Introduction to Tai chi, Episode 16: The 13 Postures

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It is often said that real martial skill in tai chi depends on an understanding of the 13 postures. But there is so much confusion about what the term "13 postures" even means, that most teachers are better off not talking about them. In fact, most don't deal with them in depth. This may be either because the teachers don't think they are important, or because they don't think the students will understand.
Chapters:
00:21 Why is it so confusing?
06:24 Common explanations
07:59 Mechanics of combat
09:23 Flavours of Mass and Velocity
10:01 Inertia, momentum, and kinetic energy
12:50 Conservation of momentum could be more dangerous
15:00 Squishiness vs Boingy-ness (Elastic modulus)
17:35 Tensile, good. Shear, bad.
19:00 Peng is a natural instinct
19:40 Softer is harder.
20:35 Hard power vs Soft power
22:15 Pressure: Ji and An
26:20 The 4 Directions (Peng, Lu, Ji, An)
27:46 Angular momentum (the 4 corners)
30:10 Splitting
31:03 Plucking
32:15 Breaking the needle
34:10 Sharpening the broken needle
35:55 The 8 trigrams in the hands
36:50 The arms are not legs
39:50 5 elements in the feet
40:37 Force
41:23 Space
43:59 Centre
44:06 Look right
45:14 Gaze left
47:57 All together now
48:55 13 posture in the tai chi routines
51:00 13 postures in self defence
53:00 The challenge of using real words and physics

[@RyoGa]

I've been practicing taichi for years with my master, he always says those 13 postures were not techniques or movements, he can demo it to let us feel how it feels like but he couldn't explain it in a more "modern" way. I have a computer science degree and worked in IT industry for years, I myself were always trying to find a "scientific" way to interpreter what I have learnt from my master with the words that people can understand, not via the very ambiguous ancient Chinese words although I am a native Chinese. This video is the most valuable video I have ever seen, literally "the most". You are a very nice and selfless people, really really appreciated what you have shared here. These findings worth someone's lifetime study. Thank you again for your selfless sharing.

[@kenmcrae8591]

This comment deserves to be pinned to the top, in my opinion. I was impressed by this video, but your comment helped me to appreciate even more. Thank you! I have only recently discovered this channel, and that Master Sinclair's school is just a 30 minute drive from where I live.

[@christinebhe2546]

Everytime I return to this video, I find another gem for better understanding the mechanics of taiji (and what shifu is doing but can't or won't explain). Man you packed a lot in there. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

[@KamenFighter]

I still don’t believe what you told me about not having an education beyond high school. You’re an amazing autodidact and have such a lucid and clear explanation of how these concepts all work and fit together.

[@squidmuttly]

Thank you, Ian. It's rare to find somebody who understands a subject well enough to use simple language to explain it. Many teachers don't, or worse, mythologise to maintain their own status. I've been practicing for over 30 years now, and have found nothing that isn't physiology, anatomy, or physics. There are many ways to do it wrong, but one to do it right. I think your words will help many people.

[@markdonovan1540]

A superb video Ian, I can understand why it took you a long time to put the video together. Somehow you've managed to address one of the most misleading and confusing concepts in Taiji and make it all come together as a whole. While your explanations are quite detailed and complex at times, you balance this with your many anecdotes and charming sense of humour. I'm still at the level of the developing my understanding and instincts around the first 4, while scratching the surface of the other 9 from time to time. It's an ongoing process that has no end, but I believe it's one of the most complete systems of exercise that exist at this moment. Obviously, this will depend on what one might be looking for, but for me it's working and helping me transform myself in a positive way one step at a time, one form at a time, one push at a time, one yield at a time...etc.

[@aoeuable]

Is there any deeper intended meaning in the image of a Canuck shoveling snow with a broom? Some ancient northern secret snow fighting technique? A metaphor about hard work? Truly, what a deep and inspirational channel!

[@akeeperofoddknowledge4956]

Thank you, Sifu Ian, if I may call you that! I've several decades in the Shaolin disciplines, but after 3 heart attacks (2 since retirement) I've taken up training in the Chen Pan King Taiji system under a very good friend for the past 2 yrs or so. Your explaining these principles using scientific and engineering terms really helps me get a better grasp of the fundamentals. Thank you again and I sub'd!

