There are four basic Taiji Quan push hands and fighting skills - Zhan, Nian, Lian, and Sui. They are also called four basic Nei Jin - internal trained force. Without use these skills, one is not doing Taiji Quan. So that people usually say that these four skills are the foundation of all Taiji Quan techniques. They should be included in everywhere. They are the most important characteristics of Taiji Quan. They show the biggest difference between Taiji Quan and other martial arts style. It is why people always use them to express Taiji Quan. They are used as the brief definition of Taiji Quan.
Zhi Ji Zhi Bi - "know yourself and your opponent"
To
understand these
four
skills is the first step to reach high level Taiji Quan skills. Pushing hands
practice is only way to learn these skills. Sensitivity is the basis of these
skills because all of them requires people to know their opponent's reaction and
from the reaction to decide the right way of their response. This idea is
sometime started as Zhi Ji Zhi Bi - "know yourself and your opponent".
Without this, one cannot do Taiji Quan correctly. These four skills embody some
basic Taiji Quan principles, typically refereed to as Jie Li Da Li -
"borrow force from your opponent and use his force to beat him back";
Yi Jing Zhi Dong - "using still to control motion"; Hou Fa Xian Zhi -
"launching later but reaching first"; and She Ji Cong Ren -
"forget yourself and obey (follow, yield) your opponent".
1. Zhan 
The original meaning of Zhan is to adhere or stick something up. In Taiji Quan practice it means to get your opponent to follow you a while under your control. It looks as if your opponent is struck to your hand (or the other part of your body). The technical term of this is “stick a person up” (It does not mean to grip or hold him up!). If you can do this well continually, your opponent appears to follow you and jump as if you have bounced him. This works because you have shaken and moved his root and cause him to lose his balance and he will try to use you to regain it. When the opponent has lost his balance and tries to use you to keep his balance, he must follow you to move. While most of the time Zhan is used to get your opponent to follow you in an upward direction, it can be in any direction. When using Zhan, you do not use your force to move your opponent, instead of he is moved by his own force but by your control. So it is called "borrow force from your opponent and use his force to beat him back". To do Zhan well, you must have really good basic kungfu, like sensitivity and integration, and also understand the basic principles very well. Thus the level of your Taiji Quan skill always can be judged from this skill.
Jie Li Da Li - "borrow force from your opponent and use his force to beat
him back"
The
key point of making Zhan well is to make your opponent lose his balance.
Basically there are two kind of methods for doing Zhan. With the first method,
you can use some skill to lead or seduce your opponent to loss his balance. It
is called "lead coming in to fall down into a empty place". It will
cause that he wants to use something to maintain his balance.
At this time, give the part of your body (most time just use the touching point
between you and the opponent) to him and then he will be controlled by you. The
more balance he lose, the more force he will be use for keeping balance, so the
more available force you can borrow from him and the easier you can do Zhan.
Most time, it is difficult to seduce the opponent to lose his balance directly,
so that the second method is used more often. With this method the first thing
you need to do is to unsettle your opponent, sometimes called giving him some trouble first. This means that
you should use some skills to make him feel uncomfortable, as if lose his
balance, and must adjust his body. When he feels in the trouble or off-balanced,
his reaction offers you a chance to do Zhan.
Choosing the right time and direction is
important to do Zhan well. For example, if you can make your opponent feel
compressed down really, you will probably have a good chance to use Zhan on him.
Pay attention to his reaction, if you feel his legs push his body up, just raise
up your hand and you can make him jump up by his own force. When he jumps, you
can use some other technique to beat him. This will save a lot of energy and is
thus real Taiji Quan skill. For timing, if your hands raise too early, there is no enough reaction force
from the opponent; if your hands raise too late, the opponent just get time to
regain his balance and you lose your chance. In both cases your Zhan will not
work. The best time to use Zhan is when his reaction force almost at its maximum
and the next change has not happened yet. This is the time when it is most
difficult for him to make a change. For direction, you should follow the
direction of the opponent's reaction force. Although it is the best direction,
it may be too difficult. For additional safety, you can use the technique of
changing his direction slightly. For example move your hand in an arc. A little
bit of change can confuse your opponent and thus be very helpful. The other
important technique is to keep a little bit force in the reverse direction of
the opponent's reaction. It is called "Yin and Yang supplement each
other". In above example, when you raise your hand up, at the same time
keep a little bit force to push down, it will make the opponent feel your
downward push still there so that he will keep his reaction to against you. If
your opponent's reaction force is not enough, you can use one hand to Zhan him
and your other hand to help, that is push him according to the direction of his
reaction. But this help should be light, smooth, soft, and coordinate with the
other hand. It is a common technique which require a good integration of your
body. If your opponent does not really know Taiji Quan, that is if his
sensitivity is slow and his changes are clear and straight, Zhan can be done
easy and you can have incredible results. But if your opponent has Taiji Quan
skills, using Zhan will be difficult. The interesting thing is that usually the
result is not good if you use your mind too much to do this skill. You should
keep in natural way and do it naturally. In fact, most times Zhan is not used
big and clearly. It is always mixed with or included in some other skills.
