Peng · Ward Off 掤勁歌
掤勁義何解？如水負行舟。 先實丹田氣，次要頂頭懸。 全體彈簧力，開合一定間。 任有千斤重，飄浮亦不難。
Like water bearing a boat: fill the dantian first, keep the crown suspended, and the whole body becomes a spring — a thousand pounds will float.
Learning Path
Songs and Formulas of Wu Style Tai Chi
Before video there were verses. Rhymed, memorized, and tested on the training floor, the songs below are the living manual of the Wu family — a complete system from first principles to single postures.
Overview
The living manual
A song is a manual that can be recited. For most of taiji\u2019s history there were no books a villager could buy and no cameras to record a master. What passed from mouth to ear, rhymed so it could not be forgotten, was the teaching itself. Each formula below is the distillation of generations of practice — and in the Wu family they are still learned the old way: recited first, understood later, verified in the body last.
The Wu tradition gathers these verses into six families, and this page keeps the layers honest: the classics all schools share, the verses the Wu family kept, and the northern-school songs marked with their own lineage.
| Family | Scope | Representative songs |
|---|---|---|
| General principles | The theory of the art | Thirteen Postures Song, Song of Practice, Wang Zongyue\u2019s Treatise |
| Eight methods | The eight jins | Eight Method poems, Jin-source Song, Generation Song |
| Push hands | Two-person practice | Push Hands Song, Eight-Character Song, Four-Character Secret |
| Body method | Form and stance | Five-Character Formula, Three Melts Four Sinks, Chuan Zi Bu verses |
| Single postures | Per-move mental methods | Posture verses transmitted by Wu Chien Chuan |
| Advanced | High-level cultivation | Sixteen Key Passages, Mind-Meeting Treatise |
General Principles
The Thirteen Postures Song
One hundred and forty characters, twenty lines, shared by every school of taiji — the closest thing the art has to a constitution. It is the first song a Wu style student memorizes, and the last one they finish understanding.
十三總勢莫輕視，命意源頭在腰隙。
變轉虛實須留意，氣遍身軀不稍滯。
靜中觸動動猶靜，因敵變化示神奇。
勢勢存心揆用意，得來不覺費功夫。
刻刻留心在腰間，腹內松靜氣騰然。
尾閭中正神貫頂，滿身輕利頂頭懸。
仔細留心向推求，屈伸開合聽自由。
入門引路須口授，功夫無息法自修。
若言體用何為準？意氣君來骨肉臣。
詳推用意終何在？益壽延年不老春。
歌兮歌兮百四十，字字真切義無遺。
若不向此推求去，枉費功夫貽歎息。
變轉虛實須留意，氣遍身軀不稍滯。
靜中觸動動猶靜，因敵變化示神奇。
勢勢存心揆用意，得來不覺費功夫。
刻刻留心在腰間，腹內松靜氣騰然。
尾閭中正神貫頂，滿身輕利頂頭懸。
仔細留心向推求，屈伸開合聽自由。
入門引路須口授，功夫無息法自修。
若言體用何為準？意氣君來骨肉臣。
詳推用意終何在？益壽延年不老春。
歌兮歌兮百四十，字字真切義無遺。
若不向此推求去，枉費功夫貽歎息。
Six lines carry the whole Wu reading of the song:
| Line | Meaning | The Wu reading |
|---|---|---|
| 命意源頭在腰隙 | The source of intent is in the waist gap. | The waist rules the body; every movement is launched from the Mingmen region. Hence the song\u2019s own advice: keep attention at the waist every single instant. |
| 氣遍身軀不稍滯 | Qi pervades the body without stagnation. | Neutralizing — Wu style\u2019s signature — is only possible when qi reaches everywhere. Flowing movement is this line made visible. |
| 靜中觸動動猶靜 | In stillness, movement stirs; in movement, stillness remains. | The source of the first of the five characters. Stillness is not inactivity — it is composure that survives motion. |
| 尾閭中正神貫頂 | Tailbone centred, spirit reaching the crown. | The total law of Wu body method: only a centred tailbone lets the waist settle; only spirit at the crown lifts the frame. |
| 意氣君來骨肉臣 | Intent and qi are sovereign; bone and flesh are ministers. | The classical basis of "use intent, not force". What is trained is yi and qi — not muscular brute strength. |
| 益壽延年不老春 | To lengthen life and renew the spring of youth. | The end of the art is health, not combat — one reason Wu style spread so widely and so peacefully. |
Eight Methods
Eight poems, eight jins
The eight method poems are a martial textbook written as lyric poetry. Each jin gets a question — what does this jin mean? — and an answer drawn from a single vivid image: a boat on water, a ball off a wall, a weighing scale, a flywheel. Learn the image and the jin follows.