[@hanumananky]

fantastic, a much needed breakdown, thank you sifu

[@lincolnlau3890]

I remember you back in 1994 as this skinny, but enthusiastic kid in Liang Shou Yu's Chen tai chi pao chui class. You probably don't remember me, I was one of the many Chinese students in that class. Glad to see you followed your heart and making a living out of your passions. I still practice, but never had the interest to teach.

[@IanSinclairTaiChi]

It is nice to hear from you! I remember you as one of the hard-working and talented students. 師父 was encouraging me to teach more because it was the best way for him to be avenged. At first I saw him encouraging me to teach as being quite flattering. Then I realized that it could mean, "You should see how you like it, having students like you." :)

[@lincolnlau3890]

@@IanSinclairTaiChi Haha. I live in Winnipeg now. After Liang Shou Yu, I studied with Xu Gong Wei and learned his Chen, Hao and Yang tail chi and his ba gua and xing yi. I stayed with him until he retired from teaching. I live in Winnipeg now and have have started learning from David Cliffe (his bagua is magui style from Andrea Falk and he studied cha quan from Xu Gong Wei) so I hope to learn all that stuff evetually. I've looked at some of your youtube vids and think you're done a great job promoting tai chi to the masses!

[@JaroBerce]

Ian, you hit the nail. I was always puzzled with this 13 postures and descriptions. And you took off all the mysticism of Chinese teachers that describe " a western cannot learn properly as they do not understand yin/yang, shen, eight diagrams, Dao, etc." But it is mostly they do not grasp the meaning but just pass the "old" tradition and words. I had a hard time in Taiwan when they've been describing all in chippers that meant nothing and doing something else that supposedly connect the oral description. What a waste of time ... Thank you so much for all your video's and especially for this one.

[@IanSinclairTaiChi]

Thank you. I was lucky enough to have teachers who didn’t rely merely on aphorisms. One would say, “This is a Daoist saying. So, it doesn’t mean anything by itself.” Or “The person who wrote this didn’t mean what it sounds like.” But the actual explanations were usually “Touch here. Feel this.” Or “Try again. No, wrong. No, wrong. No. No. No. No. Again. Ah there it i …. No wrong, no. No, wrong. “ Then, after a half hour of that, they would say, “Okay. Let’s try something else. “ The challenge, as I later discovered, was not that the teacher didn’t like questions. The challenge was to ask the right questions. By the time I figured out the right questions to ask, the answers started to come to me by themselves, bringing new questions.

[@JaroBerce]

@@IanSinclairTaiChi this is The Key: "The challenge was to ask the right questions. By the time I figured out the right questions to ask, the answers started to come to me by themselves, bringing new questions." that I got as well. Was late but I like it now. Therefore your videos are so enlightening and "simple" to understand. just the execution is so hard although having more and more experiences. So once again THANK you for sharing your knowledge as it is said (thought my students):" The knowledge is the only 'thing', when shared, you get it more!"

[@andrepape]

It is always a pleasure to listen to your explanations. Thank you. I hope you're doing well!

[@weycroftbridgetherapies3968]

Well done Ian, a great explaination in plain English with humour. Thankyou very much, you are an excellent ambassador for the art of tai chi.

[@ebrown.fitness7974]

Thank you for all of the significant work that you do. I really appreciate that you're willing to put your knowledge out here. And I'm now a new supporter of your site. 👍🏽 Thanks again.

[@edwardhenne3204]

"Thank you, sooo much". I am currently 64 years old and have been messing with tai chi for over 40 years. I have trained Chinese martial arts since the age of 18. Mantis for about 15 years then hsingyi, but Yang Tai chi the whole time. I really began to get a hold on tai chi in a physically/feeling way between my hsingyi teacher and actually Mike Sigman's stuff. However, listening to this video is the first time I felt like I began to get a cognitive grid for things I've felt and played with over the years. "Again - thank you."

[@RobertAgarHutton]

There are a small number of reasons (less than 5) why I would like to visit Canada - you are one of them :)

[@IanSinclairTaiChi]

Thank you!

[@RobertAgarHutton]

@@IanSinclairTaiChi - I am actually thinking of making a trip to Canada - I'd quite like to drive from the East to the West coast - if it does happen (possibly Aug or Sep 2023) then I'll give you a shout and hopefully visit and train for a bit.

