Taijiquan and Shufa are Brothers

Taiji practitioners often wonder why they should practice the art of Shufa.  This video provides a great visual exploration of the interaction of these two art forms and will let you see how they play complement each other.  This is a longer video so I would suggest you watch the first bit and then pick it back up around the 3:45 minute mark.

While this is mostly performance art, you can see the influence of each art from in the other.  In the first part, you will see his physical interpretation of the characters on the wall behind him.  Each character is created through a combination of building blocks that are strung together to create a fluid and balanced character.  These building blocks, called 'strokes', are created by using a combination of pressure between the brush and the paper and whole arm and body movements that control the brush.  He generally interprets the long strokes with sweeping taiji movements.  You can see the pressure points and dots expressed as "fa" or sudden movement.

Starting around the 3:45 minute mark, you can see him use taiji movements to control brushes and create characters on a large piece of paper.  He uses a larger brush (about mop size) and a smaller brush on the end of a long pole.  If you visualize a sword or other weapon, you can easily see how having a good command of using whole body to manipulate an object can be helpful.  Being finely attuned to applying various degrees of pressure with your whole body is particularly valuable.

What do you see in his movements and his control over his brush in the second half?  Can you see the fluidity and balance of the strokes reflected in his movements?  Does it help you envision the movement of the brush that was used to create the characters you see on the walls?