The phrase "one should not sit back on the rear leg before advancing in Brush Knee with Twist Step" came from The Art of Taijiquan (Taijiquan Shu written by late Master Gu Liu Xin. On page 127 of the book the Yang style movement is explained as follows: "one cannot sit back on the rear leg before advancing in Brush Knee with Twist Step (Lou Xi Ao Bu) because once one sits back the opportunity for a continuous advancing attack is lost. It is also a waste of motion. . . ." Just by this sentence alone one can objectively formulate that this method is one important difference between the Yang style transmitted by late Grandmaster Yang Cheng Fu and the newly standardized routines created since the 1950's.
The standardized Taijiquan routines created since the 1950's such as the 24 Posture Taijiquan, 88 Posture Taijiquan, and 48 Posture Taijiquan are forms that put to practice the method of sitting back on the rear leg before advancing a step forward. The example of Left Brush Knee with Twist Step (Zuo Lou Xi Ao Bu) advancing to a Right Brush Knee with Twist Step (You Lou Xi Ao Bu) shall be used to explain this advancing step. "The right leg slowly bends at the knee as the upper body sits back. The weight of the body shifts to the right leg. The toes of the left foot rise up and turn outward. The left leg bends as the foot is planted back on the ground. The body turns to the left as the weight of the body shifts to the left leg." The Taijiquan routines created since the 1980's such as the Taiji Competition Routine (Taijiquan Jing Cai Tao Lu) contains several transition moves which sit back before advancing forward. Examples of this include, Right Brush Knee (You Lou Xi) which follows Left Brush Knee (Zuo Lou Xi), and Lift Hands which is after Single Whip (Dan Bian). In the Yang style Taijiquan Competition Routine (Yang Shi Taijiquan Jing Cai Tao Lu), there are five postures which practice the method of first sitting back to the rear leg and then advancing forward. Some of these include White Snake Sticks Out Tongue (Bai She Tu Xin) which follows after Fan Through Back (Shan Tong Bei) and Grasp Sparrow's Tail (Lan Que Wei) which is after Fist to Groin (Zhi Dang Chui).
The author’s teacher, Mei Ying Sheng, has read and studied Yang Cheng Fu's books entitled The Complete Principles and Theory of Taijiquan and Selected Articles on Taijiquan, Fu Zhong Wen's Yang Style Taijiquan and Yang Style Taiji Teaching and Training, Zhao Bin's Authentic Yang Style Taijiquan, Wang Yong Quan's Yang Style Taijiquan Described, Wu Zhi Qing's Authentic Taijiquan, Huang Han Jie's An Introduction to Taijiquan, Gu Liu Xin's The Art of Taijiquan and other books written by famous taiji masters. Of all the books mentioned above, not one book describes the method of sitting back before advancing forward.
Mei Ying Sheng has studied with a number of Grandmaster Yang Cheng Fu's disciples such as Master Fu Zhong Wen, Master Zhao Bin, late Master Gu Liu Xin, and Master Yang Zhao Xin. When these Taijiquan masters speak of the principles and methods of Yang style Taijiquan, they refer to sitting back on to the rear leg before advancing as "absurd" or "rash." Mei has repeatedly compared and practiced the two different methods of advancing in the Yang style and the standardized routines which sit back before advancing and has postulated that the method of "sitting back before advancing" contains the following disadvantages.
1. Nonconformity with the Taiji Classic which state, "Step like a walking cat and move like pulling (drawing) silk" (Wan Bu Ru Mao Xing, Dong Zuo Ru Chou Si): The Taiji Cat Walk or Tiger Step is a descriptive way which explains the agile, rooted, stable, and continuous way a cat moves when it is walking. When a cat is stalking food (prey) it certainly does not first sit back and then advance forward. If the cat was to sit back before advancing and was still able to capture its prey, the creature being preyed upon would have to be very tolerant and wished to be caught.
The skill of push hands (tui shou) is one way to observe the degree of perfection in one's posture. No matter which type of push hands is being executed be it Combined Step (He Bu Tui Shou) Push Hands, Set Step (Tao Bu Tui Shou) Push Hands or Free Moving (Lan Cai Hua) Push Hands, there is no method designed for one to sit back before moving forward. When retreating a step to the rear, there is also no reason to first shift the weight to the front and then retreat back. The Taiji Classics state that "to be victorious is to advance with a strong attack, to be undefeated is to retreat avoiding the blade of the sword." Consequently, one should not first allow the weight of the body to sit back before moving backward. For example in Step Forward, Deflect, Parry, and Punch (Ban Lan Chui) from the first section of the 108 posture routine standardized by Grandmaster Yang Cheng Fu, before advancing forward one should not first sit back before conducting the movement. In Repulse Monkey (Dao Nian Hou) before the leg retreats a step one's upper body should not shift to the front. When performing Cloud Hands (Yun Shou) one should not shift the weight of the upper body to the right before performing a side step to the left.
It must also be mentioned that in the Taiji Classics, "when the intent wants to move forward, it must first move backward, when wanting to move backward, the intent is first to the front, when the intent wants to move to the left it must first move to the right, and when wanting to move to the right, the intent is first to the left." This general principle of Taijiquan can be explained by using the advancing movement of Left Brush Knee with Twist Step into Right Brush Knee with Twist Step. When advancing into Right Brush Knee with Twist Step but before the left palm pushes to the front, the left palm conducts a Turning Body Palm (Fan Ti Zhang) to the rear and then pushes to the front. In Repulse Monkey, one must first push the palm forward before performing a Turning Body Palm to the rear. Before the right palm clouds to the right in Cloud Hands, it must sweep to the left before conducting a ward off (peng) motion to the right.
