“Why does Taijiquan move slowly?”
I sometimes get this questions.
Looking at the web, I can’t find any examples that are explained from a martial arts point of view.
I wonder why.
Here I would like to give my view.
Have you ever heard the following story?
You should not dry fire a revolver pistol or old-style rifle without bullets
Because, if you do the dry fire, the firing pin and hammer will be out of order.
Taijiquan palm strike is the same.
If you try to hit the air quickly, your palm strike technique will be out of order.
That’s how delicate Taijiquan is.
Taijiquan palm striking is not something that crushes from the surface like karate’s palm heel striking.
The method of the palm striking that destroys the inside of the body is different from the principle of punching through.
The air is too light to feel the shock wave of the jin(勁) as an action and reaction.
In other words, it is impossible to hit quickly because the destructive power of the jin(勁) cannot be confirmed.
In order to hit quickly with the palm of Taijiquan, you need a target to destroy.
And it’s not a board or a block.
The ideal feel is like hitting the face and destroying the brain.
For practice, it is important to have the punching mitt which is held in so.
However, it moves slowly in a space where there is no object to destroy.
Taijiquan moves slowly to develop its strength called jin(勁).
Power is the efficient transfer of energy generated in the center of the body to the point of destruction.
The characteristic of Taijiquan’s jin (勁) is a silk reeling force (纏絲勁).
The movement of the small celestial star (pisiform bone) plays an important role in silk reeling force.
With the consciousness of the chest, move the shoulder, elbow, and small celestial star in order as swinging fulcrums, and convey the weight to the palm.
While slowly feeling the flow of this energy, you will acquire the power of silk reeling force.
It goes without saying that the destination of energy is the space slightly in front of the palm.
The advantage of moving slowly would be that this flow of energy cannot be deceived.
In other words, it is forced to move accurately and delicately.
If you move fast, even if you don’t have the power, you may be able to cheat on the appearance.
However, since there is no weight coming on the palm, the impact when receiving it is completely different.
This is the interesting part of martial arts.