Chen Taiji Practical Method and Hunyuan Taiji on Daqingshan Mountain
Main Exercise
We did a very basic move from Six Sealings four Closings: The out with hand Part:
Preset: Shoulder and Hand lock (better: being locked by partner or other outside restraints)
Action: Elbow moves into the Line of Shoulder — Hand (lead by the other hand pushing the elbow)
Read more
When I first heard about the online class meetings with Shifu I was excited because with Covid-19 it felt like we had lost touch, or at least the ability to get to him. Even still, at the back of my mind I had some reservation about how effective these “zoom meetings” would be? After all Shifu teaches us by touch so how was that going to work online! True, there would be the enjoyable stories – but still the workshops packed in so much…. Read more
Correction on my form Need to have 3 solids There is a line at the shoulder level between the front hand and rear shoulder (first 2 solids) I need to stretch the kua down to create the 3rd solid. Read more
Learning Taiji is like climbing the stairs. The teacher has to grind hard on you until you see the first step and put your foot on it. Whatever is correct has to be driven into you. Read more
Today we worked on isolating a movement and twisting the towel. During previous training sessions we did it to feel the trajectory and range. Now we do it with a restriction. The restriction that we did it with was not to move the knee. The main action we were training was twisting the towel with a stretch, not a rotation. Read more
By the time I first met Master Chen at a Phoenix workshop in 2015, I had already studied martial arts for a long time, since 1963 to be precise. So, I had strong opinions about what was correct and what wasn’t. I thought (and still do) that tai chi is called a martial art for a reason. It’s not called a health, meditative or energy art. Martial means it can be used to kill, but at the same time the killing has to be done artfully. Just clubbing someone to death doesn’t qualify. Read more
…learning about adaptation vs. action…screwdrivers only engage one way…
I haven’t heard too many people praising the pandemic, but for me at least, it’s been great. I mean, I’m not fond of wearing my N-95 mask in buildings; it tickles my nose and fogs up my glasses when I talk. But these are minor problems compared to the boost it’s given my tai chi training. Read more