Lu · Roll Back 捋勁歌
捋勁義何解？引導使之前。 順其來勢力，輕靈不丟頂。 力盡自然空，丟擊任自然。 重心自維持，莫為他人乘。
Guide the incoming force onward along its own line, light and never resisting; when its strength runs out it empties by itself — but keep your own centre, or you will be ridden.
Ji · Press 擠勁歌
擠勁義何解？用時有兩方。 直接單純意，迎合一動中。 間接反應力，如球撞壁還。 又如錢投鼓，躍然擊鏗鏘。
A simple forward intent answered in one motion — and the rebound is like a ball off a wall, or a coin on a drum: the opponent's own force returns to them.
An · Push 按勁歌
按勁義何解？運用如水行。 柔中寓剛強，急流勢難當。 遇高則膨滿，逢窪向下潛。 波浪有起伏，有孔無不入。
Pushing moves like water: soft yet with hard current inside, rising against height, sinking into hollows, entering every gap.
Cai · Pull Down 採勁歌
採勁義何解？如權之引衡。 任爾力巨細，權後知輕重。 轉移只四兩，千斤亦可平。 若問理何在？槓桿之作用。
A weighing scale: measure first, then shift four ounces to balance a thousand pounds. The principle is the lever.
Lie · Split 挒勁歌
挒勁義何解？旋轉若飛輪。 投物於其上，脫然擲丈尋。 君不見漩渦，捲浪若螺紋。 落葉墮其上，倏爾便沉淪。
A spinning flywheel, a whirlpool: whatever lands on it is thrown outward — or drawn under — by rotation alone.
Zhou · Elbow 肘勁歌
肘勁義何解？方法有五行。 陰陽分上下，虛實須辨清。 連環勢莫當，開花捶更凶。 六勁融通後，運用始無窮。
Elbow method has five phases, divided by yin-yang and empty-full. Only after the other six jins are fused does its use become inexhaustible.
Kao · Shoulder 靠勁歌
靠勁義何解？其法分肩背。 斜飛勢用肩，肩中還有背。 一旦得機勢，轟然如擣碓。 仔細維重心，失中徒無功。
Shoulder and back strike together like a pounding pestle the moment the opportunity opens — but guard the centre, for without it nothing works.
The Jin-Source Song — intent at the acupoints
The northern Wu lineage, transmitted by Wang Pei Sheng, goes one step further: every jin is assigned a precise acupoint pathway. You do not "push with strength" — you place intent at a point, and the strength follows. This is the most distinctive contribution of the Wu formulas: intent leads, the body obeys.
掤勁命門找環跳 For Peng, send intent from Mingmen to Huantiao.
捋勁食指畫眉毛 For Lu, the index finger draws the eyebrow line.
擠勁夾脊找前腳 For Ji, Jiaji seeks the front foot.
按勁憑欄樓下瞧 For An, lean on the railing and look below.
採勁玄關找肩井 For Cai, Xuanquan seeks Jianjing.
挒勁意在蹬後腳 For Lie, intent presses into the rear foot.
肘勁勞宮肩井合 For Zhou, Laogong joins Jianjing.
靠勁玉枕扛大包 For Kao, Yuzhen carries the load.
