Taijiquan
The Waist is the Commander – Waving the arms like silk scarves It is a defect to move the arms mechanically using the musculature to make a ward off shape. It is more effective to let the arms wave like silk scarfs as a result of turning the waist. The […]
The Waist is the Commander – Waving the arms like ...
1 Fall asleep, and wake up – the genius of Grandmaster William CC Chen Grandmaster William CC Chen was my first teacher in Taijiquan. He was also a inner door student of Professor.Cheng Man Ching and lived with him as a child. William was very good at pointing out things that […]
Fall asleep, and wake up – the genius of Grandmaster ...
“Give up yourself to follow others” – moving effortlessly as one piece One of the aspects of single hand push hands is defending against being plucked or pulled out of center. When we yield, we generally do this in piecesp. When someone pulls your hand and you follow their movement […]
“Give up yourself to follow others” – moving effortlessly as ...
1 I have trained under various lineages that have entirely different perspectives on the art of Tai Chi Chuan. Whether talking about how forces are neutralized or how people interact in various exercises, the differences are mind numbing . Generally speaking, I have observed practitioners allegiance to one lineage create an […]
Mining for gold – perspective from an open mind/heart
Opening the spine or suspending from the Crown point is always the first aspect discussed when it comes to the internal martial arts. It is also one of the least understood, and the most difficult to acquire when left to one’s own devices. I have spent decades training, and it […]
from natural to natural” opening the spine with one trigger
Something that I have observed over the years is that when practitioners are training the transformational exercises, they train up to their comfort level and they count repetitions. They literally accept their level of incompetence as if it is carved in stone. When training the Gong Fa , it is […]
Transformation – don’t accept your level of incompetence
BP Chan used to say “it’s easy to get it from the neck up, it’s much more difficult to get it from the neck down”. What he is saying is that understanding a concept and actually internalizing that concept into your movement are vastly different things. Most practitioners run around […]
Taijiquan is not A to B to C to D…, ...
The following video is deliberately devoid of technical jargon because it is meant for the common man or woman to apply to their daily activities . The idea is to simply release your waist right above the waistband by thinking of the sides of your body , maybe 2 to […]
Practical kung fu: Standing up from a squat or from ...
1 Most traditional Tai Chi Chuan forms start with ” grasp the birds tail “. There is often a transition where it appears as if we are holding a ball. The form can be trained energetically where we are sensing the energy between our palms and even forming an energy ball. […]
An application of “Holding the Ball” in Taijiquan
Traditional Push Hands Methods are intended to develop certain skills. The following footage shows me giving a couple of examples to Aaron. Sometimes a disadvantage can be turned into an advantage. The first example shows me capturing Aaron’s palm as he endeavors to put force on my elbow. This can […]
” Who has who here?” – BP Chan- small changes ...
Historical records have shown that the arts of Xingyiquan and Taijiquan were inspired by spear methods. The concept is to insert your spear tip into an opening and take the line with your superior alignments. This action is both attacking while diverting and often turning the opponent. Most infantry men […]