Knowledge : Taiji Apparatus

Gerry (left) and Ron (right)

When Master Chen visited Phoenix from Jan 31 to Feb 3, 2011, he introduced this new exercise to me. When you do the circles, put a yoga block between your knee and the wall, and use your knee to push very hard against the block. So, when you start to do circles, your knee is stationary. Your kua opens! Try it with the block, try it without. Eventually, you can do the circles without moving your front knee.The function of this block is that it allows free push of the body and kua forward and yet, the force transmits to the ground from the knee. Without it, the force applied forward will go out from the knee and not into the ground. Taiji movements require that force only goes to the ground, impact goes into the opponent. This is another aspect of the yin yang separation. Many people are aware of this principle and yet they cannot produce the effect. The reason is because they do not have a physical way of actualizing the theory. This is one of the special abilities of Master Chen Zhonghua. He believes, like his master Hong Junsheng, that in learning one must not trust themselves. They should find ways to ensure what is believed is actually done. In this excise, I have seen Master Chen teach the principle of not moving the knee before and have also seen that everyone was moving the knee right in front of him (Master Chen). The reason, Master Chen said, is because people tend to believe in what they feel. They FEEL that their knees don’t move but in reality the knees move a lot. The introduction of the block in between the knee and the wall is a personal invention of Master Chen, I believe. But the important point is that the use of this simple device actually keeps us closer to what Hong Junsheng taught. I tried it for less than a month, now I can get the same feeling about my qua and knee when doing circles without the yoga block. To keep the front knee not moving is important. To push forward without moving (forward). I urge practitioners to find ways to “force” our body to do what we believe we should do; not just believing we are doing it. This is true “Body and Mind” connection!