捋勁破掤勁，掤遇捋生擠勁。
按勁破擠勁，擠遇按生肘勁。
採勁破肘勁，肘遇採生靠勁。
挒勁破靠勁，靠遇挒生掤勁。
按勁破擠勁，擠遇按生肘勁。
採勁破肘勁，肘遇採生靠勁。
挒勁破靠勁，靠遇挒生掤勁。
Each jin defeats the one before it and births the next — a closed ring of technique, so the practice never ends in a fixed answer.
Push Hands
Forty-two characters of push hands
掤捋擠按須認真，上下相隨人難進。
任他巨力來打我，牽動四兩撥千斤。
引進落空合即出，沾連粘隨不丟頂。
任他巨力來打我，牽動四兩撥千斤。
引進落空合即出，沾連粘隨不丟頂。
The Push Hands Song is the scripture of two-person practice. Wu style reads it as a manual of its own character: the four cardinal hands drilled until they are exact; the whole body one unit so no door opens; and the famous line — four ounces deflect a thousand pounds — which Wu style understands not as four ounces of force pushing, but four ounces of feeling steering a thousand pounds that has already been led into emptiness. The last line, neither detach nor resist, is the first rule taught in our push hands curriculum.
掤捋擠按世間稀，十個藝人九不知，
若能輕靈並便捷，沾粘連隨俱無疑。
採挒肘靠更出奇，行之不用費心機，
果能沾粘連隨字，得其環中不支離。
若能輕靈並便捷，沾粘連隨俱無疑。
採挒肘靠更出奇，行之不用費心機，
果能沾粘連隨字，得其環中不支離。
The Four-Character Secret — Fu, Gai, Dui, Tun
Transmitted by Wu Yu Hsiang, these four words describe high-level push hands entirely in terms of qi — formless, soundless, and invisible to anyone who has not yet understood jin. Wu style is noted above all for the fourth.
敷 Spread
Move qi over your own body and lay it across the opponent's force so that it cannot move.
蓋 Cover
Use qi to cover the place from which the opponent comes.
對 Match
Set qi against the incoming place, fix the aim, and go.
吞 Swallow
Swallow the whole force inward and dissolve it — the Wu style speciality.
Body Method
The Five-Character Formula
Summarized and transmitted by Wu Ying Hua and Ma Yueh Liang, five characters contain the entire method of practice. The slow form reads jing, qing, man, qie, heng; the fast form swaps slowness for ling — agility.
| Character | Pinyin | English | The Wu reading |
|---|---|---|---|
| 靜 | Jing | Stillness | Total concentration, no stray thoughts. Seek stillness inside movement — the foundation of everything. |
| 輕 | Qing | Lightness | Not weakness: strength held in reserve. Extremely soft, then extremely hard. |
| 慢 | Man | Slowness | The slow form is practised slowly — not pausing, but unbroken. Slow practice reveals every fault. |
| 切 | Qie | Earnestness | Precision in every posture, and research after practice: review, compare, correct. |
| 恆 | Heng | Perseverance | Fixed times and fixed quantity, in every season. Twenty minutes daily beats three hours on the weekend. |
The five check and complete one another — remove any one and the art is incomplete. They anchor the beginner path described in our 108-form guide and the standing practice of the three fundamentals.
Three Melts, Four Sinks
The northern lineage opens practice with an image of almost poetic simplicity — the body dissolving into sky and earth:
三融：頭融天，腳融地，胸融空。
四墜：肩往腰上墜，腰往胯上墜，
胯往膝上墜，膝往腳上墜。
腹內松：腹心松靜。
四墜：肩往腰上墜，腰往胯上墜，
胯往膝上墜，膝往腳上墜。
腹內松：腹心松靜。
端莊平穩，氣度開闊。骨斷筋隨，三融四墜。
如沐春風，神充氣催。下頜微收，舌尖上頂。
眼向前看，耳向後聽。排除雜念，著意丹田。
身感搖晃，開始練拳。
如沐春風，神充氣催。下頜微收，舌尖上頂。
眼向前看，耳向後聽。排除雜念，著意丹田。
身感搖晃，開始練拳。
Single Postures
Posture verses transmitted by Wu Chien Chuan
The most intimate layer of the tradition: a seven-character verse per posture, each carrying both the application and the mental method. Four of the most instructive:
Grasp Bird's Tail 攬雀尾歌訣
兩手提起分兩儀，左右一似陰陽魚， 靜極而動開而合，松肩坐腿如捧月； 雙手合成陰陽掌，兩掌相錯拿關節， 待機而動觀變化，隨勢往來運機宜。
The hands divide like the two fish of the taiji diagram: stillness reaches its extreme and moves; opening and closing are one act.
