Six Sealing Four Closing

Six Sealing Four Closing – A video clip and an explanation…

This video clip was originally a response to a video of the same application posted by John Vanko of Brazil. It was suggested by others that I explicate what is going on during this seemingly simple movement.

"Six Sealing Four Closing" is the third movement that appears in both the first and second routines of the Chen Style Taijiquan Practical Method. Within the 81 movements of the first routine this movement appears a total of four times.

The relative frequency of this movement indicates its importance, in fact, 18th generation grandmaster, Hong Junsheng, called "Six Sealing Four Closing" the "mother of all moves." Why? Because this move contains the first four of the eight methods of Taijiquan, namely Peng, Lü, Ji and An.

Peng is the omnidirectional expansiveness that the requisite energy for all Taiji movement. It is a fullness which must be maintained at all times.

Lü is often translated as "rollback." It’s a method of controlling and following an incoming force before redirecting it toward one’s posterior. The energy of Lü can be seen in this video clip during the first rotation after the initial meeting of hands.

Ji is squeezing or pressing. This is a method for conquering space. It is also used for taking the slack out between oneself and the opponent so that one’s rotational force translates to the opponent’s body without loss. In this video clip this can be seen in the first rotation and the second vertical rotation. By stiffening the opponent’s body, i.e. locking his shoulder joints and waist, his body virtually becomes an extension of one’s own body and a subsequent rotation, with such tension maintained throughout, will have great effect.

An is the method of separation from the opponent’s body. Whereas Ji emphasizes closing the space so as to merge with the opponent, An breaks this unity. There should be little force applied when using the method of An.  A simple test is to feel whether there is any resistance on the part of the opponent. If there is, the use of An is too early.

An is often translated as "Push," but it is far from a schoolyard shove. In fact, there is little power on the arms. The forearms simply rotate in concert with the stepping of the feet. It is the shuffle step which does the pushing, wedging the body in towards the opponent’s center and thereby displacing him. One can clearly observe this in the video clip.

I hope that this proves helpful. Have fun practicing.