I met Alfred Yu and Hannes Richter last year when they came to Phoenix to attend Master Chen’s workshop. They could not come to Master Chen’s workshop this year. So, they invited me to go to Irvine to teach the foundation and Yilu. It’s a short trip for me. I took a morning flight from Phoenix to Orange County, by night I got back home.
There are five people came to the class on Sunday, November 16. Three of them were total new to Practical Method. I taught foundations in the morning. I showed them “twisting towel”, “fetching water”, positive and negative circles, explained the purposes of each exercise, their elements in forms of Yilu, the concepts of “don’t move”, “open kua”, and “rotate”. In the afternoon, I taught the first 13 moves of Yilu, then a little push hand. It was a successful day. One person was going to stay just for an hour. It turned out that he stayed for the whole day.
I will go back to Irvine in late January or early February. If you are in the area, please contact Alfred Yu for more details. His email is mralyu@yahoo.com. His phone number is 949-331-2735.
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This is a one day workshop in the park. Ping was very generous sharing his knowledge on Practical Method. Although I had been to Phoenix workshop a few times and had corrections done to my form and foundation before, I find that I am learning something new every time.
Instead of using the usual elastic latex tube cord for the foundation training, Ping introduced us to a fabric cord (non-elastic) and get us to feel the power and connection associated with the foundation. (BTW, there is good write-up by Ping on the Chinese site wrt this topic.) This gave me new perspective about energy alignment and “not-move” for the foundation exercises. Since the fabric cord cannot and won’t extend, nothing can move (i.e. NOT MOVE) and one immediately feels the connection to the ground and the yin-yang separation. As Ping puts it (and I recalled Master Chen said that too), just like a bicycle chain completing the circle. The introduction of this concept in the beginning of workshop paved the way for the rest of the day where every move is merely an extension of the concept.
The day went really fast and we only managed to do a short amount of push hands before the sunlight was gone. It was more a partner style of push-hand with one person tied up while the other pushes. The tied up person is supposed to maintain balance and channel the energy down while his is being pushed. We were supposed to use (and experience) correct Taiji principles of rotation, not move, etc…
A very productive day, and we all want more. Hence, another one day workshop around Jan 2015 is planned. Our hope is to get together with Ping more often and get ready for Master Chen next Phoenix workshop.
Thanks mralyu. Nice report and feedback on the non-elastic cord. I’ve read Ping Wei’s Chinese article on the “preliminary to the use of the elastic cord” and it is indeed very well written. It would be great if you or Ping can post a short video of its use with the three basic foundation drills. For example, I do not know how long the cord should be; with the elastic cord it can stretch, but with the non-elastic cord should it be at the *elastic* cord’s shortest length? Thank you in advance.
As Ping put it (as a reply) on the Chinese site, video not necessary, since correct application involves not moving, as such, it will just be a static picture of one holding the fabric cord (or an inelastic rope). Internally (which is not visible from the outside) one would feel the connection from the ground (heel) all the way to the fingers. As to the length of the cord, it depends on individual, just long enough to not interfere with proper posture. When power up (while not move), one should only feel connection along the power line and no where else. This makes it very clear in identifying all the unwanted local power and incorrect posture (such as leaning, shoulder pushing…etc). I could be wrong with my interpretation and Ping can chime in.
Well said, Al. Thanks.
Cord or rope is just the beginning. It has limitations. After tried a week, or a month, when your body remembers what happens inside, you need to throw away the rope, and start to use rubber tube. The rubber tube will help you to open the “kua”. Eventually, you need to throw away the rubber tube, and do without any props, but your body will be in the same way as if you are using the prop. (I guess that’s the key.)
Have fun to try rope and rubber tube in foundations, and add your comments here. Thanks.
Oh! I’m in Irvine and would love to join you guys the next time. I haven’t learned this method before but I am planning to join the full time course in Daqingshan next year.
Thanks. Please contact Al Yu directly for more details about the next class after the holiday season. I will also be on Daqingshan next year from May 7th to 18th.