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Everybody falls
Follow the opponent and not your own inclination. Later your body can follow your mind, and you can control yourself and still follow the opponent. When you only follow your own inclination, you are clumsy, but when you follow the opponent, then your hands can distinguish and weigh accurately the amount of his force, and measure the distance of his approach with no mistake. Advancing and retreating, everywhere the coordination is perfect. After studying for a long time, your technique will become skilful.
(Li I-Yu)
Circularity
The skill to making somebody fall is to avoid getting entangled.
You must maintain the circularity of the opponent's attack and simply draw them
into a place where they have no more balance.
If you allow them to establish a firm hold, you need to slip it immediately and
take them down.
Circularity is the key to making somebody fall.
Falling down
We do not throw people using the conventional methods popularised by
judo, jujitsu and aikido.
Those throws are often stylised and stem from a time when warriors wore armour.
Our school uses stickiness, peng and balance instead.
Experienced students learn how to throw. For now, you are just going to make
people fall.
The fall stems from the flow of the incoming movement, or from the instability
we create when turning our attacker.
It is called 'breaking the root'.
No breakfall
Do
not give your attacker time to breakfall.
Breakfalls are a classroom courtesy from Japanese martial arts schools.
If you break your opponents root earnestly, they will not have time to break
their fall.
They must simply fall.
A surprise
A
good fall is entirely unexpected.
The attacker suddenly finds themselves on the floor with no advance warning.
It must feel effortless to you; struggling and forcing are not tai chi.
If the person will not fall, then you have not broken their root successfully.
Find and remove their balance. But do not force it.
Gravity is your friend
Work
with gravity and people will fall easily.
Your attacker's weight will do most of the work. Your weight will do the rest.
If you can lead the attacker where they want to go, they will feel to fall of
their own accord.
Unorthodox
Your
aim is put your opponent on the floor. To do this you must let them get very
close to you.
Use whatever approach feels appropriate.
Do not drag it out. Make sure that people start falling from the onset.
Stepping, kneeling, plucking, tripping, 2 points of support, falling into them
and striking are all quite acceptable.
Page created 5 August 1999