楊露禪先師軼事
AN ANECDOTE ABOUT YANG LUCHAN
初師在京師聲聞遐邇，俠來訪者踵接，一日靜坐間，忽有僧來，師自迎出階，見僧貌偉壯，身高六尺許，拱揖道慕意，師亟遜答，僧鶻起出拳直撲師，師略含胸，以右掌抵拳頂拍之，僧如受電擊，跌出屛後猶作拳擊狀，久之乃歛容稱謝曰，僧鹵莽，師仍邀與談，審其名為淸德僧，固少林健壯者也，僧縷縷問，頃出不意猶不得逞何也，師曰，是謂刻刻留心也，曰頃出何其疾也，曰，是謂發勁如放箭也，曰僧雲遊幾省，未有如師者，堅叩太極輕靈之奧，師不答，見有飛燕入簾，低繞近身，即起手速抄之，顧謂僧曰，此鳥馴就人，聊與為戲何如，輒承以右掌而左手撫之，旋縱使去，燕振翼擬起，師微將掌忽隱忽現，燕不能飛去，蓋無論何種雀鳥，必先足蹬勁才能飛，燕足無着力處，遞撲伏，則又撫之使去，復不得起，如是者三，僧大訝曰技何神也，師笑曰，奚足言神，太極行功稍久，通體輕靈一羽不能加，蠅蟲不能落，畧如是狀耳，僧拜服，留談三日乃去。
When Yang was in Beijing, he was heard of everywhere. Fighters crowded upon each other to visit him. One day, in the midst of seated meditation, suddenly a Buddhist monk arrived. Yang personally went to receive him at the stairs. He saw that the monk’s appearance was imposing and strong and that his height was about six feet. When the monk saluted and spoke his esteem, Yang immediately became humble in response. Then the monk, like a falcon bursting into flight, threw out his fists and flung himself at Yang. Yang slightly hollowed his chest and used his palm to slap the top of the monk’s fist. The monk seemed to receive an electric shock and fell away behind a screen while still in the act of punching. After a while, with a sober expression on his face, he thanked Yang and said, “That was very rude of me.” Yang invited him in anyway and conversed with him. He found out that he was called the Pure Integrity Monk and that he was indeed a tough exponent of Shaolin. The monk asked him questions one after another, just as:
“Just now when I attacked you, I took you by surprise, so why was I still unable to succeed?”
Yang said, “It is called paying attention at every moment.”
“When I attacked you, how is it that you were you so fast?”
Yang said, “It is called issuing power like releasing an arrow.”
“I have travelled to several provinces but not yet met the likes of you. I sincerely ask the secret to Taiji’s nimbleness and quickness.”
Yang said nothing, seeing a swallow fly through his curtain and then lower in arc nearby him. He promptly lifted his hand and scooped it up, then looked over at the monk and said, “This bird is tame and unafraid of people, so why not have some fun with it?”
The way he did this was to put it in his right palm while petting it with his left, then took away his left hand to let it fly away, and the swallow flapped its wings and tried to take off, but he slightly made his palm suddenly vanish and suddenly manifest, and the swallow could not fly away. Every kind of bird must first push with its feet to be able to get into the air, but the swallow had nothing to push against. It gave up, so Yang returned to petting it, then gave it another chance, but again it could not get into the air.
After a third round, the monk was astounded and said, “This skill is magical.”
Yang smiled and said, “What’s so magical about it? Practice Taiji for a long time and the whole body will become so nimble and quick that a feather cannot be added and a fly cannot land. That basically sums it up.”
The monk bowed in admiration and continued to converse with Yang for three more days before finally leaving.
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