Posture With A Little Twist

要知拳精髓，首由站桩起

To get to know the quintessence of boxing, it first starts with standing pillars.

练功不站桩，等于瞎晃荡

Training skills without standing poles, is like blindly swaying.

練拳無樁步，房屋無立柱

Training boxing without stakes, a house without stud.

In old training, first came posture, then stepping. Posture was a very important basis of any training, a way to learn to put one’s body parts in the most beneficial angles. Feet, since their position basically has a great influence on the whole body, head included, were actually probably the most important part to train.

Unreadable

縱橫逆順，直復不聞

Vertical or horizontal, against or following, straight or turned over is not made known.

縱 vertical, to jump in the air

橫 horizontal, at a right angle (as opposed to 縱), unrestrained

逆 to oppose, to go against, backwards, contrary

順 to follow, along

直 straight (as opposed to 彎, 曲 crooked), simply

復 turn round or over, to repeat, to return to an original state, hexagram 24th of the Yijing

不 no, not

聞 hear, smell, to make known

This last sentence seems to stress on the need to be stealthy, to avoid having one‘s intentions uncovered.

Tightrope

一步練錯百步歪

One step trained wrongly, a hundred wicked ones

See Light And Athletic Foot.