Drastic Changes

杳之若日，偏如滕兔

Dark then like the sun, slant like a surging rabbit

杳 distant and out of sight, gloomy; dim; dusky, dark and quiet, disappear, remote and out of sight, obscure, dark, mysterious, deep.

之 "then" (之 knows multiple uses as a particle, in some cases with no particular meaning. Translating it by "then" is just to avoid not mentioning it), up to. 

若 as if, like if, assuming, similar.

日sun.

偏 slanting, leaning.

如 like, as if, such as.

滕 to surge, water bursting forth.

兔 rabbit.

This phrase is a typical example of a totally obscure text when one has not been given any clue to decipher such sentences. To understand what seems not only a total paradox but also two statements which do not seem to have any connection, one has to remember that change was the cornerstone of old practices. Indeed "Martial without change, a waste of the study of the Art"*. 

Hence, this whole sentence deals with extreme changes, the first part more internal while the second more external.

Extremes Meet, Key to Swift Changes

Things will turn into their opposite when they reach their extreme (物極必反)** is a popular Chinese saying, one of the clues needed to understand the meaning of the quote. Furthermore, this also points to the fact that whatever is trained has to be in a typical Feminine and Masculine principles relation, where one also contains a bit of the other. Hence the choice of 杳, made of eight strokes which symbolises change, contains the character for the sun, having an original meaning of “sun being under the trees”, which points out the Yin/Yang relation one shall be looking for.

This simple sentence actually summarises numerous principles in training, which all tend to explain how one shall look for changes through a complementary opposition. Hence “extreme firmness, extreme softness”, “moving outside, quiet inside”, “hard outside, soft inside”...., can all be seen as principles derived from “dark as the sun”.

For internalists, one has to search for a state, often extreme, allowing to change in an instant into an opposite one.

Giving two examples, one external and one internal, may help with the understanding.

One of the understandings of the opposite sayings “firm outside but soft inside” and “soft outside and firm inside” focuses on the fascias. Indeed, one of the ways to reconcile those apparently contradictory statements is elasticity for although an elastic is tensed it still remains a soft material, never becoming totally hard, and although it is lax there is still some firmness in the material, never becoming totally slack. In our body, the fascias can procure such elasticity and are, then, opposed to muscle contraction which only leaves a choice between plainly hard muscles when contracted or totally slack when relaxed. Therefore, fascia elasticity is seen as a way to keep softness when being very tense and tension when totally relaxed. Paraphrasing the quote one could say “firm then like soft”.

Another saying would be “moving then like motionless”. In this one, what one focuses on is mind clarity. Indeed, mind clarity is linked with the heart and its pulse. The calmer hence almost motionless is the heart, the clearer would be one’s mind. Indeed as it has been described in Spirited Heart, the faster is the spirit, the steadier and calmer must be the heart, hence one’s breathing, if one wants to keep mind clarity. Mind clarity comes also from an absence of thoughts, another oxymoron where reaching a thoughtless mind brings a clarity which allows prompt decisiveness.

If the first part of the statement seems to deal more with the method, the second points to a physical application, putting one’s body in opposite directions.

Swift and Drastic Changes

Apart from its quite unique capacity to change directions very swiftly, the character for 兔 is made of eight strokes. Hence one can consider that, in martial arts, anything starts with changes, 杳 , and finishes with changes, 兔. Whether internal and hidden, 杳 , or external and visible to the eyes, 兔 , it is all about changes.

Slant is directly pointing to the capacity a hare has to do lateral leaps of several metres which may correspond to complete changes of direction. Therefore, what is looked for is not only basic nimblest, but a level where one would be able to change to an opposite direction in an instant.

If fascia elasticity is, of course, at the centre of such feat, one can further the understanding of such statement through two training methods often used, putting the body in opposite directions and 繞指柔***, “so soft can it twine around one’s finger”  in training. 

Reaching a deep softness close to being boneless is indeed what internal practices are trying to reach in order to become as nimble as a hare, making changes at will. “So soft can it twine around one’s finger” refers to all the twisting and spiralling training aimed to further one’s flexibility. Hence, “A hundred twists linking the waist, a boneless utmost” in the Emei Taoist Boxing Song**** and the need to transform first one’s body.

Putting one’s body in opposite directions is quite a typical method used at many levels in training. As far as fascias are concerned, it is the main means to be able to stretch them. For example, the need to lift the head and sit the pelvis at the same time is a simple and typical way to stretch the back fascias. Stretching apart, such method will use fascia elasticity to allow, almost like a hare, to change into an opposite direction in an instant. A simple example is the arms and chest fascias. Here, the sternum is the central point from which the chest/arms fascias will stretch. Being elastic, the more one will stretch the arms, the more there will be a rebound strength towards the sternum. Hence, if one release his/her arms stretching, they will immediately and naturally retract towards the chest, actually another application of 物極必反**.

Studying extremes and changes is understanding that the dots of the opposite colour in the Yin/Yang symbol are also doors allowing to immediately change from a state to an opposite one. 

*武無易，狂學藝

**物極必反. Another understanding would be that when things reach their extreme, they will move in the opposite direction.

***繞指柔 comes from a poem, 寄赠别驾卢谌 (Sending Another Donation to Lu Chen), written by the general, politician and writer Liu Kun, 劉琨, (271–318). The original sentence is “何意百煉鋼, 化為繞指柔。” (To one’s surprise, high grade well-tempered steel became so soft it could be twinned around the finger), describing how someone became powerless after being defeated. Such meaning extended with time to describe a fiery and unyielding person who became gentle and meek. Apart from the external meaning described in the post, martists also highjack such sentence to make a difference between the organs which shall be as firm as a high grade well-tempered steel while the body extremely soft. It is also another way to point out how one’s unyielding spirit while fighting shall become gentle when not, just like 見之似好婦，奪之似懼虎, "Looking then like a nice lady, fighting then like a threatening tiger".

****百折連腰盡無骨, 峨嵋道人拳歌