Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 0 mins Difficulty: 3/5 Language: English
Year: 2022 Location: Edmonton, Canada
Search: peng
Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 0 mins Difficulty: 3/5 Language: English
Year: 2022 Location: Edmonton, Canada
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Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 2 mins Difficulty: 3/5 Language: English
Year: 2022 Location: Edmonton, Canada
Pengzhu-Maple Ridge Practical Method Workshop 20220924. Touch and apply force. Try to measure and find out how the combined energy of the two parties. Hold on to the position and level of energy. This is called Pengzhu. It is a very basic aspect of Peng energy in Taijiquan. Then we can go into different body movements and techniques while maintaining the Pengzhu.
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Pengzhu 掤住
Touch and apply force. Try to measure and find out how the combined energy of the two parties. Hold on to the position and level of energy. This is called Pengzhu. It is a very basic aspect of Peng energy in Taijiquan. Then we can go into different body movements and techniques while maintaining the Pengzhu.
Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 1 mins Difficulty: 3/5 Language: English
Year: 2022 Location: Edmonton, Canada
Chen Zhonghua Online 20220309
PengJin
In terms of size. You have to stretch out to be as big as possible but at the same time you have to be tied up in the middle to be as small as possible. This contradictory action loadsthe body like a spring.
*Note:
1. Video packages are designed for the convenience of students. 2. Some packages are in fact classifications of videos. 3. Some videos in packages might have been published and purchased by you individually. 4. Average prices of videos in packages are considerably lower than individual videos. 5. In view of this, if you have purchased a video that are also included in a package your have purchased, or vice versa, we will not give refunds or equivalents. 6. All videos in packages are paid videos. They are restricted to your personal viewing and other usage. You do not have copyright of the videos and therefore you do not have permission to give/share with others. 7. Please note that as a customer/user of the website and/or student of Chen Zhonghua, you have given him and the companies/organizations he represents permission to use videos or photos with you, both personally and commercially. 8. Making a paid purchase constitutes agreement to the above terms.
Follow this assignment video, training and then submit your assignment.
Instructions for course students. Please watch this, practice it and submit assignment in the assignment area.
If you cannot find the assignment, it means you are not part of the course. You can sign up for the class through your local instructor or by contact us at 1684987990@qq.com
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Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 3 mins Difficulty: 3/5 Language: English
Year: 2021 Location: Edmonton, Canada
Master Chen Zhonghua explain Peng from the angle of energy position. When energy moves from inside to the outside, it is a type of Peng.
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Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 1 mins Difficulty: 3/5 Language: English
Year: 2021 Location: Edmonton, Canada
In Practical Method, we say there are no movements, only rotations.
Rotation creates movements. This is the fundamental basis of everything in Practical Method.
In practice, rotation can cause two things. One is when rotation is too slow, it causes the body to collapse inward, thus losing power. The other is more positive. At the right speed, a rotation will create centrifugal force that is in taiji viewed as Peng.
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Peng Li started studying Practical Method on Feb. 2, 2020.
…what is the essential nature of Peng? …is there room for creativity in training processes as a PM beginner? …could be that how we answer these questions will affect the speed of our learning and our ability in PM over time, maybe…this is a speculative piece…
Peng Li started on Feb 2, 2020, and learned move 5 to 15 and most of the foundations over weekly video-conferencing sessions.
A: We are doing push hand as a martial art and that requires special ways other than simple drills.
I hope someone who knows Chinese and/or TaiChiQuan literature help me on this one. Read more
This is a very important question for all taiji practitioners. There is no simple answer for this question. However, there are some basic things we can follow in order for us to be on the right path.
- Understanding and creating the first pair of splits in your movements.
- Follow the principles in your taiji. Don’t just pay lip service. For example, if you believe your action has yin and yang, then you need to find out which part is yin and which part is yang. You need to specify exactly what yin and yang are in each case. For example, yin and yang can be movement vs. no movement.
Hunyuan World 2004 gave participants access to an enormous wealth of essential knowledge on taijiquan. One of these gems of information relates to peng, a topic of great interest to camp participants. As an example of the teaching available at Hunyuan World events, I share Master Chen Zhonghua’s response to students’ questions on peng, which also led to more general comments on his interpretation of taiji. Read more
Heavy rain started in the afternoon.
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Found this video in my hotel room in Penglai. It’s much better than what I can shoot while visiting. Here it is for the readers of this blog.
/videos/Penglai.m4v
Last time I was in Penglai, this didn’t exist. Now it is such a splendid park.
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peng jin：The movement away from the center in all directions. The center must be maintained to be considered an expansion.
Iowa 2024 Workshop notes
Wednesday Evening:
Private lesson
Weighted bag exercise:
Get a longer-thinner bag
1. Double-tap / hit it twice when going sideways
2. Up/Down: tap it up then hit it with the foot when going up, only accelerate it going down
Do not lose the shape of the bag in the above exercises
3. Lift the bag, then spike the bag. Hit it directly from the top
Watch footage from private lesson to see more.
Anything done at foot level will be 9x bigger than at shoulder / hand level
Block touching coat corrections:
Right finger doesn’t move when coming in
Right elbow stays in front of hip
stop leaning head
Bie – twist, wrap, shear.
Scissors from hips, back one wraps around the front, front one wraps around the front (both diagonally).
Leave a hole so it’s like a gun, not a grenade.
Right elbow goes back towards the right back (ever so slightly), rest of arm doesn’t move.
Right kua goes diagonally up & to the left (slightly).
First move:
Left shoulder is not making it into left hand
Do not overextend shoulder
Toe and Finger Clawing
There are specific positions where the calf and forearm can swell.
Claw the toes where the knee is over foot to find these for the foot.
Same with hand / forearm to find them.
Palm doesn’t move, fingers just claw.
Overextension – 3 years practice
Don’t overextend.
Right hand – Web of thumb around their armpit (wrap from front pectoral) to feel it.
Left hand on their right shoulder.
If they don’t overextend, help them do so.