2.
Nian 
The original meaning of Nian is stick,
adhere or paste to. In Taiji Quan practice it means to keep contact your
opponent, and through this contact to make him feel uncomfortable. Keep this
contact and never let him go away, like something adheres on his body. Be
careful, it does not mean to use big force to hold your opponent. It should be
light touching. When you use this skill, you should try to use the minimum
force. We always say to unsettle your opponent a little bit each time but
continually, until the opponent is in big trouble. Do not let him feel too much
is important.
In pushing hands, when you touch your
opponent, you should unsettle him. Do not use too much force, just let him feel
that he must do something to solve the problem. Then he will give you a
reaction. From his reaction, you can determine how you should respond. If you
cannot make a chance, keep doing Nian, that means follow him, keep touching and
giving him a little bit more trouble, and wait for him to give you more
reaction. So Nian is also used to sound the opponent out. That means to give him
questions and await his answers. The questions should hit his weakness point
continually. If you have question for him one by one and he cannot give you the
right answer on time, you are controlling him. The important things are to never
let the opponent get away and to sense the right time and direction to make your
next move. Be careful, do not use extra force, because if you use too much
force, you will be difficult to relax, and it will cause your sensitivity to be
sluggish. Then you will be slow to change, and even maybe fall into your
opponent's trap. So do not worry how big movement your opponent does, just to
keep relax and touch him with a little bit change. Do not worry how fast
movement he does, the interesting thing is just keep quite, relax, and touch
him, and then you can get your chance. This basic Taiji Quan idea is called
"using still to control motion".
Yi
Jing Zhi Dong - "using still to control motion"
3. Lian 
The
original meaning of Lian is continue or link. There are two meanings of Lian in
Taiji Quan practice. They are continually follow and change. The first one means
that you maintain continually contact by following your opponent and never let
him leaving. Most time when people say Lian, they mean this. Basically Taiji
Quan skills depend on your sensitivity. If you lose contact with your opponent
(not just means physical, but mind and Shen), you cannot feel him any more, so
that you cannot apply your Taiji Quan skills.
With
Lian you just maintain continually contact with your opponent while waiting for
a chance to use other skills. Lian is always included in other skills. It is
also used to link changes, that means it like a transfer skill. If you can keep
Lian, that means you can feel your opponent all time so that you can know him
always. It is why sometimes we think it is first thing you should do in pushing
hands or fighting. The basic Taiji Quan idea, "launching later but reaching
(or getting control) first", is base on Lian skill. Also if you do some
skills but failed, you can use Lian to get other chance. For example, when you
use Nian to your opponent but he gets away. At that time you should use Lian to
keep contact him and to try another chance. If your opponent gives you some
trouble, Lian can also help you to adjust your position and go back safe and
comfortable situation. For example, when your opponent uses Zhan to destroy your
balance, you should use Lian to follow him and adjust yourself, then wait a
chance to beat him back. This is most common way to use Lian.
Hou
Fa Xian Zhi - "launching later but reaching (or getting control)
first"
The
other way of Lian means continually change as you are following, that means each
of your techniques are joined together like the links in a chain, never breaking
your mind and movements, and never giving your opponent any chance to change.
Link all changes one by one continually, smoothly, and never stop. The most
common change of movement during Lian is to change the direction of your force
and the most common way to change your force is to make your movements circular
which keeps their direction continuously changing smoothly.
4. Sui 
The
original meaning of Sui is follow or obey. In Taiji Quan practice that means to
follow your opponent's movement or mind. According to Taiji Quan principle, you
should avoid to against the opponent by your force directly. You should make the
opponent feel that he can get you but do not really let him get you. You should
make him use some techniques that cannot really work on your body. If you can
keep relax, you can do Sui well and from Sui you can feel and know your opponent
well.
Sui requires that you really relax your body. Follow the direction and timing of your opponent' s force, whatever he does, do not let his force work on your body. It does not mean to use your force against his force. It means he cannot find a point to use his force on your body. Sui also does not mean leave and just run away. It means to keep touch with your opponent, never lose touch points. You should let your opponent feel he will have a chance to get you so that he will keep doing something.
