Tai Chi Glossary > Er Lu (二路)

Er Lu (二路)

Definition: Er Lu (二路) is the second routine of Chen-style tai chi, known as Cannon Fist (炮捶)—faster, more explosive, and higher in fa jin density than Yi Lu, designed to test and forge the foundation built in the first form.

Among all the routines in the Chen-style curriculum, Er Lu occupies a unique position. It is not an alternative to Yi Lu. It is its crucible. Where the first form builds, the second form tests. Where Yi Lu educates slowly and patiently, Cannon Fist arrives suddenly and demands everything at once.

Practitioners who encounter Er Lu before their Yi Lu foundation is ready almost always come away with the same assessment: it is too fast, too explosive, too physically demanding. They are correct. That is precisely the point.

The Name and What It Signals

二路 (èr lù) simply means “second routine”—二 is two, 路 is road or path. But the name most practitioners use is 炮捶 (pào chuí): Cannon Fist. 炮 is cannon, fireworks, explosive force. 捶 is fist, strike, hammering blow. The compound leaves nothing to the imagination.

The name Cannon Fist was not chosen lightly. In the context of Chen-style’s alternating slow-fast rhythm, Yi Lu contains fa jin but distributes it across a long, predominantly slow form. Er Lu concentrates it. Explosive releases come in rapid succession. The form does not pause to recover between them. It demands that fa jin be available continuously—that the root, winding, and release cycle can repeat without degradation of quality or loss of central equilibrium .

That is a very different demand from Yi Lu. And it is exactly what makes Er Lu irreplaceable.

What Er Lu Contains

Compared to Yi Lu’s 74 movements, Er Lu is shorter—typically around 43 movements in the Chen Xiaowang lineage version—but the physical density is considerably higher. Nearly every movement contains explicit fa jin . Jumps and stomps appear. Direction changes are more abrupt. Transitions that Yi Lu handles gradually, Er Lu compresses.

Several movement categories appear in Er Lu that Yi Lu either omits or treats sparingly. Jumping kicks test whether root can be re-established instantly after becoming airborne. Ground stomps develop the connection between downward force and upward rebound. Consecutive fa jin sequences—two, three, sometimes four explosive releases in rapid succession—train the ability to cycle through the root-wind-release-withdraw sequence at speed without losing structural integrity.

The martial applications embedded in Er Lu tend toward the more direct and aggressive end of the Chen-style spectrum. Where Yi Lu explores the full range of tactical situations, Cannon Fist focuses heavily on close-range explosive engagement—precisely the domain where fa jin , kao (body strikes), and zhou (elbow methods) dominate.

Yi Lu First: Why the Sequence Matters

The classical instruction across Chen-style lineages is consistent: Yi Lu before Er Lu, and Yi Lu for a long time before Er Lu. The reasons are both practical and principled.

Practically, Er Lu’s explosive sequences require a level of kua mobility, silk reeling connection, and Dan Tian stability that Yi Lu takes years to develop. A practitioner who attempts Cannon Fist without this foundation will compensate with muscular force—producing something that looks like fa jin from the outside but lacks the internal structure that makes it genuine. Worse, the high-intensity movements of Er Lu practiced with poor structure carry a real injury risk, particularly for the knees and lower back.

Principally, Er Lu is designed to test Yi Lu’s development—not to substitute for it. The slow, patient cultivation of central equilibrium , continuous silk reeling , and rooted fa jin in Yi Lu creates the internal conditions that Er Lu then puts under pressure. Without Yi Lu’s patient foundation, Er Lu has nothing to test. It becomes an athletic performance rather than an internal practice.

This sequencing also explains why advanced practitioners return to Yi Lu throughout their careers, even after mastering Er Lu. The first form continues to reveal new layers of subtlety that the second form’s intensity tends to obscure. The two routines are not stages to be passed through—they are permanent, complementary practices.

Er Lu in the Broader Curriculum

Within Chen-style Lao Jia and Xin Jia frameworks alike, Er Lu holds the same structural position: the second routine, studied after Yi Lu foundation is established, practiced alongside Yi Lu thereafter. Weapons forms, push hands , and standing practice ( zhan zhuang ) continue alongside both routines throughout a practitioner’s development.

Some lineages treat Er Lu with particular reverence, viewing it as the repository of Chen-style’s most direct martial expression—the form where the art’s combat origins are least obscured by the health-oriented adaptations that have shaped modern tai chi’s public image. Whatever the lineage emphasis, Cannon Fist remains what its name suggests: concentrated, explosive, and unambiguous in its demands.

• Chen Style — the style of which Er Lu is the second and more explosive routine
• Chen-style Lao Jia — the Old Frame curriculum within which Er Lu sits
• Chen-style Xin Jia — the New Frame version of Er Lu with amplified silk reeling demands
• Fa Jin — explosive force release that dominates Er Lu throughout
• Fajin Method — the specific training method Er Lu’s sequences develop and test
• Silk Reeling — the spiral foundation whose integrity Er Lu tests at speed
• Central Equilibrium — the stable center that consecutive fa jin sequences must not disrupt
• Kua — the hip region whose demands are especially acute in Er Lu’s explosive movements
• Chen Xiaowang — the grandmaster whose lineage version of Er Lu is most widely practiced internationally
• Zhan Zhuang — standing practice that builds the root Er Lu continuously demands

Have questions about Er Lu in practice? Our forum thread — Qigong FAQ: Everything Beginners Ask — Answered by Senior Practitioners — covers this and many more topics answered by experienced practitioners.