Have opponent give resistance
Relax slightly to see if they overextend. When they do so follow their overextension with your left hand. Turn the corner (not going on a line between the two of you, perpendicular to that line)
This is called enticing into emptiness.
How to prevent: move as one, don’t overextend.
Keep close range.
The whole point of the fake / pretend fight is to get the opponent to overextend. Learn to feel this.
This lesson was something of planting a peach and getting an orange (didn’t go where expected).
Stomach contraction:
Contract the muscles just down from the stomach, in specific places in the form this will add to the move. Watch Kelvin, he does this often and well.
Thursday Morning (pre-class)
Match the movement (one of a couple main themes this workshop)
Do the extension that they would have to do
Turn the corner, do the extension at an angle.
isolation is key
Pen and Cap example
take cap off of pen, move them the same amount, though separated
opponent —> you (match and extend) —>
^
opponent —> you (match and extend different direction) –|
can’t move the same direction as them, perpendicular only
Match in yourself, can redirect in yourself
Illusion:
we often see what is or isn’t real.
A lot of what we see is irrelevant. If it’s irrelevant, don’t pay attention to it.
Matching / redirection
Don’t use strength
Redirect with very small circle
Create a return
Thursday morning class:
The opponent can only power up if you move together
Isolate the matching move, then add one (isolated from matching move).
The center cannot move (the center can be anywhere; in a given movement of the form, there’s one place that doesn’t move)
If you cannot isolate the moves are linked. And then there is really only one move.
You want to be able to make 2+ separations / isolations. keep adding them as you learn how to make them.
Do something to an opponent, have a 3rd person hold your waist so it doesn’t move.
Lock ends, rotate the middle (in this case lock shoulder and foot; move elbow).
If you move the shoulder , the forehead moves.
Better not to move than to toss.
Taiji: One part moving, but not all moving
At beginner levels only move arms, not kua. Looks bad, but is effective.
Face has to be like leather
(means if you laugh at me, I don’t care)
Let’s do something weird, only move arms.
Twisting towel, only move arms as if they’re on a track
6 sealing, 4 closing: only move arms as if they’re on a track
Repeat the following out loud: My legs are not moving, only my hands are moving
Impossible to do in real life
Legs blocked, cannot move
they stop the arm / hand from moving
you can always move something else,
just ignore them
Exercise:
Move how you want
can’t move bicep; move the forearm
can’t move forearm; move the fingers
this will become a rotation
Ting – feels like a stick (don’t move with them)
Impale:
Set the opponent up so that they impale themselves on you
Entice them into doing the wrong move
Find the feeling in a non-useful posture, then find it in the useful postures.
Find the Ting (the stick feel) reproduce it complex structures
Some exercises, move only foot (heel to the back) and fingers (matching in opposite direction)
Stretch has to go over
Switching (another recurring theme in this workshop)
Fight from inside the city wall
Switch from the back (elbow, shoulder, kua) to the front (hand)
Don’t change the shape
Done as a spear as well (push from back -> pull from front)
Grab the front end from the back of the spear. Requires really precise control.
Get 3 points on the opponent
where you touch, you can manipulate
Close range, the more points you’re touching the better
get as many as you can. Don’t fight them, just add a touch
You have 1 – I have five (get the fingers on the opponet)
Real – power that works, but you feel nothing (how you know it works)
Gravity – the Earth wants you to touch it at all points.
Exercise:
Match size, use fingers not fist
Match power elsewhere (with knee)
Add a very small touch (like moving head)
Chen Fa Ke
How it goes out
(is) how it comes back
In practice, do it slow; make every move work; then add a step.
Not on, not off
Only be where they are not
Push into the ground; slide
Never fighting, no power in what’s touching the opponent
Hollow (outside stronger than the inside, e.g. fingers stronger than the arm)
It’s difficult because you don’t trust it.
If you trusted it, it wouldn’t be difficult
We don’t like the feeling of power in the feet, so we change / move to avoid it
Crash (on an axis) with body into joint
Switch:
Everything in the arm must be sent into the hand
Outside is strong, inside cannot be trapped
Seed grows from the inside, it grows outside.
Only move on the outside
Power is like spitting; has to come outside from the inside
Matching exercise 2:
arm break position (arm bar)
power goes to the hand
hand goes around (switch)
Go in strong underneath
flip power to the top
Very difficult stretch
Find the limit of something with a stretch
train the muscles until that limit is passed (until there is no limit)
Inifinite forearm – practice stretching
Match, go with, rotate
Track (keep hold) then rotate
Don’t move (especially don’t flinch)
If the move doesn’t bite; try moving in.
Like a stationary rotary saw.
Move the table
Move the saw into the wood
Cloud hands does this
If they don’t move the wood into the saw, move the table to take the saw to them.
Thursday afternoon class
Buckling
Exercise:
Same side, opponent in front; your arm in front
drop the kua, bring the knee up (it’s in between their legs, behind them)
Put a stick behind, stick propped between their legs, caught and he’ll fall down.
First 13
do yilu with hydrolics, rather than pneumatics.
Peng, add pressure, then add a twist (like a finger snap)
At each corner (joint) different snaps at different angles.
Has to be tense / stiff like a 2×4.
Hand snapping exercise: place hands horizontal, one on top of the other; palms togethre
snap hands like you’d snap fingers; reversing which hand is on top.
make the arms stiff; the kua is needed to make the turn
like automatic transition; it only gears up when under load
A wood drill won’t engage / bite on a steel plate.
Loose hit, tight rotate
Go in with no power, Rotate when you meet resistence
Bie –
combination of moves that in conjunction provides a lock
equal and opposite
make it stiff
Do not push; in taiji that will nullify whatever you’re trying to do.
18 locations on the body that can move independently
unlimited potential for stretches
why are we still stick figting
Find one pair of points to stretch against each other
Take out all the slack – alignment hange
adjust hand, wrist, elbow, kua, foot, etc.