Cloud Hands 雲手歌訣
雲手只是手連環，陰掌陽掌左右翻； 進退開合虛實掌，八法圈轉一俱全， 不論正面與反面，前襠後臀兩面兼， 左右兩腋隨意用，沾連粘隨運用完， 採挒肘靠隨機便，無拘無束任你反。
One continuous circle turning yin palms and yang — and all eight methods live inside the ring.
Slant Flying 斜飛勢歌訣
斜飛勢用肩，肩中還有背， 一旦得機勢，轟然如擣碓。 肩背可作連環打，內氣外勢合為一， 雙手分為陰陽掌，發勁平衡乃不差。
Shoulder contains back; inner qi and outer shape fuse into one issuing whole.
Needle at Sea Bottom 海底針歌訣
海底針來是穿掌，必要之時取下陰， 沉肩墜肘掌下穿，兩手相錯拿關凶， 此種用法是借力，因敵所適而取之， 對方力大我沉腕，不是力敵是智取。
Not force against force: sink the wrist, borrow the opponent's own strength, and win by intelligence.
Advanced
The Sixteen Key Passages
Sixteen points of the body, from the foot to the last hair — the map of high-level cultivation, preserved in the appendix of the Wu family text Taiji Fa Shuo. The foot is the root, the leg the road, the waist the ruler, the back the passage, the crown the spirit — until even the skin of the body responds.
蹬之於足，行之於腿，縱之於膝，
活潑於腰，靈通於背，神貫於頂，
流行於氣，運之於掌，通之於指，
凝之於耳，息之於鼻，呼吸於口，
斂之於髓，達之於神，渾噩於身，
全體發之於毛。
活潑於腰，靈通於背，神貫於頂，
流行於氣，運之於掌，通之於指，
凝之於耳，息之於鼻，呼吸於口，
斂之於髓，達之於神，渾噩於身，
全體發之於毛。
The northern school compresses the same program into a six-principle verse: three melts, four sinks, the belly soft; orbit and spin, qi surging; single-leg loading on the Chuan-rail step, intent at the acupoints; inner leads, outer follows, spirit guides form, the waist turns the hands in spirals — and for application: above, moving cloud that changes with the wind; below, flowing water that follows the ground; against his hardness, my softness like a mirror; everywhere a whirlpool, everywhere an axis.
Method
How to practise with the songs
- Memorize it. Rhyme exists to be learned by heart. Recite until the words arrive on their own, before class and during it.
- Find it in the body. Every line is a physical instruction. "Keep attention at the waist" is not poetry — it is where the movement starts. Test each phrase in a single posture against the fundamentals.
- Practise it out. A song is the map, not the journey. The 108-form path and the six-level progression are walked with the feet, ten thousand repetitions at a time.
- Let it go. Zhuangzi said: catch the fish and forget the trap; grasp the meaning and forget the words. The verses are scaffolding. What remains when they dissolve — a family saying calls it intent without intent — is the art itself.
得魚而忘筌，得意而忘言。
The songs are the bridge, not the far shore. Learn them, wear them out, and set them down.
Continue reading
- Forms and Techniques — every movement list behind the verses, openly published
- Levels and Standards — how recitation, practice, and assessment fit the Academy\u2019s six levels
- Song, Chuan Zi Bu, and Xie Zhong Yu Zheng — the three fundamentals the body-method songs describe
- Push Hands: Eight Methods and Five Steps — where the eight method poems become two-person practice
- The Six Levels of Wu Style Tai Chi — the progression from Form to Spirit the songs map out