Jim Russo Admin · 10 hrs

Wu Tu-Nan’s
'Methods of Power & Striking According to the Body’s Upper & Lower Seven Stars.'
Taoist monk, Tang-Yi, was a student of the famed Wu taijiquan (Tai-Chi) master, Wu Tu-Nan
during the 1930’s and early 1940’s. Tang-Yi said that due to Japanese invasions into China and
his forced enlistment into the Nationalist Army brought to a close his studies with Master Wu.
Monk Tang-Yi originally came from Szechuan Province in west China and later studied secret
Taoist meditative practices on sacred Ermei Mountain and learned from several acclaimed
boxing masters in China. He later became a devoted student of Master Wu’s in Beijing. Below is
a lecture that Monk Tang-Yi gave concerning Master Wu Tu-Nan (1884-1989).
Note: The attached photo is a page from Wu Tu-Nan's 1930's book on taijiquan (Tai-Chi).
Performing and executing powerful striking requires the alignment of the Upper Seven Stars
and Lower Seven Stars. These paired star sets are extraordinary in supporting force that that
generates through the body and is expelled as a power that can collapse any area of the
adversary’s body.
Master Wu Tu-Nan demonstrated the Upper Seven Stars position for us, followed by a
demonstration of the Lower Seven Stars position. I must admit that the postures appeared to
be exactly the same. None of us [the students] asked what the difference was because it was
considered rude to speak up in class. Master Wu, I found, always gave us a full explanation of
each posture when he felt we were prepared to receive such enlightened ways.
To begin with, Master Wu said that striking with the hands requires that the Upper Seven Stars
[the two hands, two elbows, two shoulder joints, and the head = seven] move in concert with
the Lower Seven Stars [the two feet, two knees, two hip joints, and pelvic cavity = seven]. Seven
above, seven below produce the fourteen stars that are strung together from the earth [one’s
contact with the ground] and into Heaven [the hands and head which stretch upward toward
celestial virtues]. It was at this moment that I understood the complexity and simplicity of my
master’s practices. Master Wu reminded us, only occasionally, about the Seven Stars because
he felt that words were a valuable gift when spoken and that once he lectured us on a topic we
were expected to remember his words and practice his teachings.
Master Wu once touched a student’s shoulder during free fighting practice, flinging the student
more than twenty feet. It was so effortless looking, yet none of us could do the same. This, as
my master said, was merely because the fourteen stars were placed in their correct houses
[positions] so that the uninterrupted uncoiling of stored nei jin (internal force) and qi can unite
to expel outward toward and into an adversary. If one or more stars are not in correct
placement one’s issuance of jin would be lessened considerably.
Correct placement and alignment of the stars may require years of practice. In each posture
and each transition between each posture the stars above and below must be housed correctly.
This is, according to my master, among the most difficult secrets to practice and attain
perceivable skill within.
In striking a nerve point on another individual Master Wu perfectly set his body into a position
that aligned the stars to unleash force into that single that single nerve point. Each time his
partners would collapse in pain, though Master Wu moved with only slight action. Slight action
was truly a superior skill to all who witness such.
Striking nerve points is an advanced method of placing the stars within the body. To produce
sufficient force to injure a nerve point and send pain rippling through the adversary’s body
requires that the practitioner [myself] round his body slightly, align the fourteen stars into
whole-body vertical strength, and execute a centralized [specifically upon a single point] attack.
How to strike a nerve point is to be done in a very specific manner. In general, a nerve point is
most active at certain times and recedes at other times. It is most vital that the nerve point be
hit when it is active and full with qi and blood swells around it. At that time it is like an archer’s
target.
It is important that a strike be delivered at an angle to the targeted point. This reflects the
philosophy of taijiquan practice of obstructing the adversary’s movement from angles, not from
direct confrontation. “Yield to force, return into them [the adversary] from an angle” is the
superior way Master Wu taught. “Return into the nerve point from an angle” complies, to this
same method of attack. To attack a point from an angle is to render it helpless from its most
vulnerable [weakest] position. This is accomplished by not poking the nerve point directly,
which spreads the nerve in all directions only to resume its original position and shape once the
striking hand is pulled away. This is the most commonly practiced way by most boxing schools,
and this is why its ineffectiveness has become so obvious.
To hit a nerve point at an angle “rolls and seals” it. To “roll” refers to the ability to hit at an
angle just beneath the nerve point so that it moves [rolls] out of place slightly, displacing it from
its correct house [position]. The strike itself causes slight swelling to immediately occur. Such
swelling prevents the nerve point to resume its original position. It is the swelled ball [the small
area of trauma] that actually “seals” the nerve pathway and its movement of qi. Such a small
sealing can create profound pain, illness or death, either immediate or many days later.
The ability of rolling is derived from the ancient practice rolling a wooden ball upon varied
surfaces and in one’s own hands. Wooden ball methods are closely guarded secrets by many
boxing sects, including that of the Righteous Red Fist clan in Nanjing. Master Wu demonstrated
wooden ball skills to us on his small table in his room. The ball rolled back and forth, turning in
circles, and spiraling, all movements guided by only his fingers.
Though the entire hand and lower section of the arm can be employed, it is only the fingertips
that are specially trained in this manner for nerve point striking. The fingertips, as Master Wu
said, must become enlivened with qi, swelling with this vital force before the skill of “roll and
seal” can ever be attained.
Monk T’ang-Yi added that Master Wu Tu-Nan
applied the hidden skill of “roll and seal” within all postures.
Bradford Tyrey