There is a famous sentence about Sui. It
said: "forget yourself and obey (follow, yield) your opponent". It is
a basic Taiji Quan idea. People always say if you cannot do this, you cannot do
real Taiji Quan skills. But many misunderstanding also come from this point. The
most common misunderstanding is to think Sui just means following or obey the
opponent. To do Sui in this way will cause you become weak finally because
anyone's movements have a limit, just do to follow in this way, finally you will
in a very bad situation. This wrong way even causes some other misunderstanding
or wrong impression, for example Taiji is too soft and cannot be used to fight,
or Sui is wrong idea that means real Taiji Quan skills can never do it. In fact
a real Sui skill should follow your opponent first, maybe just in very short
time, that means whatever he wants to do, just follow him and never against
him. From this following you can get time to feel your opponent and then you
should try to find a chance to make change, be careful for this change the
smaller the better, usually to lead and seduce him to wrong way. It just like
another classical sentence said: "to follow your opponent is for finally
let him to follow you". A real Sui skill must include this idea. In fact Sui should be used in the beginning of
almost every Taiji Quan skill, especially to defense some hard attacks, but
cannot be used too much, that means never use it in all of the way, else Sui is
going to weak. How much you should to do is really depend on the situation. The
key point of Sui is how to transfer it to other skill. Unfortunately,
many people overlook this point.
5. Main Difference
The meanings of Zhan, Nian, Lian, and Sui
are similar at some points, or we can say there are some parts mixing or
overlap. So that for understanding
them clearly, we need pay more attention to what is difference between them. The
main difference between Zhan and Nian is that with Zhan you should make your
opponent to stick to you by himself, but with Nian you should stick to your
opponent, let him feel bad but can never leave you off. The main difference
between Nian and Lian is that with Nian you should always follow your opponent
and at the same time make trouble for him, but with Lian you just follow your
opponent and do not try to unsettle him. The main difference between Lian and
Sui is that with Lian your following like to chasing your opponent, you should
always keep touch him and never let he go away. With Sui your following like go
away (does not mean losing contact) from your opponent, although he can always
touch you, he can never really get you. The main difference between Sui and Zhan
is that with Sui you should follow your opponent's active action, but with Zhan
you should follow your opponent's reaction which is his passive action.
6. Combination
Generally,
Zhan and Nian are skills which are to find a chance to give your opponent
trouble. Lian and Sui are skills which are to solve the problem that your
opponent gives to you and wait a chance to beat him back. Although they are
different skills, in fact, they cannot be really used separately. They are
always mixed and used together. For example, most times you should include Nian
in your Zhan. Usually before you do Zhan, you should unsettle your opponent
first. If your Zhan does not work well, you should use Nian immediately. At that
time Nian will help you to adjust yourself and to make another chance to
continue your Zhan. You always need to include Lian in your Nian also. When you
do Nian, if your opponent can do Sui well, you will difficult to get him. So
your Nian will not work well, you should use Lian to keep touching him and wait
another chance to do Nian again. You should do Lian and Sui together. When you
do Lian, your opponent may get a chance to beat you back. So you should do Sui
to follow him. You should do Sui and Nian together. If you only do Sui without
do Nian at the same time, it is so easy to make you become too weak. To do Nian
with Sui will help you a lot. Sometimes people say to do these four skills
successively, that is to do Zhan, if it does not work well, then to do Nian; if
Nian does not work well, then to do Lian; if Lian does not work well, then to do
Sui. But, in fact, they can never be really separated.
Sometimes, different part of your body does
different skills. For example it is very common that one side the touch point in
you body does Sui and at the same time another part of your body does Nian. The
good practitioner should have all these four skills (or Jin) when he touches his
opponent. All other Taiji skills will include some of them. So that they are the basic
skills of all Taiji techniques. For example, when you do Yin - lure or seduce,
you should use Sui and Lian in the beginning. When you do Fa - release force,
you should do Nian and Zhan first. So that people said they are the foundation
of all Taiji Quan skills.
7. Common Mistakes
Ding 
Bian
Diu 
Kang
When
we do these four basic skills, there are four kinds of likely mistakes, Ding,
Bian, Diu, and Kang. Ding and Kang will happen when you do something too much,
usually called Guo. Bian and Dui will happen when you do something not enough,
usually called Buji. For the
beginners, to do Gou is very common mistake. Usually it means too hard or tight.
