Lung 9 (Taiyuan) and Heart 7 (Shenmen) respectively support the Yin Yang function of both the corporeal and ethereal aspects of the body and the mind.

By allowing the wrists to be lifted in a relaxed manner we open Sanjiao 4 to stimulate the Wu; and by allowing the inside of the wrists to open as the hands descend, we open the Heaven and Earth aspects of our being. So, at the end of the Preparation phase, we are energetically balanced to begin the Form proper.

As an analogy, think of a car - opening Sanjiao 4 turns on the ignition, Lung 9 and Heart 7 start the engine and the Form is where you move off on your journey. Or, to misquote the Daodejing Verse 42:

The one brings forth the two, the two bring forth the three and the three becomes everything in the Form.

Exercising the Wu

Although I have chosen the Preparation phase to explain how we generate the Yin and Yang aspects of practice from the Wu, the same principle applies in every move in the Form. Just like there are some "hidden" moves which we tend to skirt over (the ward-off in White Crane, the elbows stroke in Single Whip etc) so we tend to skirt over the pause between the Yin and Yang moves.

Nothing stops in the Form - all is connected like a string of pearls and flows like a river, with no beginning and no end. So any pause takes no time; however, we can slow down movements and breathing as we approach the pause and, on the other side of it, only slowly start the movement and breathing again. Going back to the Preparation phase, therefore, as we lift the hands we can slow down as they approach their zenith of movement and feel the power of the transformation as it stimulates the back of the wrist and, at the start of a slow descent, as it enters into our purpose and intention.

This practice can be applied to every move in the Form - so my suggestion is that you take one particular move, such as Brush Knee and Push, and apply this thinking to each change from Yin to Yang and Yang to Yin so that you focus your attention on what is happening in you during this transformation.

And when you have finished doing that with the wrist, for all the moves in the Form, you can then apply it again but this time to the Yuan Qi ‘source points’ of the ankles!

PWU Jun 20