Real exercise:
pull a smooth stick with a string
unless it’s in the exact center, it will slip around a lot.
pull in the exact center
it only works when it’s exactly on center; otherwise it’s off
Precision, not power
Anytime you deviate, your opponent regains power
Head on wall exercise
spin around with your head on the wall.
keep the line
Friday morning pre-class
Each move in the form has a very small action (like the hand snap)
The rest of the move is transition
In push hands be very light, otherwise you’ll push yourself out
3 pieces: arm, body, legs
Be soft to touch people, and be ready
then move in
everything comes from the joints
Now do yilu like that.
(switch to fingers)
My (front) finger aims (past you) at your foot
Front foot -> front finger
control the line with the kua / elbow
Not with the chest
strech should feel like a heavy blankt on the opponent
Every move reduces power. Don’t move.
Think of a bullet / artillary. Any deviation / curve in the barrel reduces the power.
make the bottom triangle (feet , kuas) only the top dot rotates
Be screwed to a board (arms mentioned as example)
(side note, Mentioned an arm brace that stops the elbow and arm from moving)
Find one point that can rotate when you’re screwed to the board.
Its going to be a joint.
Do not move; find that point and rotate on it (inside elbow twist in the example of the arm)
Lock into one piece (top/bottom or left/right separation)
Lock one set, use the other set to move the locked set
Do not destroy the board
Hard to train because these (joints) are places that have no power
Switch to the outside (wrist, fingers, feet)
practice yilu outside the torso space
expand, get outside
when you get stuck look beyound / outside the opponent
Don’t wiggle (chinese word for feeble strugglings of a newborn)
Learn something in the morning
Show as many people as you can
repeat it 7 times in a day and its yours
Friday morning class:
Recorded summaries of the pre-class session
Fist draping body
The bottom is carrying a table while someone is sleeping on it
Takes power is to make sure the bottom doesn’t move
Later on it’s precise algnment rather than power.
One piece
Power isn’t in the point of contact
The action doesn’t stop; the body stops
and at the right time becomes totally stiff
Speed, alignment, total rigidity
Quality of taiji – How often the action is done just right; repeatable
Proverb: There’s opportunity only when there’s danger
Pick a posture
use small steps
knees control the up and down
Rotate the center
the two feet should move proportionally
to turn the front, stretch the back (down to floor)
front foot becomes action, back foot adjustment when front is lightly engaged
Rigity:
State where you don’t lose anything
motion, balance, power – difficult to have all 3 at the same time
Too much balance, no power
too much motion, you’ll lose balance
too much power, lose motion
Twist on the waist that goes around.
fortress portal lcoked, with a way to unlock
Stand over bottle exercise
stretch from left hand to right foot
right foot stretches as if to touch a non-existant wall behind you
like ice is on the floor
left foot is light and compensates
have to pivot left foot so you don’t fall
often had 3 catches to avoid a fall
reminiscent of Grandmaster Melon Rind
Jumping
never hop, only jump
not at same time, one after the other
hit a rod with a hammer, there’s many small impacts inside
Turn a horizontal move into a vertical move
lazer beam condensed from all power in chest
shoot shoulders into finger
all energy from above exercise goes into finger
lock, restrain everywhere but that point
Rigid
The body must be rigid.
Joints must not be rigid
For non-joints the more rigid the better
Arm: rigid.
Elbow, shoulder joints – smooth
If the joints aren’t smooth, strengthen the muscles to control the joints so they become smooth
Faking ridigity leads to tapping
Lift a rock and throw it at them. There is no action in the punch, only velocity
Cao
Power of motion – impact / collision / slam
place arm, whole body fights that in one peace
spreads, moves entire body, one piece
(similar to spitting)
Like hitting with the entire stick
A snowplow is angled. the truck is driving straight, with an angled blade
Cannon Fist penetrating punch is similar
Lots of stretch, never change the angle
Cao with elbow is very high level
Cao is a snowplw vs. captive bolt-driver (impale)
Structure on wheels, the body doesn’t move
lots of power in legs, squeezing together
you only feel the outside
joints (kua, shoulder, knee) are the engine
Hard and soft creates a differential, that we call speed
Lock on stomach and back
Lock on both hips / kua
Moving the top doesn’t move the bottom
Pour concrete in the bottom, only move top, not bottom.
Exercise:
Isolate kuas, don’t move them
stomach should be able to rotate freely
Friday afternoon session
When you watch and follow for a long time you begin to see.
Only then can you be an instructor
Both practice and pointers (corrections) are required
Taiji moves are awkward. Find the right instrctor
You have to find the door and go through it
It sounds weird and awkward until you’ve gone to the other side.
Like platform 9 3/4 from Harry Potter
People will check the door and just see a wall. There is no door for them
The gate / door / threshold is an idea, a mental block.
Story:
Daoist immortals had a method. They took you to a cliff edge and gave their followers a final test. To jump.
Before there was only external alchemy (drinking a lot of poisonous materials)
The first internal daoist called the standing posture “setting up the furnace”
He gave this test to his disciples. The first two turned it down.
The third one said: Can we have the dog do it?
The dog died, and the disciple went away. The dog then came back as a human.
Daoist will give you a false test, its valid for you, but the only test is whether or not you will take the test.
Taiji is like finding something imaginary that used to be real, without a point of reference.
E.g. position of Edward Liaw’s knee (at a specific point in time in the class)
Reference point in the air. If you had his reference points in the room, you could maybe find that spot again.
Reference points with a coordinate system -> science
A system is a consistent approach (not necessarily correct)
Train until you make the point real
Hand is “heaven” (unsupported)
shoulder is “earth” (very supported)
Yin-Yang Reversal
Make the hand supported, and the shoulder unsupported.
If they are both supported, that’s double-heavy.
If they are both unsupported, there’s no power, it doesn’t exist.
Taiji is seeing what other people cannot see
But it has to be real.
Master Chen remembers spaces.
Some training methods:
1. Make a triangular arm brace, let people push on you. Use it for at least 2 weeks.
2. Make an artificial horse back to sit on. Should fit you exactly that won’t move under you. Practice twisting on it and you won’t fall.
