Clock Directions in the Zheng Manqing Taijiquan 37 Posture Form

7/6/17

In a previous article on taijiquan, I looked at the cardinal directions we do postures in a form, with the directions fixed. This is thinking about directions from an objective point of view. However, another useful way to think about directions is from a relative point of view.

For example, using a standard analog clock, in front of you right now is direction 12 o'clock and behind you is 6. To your left is 9, and to your right is 3. If you turn around to 6 and stay there, now you are facing your 12 again.

Consider the following table. I list all postures and "sub postures" I could think of. I list the clock direction for that posture when coming from the previous posture.

Posture Number	Posture Name	Direction
1	preparation	12
2	beginning	12
3	ward off left	12
4	ward off right	3
5	rollback	12
6	press	12
7	push	12
8	single whip	6
9	lift hands	3
10	shoulder strike	12
11	white crane spreads wings	9
12	brush knee left	12
13	play the pipa	12
14	brush knee left	12
15	step forward	12
16	deflect	12
17	parry	12
18	punch	12
19	withdraw	12
20	push	12
21	apparent closure, cross hands	3
22	embrace tiger, return to mountain	430
23	rollback	12
24	press	12
25	push	12
26	diagonal single whip	6
27	rely on fist, fist under elbow	1030
28	retreating monkey, right	12
29	retreating monkey, left	12
30	retreating monkey, right	12
31	retreating monkey, left	12
32	retreating monkey, right	12
33	diagonal flying	430
34	cloud hands, left	1030
35	cloud hands, right	12
36	cloud hands, left	12
37	cloud hands, right	12
38	cloud hands, left	12
39	cloud hands, right	12
40	cloud hands, left	12
41	single whip	9
42	squatting single whip, snake creeps down	12
43	golden rooster stands on one leg, left	12
44	golden rooster stands on one leg, right	12
45	separate right foot	130
46	separate left foot	1030
47	turn and strike with heel	6
48	brush knee left	12
49	brush knee right	12
50	low punch	12
51	ward off right	12
52	rollback	12
53	press	12
54	push	12
55	single whip	6
56	fair lady left	430
57	fair lady right	730
58	fair lady left	1030
59	fair lady right	730
60	ward off left	730
61	ward off right	3
62	rollback	12
63	press	12
64	push	12
65	single whip	6
66	squatting single whip, snake creeps down	12
67	seven stars step forward	12
68	step back and ride tiger	12
69	turn body and sweep lotus with leg	12
70	bend bow, shoot tiger	130
71	step forward	1030
72	deflect	12
73	parry	12
74	punch	12
75	withdraw	12
76	push	12
77	cross hands	3
78	conclusion	12
79	bow/saying thanks	12

Here is a graph of the % of clock directions.

Here is a summary of the statistics for each clock direction:

• 12 (in front of you), 68%
• 3 (to your right), 6%
• 6 (behind you), 6%
• 9 (to your left), 3%
• other (various diagonals), 17%

It is clear that the vast majority of the clock direction is in front of you. Interestingly, the percents of right, behind, and left combined are roughly equal to the percent for the diagonals.

One can practice "kata" many different ways, but if done in a self-defense type of way, this tells me that frontal attacks are roughly 2 times as common (ie 68/32) as other types. Also, I'd focus on practicing defending against attacks from your 6, as they are the most difficult to defend against in real life.

Thanks for reading. Happy practice!