It was said Yang Lu Chan won all his fights by only using peng, lu, ji, an in pulling the peacock's tail. Is this possible? I would affirm by a resounding "yes". A skilled taichi master should be able to control his opponent fully upon 1st contact. And most often than not, peng jin (wardoff force) is used here.
Peng is described as having the characteristic of floating by wave. Pengjin should cause your opponent to lost his root and floated, as a result, losing all his strength to attack or counter attack you. How can this possible? Pengjin manifest from your feet, guided by waist and manifest in the hand in a 45 degree angle. Very important is that your wrist attach to your opponent and twist clockwise 45 degree into his center line coordinating with the entire body. This will cause his frame to collapse and spine twisted locking all his energies and severing his root. If you can intercept this way, the battle is as good as won.
Few months ago I joined an Aikido workshop pretending to be a novice. In one exercise, we are instructed to block a punch and follow-up with a take down by executing a neck lock. A paired with 2 gentlement, one of them was a Malay silat master while another was an Aikido 4th Dan black belt. Both were awed by the way I blocked their punches. They said for some reasons my block made them felt almost like spinning and before they know it, their back was exposed to me. I explained to them giving the analog of throwing something to a spinning top which will cause the oncoming force to be rebelled sideways.
Evidently to me at least, peng can be very dangerous and effective in fighting if you know exactly how to use it.
