Tanzhang Drills, Setting Stake
1. In a mabu feeling stance, alternate tanzhang repeats. You need to get power from the body core, with just a bit of spring from the legs, as you can’t use stepping to find power. You may alternate also with chuanzhang.
2. In a mabu stance, alternate tanzhang repeats to the front. You need to get power from the body core, with just a bit of spring from the legs, as you can’t use stepping to find power.
3. Tanzhang in lion form. In a mabu stance, alternate trundling the ball, rolling the lion form over from above.
Tanzhang Drills, Moving
1. Side to side stepping. Baibu on a straight line to the side, bracing with the same arm, similar to the dragon form first change. Take a good step forward so that the technique covers some distance. The feet will both be turned out at this point. Be sure to align the striking hand so that it shotts directly forward. Grab and pull in, stepping in the rear foot to tanzhang. The final stance is a short mabu feeling, and the rear foot will point in the direction of the tanzhang. When the foot comes in, it does not stamp – there should be no noise from the feet.
In most stepping drills, you ‘pull the bow’. Pull the striking hand back as if pulling a bow – the hands line up along the line of the strike. Then step forward to a close mabu, grab and pull back with the ‘bow’ hand and tanzhang with the ‘arrow’ hand. Pull back to under the elbow, fist heart up. When you step across, don’t turn the body yet, wait to use the body into the tanzhang.
2. Zigzag stepping, alternating tanzhang. Essentially the same as the side to side stepping, just stepping a bit to the front instead of directly to the side, so you move forward in a zigzag pattern.
3. Straight line stepping tanzhang. Taking the three-step pattern to advance directly forward, alternating tanzhang without the reaching forward.
4. T pattern stepping. Do side to side tanzhang, then do a very turned baibu to step around to the outside, like you have gone back and forth on the top of a T, then turned to upright outer point. Sweep around with the same hand as the baibu foot, then step the other foot forward to do a tanzhang with a short aligned stance.
Then do another very turned baibu to get back to the top of the T, doing a snake coils its body, to change sides.
This practice teaches you to deal with opponents in three directions, and prepares you to be able to step in any direction. If you have the ability to take on anyone within a considerable range, then you can trust your ability and be pre-emptive instead of awaiting opportunity.
5. Side to side stepping into shunbu tanzhang. The same as regular side to side, but stepping the rear foot through to a shunbu.
6. Inside triangle stepping to tanzhang. The same as the other inside triangle stepping drills, but into tanzhang.
7. Retreating stepping tanzhang.
8. Add a tanzhang to any chuanzhang drill. For example, straight line stepping combined with chuanzhang. Move in with a tanzhang, then follow up with a chuanzhang, sliding under the outreaching arm. Grab with the other hand when doing the tanzhang, and bring an open hand back to the leading arm when doing the chuanzhang. Use the tanzhang as an obvious technique that lets the opponent know you are coming. When he reacts, then you get the more subtle chuanzhang in.
9. Lion form tanzhang. Moving forward in any of the stepping patterns, trundle the ball, bringing the hand over from above in a lion form. This usually moves into a smooth stance.
There are eight more tanzhang moving drills that can also be considered variations on the dragon form single palm change, as tanzhang is a core technique within that change.
- Single tanzhang. From dragon form, koubu, baibu, and ‘stretch the bow’. Tanzhang to the circle centre. Go directly to walking in dragon form.
- Double tanzhang. Koubu, baigu, and ‘stretch the bow’. Tanzhang to circle centre. Gran, then tanzhang directly with the other hand also to circle centre. Then bring the first hand through with a ‘sweep up the cloak’ to walk in dragon form.
- Triple tanzhang. Koubu, baibu, and ‘stretch the bow’. Tanzhang to circle centre three times. Then go directly to walk in dragon form.
- Direct tanzhang. Koubu away from the circle centre. Turn around to the back to tanzhang with the upper hand (there is no initial ‘stretch the bow’ reach).
- Turning tanzhang. Koubu, baibu, and reach across with a sweeping action of the arm. Pull the striking hand back as if pulling a bow – the hands line up along the line of the strike. Then step forward to a close mabu, grab and pull back with the ‘bow’ hand and tanzhang with the ‘arrow’ hand. Pull back to under the elbow, fist heart up. When you step across, don’t turn the body yet, wait to use the body into the tanzhang. When the foot comes in, it does not stamp – there should be no noise from the feet.
- Lift knee tanzhang. Koubu, lift the other knee, block down, then step forward to tanzhang.
- Hidden tanzhang. Koubu to the outside. Turn around fully to tanzhang behind, along the line of the circle. Then chuanzhang to go directly into dragon form. Walking with the left hand up, koubu the left foot to the outside and tanzhang the left arm back to the same place that hand was before.
- Koubu, ‘hold up the cloak’ like the dragon form second palm change. Koubu chuanzhang in lion form a bit away from the circle. Roll over and tanzhang with the same hand in almost the same direction. Then open out the hand that did the tanzhang and swing open both hands naturally to go into a big ‘hide the flower under a leaf’. Step away naturally.
Tanzhang may also be done the lion way. In ‘small ball’, done in straight line drills into a smooth stance, tanzhang from above with a slight rolling action with the palm down. Bring the other hand back in a rolling action with the palm up. In ‘large ball’, also usually done in straight line drills into a smooth stance, tanzhang from above as if holding a big ball with the palm down. Bring the other hand back in a rolling action with the palm up.