PENG or «elastic force» – the first of the 8 essential «gates» of Taiji practice

PENG Or»elastic force» is the first of the 8 essential «gates» of Taiji practice and can be observed in the masters’ demonstrations when the students’ attack is absorbed and then, at times, the student is completely projected into the air, in an apparently spectacular way. Peng’s lack of understanding gives rise to both doubts and incorrect, mechanical and muscular practice.

PENG is considered the most Yang»GATE» of Taiji – symbolized by the 3 continuous lines of the trigram. This translates into a movement of an expansive nature. It tends to occupy space by removing obstacles that get in the way. By correctly understanding the nature of PENG, we will also find this principle/characteristic/door in the other 6 doors as part of a Yin – Yang relationship (the 8 doors of taiji correspond to the 8 Bagua Trigrams – they are grouped in 4 pairs in 2 opposite directions). Applied martially in the fist or foot, Peng is characterized by a strong and somewhat elastic penetration. Mentally and spiritually it is a self-confident presence, a positive extroverted attitude, full of initiative, characterized by abundance and a «shining vitality» (according to some Taoist texts). energetic, Peng is associated with the kidneys and the element of Water.

This is how the elastic state of PENG is described in the classic Taiji text «The Poem of 8 Methods» (Bafa miyue):

“How to explain PENG?

Like water carrying a ship

Fill the Dantien with Qi first

Then suspend your head from above

And the whole body must have the strength of a bow

Opening and Closing must be clearly distinct

Even if the opponent uses 1000kg force

Floating occurs without difficultyAnd»

Peng is written with an ideogram that means either a lid under pressure, or a wooden bow under tension, or a silk thread under tension. The sensation transmitted, however, is the same tension, the surface in tension.

Simply analyzing any of Peng’s writing modes points to the less understood fact that this concept of Peng’s elasticity actually has 2 separate phases:

The first phase of Peng is the reception of this force just as an arrow initially tightens the string of a bow. By practically forcefully throwing a solid body into an elastic membrane, it will stretch, absorbing the shock and energy, and throwing that object back. It’s a kind of action-reaction principle.

– the first phase of PENG

In this initial moment we learn to accept the opponent’s strength in a certain way (so as not to affect the body) and then to store it like the coils of a bow being armed…. In this way we are able to correctly evaluate the direction and intensity of the attack. Flexibility is absolutely necessary both on the surface (relaxed muscles) and in depth (tendons, joints)

Many say that Peng can’t even get along with a Tuishou-type partner outside of training! A significant example from the Wu school: “Peng is a reaction to the opponent’s strength. In Tuishou, Peng is not only in the arms and hands. All parts of the body must be filled with this elastic energy that the opponent touches in the practice of «hands in contact».“

Other treatises add: “Once you have mastered Peng, when the movement is fast, the response will be fast, and when the movement is slow, the response will be slow. By mastering this, the ability to listen or receive, essential in Taiji (Tingjin), is actually reduced to Peng.”

Peng’s great difficulty in this phase is to absorb the force through the body in the most appropriate way possible for the magnitude of the force. The slightest error in alignment, breathing or timing (with a partner in the tuishou) in this absorption phase leads to total failure of the Peng technique.

– the second phase of PENG

it is one where the stored power can be transmitted to the outside. The emission outside is also called Peng. The difference must be made between throwing the opponent through your own full Peng – or the emptying of its strength through absorption – “lu” (the opposite principle of Peng in Taiji)

“Energy Peng means full, but not truly full. It’s also empty but not really empty. It is both full and empty that the other cannot understand you completely, but you can. This makes Peng a hidden ability of JIN energy. It is said that Peng is like water. Tuishou doesn’t care who you Tuishou with if you master this principle. You can absorb and redirect a large or small force using this Peng because Peng involves a series of very fine movements within the body (alignments, openings and closings of more or less energetic pathways). Once exposed to the strength of the other, says Master Ma, I use my central taro ability (ZhongDing) as a pivot to redirect the force received. Therefore, the other person may also have the sensation of being suspended in the air at any given moment.”

Some Taiji masters say that the subtlety and difficulty in Peng lies in the second phase, in «deciding» how to use the opponent’s strength. Considering that we may be dealing with large and dangerous forces, the most appropriate decision must be made quickly before the whole body fails due to that static moment. Of course this is a decision made with the body, not a rational one.