Ward Off Right Comparison Chart

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All students learn different ways but I'm sure you've heard LaoMa recommend writing things down!!  It's always helpful to have notes to refer back to. 

Another good thing to do is to analyze your form for similarities and differences.  We've all been caught with a surprise pop quiz in class with questions like "how many Deflect, Parry, and Punch's are there in the form".

Wanda Neu is one example of this! Wanda has done this for all of the postures that she's learned so far and she's also compiled a comparison chart to keep the various versions of Ward-Off Right straight.  She's got each repetition of this oft repeated posture in a chart.  The differences are color coded in red for quick reference.

We're sharing her chart here (click here for a PDF of the chart) so that everyone can see one version of writing things down and analyzing the form. 

Writing down physical movement is always a challenge and we are all working on corrections and refining movements all the time.  Documents such as these are frequently 'living documents' and subject to change (as we all know the counts have a tendency to do once in a while) but it's great to see one version of documentation.

Thanks to Wanda for sharing this with us and letting us share it with all of you!

Fa Jin Ball

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Just a quick Student Corner blog today.  LaoMa ran across this video of someone playing with what they are calling a Fa Jin Ball.  (You can follow the link below the video to view this on YouTube.) 

What do you see when you look at this?  Leave your comments and thought below.

Eye direction in Taijiquan

/ Black Bamboo Pavilion Taijiquan School/

Here's an interesting article on the use of eye in taijiquan training.  Take a few minutes to read it over. It's got some good information and some interesting thoughts. 

http://slantedflying.com/the-eyes-and-tai-chi-training/

How does LaoMa talk about using the eyes in training?  What do you find yourself doing with them?  How frequently are you able to think about them at all! 

Use the link below to comment and join the conversation.

 

Quite an introduction to Taijiquan!

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This Kung Fu Motion Visualization was shared by one of our students, Micah Sam, is very interesting!  This is close to what LaoMa says he experienced in 1964 when he was first introduced to taijiquan, at William C.C. Chen's New Your City School.  For those of you who were able to hear his tale of this experience at his birthday party last year, you may understand what he is referring to with that.  He says that his mind was in a different place and never rebooted.  After such an introduction, he never looked back.

Even for those of us under less of an outside influence, this is a compelling visual and I found myself wondering if the balance between the lower and upper body would be different if it were a taiji form.

It would also be well-received to hear from students what your first introduction to Taijiquan was like and how it influenced you to begin the study, practice and training in this wonderful art of ours!?

https://vimeo.com/163153865?ref=fb-share

Possible Applications of Form?

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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

 

Critical thinking

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Tuesday night Raleigh Wudangshan students listen to words of wisdom

Tuesday night Raleigh Wudangshan students listen to words of wisdom

LaoMa frequently talks of the eight gates and five elements in class.  We've run across a short article by Steve Rowe that explores the "13 Techniques".  He starts with the following thoughts:

Often called the ’13 Techniques’ or the ’13 Postures’ this list can really confuse Tai Chi practitioners and therefore they often get sidelined or bypassed, but when understood, they lie at the heart of Tai Chi practice.  To understand that they are ‘fighting’ dynamics that are held in the mind that are trained with the potential to be used instantly, reflexively and spontaneously in response to the opponent’s actions at any time  and although some are linked to certain techniques they are not the techniques, they are fighting strategies of ‘aliveness’ and are therefore dynamic because they are used to change the situation.

You can find the whole article by clicking here.  Take a few minutes to look over it and share your thoughts and reactions in the comments below.  What things stand out to you?  How does this relate to class discussions?  Remember to always think critically when reading discussions of taijiquan and its various aspects.  Exploring these help round out your understanding.  Sharing impressions can help you see new things!

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While working with some senior students in class,  LaoMa frequently encourages students to analyze the form.  This includes picking it apart so that they know the number of postures, number of techniques within a posture, how many times postures are repeated, explore variations of repeated postures and what the reasoning might be for each of these differences.  Below is a short blurb that resulted from a Monday night class discussion ending in an early morning epiphany. 

I woke up this morning at 5:00 thinking about why there are only 3 ward-off lefts compared to 8 ward-off rights. I came up with an answer (disclaimer: this is “an” answer, not “the” answer, because a) I’m not even sure I’ve got this right b) I’m not sure it’s actually an answer  and c) also I imagine there is more than one answer anyway). In my head I was thinking that what you are doing with the right hand in ward-off left is like what you do in diagonal flying (I think). So there are 2 diagonal flyings (Section 2; Section 5). Then, I think you’re also doing the same thing with part the wild-horse’s mane, and there are 3 of those in Section 4. So you have 3 ward-off lefts, 2 diagonal flyings, and 3 parting the wild horse’s manes (3+2+3=8). So, 8 ward-off right things, and 8 ward-off left like things.
However, like Jason and I sometimes used to say to each other after pontification about something or other: “Or, I could just be full of @#$4”
-Micah Sam

We’re putting this out there to help prompt thought and discussion.  Feel free to leave comments and questions!