Partner training is hard. Everyone trained with the instructor.
Too strong, won’t be beneficial
Too weak will be wobbly.
Exercise
Arm bent at elbow.
Fingers pointed to opponent’s sternum
thumb extended. opponent provides ~20% resistance
walk forward without the arm wobbling
Wheels and door hinges rotate
Agility is one dot touching, no difference when it moves, no deviation
Exercise:
1. Have your elbow hit your stomach at 45 degrees, and bounce off.
2. Turn (at the waist) when the elbow touches torso
Can be replicated with kua coming forward or fist raised & rubbing
Go sideways, backwards, whatever’s needed to have power go back to the opponent
Rotation has to go to the foot; otherwise it’s just wobbling
Make long short, short long
if my arms are short when I reach you, I will push you long
if my arms are long when I reach you, I will only push you short
Yin-Yang shift (like the weighted bag)
wuji – already full and there
mysterious positions
door (from earlier)
—————-
——————
people don’t see it, refuse to enter
Maintain shape
lighter & faster, not power
stability & speed
Punch a ball, depending on how you hit it you’ll get one of the 8 energies
(peng, liu, ji, ahn, etc)
have to be very precise.
if you spin the ball, it becomes unknown.
Push hands – learn straightness when wobbling
If you can find the center, nobody can find it on you.
Proverb: They will never know me. I only know them.
You will become a ghost
A rotating ball cannot be penetrated
Find center
keep center
maintain center
8 energies on a ball:
Peng: 9-12 going up on the ball uses energy
Liu: 12-3 downhill is easy, going with it
Ji: 3-6 filling empty spot
Ahn: 6 (only at the bottom) falling into emptiness
Sai – twist on the spin
Lihr – swap to the other side to break
ends don’t move, the middle breaks
Jo – two twists to break
Cao – collide, snowplow energy
Saturday morning pre-class
Stepping circles
be a jerk
be a double-jerk
(in is a jerk, out is a hit)
need to be firm, relaxed, NOT limp
Yilu:
Elbow supports hand going out
Kua supports elbow
Kua is a natural hole, level (raise) kua
top (shoulder) goes down, bottom (kua) goes up
Cloud hands:
You’re a rod on center, twist.
Hands should just be in the right spot
Kua connected to elbow, twist goes to elbow; release foot
transmission one move -> all moves
add more moves
subtract – slugging, less moves
When he says “you’re doing it”, that means you’re faking it, copying his move
don’t do it.
become a teeter-totter, where it happens automatically
Robot game: Partner moves you in circle patterns (positive, negative)
Saturday Morning class
Shoulder exercise:
Stiff arm out to side
loose arm bar making the shoulder circle
shoulder at natural height
up to the back, down to the front
gradually increases size of circles
smoothly add separation to the shoulder
make the shoulder into a matched, engaged set of gears
don’t fight at the contact point, energy should go into the shoulder
elbow down (elbow rub) drives shoulder up.
hand extend drives shoulder down (hand on, stretch and turn)
center line goes down, kua to arms goes up.
advanced version, the person who’s arm is being moved in a circle extends into the line
The idea of a circle is wrong
The fake and correct move start the same
Fake move is like a Chinese grandmother, wants to make it easier for the grandson
Circle comes back to the same spot
Real move is like an English grandfather, wants to make sure the kid will survive
Circle keeps moving on, making half-circles one after the other, making odd half-circles that are linked together. Knot that forms a spider’s web.
Even
Keep it Even, Even Steven.
pressure, direction, all of it
Stretch to points, control the space
“Every move you think you’re doing, I’ve already set it up”
Take out the slack
fill space by changing your angles.
Whoever does it first has the advantage
whoever tries it second has to work twice as hard to equalize
The key to “I’m always longer than you” is in the foot.
Grandmaster Hong: The size of your foot moving on the floor equals 9x above
Vector: Add a little bit from each joint.
Compounding doubles per joint.
Put them on the skewer
lock the dantien
make them stiff (with a rotation, using arm)
1. all the joints must be trained to be open to be able to do the next move
2. use every part, though training make many tools. The more tools (body parts) you have trained, the better
Keep the center in rotation (use speed, fingers come back like a whip)
If it moves after they’re already out, for them it didn’t move
It doesn’t look like what it is. Elbow in, hand out both do this.
If you remove the top from a suspension, then it’s all gone.
As long as the words are the same (if the transmission doesn’t change), maybe in 500 years someone will get it.
Matching at 90 degrees (any 90 degrees) will lock / equalize.
No need to fight if you do this.
If we don’t touch, you can’t see what I’m doing.
Circles:
Make a circle with your hands.
Any two lines are different, all the others are variations (two lines define a circle).
Arm extension move:
Tripod with locks on legs.
When each lock is unlocked that portion moves freely.
When locked, that portion won’t move at all.
Can lock or unlock any of those at will.
Open / close instantly (on the joint)
Lengthen / shorten the tripod legs as needed to hit or avoid getting hit
Cheating:
9 year old Samantha. You moved, you cheated.
If the coyote eats the rabbit, that’s normal, no cheating.
If the coyote eats the rabbit’s grass, that’s cheating.
Attack
when your opponent is about to move (structure has changed)
when they’ve finished his move (not completed, overextended)
Don’t attack when they’re doing so. That will get you hurt.
Training exercise (for the above):
Hands out at arms length with someone else.
Try to hit their palms with yours to get them to fall
Only hit when they’ve fully extended, or when they are about to extend
Very quickly becomes a game of deception.
Saturday Afternoon class:
Yilu corrections
Pole Shaking
1. Run staff on floor to full extension to get a feel for it
Start with a single finger and thumb making a ring at the end of the staff
2. produce a dot on the staff, no deviations, and you can lift and shake it in the air
find the balance point, when it shakes and stays in the air you have it.
3. Once you’re able to do that repeatedly, then use a single hand to shake it while you change your position to the other side of the staff (looks like elbow in, but it’s a side-change)
Staff should be heavy enough that you can’t hold it (same with sword for this specific exercise)
Rubbing
Hold staff at end, left arm holding the middle up, right arm in grip above shoulder
never hold it normally, always be short or long.
