Dui-Grain Mortar in Old China
In China, old can mean a few thousand years, can also mean less than a hundred years.
The traditional way of milling grain into a flour form in most of northern China was several types of mills. The video below is a family grain mortar called 碓， Dui, Mortar. This word 碓 is the identical to the 碓 in 金刚捣碓 Buddha's Warrior Attendant Pounds Mortar. This type of devices were commonly used when I grew up in the 1960s in northern China.
The reason I talk about this is because this is the type of background information we need today to understand how taiji were created, practiced and used in China in the past. If we don't relate to the background of the art, we will have a hard time "really" understanding it.
In this video, you will see an inefficient lever device that produces an efficient "pounding" action.
In our Chen Style Taijiquan Practical Method system, this type of action is present throughout the routines.
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"Dao Dui"[/caption]
Source: https://practicalmethod.com/?p=64355