For the advance students, to do Buji is very common mistake. Usually it means
too weak or loose.
When
you start to understand Taiji Quan but your skills are not good enough, these
mistakes happen in almost everywhere. The reason is that you cannot relax well
and your sensitivity is not good enough. If you cannot relax well, you cannot
follow your opponent smoothly. If your sensitivity is not good enough, you will
always lose change or use your mind too much. To understand and avoid these
common mistakes is very important for improving your skills.
The
most common mistake in Zhan application is usually Ding - to go against on
touching point. It means that your force is in the reverse direction of your
opponent's force too much.
In Taiji Quan, you should avoid to use your force resisting your opponent's
force directly. But in Zhan if the timing and direction of your force are wrong,
the part of your force will be used to against to the opponent's force, so that
you cannot follow your opponent well. In this case he can even feel and get you.
The reason is your sensitivity may be not good enough or you do not understand
Taiji Quan principles well. If you cannot find the right timing and direction
from your opponent's reaction, you cannot really borrow his force, and worse
thing is that your force will help him to regain his balance. At that time, your
opponent's reaction force can even give you trouble easily.
The
most common mistake in Nian application is usually Bian - weak or flat. It means
that you do not do Nian enough so that you do not get enough information from
your opponent and you will not know which way you should go. When Bian happens,
your opponent can go away from your control easily. In Nian, if you cannot find
the weak point from your opponent and make him fall into bad position little by
little, that means you cannot make trouble to him continually, it is said your
hand too weak. So you cannot control your opponent finally.
The most common
mistake in Lian application is usually Diu - lose the touching point. It means
that your opponent can get away or you cannot follow him any more. When Diu
happens, you lose contact and cannot follow him continually. So you cannot feel
him well and you cannot find a chance to control him. To do Lian, if you cannot
relax well, you will be easy to lose the touching point and let your opponent
get away. In this case you lose contact so that you cannot use your sensitivity.
The most common mistake in Sui application
is usually Kang - resist in the
touching point. It means that you cannot follow your opponent so that you and
your opponent are in resisting case. In this case, who is stronger who will have
more chance to win. It is not follow Taiji Quan principle. In Sui, if you resist
and cannot follow your opponent, you cannot get a chance to adjust yourself
without to use big force. So your opponent can get you easily if he is stronger,
faster, or just in a better position than you.
Usually, many people just like simply to use
Ding and Diu to explain these general mistakes in their Taiji Quan practice.
Here Ding (here it is same as Guo) means too
hard, too much, too far, resist, or excessive. When you want to control your
opponent but do too much, you make this mistake. Diu (here it is same as Buji) means too
weak, no enough, short, lose, leave, or deficiency. When you want to relax but
do too much, you make this mistake. In fact, Ding (or Guo) and Diu (or Buji) are
the human's nature actions.
They just like two extreme points of human's behave. They are used in most
martial arts skills. When you attack with a big force, it is Ding. When you
dodge or move away, it is Dui. They are the right way there. But Taiji Quan
skill require everything you do must be exactly right according to the
principle, like
just
enough and never waste your energy, and the most efficiency way. So that to use
these two points will become a wrong way in Taiji Quan. For avoiding do them,
you should get a special training. In fact almost all training methods of Taiji Quan are
designed to avoid them. In the nature behave, you can only jump from one point
to the other, that means from the view of Taiji Quan you are either too much
(too hard) or no enough (too weak). Taiji Quan training will change this natural
action. From the training, you will study how to balance your skill and close to
the center point that means to do neither Ding (or Guo) nor Diu (or Buji). We
can simply use a figure to show this situation.
Ding (or Guo)
Neither Ding (or Guo) nor Diu (or Buji)
Diu (or Buji)
*----------------------------------------------*------------------------------------------*
This
changing is the most important and difficult training in Taiji Quan practice.
Only when one can do this well, one can be consider really understand Taiji Quan.
It is the foundation of all Taiji Quan skills. So that it is as a standard rule
for measuring the level of people’s Taiji Quan skill.
The
last sentence of Da Shou Ge - Fighting Song, one of the oldest and most famous
Taiji Quan classical poem, said: "Zhan Nian Lian Sui Bu Diu Ding" that
means you should always do Zhan, Nian, Lian and Sui and never do Diu and Ding
(the common way of Bu Diu Ding is called Bu Diu and Bu Ding – not Diu and not
Ding). It is one of the most important key points in your Taiji Quan practice.
Zhan
Nian Lian Sui Bu Diu Ding - "do Zhan, Nian, Lian and Sui and never do Diu
and Ding"
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