Roll staff up and down on rear chest with someone holding the tip on the other end (preventing it from moving)
Front hand can’t move. It’s the pivot / anchor.
Bending the staff is no good
Impaling / Penetrating – elbow to hand (rotate) on end of staff
When rotation matches the push, then the staff won’t bend.
Restrict the end of the staff so it won’t move, then practice this.
Waist Exercise:
Frame your end of the staff, lock it in all directions (pull on both sides into the stomach)
Only the feet direct the (very strong) swings.
Very hard to control.
Stick it to your stomach, move the hips and legs
make your hold on the end of the stick as long as you can
Restrain the end of the staff with another staff or something.
Hit the grass / deck (without adding anything to the motion with the front arm)
Every touch must cut into bone
Places to make immobile: foot, head.
When locked the back elbow can power the front elbow.
(any part of the body can power any other if locked right)
Bounce back (directional reversals in many parts of form)
High pat on horse
the bottom can be switched to be anywhere.
Like a deer, it appears to float when running.
Body should go out and come back
no part should go into orbit
Suck then spit.
Taiji feeling: Everything should feel perfect until it’s too late
Because the other person is holding you up
Nullify the part of the body they will use to go away (escape)
every body part must be either silk or steel
steel – so hard it won’t hurt
silk – so soft it won’t hurt.
Look for blockages, stoppages, overextensions
Punch to ground is actually an escape from a punch & returning an elbow
Fist protecting heart is a conveyer belt (continuously going out and coming back)
Hold head to embrace tiger is a very low stance, keep it very low.
Flowers at the sea bottom:
breaks opponent’s integrity
tornado blade that destroys everything in its path
High pat on horse, move like you’re not landing
Push hands exercise:
1. Plant foot between & behind legs
step left foot around behind them
spin like a top
2. Plant food, create axis to top of head when leaned back
3. spin on axis without head leaving its spot (head rotates)
4. They should spin like a top too.
Like a screwdriver,
Twist
Tension
Step
Twist (repeat)
Sunday morning (pre-class)
Compass
The difference between the inside and outside part is so great that the center (pinned)part doesn’t move relative to the drawing part.
The center may move 1, but if the drawing part of the compass moves 500, its as if it didn’t move. (relatively still)
You should only train one body part, and the training will map to the others.
Only train one part.
You have to be in the position you don’t want in order to get to the position you do want.
Reversal of strength from large circle (claw at the bottom)
Weight lifting. The weight is heavier than you.
Push the feet down rather than lift the arms.
Push the feet into the floor in foundations and forms
Whole body dynamic comes from feet pushing into floor
Block touching coat
Lock shoulder, back, and elbow.
Turn forearm only engaging gear teeth on midpoint of forearm.
Don’t leak out shoulder, head, or elbow.
Switching
If they’re on bicep, switch to the hand
like a balloon animal, move the air to where they aren’t. to the other end of the balloon
this is like the weighted bag, suspend the sand in bag, then hit it.
External – if the punch misses, go back and try again.
Internal – if it misses, resolve what’s causing the problem, without going back (or coming back into it). If you leave the problem will follow you.
Where you touch me is real. Where my empty hand is is not real.
Reverse this, such that where you touch me is not real, and where my empty hand is becomes real.
Once you can do this you don’t need to react to physical touch.
You have something stronger to hold on to.
Get it even a little right, and you’re better than most.
Hand on post –
lock shoulder, upper arm, forearm,
pull with elbow,
make the post real
use a real post or horizontal bar
Personal thought:
You can read a recipe as much as you want.
You’re not a cook until you try to make it.
You’re not a good cook until you can make it correctly repeatedly.
You must be rooted, push your feet down.
Taiji is based on interaction with the ground
If you have a soft cushion between you and the ground, you don’t have power.
Spring-load yourself
Sunday morning class
Every movement goes to the foot.
Gears interlock, rations are exact / proportional
Hand going forward comes from the torso going back
Neck goes back, head up (using the platesmus muscles) – when issuing
Put the head on a wall, top back up until it gets rid of neck indentation
Put back on wall, get rid of lower-back indentation
Turn into three horizontal plates (top, middle, bottom)
connected like railroad car couplers
There’s a repeated cycle of learning hard, then learning soft, then learning hard, then learning soft. ~9 times.
Exercise:
Get flat on a wall
Small steps away so you’re only inches away from the wall
partner pushes you back flat onto the wall
You just return the force along the same line
don’t add / redirect, first accept it
then send it back along the same line (matching)
Sunday afternoon class:
Do the first 13 as if you’re held / secured on the wrists. Body must pull arms in.
Door hinge exercise
hand flat on partially open door
partner pushes on the back of the door (using the open edge)
partner should be able to move you easily with that leverage
Most of body rotates backwards from the point of contact
One dot goes out to the other side, there are then two of him, one back, one forward.
Large means there’s nothing outside of it.
Small means there’s nothing inside of it.
Fist draping the body is a sequence of pulling motions.
Fist under elbow, don’t shortcut the large left-hand circle.
Hands do alignment, kua provides power
same with big circle before brush knee
Right hand in brush knee wraps punch without moving it. Then pulls it along line.
“Punch” before first cloud hands is “tearing towel”.
Practice this step and punch while trying to tear a towel with the hands.
Everyone has a size and proportion
Do enough of this exercise to find yours
4 cardinal wrist-elbow arm switching
push hands warmup
Look this up in video and practice with partner
2 types of openings
leather – must be seasoned with oil. Like a blade-strop used for years
1 drop of oil per use, over the course of years will cause the leather to stretch.