[@IanSinclairTaiChi]

Sounds lovely. I have travelled the length of the TransCanada highway from St. John's to Victoria. It is certainly a trip worth doing. Don't forget, however, that Canada has three coasts. Perhaps you would like to turn north in BC and drive to Tuktoyaktuk. You might even get to the Dempster during the Caribou migration.

[@HomePerformance]

Have been watching you for several years, getting to a place where I can focus on this more seriously. Thanks for always keeping my excitement on the topic maxed!

[@dawiedarling]

Truly, one of the most, if not, the most, brilliant martial artist and martial arts' teacher I have ever encountered.

[@pincepoussin]

Deep stuff, by far your best video to date. Very good work

[@shadowninja569]

Always good to hear from you.

[@fredlaufer9547]

I absolutely loved this presentation, but I have a bone to pick with you about the physics of elastic collisions. When a large mass collides with a stationary smaller mass, the velocity imparted to the smaller mass will always be less than twice the starting velocity of the larger mass. You can prove this by simultaneously applying formulae of conservation of momentum and conservation of kinetic energy to the system.

[@IanSinclairTaiChi]

Ah! Yes. I suppose that is fortunate. Otherwise, every time a speeding truck hit a piece of dust, the destruction would be incredible. hmmmm.... What if I built a galilean canon using a truck-sized ball of steel and a solid diamond golf ball, and bounced it off of a nuclear pasta? ....would that experiment be able to compete with the Great British Bakeoff.

[@labatallacultural1]

As always, thanks for sharing

[@amandahoffmann495]

very good explanation, thank you for the video.

[@jdao858]

Awesome stuff🔥

[@IanSinclairTaiChi]

Thanks

[@andreasdavour9973]

I laud your efforts, and also the efforts of fellow Canadian teacher Neil Ripski, to untange the "old language" into something expressing the same thing for the modern man and woman. It has helped myself a lot. Thank you for that. I have tried to do the same when teaching these concepts, and not always succeeding all that well. That being said, I wonder if you in this video has not gone too far into the weeds with the modern "magical language" of mathematics. I'm not sure a "vector" makes any more sense to most modern people today than peng jing. Maybe you have very scientifically minded students? But, I can't say how to express it otherwise, and with my science education I can grasp the idea of angular momentum even if it does makes my head ache. It is a hard problem, and thanks for trying to "break the code", and sharing!

[@tranquil_dude]

Thank you for sharing ! :D I'm glad I watched through the whole video. The analogies and explanations you've given are so so clear and illuminating. Especially, they show how the "13 Postures" are facets of one unified phenomenon. Regarding "look" and "gaze" (顾 & 盼）though 🤔, I feel there's another explanation that is closer to the original meaning of the words and also makes sense in self defense: respectively, 1) Paying attention (to what's happening right here right now) and 2) anticipation (of what's going to happen in the next moment) Together they make up the "mind aspect" pair.

[@IanSinclairTaiChi]

Thank you! Excellent point! I agree. There is a mental/ emotional component to each of the 13 postures, as well as a proprioceptive one. I don’t talk about qi these videos because I am sure it would be misconstrued, but I was taught to place my qi in different points for each trigram and to shape the emotional content for each element. However, These things, and others, are intended to aid the mechanisms. So, I think it is important to teach them in the right order. It is like learning music. The mechanics come before emotion and spirit. One of the problems with the classics is that they were not aimed at beginners. So , when beginners read them, they seem like nonsense.

[@alanlee6662]

Actually the movement of the body weight to have the momentum not from outside. The 13 posture is from center of gravity to have leverage action occupied your opponent center from in to out , from within to without.

[@IanSinclairTaiChi]

Affirmative.

[@williamdelong8265]

Winning without fighting is best!

[@vitalyromas6752]

Thank you )

[@thaliablackman2442]

Ian you called me on the phone in my dream just now. I studied with you in Vancouver. My name was different then. I helped you get back home when you left Vancouver. Maybe we need to talk.

[@IanSinclairTaiChi]

Sure. Send me an email through my website and we can exchange contact details. I’d love to chat. sinclairinternalarts.com/contact/#!form/Contact

[@perrypelican9476]

Is anything in tai chi straight forward?

[@markdonovan1540]

No, absolutely nothing is straight forward. But it can be simplified by hard work, resilience and relaxation.

[@shadowninja569]

I think it also has something to do with the chinese languague.

[@IanSinclairTaiChi]

Taiji is perfectly straightforward, in a roundabout sort of way.

[@-a-l-t-]

❤