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Glossary
- Peng jin (peng jing, peng chin)
- Expansive energy. The rising, pushing outwards internal power that forms the basis of the yang chi aspect of internal martial arts.
- Pi chuan (pi quan)
- Chopping or Splitting Fist. One of the five basic techniques of hsing-i chuan.
- Post-birth (hou tien)
- That which happens to a person after leaving the womb. Talents, skills, or accomplishments not inherent but acquired after birth.
- Post-birth ba gua
- The linear as opposed to Circle-Walking practice of ba gua chang.
- Post-birth chi
- The chi a human gets by eating, drinking, sleeping, breathing, and exercising.
- Posture
- The last static position that ends a martial art technique or chi gung movement. Also, a whole movement for which a specific martial art or chi gung technique is named.
- Pre-birth (hsien tien)
- Whatever has happened to a human between conception and the time of birth.
- Pre-birth ba gua
- The Circle-Walking practice of ba gua whose purpose is to develop pre-birth chi in the same manner as it was done in Taoist monasteries.
- Pre-birth chi
- The energy an individual absorbs from its mother and the cosmos while in the womb. The quantity and quality of this energy basically determines the genetic strength or weakness an individual has for life. Normally, the amount of this chi is fixed for life at birth. However, through certain pre-birth chi cultivation practices, an adult is again able to store this chi, thus potentially overcoming genetic limitations.
- Push Hands
- Also known as tui shou. The continuous two-person hand-touching practice of the internal martial art of tai chi chuan, which forms the bridge between the form movements of tai chi and its self-defense techniques.
- Qi
- see Chi
- Randori
- Japanese term for the free sparring used in judo, jujitsu, and aikido.
- Reversal
- A martial technique wherein the practitioner goes in one direction and then does a complete 180-degree turn to the opposite direction in order to complete a fighting application. Used equally in strikes, throws, and joint-locks.
- Right channel
- One of the three primary energy lines of the body. See Left channel.
- rooting
- The technique of sinking body energy and rooting it into the earth. It is difficult to physically move a martial artist who has mastered rooting. In the internal martial arts, rooting gives a practitioner tremendous power.
- Rou Shou
- Soft Hands; also known as San Shou or Free Hands in Taiwan. A two-person fighting preparation technique practiced in ba gua (and some hsing-i schools) in which the arms of the partners are in continuous spiraling contact. Rou Shou can be likened to a combination of tai chi Push Hands, judo, and wing chun sticky hands.
- Samadhi
- A meditative experience that is indicative of a specific stage of “enlightenment.”
- Samurai
- The warrior knights of ancient Japan who became the classic role models of the Japanese martial arts. Their most distinguishing characteristics were the top-knot hair style, and the wearing of two swords, which they were expert at using.
- San chin
- A martial art stance where one foot is in front of and the other behind the torso, with both feet curved inward to some degree and facing each other. A commonly used stance to develop power breathing in several styles of karate and Southern Shaolin schools.
- San Ti
- The primary internal power development technique of hsing-i. San Ti is done standing still and holding a specific static arm posture.
- Savate
- A French martial art that combines kicking and Western boxing.
- Seventy-two leg techniques
- A series of ba gua martial art techniques concerned with kicks, leg-locks, and footwork procedures.
- Sha chi (sha qi)
- Chi that kills upon contact.
- Shang pan gung fu
- Martial art techniques that derive their skill and development from the power of the upper body rather than from the legs.
- Shansi hsing-i
- Original form of hsing-i that came from the northwestern Chinese province of Shansi.