Chapter 267 - 243 Tai Chi
September 28th, a sunny day.
In a private hospital in New York, several figures were moving about on the green lawn.
Li San, dressed in a white hospital gown, sat in a wheelchair, watching the "battle" on the lawn with great interest. To be accurate, it couldn’t really be called a battle; it was just Wu Li practicing martial arts.
On the lawn, seven robust Chinese men in black suits were attacking Wu Li.
Their fists and feet created a gust of wind with their swift movements, clearly trained fighters, yet in front of Wu Li, they were no match. He didn’t fight back but, instead, simply reached out to grab the incoming fists and with a pull and a tug, he made his attackers lose their balance and tumble outwards.
During this process, Wu Li’s body turned, and although he appeared to move slowly, he always managed to dodge the attacks from the left, right, or behind him just in time. Then with a quick movement, he would close in on one of them and, with a push or slap, he would send them tumbling again.
The ground was soft, and Wu Li wasn’t using much force, so these men weren’t hurt when thrown. They quickly got back up and charged at him again.
Wu Li moved effortlessly amidst the seven, like a butterfly flitting through flowers, continuously throwing them to the ground.
Li San could see that what Wu Li was using was the Tai Chi "listening skill" technique. The moment he touched or made contact with an opponent, he could "listen" to his opponent’s power, find their center of gravity, and then with a gentle "push," disrupt their balance and throw them down.
The listening skill of Tai Chi seems mysterious, but in fact, it’s about refining a keen intuition.
When starting to practice listening skill, you begin with pushing hands. When two people’s arms touch and they exert force against each other, if both push forward, you can clearly feel the other person’s force directed forward. That’s "listening" to the power. From there, neutralizing (Hua Jin) becomes easy, like if you suddenly withdraw your strength and move backward or sidestep, catching the opponent off guard, causing them to lose balance and lunge forward involuntarily. In this way, you neutralize the opponent’s force.