This is called opening the leather
joint – on pressure that pushes, the joint should roll open (both sides)
Jade that looks like lard
hard, smooth like butter
is 100% consistent
2 types of training
Fire training – qualitative change
Smelting raw iron ore into refined steel
taking inconsistent raw materials into a consistent
in the end you aren’t the same anymore
Silk training – changing something that’s already good into something better
better quality of the same thing
same stuff afterwards, though better quality of the same thing
Smelting training
exhaustive training
will change the configuration of the body
like reformatting a hard drive, what was there is gone
If you train yilu right, you’re exhausted afterwards
If you’re just tired, you’re probably hurting yourself
If the opponent uses the arm to lock the torse,
tear your shoulder blade away (forward) to release that lock
Isolate / separate the torso and shoulder blade
Train until your scapula can move a lot
with power and tension
This training hurts, removes adhesions
eventually the kua will get into it
Cloud hands correction … do not move fingers when starting the circle … Only the elbow comes in … Then before the hand can come out, a stretch has happen to open space under the armpit, then open up lower body, then push fingers out.
The wall exercise is good to do…Put your fingers on the wall as a reference, then practice bringing in elbow, shoulder & kua over as far as possible.
Note, the inside has to be big. Example … circle
We practiced closing the gap between ourselves and our opponent by first leading with the Kua, then closing other gaps until opponent was on the edge.
Basic internal stretching movements are important.
Practice drill: When the opponent engages, fix a point of contact, then dropping straight down to create a lever action to pop the opponent up and backwards.
Having gaps in between moves stops Peng. It’s important to practice staying ON when transitioning from move to move.
Ben Phillips of Toronto became Chen Zhonghua’s 379th disciple in a brief ceremony at the Annual Toronto Practical Method Seminar
This is the first Toronto Practical Method workshop by Master Chen Zhonghua since covid-19 started. We had a very good turnout, 25 people attended over the 4 days of the workshop. Participants came from Toronto, Markham, Aurora, Newmarket, Oakville, Georgetown, Ottawa, Michigan, Iowa, Arizona, California. One of the participants commented:
“Everyone here expressed and interacted freely and deeply, just like a big family.”
In this workshop, we focussed on training with drills, solo and partnered. The drills allowed us to develop gong, and techniques that would be useful in push hands. Many of the drills were video-recorded and will be available for purchase. We also included one lesson of Hunyuan Qi Gong, and Master Chen said he would begin to integrate more energy work into Practical Method through some Hunyuan Qi Gong training.
The following were intended to remind myself of what happened at the workshop, and they were not to be instructional. However, if you have any questions and need clarification for any part, please feel free to make a comment below.
Day 0
Power or No power? Read more
The thirteen modes of Taijiquan are: Peng(掤), Lu(捋), Ji(挤), An(按), Cai(採), Lie(挒), Zhou(肘), Kao(靠), Forward(进), Backward(退), Observing Left(顾), Beholding Right(盼), and Holding Center(中定).
Edmonton Workshop: September 17, 2022
Part 1: Lead into Emptiness
Grandmaster Chen Zhonghua said that in Taiji, you “lead into emptiness.” This idea is central to the practice of Taiji. It means that when you “act” in Taiji, you don’t do something, but do something. When you prevail against an opponent, you are not “doing” something to your opponent. You never react with force against force. In Taiji, you are fighting yourself, not the other person. These seeming contradictions really mean something when you experience them, as I did in the Edmonton workshop on September 17, 2022. I felt them; Grandmaster Chen “did” them to us, without “doing them.” Read more
2022.09.01 悉尼笔记锺百豪 (英文) Sydney Notes by Brian Chung (English)
Airport Drive
- We will be entering into a new era.
- We are retro fitting new technology into our old systems. A change requires something totally new.
- Do you understand money?
Breakfast at Laneway Cafe
- Master noticed the foot of a bird was damaged.
- Students are making vast progress with online classes. Consistency.
- What was your enlightenment?
- Write it down and publish it. Other people will read it and may learn.
- Did you try it? Your next step is the physically try it.
At home
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Master’s elbow is open. I held onto his bicep. It did not move.
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Fix the front, move backwards.
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Size of the stance for training vs fighting. In training we go from a perfect position and stretch out. In fighting we adopt a smaller position to go into the perfect position.
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Hand to elbow.
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Foot on the wall.
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Rear kua down, rear knee up.
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Pivot on middle of the thigh. Rear kua goes lower.
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Actualise a dot in space.
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Pulling two ends of Marcus’s fluffy vest.
Apartment
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There are no moves. Only rotation.
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No space.
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Hong. Rotation and a stretch.
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Back on wall. I could not push. No direction.
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Master showed how to go through. Chest sound. Finger of steel.
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Empty space.
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Forearm lever. Positive and negative. Entice into emptiness.
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One piece to pull and push.
- Sinto repeats one move.
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The reality is, I am stronger than you. Structure (distance), angles, timing. I use my efforts to make myself strong, not fight with you.
Dinner
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Procedure of learning. Do not use your own body.
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Hand attach to phone. Elbow. Kua.
Evening Online Class
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Forearm on chair, no move. Move the rest of the body. Worry about the relationship later.
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Master demonstrated turn with waist in Six Sealing Four Closing. I was touching his elbow and wrist. There was no movement.
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Master used his fingers to go through a dot on on my left chest. I took two photos of the position.
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2022.09.02 悉尼笔记锺百豪 (英文) Sydney Notes by Brian Chung (English)
Morning Session
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Whatever you I do to my body, you will feel.
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Push hands exercise. Stretch out front hand, rear elbow. Rotate shoulder. Turn Waist. Legs.
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Peng is to stretch out your opponent. Five points stick figure. Five points struggle out. This is full. Wu Dian Wai Zheng.
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Three ring spiral. Shoulder (small) kua (mid) foot (large).
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Peng exercise. The waist reverses the mid.
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Bie is a pair of scissors. Gap, paper will fold. On is stuck.
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The flip. Cannot engage muscles. Emptiness.
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Bie with a gap on my elbow and wrist. Two actions locked onto the middle.
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Master showed multiple variations of bie locking onto a dot on my forearm, elbow, bicep, rear shoulder, rear foot.
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I held Master’s rear kua and knee while he pushed Rory. There was a stretch from the knee going out and around. The toe was lifted.
