Post by Chef Samurai on Sept 6, 2012 4:22:43 GMT -5
When the exponent's style has manifested itself in the exponent's martial arts, he will not be restricted by the fixed and rigid Lower Tier skills. His martial arts will instead be based on the primary principles of his style and his skills will be derived instead of memorized. Styles are an abstract expression of martial arts. Styles cannot be taught. Styles can only be guided.
The predictability of the exponent's moves will decline and eventually break down and he will not have specific skills which can be studied and neutralized. He will be able to use his skills freely and naturally as the inflexibility contained within his martial arts will break down and he will have access to the higher echelons of martial arts.
Of course an exponent just beginning on the Styles stage without great proficiency in the Lower Tier divisions may not be superior to an exponent who has good mastery of the Lower Tier divisions but has only slight proficiency the Styles stage. Still, practitioners of the Styles stage will have an edge over practitioners of the Lower Tier stages.
According to the philosophy described by Fuxi, the Styles stage can be summarized by this principle:
无极生有极, 有极是太极,
太极生两仪, 即阴阳;
两仪生四象: 即少阳、太阳、少阴、太阴,
四象演八卦, 八八六十四卦
Working backwards, the first and most basic level in the Styles stage would fall under the 64-Hexagrams stage ( 八八六十四卦 ), where an exponent's style can be classified under one of the 64 different 'themes'.
Thereafter, the exponent's advancement will allow him to be classified under one of the 8 major styles corresponding to the 8 Trigrams or Bagua ( 四象演八卦 ). The exponent's martial arts need not conform totally to the characteristics governing a certain style but is classified based on the main composition of his martial arts.
The 8 major styles are :
1. Qian ☰ - Heaven
2. Dui ☱ - Marsh
3. Li ☲ - Fire
4. Zhen ☳ - Thunder
5. Xun ☴ - Wind
6. Kan ☵ - Water
7. Gen ☶ - Mountain
8. Kun ☷ - Earth
Following that, when the exponent utilizes more than one of the 8 major styles with nearly equal proficiency in two of the 8 styles whereby the main composition of his martial arts can no longer be classified under a single style, his style is now classified under one of the "Four Phenomena" ( 两仪生四象 ), consisting of Greater Yin, Greater Yang, Lesser Yin and Lesser Yang.
Further advancement will bring the exponent to the Yin-Yang level, where his martial arts can only be classified as either Yin-based or Yang-based ( 太极生两仪, 即阴阳 ). The next level will be the Taiji stage (Taiji in this case refers to a techincal term in Taoist terminology and not the martial arts system known as Taiji or Tai Chi). In this stage the exponent's martial arts cannot even be classified as Yin-based or Yang-based as the exponent's martial arts would already have enveloped all the 8 major styles of the Bagua.
Yet at the Taiji stage ( 有极是太极 ) the exponent cannot be considered to have reached the Formless stage because although Taiji is a smooth and refine compound of all the styles, the styles are still visible and the forms and structure of the styles remain preserved.
Finally, at the Formless stage, the exponent's style will culminate in the pinnacle of combat martial arts, forming the Formless Style. The highest level of formlessness, the Ideal Formless Style, corresponds exactly to the Taoist principle of ad infinitum ( 无极生有极 ). The very nature of Formless itself is governed by one single law - Formlessness is infinity.
The Formless Style is the most difficult style to describe due to its exceptionally profound nature, comparable to the so-called singularity of physics. In this stage there is supposedly no techniques, no principles, no styles, no predictability. Formlessness is everything and yet nothing. The actual appreciation of this stage can only be left to our imagination.
The predictability of the exponent's moves will decline and eventually break down and he will not have specific skills which can be studied and neutralized. He will be able to use his skills freely and naturally as the inflexibility contained within his martial arts will break down and he will have access to the higher echelons of martial arts.
Of course an exponent just beginning on the Styles stage without great proficiency in the Lower Tier divisions may not be superior to an exponent who has good mastery of the Lower Tier divisions but has only slight proficiency the Styles stage. Still, practitioners of the Styles stage will have an edge over practitioners of the Lower Tier stages.
According to the philosophy described by Fuxi, the Styles stage can be summarized by this principle:
无极生有极, 有极是太极,
太极生两仪, 即阴阳;
两仪生四象: 即少阳、太阳、少阴、太阴,
四象演八卦, 八八六十四卦
Working backwards, the first and most basic level in the Styles stage would fall under the 64-Hexagrams stage ( 八八六十四卦 ), where an exponent's style can be classified under one of the 64 different 'themes'.
Thereafter, the exponent's advancement will allow him to be classified under one of the 8 major styles corresponding to the 8 Trigrams or Bagua ( 四象演八卦 ). The exponent's martial arts need not conform totally to the characteristics governing a certain style but is classified based on the main composition of his martial arts.
The 8 major styles are :
1. Qian ☰ - Heaven
2. Dui ☱ - Marsh
3. Li ☲ - Fire
4. Zhen ☳ - Thunder
5. Xun ☴ - Wind
6. Kan ☵ - Water
7. Gen ☶ - Mountain
8. Kun ☷ - Earth
Following that, when the exponent utilizes more than one of the 8 major styles with nearly equal proficiency in two of the 8 styles whereby the main composition of his martial arts can no longer be classified under a single style, his style is now classified under one of the "Four Phenomena" ( 两仪生四象 ), consisting of Greater Yin, Greater Yang, Lesser Yin and Lesser Yang.
Further advancement will bring the exponent to the Yin-Yang level, where his martial arts can only be classified as either Yin-based or Yang-based ( 太极生两仪, 即阴阳 ). The next level will be the Taiji stage (Taiji in this case refers to a techincal term in Taoist terminology and not the martial arts system known as Taiji or Tai Chi). In this stage the exponent's martial arts cannot even be classified as Yin-based or Yang-based as the exponent's martial arts would already have enveloped all the 8 major styles of the Bagua.
Yet at the Taiji stage ( 有极是太极 ) the exponent cannot be considered to have reached the Formless stage because although Taiji is a smooth and refine compound of all the styles, the styles are still visible and the forms and structure of the styles remain preserved.
Finally, at the Formless stage, the exponent's style will culminate in the pinnacle of combat martial arts, forming the Formless Style. The highest level of formlessness, the Ideal Formless Style, corresponds exactly to the Taoist principle of ad infinitum ( 无极生有极 ). The very nature of Formless itself is governed by one single law - Formlessness is infinity.
The Formless Style is the most difficult style to describe due to its exceptionally profound nature, comparable to the so-called singularity of physics. In this stage there is supposedly no techniques, no principles, no styles, no predictability. Formlessness is everything and yet nothing. The actual appreciation of this stage can only be left to our imagination.