Functional Relationships of Kua, Dantian and Physical Structure
Ping Wei
*This article was originally published in T’ai Chi, the International Magazine of T’ai Chi Ch’uan, Vol. 29, No.5, October 2005. ISSN 0730-1049, Wayfarer Publications, Los Angeles, CA 90039.
The following is my proposal for teaching Tai Chi at Paradise Valley Community College (Phoenix, AZ). It was accepted and the class will be scheduled for the Spring 2017.
Let’s do an experiment. Find a stick about a foot long. Put a mark on the center point. Use fingers of one hand to hold one end of the stick in horizontal position. Now, try to rotate the stick horizontally, and make the center point of the stick as the rotation center, and try your best to keep the center point not moving around. Soon you’ll find out that is not a simple task even though it sounds simple. This is not because you don’t have enough strength in your hand/arm to hold steady of the stick. It’s because you only control one end of the stick.
There are some small details in stepping forward and finishing the form that I have been focusing while doing Yilu. I’d like to share here and hopefully generate some discussion.
In Practical Method, we first (1) shuffle one heel out when we step forward. Then (2) we move the knee forward and the body is shifted to center (roughly).
Some people would do (1) and (2) together, so it really looks like stepping and weight shifting are done at the same time. It’s partly due to the weak supporting leg. With more practicing and increased leg strength, it can be easily corrected.
Many years ago when I was just learning Yilu, I had questions about how the “Second Closing” (the move after fetch water) was done properly. I was just imitating the movement, the hand was waving from one place to another place. I had no idea where was the energy alignment in that particular move. Master Chen explained “Second Closing” with its application and tried on me. He turned and I was on the ground. It was that simple. I didn’t know, I could not figure out how Master Chen did. But I did know how powerful the “Second Closing” was.
Master Chen Zhonghua
Practical Method Workshop in Phoenix
Foundations, Yilu, and Push Hand
October 1 and 2, 2016 (Saturday & Sunday)
Morning: 9 to noon; Afternoon: 2-5
Location: World Martial Arts Academy, 2028 N 16th St., Phoenix, AZ 85006
In numerous occasions, Master Chen talked about how to train the body as a gear box. In energy alignment, he talked about the hand and foot connection. In push hand, he instructed us not to push. Instead, push the leg and by opening the “kua” so that the energy is transmitted from foot to hand. He talked about “fill the kua”, “push the shoulder down”, “fix the two dots and hit the middle”, “indirect force/power”, etc. The words Master Chen used most in every workshop are “DON’T MOVE.” Master Chen’s teachings are like puzzle pieces in a box. We need to put these puzzles pieces together in order to see the larger picture of Practical Method. Read more
Master Chen Zhonghua Practical Method Workshop
Phoenix, Arizona
September 26-27 (Saturday & Sunday), 2015
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From Oblique Single Whip (44) to Single Whip (54), plus demonstration of the last two sections from Middle Cloud Hands (55) to Turn Left and Buddha’s Warrior Pounds Mortar (81).
Ping Wei will visit Irvine California and teach foundations and Yilu in a one day workshop on March 21, Saturday. This will be his third workshop in Irvine.
After two and half month passed since my first trip to Irvine, I went back on January 31. This time, Edward came to join the group. We worked briefly on foundations. Mostly, I focused on teaching Yilu.
Foundations are important. Yilu is the core. The more students know about Yilu, the more fun they can have while practicing alone. I was able to finish the first 30 forms to “Upper Cloud Hands” and “High Pat on Horse” in the morning. (We did the first 13 moves in last workshop.) Read more
Master Chen’s disciple Ping Wei will teach Practical Method foundations and Yilu on January 31 (Saturday, 10am-1pm and 2-5pm) in Irvine, California. For location and other details, please contact Al Yu at 949-331-2735, or email: mralyu@yahoo.com.
To celebrate the New Year, we are going to gather and practice Yilu and Cannon Fist at North Mountain Park (7th Street and Peoria Ave.) from 8am to 10am on January 1, 2015. Everyone is welcome. Brunch at Ping’s place afterwards. RSVP to Ping (602-373-3457) by December 31.
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.
Master Chen Zhonghua is scheduled to come to Phoenix, USA on September 20 and 21 in 2014. He is going to teach the Practical Method Erlu (the Canon Fist) in the workshop. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to learn the Cannon Fist form directly from Master Chen.
More details will follow.