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When two two ends are equal, the result is balanced.
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Balanced is not moving. Not moving is the physical property.
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In learning, the original cannot be lost. We have to go deeper without changing.
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Song is everything in its original state.
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Han xiong ba bei. This is lock the two ends and move the middle.
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Example of lock middle move two ends (A) is a lever. Example of lock two ends move the middle (B) is a bow and arrow.
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Both are bie.
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We must fit everything into our logic. Is this example that worked (A) or (B)? It must be one or the other, you just can’t see it. Do not allow others to change your logic.
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To be precise is clear. The opposite is muddy.
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Cai is plucking. To yank grass.
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Lie is to break the middle.
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Zhou is to twist. Twist to break the structure.
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Template for training the front hand on a dot. (1) Hold onto something. (2) Star on the mirror. (3) Laser pointer.
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Hong’s Taiji is the original Taiji. Something that is right cannot be improved.
Lunch
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Elbow on the table. Match the elbow with grip. Match with muscles in forearm.
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Exercise to bend the wrist. Use the elbow to shoot power to the finger. This is stretching the two ends of a rubber cord to make the middle strong.
Afternoon
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When you are stuck in a problem, the solution must come from someone else (outside).
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To know something, continue without, advancing, without changing. No deviation from the original design. E.g. Rotation is a continuous lever.
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Hong said distance is fake. When two dots line up there is no distance. How to line up? Small.
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Story about Hong speaking French.
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Three dimensions. Front and back (elbow), left and right (waist), up and down (knee).
Evening
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No confrontation. Reverse and go over. We went through different variations on this. Master was holding my right forearm. My rear shoulder had to go back towards the fridge.
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Master showed the connection to his elbow, front shoulder, rear shoulder and rear elbow. Used my push to follow and reconnect.
Evening Online Class
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Waist and knee separation. I held onto the knees and the waist turned. I held onto the waist and the knees turned.
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Knee pump.
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Knee can only move backwards. Forwards will cause injury. Master showed this is still the case in stepping.
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I held Master’s front ankle and front knee. It inflated like a strong rubber tube.
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2022.09.03 悉尼笔记锺百豪 (英文) Sydney Notes by Brian Chung (English)
Workshop Day 1 Morning Session
- (1) Kai kua (open kua). (2) xuan zhuan (rotate). (3) budong (not moving).
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One fixed dot controlling everything.
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Quan. Hong said Authority is the counterweight on a scale.
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We must touch something solid. Facts are solid.
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Fix Hand Exercise. (1) Fix one hand hold onto a non moving pole. (2) Let the rest of the body go. (3) Whatever you let partner does to push and pull, do not respond.
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Activity on the rear shoulder vs front hand.
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Active vs passive usage of the dot.
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Back on Wall Exercise. (1) Place the back of your front shoulder on the wall with one dot touching. (2) Partner pushes into front hand. (3) Compress the two ends. (4) Switch the dot on the rear end that is touching the wall to a dot closer to the middle of your back. (4) Continue this nine times until the dot on the rear end is on your rear shoulder.
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Yao dang zhuan huan (switch). There is a Lid on the waist. Master showed the transfer of energy.
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Xia ta wai nian (lever). The original is a mudslide.
- Master showed an exercise to hit the back on the wall.
- Everything comes out of nothing.
Workshop Day 1 Afternoon Session
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I had my finger on the bar. Master said to isolate one dot on the rear knee against the middle finger. Eventually the foot. Only one, let the rest go. He demonstrated this with a pull while I held his wrist – isolating one at at time the elbow, shoulder, kua, knee.
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Exercise. (1) Place a elbow against the wall. (2) Partner pushes into it. Pretend to fight. (3) Align elbow against push. Forearm solid. (4) Use your finger to cross over their centre.
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Finger Reverses Push Exercise. (1) Partner pushes your arms. (2) Do not respond with upper body. (3) Align the rear foot. (4) Use fingers to aim back at their centre.
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Switching Exercise.
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There are three directions. (1) Forward backward. (2) Left right. (3) Up down.
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Space and no space. Both are the same. Master made a huge ball. There was no space for me.
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Ba Chang. Telescopic rod of a tripod. To attach yourself. To pull yourself open.
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Yilu with Power. Kenny corrections. My corrections.
Post Workshop
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I was working on the move after initial closing. Fix the left kua and thigh. Turn the waist to the left. Stretch the rear heel out. This causes the tension to be not lost.
Evening Session
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Master adjusted a student’s feet.
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Master corrected my stance smaller.
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Zhuo. We do not know how to contact.
- To line up without deviation, use two perpendicular straight lines at each end. Master used a book as an example. A secondary example was a cup.
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Fix the contact, move the feet. Master said this is winding a clock. There is a delayed build up of tension. I felt there was no push.
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Lid on the kua, use the knee to open backward. I must practice this. Secondary example was Master pushing my back down from a bent over position. This is the same thing.
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Rick Pietila story of hummer gun. The machine gunner is locked into one piece.
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Open into an arch. Back must open up, buttocks must go down.
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Push chest exercise into foot.
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2022.09.04 悉尼笔记锺百豪 (英文) Sydney Notes by Brian Chung (English)
Breakfast
- Boiling point. At 98 degrees, the water is still water. We have to go past the threshold.
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Learning is breaking the pattern. This is very rare.
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Look for the pattern in human behaviour and make notes.
- In promotion, the order is photos, videos, writing.
Workshop Day 2 Morning Session
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We never lose power. We only change structure.
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The curvature never existed (Six Sealing Four Closing).
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Two sticks on a rail. Everything is stiff. The setup makes it look smooth.
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Master held my forearm and touched a dot on my chest in Six Sealing Four Closing. Stretch back against the front hand.
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Six Sealing Four Closing with power. Master said power was on my chest. He pointed to use the dantian.
- I held Master’s thigh. It did not move.
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Hong’s number one characteristic is a half pipe with the back on the wall.
