Taiji Quan - Week 13 - Single Whip

Taiji Quan – Week 13 – Single Whip
Single Whip is probably one of the most characteristic moves in the form.
The whip that is being referred to is not a traditional whip, it’s more like a rod with a bit of give in it, like
a bamboe rod that people use in Asia to carry buckets of water. This is the energy we have through the
posture from one hand to the other. You have this sort of bent and sunk rod that stretches through the
shuolders from one side to the other.
For the moment we focus on correct kua movement, sinking and releasing. Further up in the course the
form will be revisited with more detail and complexity in it.
We start from the push position.

First only the legs.
We start to turn by closing the left kua until it brings our right foot around and you transfer your weight
onto the left foot. Don’t turn the hip, but close the kua.
Then you do the same on the ohter side : close the right kua, putting your weight into the right kua. Then
bring all your weight into the right leg while turning your pelvis around to the left, pulling the left foot in.
You are now sat onto the right leg. Then step with the left foot, heel goes down and close the left kua,
turning the back foot.
Now the arms.
Start from the push. When you close the left kua, let your arms come around with your body and gently
open them out a little bit. Then the left arm goes down, making a scooping motion and a slight stretch on
the outside of the arm. Close the right kua and let the right hand form a hook. Then as you come onto
the right leg, extend the right arm out. Then step, close the left kua, your left arm is in Ward Off shape.
Turn beyond where it’s comfortable, a little bit past square, turn the left hand around the middle finger
and let the hips go back to the front.
This is the rough shape. Make sure when you step, it’s always to shoulder width so that you have space
for the kua to move.
When you start from the push and close your left kua, do not raise your shoulder, the shoulder must be
sunk. Close the left kua and stretch around the outside of the left arm. Then when you sink down, song
inside, release everything down. Then close the kua on the right and transfer that sinking across to the
right foot. Then extend your right arm out for the hook. Step out, close the left kua, turn back square.
This is where you song and release the power from the back foot to the front hand.
To form the hook let the four fingers touch the thumb. Don’t just fold your wrist, because then it’s slack.
It’s like you are sliding your hand around something to form the hook. Like you’ve got a ball and you are
sliding your hand around until your fingers touch the thumb. This way it stretches on the outside.
And when you put it up, it will pull from the shoulder joint. Don’t lock the elbow, keep him down. The
hook should be level with the jaw or the temple. When you stretch the hand into the hook around the
ball, you sink the elbow down and sink the scapula so the scapula is pushing into the elbow, and the
fingers rolling around are stretching the arm out. So there is a force down from the shoulder, a force
from the scapula to the elbow, and the elongation of the tissues because of the stretching of the hand.
The other side is Ward Off left essentialy then turn the left hand around the middle finger, then let it go
forwards a little. Don’t fold your wrist back because that closes the joint. Stretch under the wrist, just a
little elastic stretch. You’ve got the elastic stretch under the left wrist and the sink in the shoulder and
elbow and elastic stretch on the right side. This is the rod that is stretching from one hand to the other.
Single Whip should only be done on this side, never on the other side. That is because each of the
postures is also linked to one of the organs in the body. Single Whip is a Heart posture. It has very much
to do with cleaning Heart fire from the body. The Heart is more on the left side of the body. We release
excess heat from the Heart through Laogong, the centre of the palm. In order to make sure that all of
this travels to the left side, Laogong is shut down on the right side. The hook is to close Laogong, so that
no heat can be vented from that side of the body. The hook is not for pecking or hitting.
Repeating:
From the push with the weight is on the right leg. As you close the left kua and stretch the elastic on the
left side, bring your body around. When the kua is closed, sink your left hand down and let that help
sinking the force down to the left foot. Just as you sink in the Taiyi posture, take all the power down. Use
the sinking of the left arm to help the weight to reach the left foot. Then form the hook and as you close
the right kua, release the left foot so the Jin comes up. That stretch that comes up through the body is
what is going to open out the right arm. Then step and close the left kua, release the right foot, turn and
song from the back foot and let that wave come out to the left hand. It’s not a wave through the joints,
but through the tissues that surround the bones.
Always the same : sink to compress the tissues to the ground, release the point of contact and let the
wave come through. The difficulty is to have the weight get to the foot. The weight has to empty like
water down to the foot. The weight has to transfer to the floor internally. That is what we need to trigger
before we can release that point of contact from the floor to create the Jin.
In the end position, the left shoulder is sunk, the elbow is sat, scapula is dropped so it pushes to the
elbow, palm is open, wrist not cocked back. On the right side the hook is at the height of the jaw. There
is a 90 degree angle between left arm and right arm, left kua is closed. The body is slightly inclined. If you
are dead upright it actually puts pressure into the lower back.

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Taiji Quan – Week 13 – Single Whip

We start from the push position.

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