T’ai Chi Ch’uan Solo Form Part Two

Sifu and the morning class demonstrate part two of the T’ai Chi Ch’uan Solo Form, from Cross Hands up to and including Wave Hands Like Clouds. (I’ll be posting the entire form in 6 parts)
Lesson: It’s the adherence to the ‘principles’ described in the T’ai Chi Classics (Jings) that makes it T’ai Chi Ch’uan, not merely moving slowly.
We move slowly to allow enough time to adjust the postures and the transition, in order to ‘infuse’ them with the ‘principles’ and to help us Meditatewith our minds focused on our breath we adhere to the principles eventually….we achieve the correct ‘feeling’ …and finally we forget about all that and just dance with the universe!Sifu

T’ai Chi Ch’uan, Pushing Hands, Master Cheng Man-Ching Method

This lesson includes some basics and a few of the finer points of Pushing Hands practice. This is the horizontal version of Pushing Hands, developed by Master Cheng Man-Ching, that uses the four techniques of push, press, roll back and cross hands, (ward off). An interplay of Yin/Yang, sensing balance, center line, body angle and positioning relative to each other. Positioning and angling is very subtle in both T’ai Chi Ch’uan and Bagua ZhangBig loss, big gainSmall loss, small gainSoInvest in lossDo not contend with their force JustGo with the flowThe main technique is to off balance ones attackerphysically and mentallyGive them more of what they wantAllow them to off balance themselves…….Then issue on the proper line with whole body power!

Seisan Kata 2 – American Karate-Do Kata’s

This is the second take on this demonstration of Seisan Kata – taken by my friend and co-producer at GCTV JB – the first take below is with my little Olympus 7.0 on a tripod, someone did come along and pan left to get me back on the screen…thanks BL!Please refer to the text below for the ‘lesson’ about how to practice a form/kata while learning the sequence.

Seisan Kata – American Karate-Do Kata’s

Sifu demonstrates Seisan Kata the second form in the American Karate-Do System – this demonstration is performed slowly, without focus (Fa-Jin), with a slight pause at the end of each posture/gesture to make it easier to see the sequence and the detail. Lesson: When learning a ‘form’ always pay more attention to the detail of the final position of each postures/gestures than to power and speed. It’s like practicing a drum rudiment or a scale on a melodic instruments…if you do not know the ‘pattern or position’ yet….what exactly would you be speeding up?Going slowly and stopping momentarily at the end of each posture (up to a few minutes in each posture) will give you the time needed to become aware of what your doing and to adjust your body position accordingly. The main things that should be attended to are: 1. Balance 2. Structual alignment (Bones) 3. Muscular tension 4. Breathing. Pausing momentarily will also give your body and mind enought time to absorb the feeling of a more correctly positioned posture. Your body and mind are like hot tea water and the position/gesture are like the tea itself…your body and mind will automatically become ‘infused’ with the posture as you hold it. This method will give you the best results. As time goes on in order to ‘upgrade’ your Kata’s you will also need to be able to withdraw the power and speed and again return to going slowly and stopping at the end of each posture in order to have the time to ‘see’ and then change the old way of doing it and replace it with the ‘new’ upgraded version. The process of refinement continues …….forever!

T’ai Chi Ch’uan Dance. Part One, Receiving Side

JRRMAS Staff member BL and Sifu practice Grand Master T. T. Liangs two person “T’ai-Chi Dance”. Grand Master Liang combined numerous drills and applications from the many Masters that he trained with to develop this very unique and advanced sensitivity training method with 176 movements on each side. Part 1 of the Dance is the Yang families ‘Da Lu’ or big Roll Back.