- Pushing Exercise. (1) Touch the chest. (2) Fix the elbows. Stretch the fingers. Forearm is 45 degrees forward. (3) Rear foot in. Opponent is on the edge. (4) Then move the feet. This is a snow plow (blade 45 degrees, vehicle is straight). The trajectory of the contact is an arch. Continue the track the opponent with your hands (Example is of a tiger tracking prey jumping up and landing down on it).
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Snow plow. Master asked me to explain the main points. Do not change the structure. Do not deviate. Our human nature is to deviate on what we see.
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We must find a method to motivate us.
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Step up exercise. Action of the front foot. The front pulls the rear. Every push is a pull.
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Intention is fine tuning the angles to adjust longer.
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Exercise. Pinch forearm. Master showed how to catch the entire body, allowing him to walk in.
Lunch
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Master showed his forearm while I held onto his wrist. He said he is actually pulling the ligaments inside.
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Inside of the glass cup. Hong told Master Chen he was wrong as he was touching the outside. The inside eventually relates to the core. The outside is unrelated. The inside is about the restriction.
Workshop Day 2 Afternoon Session
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Exercise. Line up front hand and rear elbow touching the the wall.
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Exercise. Rear foot line up with dantian. Hold the compression. Step forwards.
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Block Touching Coat application. (1) Intercept punch (2) Pull to your left side (3) Seven inch knife on throat (4) Catch neck (5) Stay on neck and push out.
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Four Corners Exercise. Get stuck. Turn the waist.
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Hand elbow exercise. Touch the wrist and elbow. Hand must always touch the elbow. We have to reverse our normal habit. Line up and pull the elbows in.
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Horizontal Rod exercise with James Strider pushing us. The rod is the point of reference. This allows the body to be very calm. Without it we always stumble.
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Five flowers. Four circles intersecting one middle. Watch the video again on Hunyuan.
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Bu liu shui. Not moving water. Master demonstrated this. The fist stopped on my chest. Power went through. I tried it, Master said I am too stiff.
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Talk about Jing Qi Shen.
Dinner
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Story of Liu Yang challenge.
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Story of Sun Yang challenge.
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Normal power is based on movement. We create power without moving. To fight someone strong, do not allow them to move.
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Pieces of information can be taught. Do not try to combine them. It will happen automatically.
- We need new ideas to conduct real Taiji research. Example, photo analysis from western science practitioners.
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Story of Hong’s photos.
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2022.09.05 悉尼笔记锺百豪 (英文) Sydney Notes by Brian Chung (English)
Privates Morning Session
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Bicycle chain. We all have one extra piece.
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Normally our shoulder is out. We have to totally change the body until it all fits.
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There is only one move. It is so tight, it only moves as a conveyor belt.
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Bie. Knee, calf, toes. Toes grip, knee back. Calf erect. I need to work on this.
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Exercise. Touch the wall.
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My rear foot was moving. Master put his foot against mine. Only hand on the wall and rear foot are solid. Middle is empty.
- Touching the wall timing exercise. Horizontal and vertical.
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I was pushing the wall with my left palm and rear foot. Shifu touched my left ribs and left thigh and stretched them out.
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The unbendable arm. This is Peng. Exercise. Partner pulls down on your elbow. Stretch the two ends (front hand and shoulder).
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Going over exercise. Long stick on the two arms. Lock the body as one piece. Stretch the two ends. Fix a dot on your chest in the middle. Go over it.
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Master let me feel what stretching the rear is. This is a rotation. Not a push.
Lunch
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Vertical is length. Horizontal is width.
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Power is on the vertical.
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Story about Zhang Lian En.
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I asked Master how to bie the knife, I need three dots. If I draw a diagram, there are only two. Where is the third? He said write an article about this.
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The third is created. It is very elusive. The action is two separate trajectories meeting at the middle.
Privates Afternoon Session
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Master was holding my wrist. Pull the elbow in. Crunch dantian. Connect elbow to dantian. Connect both to front heel. Get this feeling. Only work on the three dots.
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Pulling exercise after fist draping over body. Engage. Squeeze down to waist. Connect R arm to L kua. Here must be there. Lift L heel. Open L knee straight to L foot and L kua. L kua has a total vertical restriction. This causes a rotation and the L heel to grind out.
Privates Corrections
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There is a switch of side on the fingers in closing the first move.
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No Chou. No pulling (to pull the shoulder up).
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Six Sealing Four Closing. Front elbow and front kua can open or close. It must be one or the other.
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Turn Left to Pound Mortar. Kick from the right heel to cause the waist to turn. It must spin like a top.
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Brush the Knee. Turn over a dot in the middle of the chest. We must continue to expand.
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Master showed the rotation on brush the knee. Slide. As you rotate, the chest goes down. The correct feeling is nothing to hold onto.
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When I rotate, there is no surface.
Evening Online Session
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We repeated the learnings at the Chinese online class.
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Use a stick to go over. Forward backward, left right, up down.
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Unbendable arm.
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Pie Shen Chui.
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Discussion with Kelvin. He is very clear.
Notes from 2022 training camp
July 14
Touch the forearm
The dot has to line up to the dot on your chest
You cannot deviate from the line
Read more
Day 3
Lock the opponent at the top, break the opponent middle using my kua. The opponent collapses down like a building demolition.
Face the opponent (chest to chest), my front kua touches his front kua, make my front kua go to the other side.
Read more
Taijiquan
The soul is yin yang separation.
Everything must conform to this general principle. Yin yang separation is peng. Read more
In push hands, the first thing we need to do is to have peng energy. What does this mean? It requires us to be able to lock the opponent on the touch, confront him, without showing any disadvantages. We mustn’t show any weakness at the first place. Only like this, we will have the confidence to win.
What is confidence? Confidence is real gong fu. Without it, there is no use if you just feel good about yourself. How to gain real gong fu? Of course it is through years of training.
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3 years learning in the old time(学徒关系) is about 3 months full time training nowadays. The first 3 years is like the university, 7-10 years is the master degree, and after that, it depends on the situation.
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