Yiquan 10

Here is the final poem, reproduced as before with permission from Heron Beecham.

10.

 

Practise and study hard, and you will enter a place of wonder and fascination;

Where there are innumerable gold bracelets and jade treasures stored within.

 

When we are full of vital energy the spirit will never be exhausted;

With a feeling of elation, let us drift along at will without a fixed lodging point.

 

Activities such as walking, standing, sitting or lying are valuable for practice;

This ancient and remarkable skill appears easy to approach.

 

The body is loosened so that the strength feels like it has been derived from soft mud;

The frame appears to have been suspended by a thread from the top of the head.

 

Examine the condition of each body cell silently with discerning eyes;

False versus real, round versus square, the two aspects aid one another.

 

Evil intentions do not arise from the expansive sky or the boundless sea;

Let the heavenly bodies revolve around each other in the appropriate way.

 

To set an object of pursuit and follow it perseveringly is the only requirement;

A grand achievement will surely be accomplished after many years of study.

 

Suppose we fail to adopt this approach to study yet practise day and night;

We will never succeed in the Chinese martial arts and only sigh in lamentation.