Book your space early by Contact Ping Wei: peace_defender2003@yahoo.com; 602-373-3457
Happy Holiday Season!
Chen Style Tai Chi Practical Method–Phoenix, Arizona
Winter Schedule (12/2013 – 2/2014)
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On Yin Yang Separation:
Whenever you can separate Yin and Yang, one part doesn’t move, the other part moves, there has to be a relationship between them.
The relationship (between Yin and Yang) is the number one factor of Taiji. As the matter of fact, it (the relationship) is the core of Taiji. Read more
We all understand the importance of “don’t move” in Practical Method. To achieve “don’t move”, there’s a pitfall need to be aware. Read more
It’s a honor to have you in Phoenix, and thank you for teaching us. Everybody learned a lot. Come back soon.
Ping Wei
Tai Chi skills are acquired accumulatively (through hard working). If you don’t have a solid foundation, it’s hard for you to advance. Even if you can do foundations very well, you still have to be able to implement them into yilu practice. Push hand skills/abilities are rooted in yilu. Master Chen has presented us an overwhelming amount of knowledge. What we need to do is to digest and piece together his teaching into our own unified body of knowledge. One skill leads to another skill. Through practice, we are getting better. The criteria of “better” is not how “fine” you can do an specific form. It is how many skills you can relate and execute at one point. To learn is to synthesize.
Before I came to US in 1992, I only heard about Master Hong Junsheng’s Chen Style Taiji Quan Practical Method. In 1998, I met Master Chen Zhonghua in Phoenix at a martial art competition Read more
Wednesday, 6-7pm, Foundations;
Saturday/Sunday, 7-9am, Foundations, Yilu, Push Hands, and Sword.
For locations, contact Ping Wei at 602-373-3457, ping@northmountaintaichi.com.
After came back from DaQingShan, I resumed Practical Method Foundation classes every Wednesday for one hour. In one of the classes recently, when we were practicing “twisting the towel”, I saw one student’s elbows were away from his body. In that position, his elbows are out. In order to let him understand what is “in”, what is “out”, I used a short stick to demonstrate for him. I let myself ready in the “twisting the towel” position, put one end of the stick against my rib and rest my middle finger on the stick. Then I showed him clearly when the elbow is out and when the elbow is in. To my surprise, I realized my elbows have never been truly “IN” before.
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Master Chen Zhonghua’s Phoenix Workshop
October 15 (Tuesday) to 18 (Friday)
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To experience “two ceilings”, wedge your thigh under a picnic table, push upward against the table, then, you have the “waist ceiling.” If you don’t have the “waist ceiling,” you don’t have the “crown ceiling” either.
(In the photo: Marvin Glotfelty)
When I first heard Master Chen said “not-on not-off” in push hand a few years ago, I thought it was impossible. We either push (on), or not push (off). Through years of training, I slowly come to understand that “not-on not-off” is the result of “peng”, or Yin Yang separation.
A few days ago, after I wrote about stepping training by hugging a tree, I dreamed about a new exercise to help students experiencing “not-on not-off” by pushing a tree. Read more
In Practical Method, when we want to move foot forward, back, or side, we need to have the weight shift to the supporting leg and “pump” the other leg out. In other words, the leg which is moving out will not interfere the whole body balance. It’s independent from the rest of the body. It can move freely. The taiji terminology for this is “Chan Chu” (Shovel out). Read more
The way of learning and training Tai Chi is different by different people. I am a kind of slow learner. Realizing that, it actually helped me overall. Read more
I am so happy that Master Chen will visit Phoenix on Nov. 10 and 11 (Saturday and Sunday, based on most recent update). If people from out of town would like to visit and join us, I can host two more people in my house. Can’t wait.
Did Yilu on the ship while cruising on St Lawrence River. The deck was rocking, the wind was blowing. The condition for Tai Chi was very difficult. I lost balance in the very first a few moves in the first try.
It was a beautiful morning in Phoenix, Arizona. Went to my Tai Chi class at 7:30am. Adam, Read more
For those who attended Master Chen’s workshops, we all have this experience. When Master Chen demonstrated any push hand technique, he executed it crisply clean and looked so simple. Then, everybody tried to copy the technique, but didn’t work. In my recent classes, I start to realize the techniques are only valid (or more efficient) when you have the split of Yin and Yang.
New Year’s day, a beautiful sunny day in Phoenix, Arizona. Today’s training theme is Yin and Yang split.
