Learning taiji online is impossible, but not impractical. The key to getting the most benefit outside of the classroom involves understanding what can be achieved and what can not be achieved and through this understanding develop goals that are obtainable. Through the course of studying theory and my own personal encounter with Master Chen I have come to realize that taiji is an art of deconstruction. It is about taking all of the human habits that are not taiji and slowly deconstructing these habits to make them into something that slowly becomes taiji. This idea that taiji is an art of deconstruction has offered me guidance towards this approach to learning taiji online.
Since I didn’t have access to anybody that could teach me taiji, following the online videos was my only alternative. I wanted to be prepared for my first workshop so I decided that I would start learning the basics with one important rule in my mind. That rule was, “quality is more important than quantity”, or in Master Chen’s words, “it is better to do one thing right than many things wrong”. My game plan was simple, I wanted to learn the first 13 movements.
In order to know what I needed to do I had to familiarize myself with the rules. I wanted to know what movements were allowed, so I purchased a series of videos:
- Suspended Head
- Thigh in Tai Chi Chuan
- Hand, Elbow and Shoulder Functions in Tai Chi
- Function of the waist in tai chi movements
- Kua, knee and foot.
Once I got a general idea of the rules I looked for a video of the first 13 movements. I found that,
“Yilu first 13 moves simple lesson”
was the best video to learn from. At the initial stage the choreography is the most important since the understanding of the deeper meanings can not be seen, but must be felt. I had one month before the workshop so I decided to learn 3 moves a week. I was more focused on quality than quantity.
In the, “Yilu first 13 moves simple lesson” Master Chen breaks all the moves up into counts and this makes learning the choreography a lot easier. By following my game plan I was able to learn the choreography before the workshop and follow along with the group.
In conclusion, I believe that it is more beneficial to take it slowly and learn things right even if it is just one thing at a time, as progress will be about making fewer mistakes. Do not expect to be perfect with the form. Finally, the only way to know if you are doing things correctly is to attend a workshop and to receive instructions from somebody that knows taiji.
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
That is a very intelligent way of looking at it. I couldn’t agree more with your approach. I look forward to meeting Master Chen and want to make the most of the opportunity when it arises, so i am attempting to prepare myself with as much “context” as possible to lay the groundwork for actual learning. There is a tremendous amount of information, not only in the form of movement, but in Master Chen’s taiji language that he uses, so we might actually be able to comprehend in english things that generally remain confused, or lack clear meaning in there more generalized translations. I think it’s important not to waste the time of someone who is able to teach at such a high level. Though he seems infinitely patient, we should not take advantage of that.
I would definitely add Basic Foundations to the list…… learning to do these movements in a stationary position helps tremendously once you begin learning the first 13 movements of the Yilu form.
I specifically neglected the Basic Foundations because to me getting the movements right on the building blocks was more important than understanding the choreography, whereas for the 13 moves I was focusing on choreography. I found the 9 count positive circle extremely difficult to comprehend and since it was too technical I didn’t want to make up my own ideas regarding what was really happening. It is difficult to undo bad habits and I wanted to start off with good ones. “Does the hand draw a circle?”, or “Do other parts of the body create a larger circle?” These questions created enough of a doubt in my mind as to what was going on, so I left them out. I saved those things for the workshop. There is a YouTube video with circles where Master Chen does a 3 count positive circle. I would suggest this as a starting point. I don’t have the right method, just a few ideas. A lot of these videos will make more sense after the hands on experience and I plan on using the Basic Foundations to further my studies.
no doubt the building blocks are proper mechanics as well, but the basic foundations are building blocks of a different sort and would be a great prep for someone’s first seminar. They condition the body to move with the overall ‘big’ movements without thinking too much, that way, details can be worked on easier later on, in the form, and in the foundation exercises too.