Cloud Hands

Chansijin 缠丝劲 (reeling-silk energy) is the source of Taijiquan’s force, and Cloud Hands 云手 is a foundational practice to expressing and developing it.  Clouds hands is not merely a hand technique but an embodiment of Taijiquan’s core principles.  It is both a “moving stance” and a “condensed expression of Taiji.”  

Cloud Hands requires the entire body to move as one like a rolling sphere. Wrists, elbows, shoulders, waist, hips, knees, and ankles coordinate to form a three-dimensional, circular rotation.  The key of the movement lies in the waist, with power generated from the hips. Practising Cloud Hands trains the waist and hips to rotate left and right like a door hinge - flexible yet stable - rotating smoothly from side to side and driving the whole body, achieving the principle that “force issues from the spine.”

The centre of gravity shifts continuously between solid and empty, and the whole body blends into the movement.  Yin and yang, empty and full, opening and closing are the essence of Cloud Hands. When the left hand rises it is yang; when the right hand lowers it is yin. When the weight is on the right it is full; on the left, it is empty. As the weight shifts, yin and yang transform accordingly.  The entire movement is about finding dynamic balance between yin and yang.  When the hands move outward, it is opening, but the intention should carry a sense of closing. When the hands draw inward, it is closing, yet there must be a sense of opening.   Shifting the centre of gravity continually between the legs strengthens lower-body support and stability, while developing coordination in the alternation of empty and full in the legs - to facilitate a fundamental skill - the Taiji cat-step footwork. 

In execution the hands move, the eyes follow, the body turns, the steps shift - every joint in the body connect, to fulfil the Taiji principle “when  one part moves, the whole body follows”, and the coordination of hands, eyes, body technique, and steps 手眼身法步.

The rotation of the arms in Cloud Hands involves a spiral, coiling quality, like wringing a towel.  This “reeling-silk energy” is the source of Taijiquan’s explosive power.   In push hands, it serves as an effective technique for neutralising linear attacks, using waist and hip rotation along with the rolling of the arms to wrap, absorb and dissolve an incoming force.

On "Closing"...

 A common pitfall among many practitioners is the (over)emphasis put upon the practice while neglecting the closing/retaining routine.  Most treat the “closing posture” as a dispensable ritual. They often fail to realise that these last moments of every  posture and each routine are precisely what determine the advancement of one’s skill. 

Yang Luchan is credited to have said, “Practising boxing is like gathering sand; retaining is like building a dam.” This means that the vital energy and internal strength mobilised during practice must be “retained” within the body through specific methods; otherwise, it’s like a thermos flask without a lid—the heat dissipates very quickly.

During a set of form movements, the muscles alternate rapidly between tension and relaxation, capillaries dilate, and vital energy and blood circulate swiftly through the meridians. Abruptly stopping is like slamming the brakes on a speeding car, which can cause reversed vital energy and blood to accumulate in the joints, causing aches and injury after practice. Conversely, failure to stop is like a runaway car that will invariably run out of fuel.  

There is a widely recognised principle in the martial arts world:  “three years to practise boxing 三年練拳, ten years to learn to retain the skill 十年收功.”  It means that the forms and techniques can be quickly learned, but whether the cultivated energy and strength can be internalised and made one’s own depends entirely on the skill of the closing routine i.e. the retaining process. Many martial artists who had been strong in their youth but suffered from a body full of ailments in old age often faltered precisely because they never realised the art of “retaining the energy.”

The art of spiralling...

An old Taijiquan saying goes:  "Taijiquan is the art of spiralling. Without understanding this, one does not understand the art."  There are two kinds of  "spiralling method",  involving Orbital Revolution (Gongzhuan公转) and Axial Rotation (Zizhuan自转).  The integration of both enables one to experience the subtle state of “energy moving like drawing silk”, and to develop the jin of Taijiquan.

 “Orbital Revolution” refers to the overall movement of the body in which the waist and hips serve as the central axis, leading the arms and legs to trace arcs through space. The limbs move in coordination, driven by the rotation of the torso.  It emphasises whole body movement - ensuring that all parts of the body move in sync, rather than operating independently.

"Axial Rotation" refers to localised, spiral movements within individual limbs, most typically in the clockwise and anticlockwise twisting of the hands and arms.  Even in the most simple lifting movements, the arm subtly "rotate," like wringing a towel.   The principle also applies to the lower limbs.  "Reeling silk energy" (缠丝劲) is generated in this way.

Many practitioners focus solely on "orbital revolution" in their training while neglecting "axial rotation."  As a result power gets stuck at the shoulders.  In practice, "orbital revolution" and "axial rotation" work together - like the earth orbiting the sun while spinning on its axis. Without rotation, one cannot receive, nor redirect and neutralise an incoming force.  Without revolution, rotation loses its foundational axis, and limb movements become ungrounded and weak. 

Clarifying the relationship between orbital revolution and axial rotation in different parts of the body is primarily to achieve overall coordination, avoid superfluous movements, and prevent internal contradictions in one's power. Any movement that is unnecessary, excessive, or irrational is considered superfluous.  By eliminating such movements the body move as one integrated unit, generate "unified energy," and avoid the pitfalls of dispersed force, excessive rigidity, as well as the errors of yielding too much or resisting too hard in practice.

These concepts are rooted in Daoist philosophy and Chinese martial arts principles, where the body is seen as a dynamic system of interconnected rotations. They highlight the importance of integration (whole-body movement) and differentiation (localised spirals) in achieving martial efficiency and health benefits.

 

Why Do We Move Slowly?

Moving slowly is not the goal of Taijiquan, it is the foundation of learning Taijiquan well.  As an early writer of Taijiquan Chen Xin wrote: "From beginning to end, one must move slowly. If you can be slow, then be as slow as possible. When slowness is practiced to the highest degree, agility will also be achieved to the highest degree…This is what people usually find astonishing, yet they do not realise it is the result of the arduous work done beforehand.”

The slow practice of Taijiquan helps to standardise one's movements and allows for a deeper appreciation of the rich nuances and essence within the forms. Slow practice is detailed practice; detailed practice enables complete relaxation of different parts of the body; and complete relaxation allows one to adapt to the  myriad changes, achieving a state of unified body and mind. If movements are practised too quickly, many subtle aspects—such as the nuances of posture, transitions, and connections between movements—may be glossed over, leading to incomplete or inaccurate execution.

Slowly learn to feel how one movement seamlessly and continuously connects to the next. This connecting process links what comes before to what follows. Without smooth connections, transitions between movements cannot be fluid, the folding and changing actions cannot be realised, and the continuous, unbroken flow of silk-reeling energy cannot be developed.

During slow practice, it is essential to achieve “slow but not dispersed, slow but not broken, slow but not stiff and, slow but not dull”.  Slow practise is ultimately for the purpose of speed, but this speed can only emerge gradually on the solid foundation of slow practice.