Taking it apart to put it back together again

(In order to see how it really works)

This would be my first time in writing for the student corner but I very much wanted to report my experience interacting with the abbreviated form composed of only three postures and the transitions among them. Dubbed the “Roller Coaster” form (it perhaps deserves a more elegant name?) is made from combining only the Grasp Sparrows Tail/Single Whip, Deflect, Parry and Punch, and Hug the Knee postures.

I had ‘learned’ the Wudang Mountain 108 form by progressing through the series of 152 postures at a measured pace. It took me more or less two years to work through all six sections and reach the point where I could complete the Form without following anyone. It was a work of memory and attention just to be able to finish the Form without finding myself lost for moments. That was a challenge and still LaoMa said -more than once! – “Now you know the choreography and you can begin to learn the Form.”  I took that to mean I would need to develop some mastery of the individual postures and in that way continue to learn the Form. The Form, by definition, is a series of postures ordered not in an arbitrary manner, but in a securely fixed and intentional sequence.
   
I’ve always admired how exceptional teachers are able to help students by continuously changing and constantly adapting their methods, viewing the subject from different angles, repeating many times what needs to be repeated, often surprising the students in various ways to awaken them.

Observing the capabilities and progress of each student, great teachers don’t teach out of books. I’ve watched LaoMa for many years now as he teaches with persistence, imagination and saintly patience. How many times might he have asked: “What posture is done only in the first section and never repeats? “, or “How many hug the knees in the whole form?” Responses range from blank stares, lucky guesses and, sometimes, a correct answer. The teacher-a telephone ringing in an empty room.

What does it take to awaken a senior student who himself recognizes he has become a little bored with the Form, just interested enough to show up regularly and maybe practice once in a while? Is a breakthrough even possible for her?

I write this because I feel I’ve made a genuine breakthrough in my practice after years of stasis and often regression. And I came to this through our recent work with the Roller Coaster Form.

So how did this happen for me? The development seemed to begin innocently enough with a detail review and corrections of a single posture DPP, while also noting where it was repeated in the Form. This exercise seemed to lead quite naturally, although unexpectedly, to the creation of the Roller Coaster. That experience of developing the abbreviated form (which is really not at all abbreviated as the missing parts are just not physically expressed) led me to a personal breakthrough. For the first time I began to see/feel/understand the Form not just as a memorized sequence of postures but as “The Form”, a whole greater than its parts-the gestalt. It’s difficult for me to describe this insight except to say I began to perceive the Form as a sort of landscape rather than a linear chain of postures.

I’ve begun to practice daily for the first time in many years. And enjoying all the benefits of frequent practice. It’s hard to identify what it was in my experience with Roller Coaster that so captured my renewed attention. It could have been the very process of disassembly and reconstruction through which I began to see how the Form “works”. I needed to think about the Form as a whole as we worked together on Thursday mornings in the development of the Roller Coaster. That attention was sustained as we then aimed to restore the entire Form to its original whole.

I write this filled with appreciation and gratitude to LaoMa for his extraordinary ability to wake up an oversleeping student.

By Woody Lomas, 7/2018

Dissecting the form: Student Analysis and Guides

Over the course of a long empty hand form, there are a few groupings of postures that are repeated.  These postures combine together to make up a significant part of our form.  Given the repetition of these postures, one might infer that they are particularly important to the practice of taijiquan and special attention should be paid to them.

Over the last few months, classes have expanded on this theme and begun to include short forms that are comprised of only repeated postures.  For example, one form may include all of the Hug Knee postures in sequential order but no other postures from the form.  Or perhaps, all of the Grasp Sparrow's Tails/Single Whip sequences can be strung together to provide a complete picture of all of the occurrences of this sequence, providing a short form and a way to compare variations through the form.

Working with the form in this way can give a practitioner a clearer picture of the structure of the form.  Think of the form as a building.  Perhaps the most often repeated sequence can be seen as the support posts for the entire structure - something the artist returns to over and over as the base of their form - Grasp Sparrow's Tail/Single whip for example..  From there, the form contains other frequently repeated postures like Deflect, Parry and Punch or Hug Knee.  These can be seen as the joists or beams that tie the substantial posts together, helping to create a cohesive structure.  As other postures are added in, the structure of form begins to take full form, a structure complete with all the trimmings (think complicated postures that appear once in the form).  

As our classes have worked with this concept, one of our students has created a helpful guide to the Deflect, Parry and Punch posture, which is repeated a total of six times.  It's important to know how the repetitions are similar and in what ways they differ.  

Here you can see Gary Forbach's personal chart to track these differences.  While it's helpful for every student to figure out their own way to track differences in the form, this is a helpful guide to all and can provide a good starting point for anyone wishing to do their own analysis of the form.  

The second document here is another take on how documentation used to explore the form.  This is a study guide to the form compiled by another student, Bob Ingram.  This guide breaks the form into groupings using colors and other notations.  It's a one stop shop!

Do you have a way you explore the form on paper?  Have you created cheat sheets of your own? What other types of things may be helpful in deepening your understanding of form?  Leave your thoughts and comments below.

#BlackBambooP

Grasp Sparrow's Tail Posture Instructions Updated

“Grasp Sparrow Tail” (Lan Que Wei) is a sequence of postures that recurs 8 times total during the entire 154 posture, Wudangshan 108 Taijiquan Form, the most repeated sequence of any group of postures in this Form.  It is comprised of 4 separate postures:  Ward Off, Rollback, Press and Push (Peng, Lu, Ji, An), or 4 of the all-important 8 Gates above the waist, making this sequence even more important for students to understand.  Cross Hands (Shi Zi Shou) is repeated 3 times, and Close (He Taiji) bring the Form to its final posture.  In total this entire sequence of 39 repeated postures comprises one fourth of all the postures of Wudangshan 108 Taijiquan; a number that fits with most of the popular “short” Forms developed in Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. 

Many of you referred to our written instructions during your early days of learning form or snuck a peak once in a while to remember exactly what you do on which counts!

LaoMa has worked tirelessly and updated these instructions.  The new and improved version is available on the website in the Class Info tab - under Class Documents.  

Take a moment to review this new edition of instructions.  It is clear and concise as well as up to date on new counts for the postures.

You may note that Single Whip is missing from this instruction set.  Keep an eye out for the new and improved instruction set for Single Whip and Cross Hands that will be coming out soon!  No need to wait in line - we'll post the new version online for your convenience!! 

Possible Applications of Form?

The link below is to a video titled Tai Chi Master Fu Wing-fei: Applications.  Take a moment to watch it - it's short!  While he is demonstrating a different form's applications, these might be interesting to some of us.  Remember that are be multiple applications for each posture!  What things do you see in these demonstrations?  What lessons can you apply to your own practice and what things might you avoid. 

Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_luDzL03vw