The Taiji Classics also state "one must move like pulling (drawing) silk." This describes the overall motion of the entire body. Pulling (drawing) silk out of its cocoon, like performing Taijiquan, should be an even and continuous motion without any type of interruption. When pulling silk out of a cocoon, one certainly should not first push the silk inside the cocoon before pulling it out again. Consequently, it is like what late Master Gu Liu Xin spoke of when he said "it is only a waste of movement to retreat backward before advancing forward."
2. A loss in the Silk Reeling Energy (Chan Si Jin) of the lower body: When conducting lower body movements under the complete relaxation of all the muscles in the body, every movement should maximize the degree of motion and exertion in the various muscle groups of the body. This will allow the muscles to receive minimum resistance while under a series of repeated reflex spirals and will be reflected in the muscle groups below the abdomen and waist. This silk reeling motion will naturally massage the internal organs and the cardiovascular system in the lower body. Taijiquan is a very good exercise to improve the body's physiological development and is an important constituent to one's health. The prominent characteristic of this movement is best expressed at the beginning portion of a transition from one bow stance to the next. Even though by shifting the weight onto the rear leg before advancing will be more relaxing and will conserve more energy, one will, however, lose the body's silk reeling energy which is produced by the activity conducted in the muscles, joints, and ligaments of the lower body. An illustration of this is two people twisting a long wet cloth. If the wet cloth is not pulled to complete straightness but is left loose, the cloth will therefore not be able to receive sufficient tension along its length to be drained of water. The characteristics of the cat walk and silk reeling energy in regard to the motion of the muscles, joints, and ligaments below the waist and abdomen is like twisting a long wet cloth. The cloth must be pulled straight from both ends in order to receive enough tension to drain it of water. In general, people who practice Taijiquan should know that sitting back will not provide sufficient exercise to the muscles groups in the lower body. The effort will be as if trying to drain a limp, wet cloth. Therefore, this will greatly decrease the quality of motion which could otherwise naturally harmonize the muscles in the lower body.
An important taji priniple is that "Taijiquan uses the shortest amount of time to obtain the maximum benefits from each and every move."
3. A loss in the artistic form of Taijiquan: The natural beauty of Taijiquan can be most accurately described as "moving like a cloud and flowing like water." The method of sitting back before advancing goes against the laws of nature in the process of being like a cloud floating unhindered in the sky. A cloud will not float in the opposite direction before moving ahead, and the rushing flow of a river will not reverse its course before moving down stream. "Taiji practitioners are like a large river and a great ocean flowing unceasingly." "There are no places that are broken and deformed." To sit back before advancing is a method of "breaking the flow of energy (Duan Jin)" and will greatly disrupt the artistic beauty of Taijiquan.
Every movement in Taijiquan has its own unique character and is a product of the culturally diverse tradition of China, thus, Taijiquan can be considered a unique Asian art form. Taijiquan can be compared to a piece of music which is extremely beautiful to listen to. To sit back before advancing is like adding an unnecessary note to an exquisite piece of classical music. The overall beauty of the piece will be lost.
The present Taijiquan competition routines of China see the method of sitting back before advancing as correct and have distorted the original way of advancing in Taijiquan. This contradictory circumstance commonly exists in the taiji community both in China and abroad.
One of America's prominent Taijiquan instructors was Mr. Wu Ta Ye. Mr. Wu has over the years published many articles in various magazines such as "Chinese Martial Arts (Zhong Hua Wu Shu)," "Wu Lin," and others and has pointed out that the method of sitting back before advancing originated in China. He states that this method is incorrect and should be corrected. This type of problem must be solved from the root and must be returned to its original nature of practice. The author has waited a very long time for the Chinese Taiji community to draw attention to this matter, but this has yet to occur. However, through the experience of people like Mr. Wu, there is still hope to regain attention to the continued problem of the advancing step in Taijiquan.
In regard to the success and advancement of Taijiquan, there is an ancient saying which exemplifies this matter: "To only imitate is to be a slave forever, to only know how to reform is to a betrayer." Since the 1950's the Yang style has been used as the basis for the Taijiquan standardized routines. There have been many traditional methods incorporated into the standardized routines which have aided in the improvement and advancement of Taiji theory and principles. For example in the 88 Posture Taijiquan routine, before the leg kicks out in Heel Kick (Deng Jiao) and Separate Foot (Fen Jiao) both arms spread out to the upper left and right in which "the shape resembles a hawk capturing a rabbit." In the Yang style Taijiquan Competition Routine, there is an addition of a Slapping Toe Kick (Pai Jiao), and in the 24 Posture Taijiquan routine there is an addition of a Left Grasp Sparrow's Tail (Zuo Lan Que Wei) and a Left Snake Creeps Down (Zuo Xia Shi) all of which is not included in the 108 Posture Yang Style routine. These postures conducted on the opposite side increases the beauty and atmosphere of Taijiquan and improves the balance of the body's left and right side. Improving Taijiquan in the above ways is not a very simple task. Those who are able to improve upon Taijiquan should be commended for their service by the taiji community.