Presenter: Kelvin Ho Length: 52 min. In: English Year: 2020 Difficulty:3/5
Knowledge
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John Upshaw and I met because of Practical Method. He lives in Iowa, USA, and I live in Toronto, Canada. We started to get to know each other through Facebook posts and chats. We first met in person in New Jersey Camp in June 2012. Despite living far apart, we started to train together in early morning on weekends using video conferencing, such as Google Hangout and Skype. We learned straight sword, erlu, and recently broadsword together. Last night, I stumbled some upon notes I made back in 2013/2014 for the online practice sessions. Upon reviewing the notes, what we have been practicing remains the same over the years. To name a few, the instructions include:
- Out with hand
- In with elbow
- Don’t move, lock, fix something, such as the hand, the knee.
- Stretch
- Go over
- Open the kua
We improve over time in terms of detail and quality of the movements, but we will never be perfect. and the training just keeps going. Such notes allowed me to re-live some of the wonderful memories, and thanks to shifu to keep reminding us to make notes.
Hi, on Tues 27 Oct 7:30AM Foundation class, Master Chen shared that when he studied with Grandmaster Feng (I am assuming its Xin Yi Hun Yuan Taiji Quan) he mentioned Grandmaster Feng’s style of instruction was to walk around and execute a single movement (randomly) and not in a continuous manner. Master Chen went on to explain that the continuous execution of Taiji styles has diluted the original essence of each individual movement as the practitioner transits between each movement. While performing it may look impressive, but these transitions between movements don’t help in mastering the power of each individual movement.
All the videos I’ve seen of Master Feng (and his daughters) executing Hunyuan are in continuous mode, so it was refreshing to hear from Master Chen about this perspective. I sincerely hope that Master Chen could share more of his learning experience from Master Feng (and Master Chen Fa Ke as well) so that we can appreciate the differences.
Chinese Class
Separation of Yin and Yang
- 先合后开 xian he hou kai – Together at first, separate later.
- How it separates, the rate it separates can be regulated later.
- e.g. Six Sealing Four Closing, Punch covering hand Read more
Master Chen Zhonghua’s private lesson for Anton Phipps on Cannon Fist. Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 28 min. In: English Year: 2020 Difficulty:2/5 At:Edmonton Chen Zhonghua Academy
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Roy Croucher Private Cannon Fist 20201029. Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 54 min. In: English Year: 2020 Difficulty:2/5 At:Edmonton Chen Zhonghua Academy
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Master Chen Zhhonghua’s online lesson on Chen Style Taijiquan Practical Method on Oct. 29th, 2020.
Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 63 min. In: English Year: 2020 Difficulty:3/5 At:Edmonton Chen Zhonghua Academy
Going Over – We focus on this concept in several moves today.
Flash the back
- After elbow-in, we use the kua to cause the elbow to go over, so that we can grab the opponent’s wrist on the other side.
- The other elbow moves in this move also requires going over to break the opponent’s arm at the elbow.
- Before turning backwards, we just lock the left hand, and bring the right foot over to the other side. Read more
Recorded Oct 28, 2020 in Panama. Started PM mid Sept 2020
Chen Zhonghua’s private lesson for Anton Phipps. Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 44 min. In: English Year: 2020 Difficulty:3/5 At:Edmonton Chen Zhonghua Academy
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Chen Zhonghua’s private lesson for Roy Croucher on Oct. 28, 2020. Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 54 min. In: English Year: 2020 Difficulty:2/5 At:Edmonton Chen Zhonghua Academy
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Chen Zhonghua’s online lesson on Chen Style Taijiquan Practical Method on Oct. 28, 2020. Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 62 min. In: English Year: 2020 Difficulty:1/5 At:Edmonton Chen Zhonghua Academy
Read moreMaster Chen is showing us something that we cannot do. So, if we fake it, we are not learning. It is something we cannot do. The learning is to show us our deficiencies not our efficiencies.
It is very important that we never become comfortable. We must be in that position that we are uncomfortable, and stay in that position. We need to stay in that state of uncomfortable without changing our structure. This will allow our us to re calibrate.
In yilu, we must do it one move at a time until we reach our fullest extent and then reset. Master Chen is trying to bring back the original idea, not continuous. Train each move separately.
The stretch from knee to kua the thigh lengthens. We need to go into the uncomfortable position that we are about to fall down or we do fall down.
We need a clear net gain without changing shape. This net gain can only be created with the stretch and no rotation. This needs to be applied in push hands and in practice. To train this you cannot have wobbly moves. If the opponent creates a net gain during push hands and you don’t that goes into you and you lose. Net gain equals net distance.
Correction on my form Need to have 3 solids There is a line at the shoulder level between the front hand and rear shoulder (first 2 solids) I need to stretch the kua down to create the 3rd solid. Read more
Master Chen Zhonghua’s private lesson for Anton Phipps on Oct. 27, 2020.Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 45 min. In: English Year: 2020 Difficulty:2/5 At:Edmonton Chen Zhonghua Taiji Academy
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Master Chen Zhonghua’s Private Lesson with Roy Croucher on Oct. 27, 2020. Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 53 min. In: English Year: 2020 Difficulty:3/5 At:Edmonton Chen Zhonghua Academy
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Master Chen Zhonghua’s Online Lesson on Practical Method on Oct. 27, 2020.
Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 61 min. In: English Year: 2020 Difficulty:1/5 At:Edmonton Chen Zhonghua Academy
Learning Taiji is like climbing the stairs. The teacher has to grind hard on you until you see the first step and put your foot on it. Whatever is correct has to be driven into you. Read more
Correction on my form
- Need to have 3 solids
- There is a line at the shoulder level between the front hand and rear shoulder (first 2 solids)
- I need to stretch the kua down to create the 3rd solid.
- The first 2 solids form the horizontal bar of a T-bar, while the kua stretching down creates the rod of the T-bar.
- Master Chen Zhonghua demonstrated six sealing four closing with that rod not moving. Without this part, I will not be able to rotate. With it, things start to become 3-dimensional. It was really like that there was an auger in him.
- This may seem like a contradiction while we need to push the front kua up, we also need to stretch it down to create a solid. Read more
Today we worked on isolating a movement and twisting the towel. During previous training sessions we did it to feel the trajectory and range. Now we do it with a restriction. The restriction that we did it with was not to move the knee. The main action we were training was twisting the towel with a stretch, not a rotation. Read more
- Create an account on YouTube if you don’t have one yet.
- Shoot your yilu video in landscape mode like the above picture.
- Upload your yilu video to YouTube.
- In the description of your YouTube video, add the following:
- Name: Your name
- Location: Where was the yilu was recorded at?
- Date: Which date the yilu was recorded on?
- Yilu Count: Approx. # of yilus you have practiced so far, please see http://practicalmethod.com/pm_practice_record_main/pm_practice_personal_totals/.
- Copy the link to your YouTube video.
- Create a new post at this website: http://practicalmethod.com/wp-admin/post-new.php
- If you have access problem with this link, please contact Kelvin Ho at kelvin.ho@practicalmethod.ca, as you will need author access to this website.
- Paste the link in the body of the new post.
- Edit the title of the post in the following format:
- John Doe Yilu on Oct. 26, 2020
Using “Twisting the Towel” exercise as a training tool for this lesson, Master Chen Zhonghua taught the method of “keeping one” while moving. This method trains the ability to create a dot in Taiji movements.
Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 63 min. In: English Year: 2020 Difficulty:3/5 At:Edmonton Chen Zhonghua Taiji Academy
Master Chen Zhonghua’s private lesson for Anton Phipps on Oct. 26, 2020. This lesson focused on the finding of the two points that forms the line. Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 54 min. In: English Year: 2020 Difficulty:1/5 At:Edmonton Chen Zhonghua Taiji Academy 埃德蒙顿陈中华太极馆
Read moreI recorded my illu about 10 days ago and put it here with the hope to get some corrections. Read more
Presenter: Kelvin Ho Length: 69 min. In: English Year: 2020 Difficulty: 3/5 At: Toronto and Iowa
Read moreNot Moving is one of the most important concepts in Practical Method. There are 3 types of Not Moving.
Absolutely Not Moving
- Also known as: Truely Not Moving
- This point is simply not allowed to move in any way.
- Example: A nail on the wall. The nail is not moving in any direction.
Relatively Not Moving
- Also known as: Structurally Not Moving
- Between two points, a constant relationshiop is maintained.
- Example: A passenger seating in the car going from place to place. The passenger is not moving relative to the car.
Restrictively Not Moving
- Also known as: Staying on the track
- This point is only allowed to move in a very specific way.
- Example: A train can only move along the track. It works properly only when it does not derail.
Chinese Class
We do our form in a low stance to train gong. When we use it, we don’t go so low, because it is not agile enough.
Movements need to be big and long.
The kuas need to be just a bit higher than the knees. Read more
Chen Zhonghua’s Online Lesson on Oct. 22, 2020. This is a session on Yilu corrections.
Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 67 min. In: English Year: 2020 Difficulty:2/5 At:Edmonton Chen Zhonghua Taiji Academy
Positive circle and beyond. Sound was captured by camera, not wireless mic. Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 64 min. In: English Year: 2020 Difficulty:3/5 At:Edmonton Chen Zhonghua Taiji Academy
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Chen Zhonghua’s Private Lesson for Roy Croucher on Oct. 21, 2020. Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 43 min. In: English Year: 2020 Difficulty:2/5 At:Edmonton Chen Zhonghua Taiji Academy
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Master Chen Zhonghua’s online lesson on Oct. 21, 2020. This is a lesson on Yilu corrections. At the beginning of the hour, there was some information on the theory of Chen Style Taijiquan Practical Method. The general theory of Yin Yang separation.
Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 67 min. In: English Year: 2020 Difficulty:3/5 At:Edmonton Chen Zhonghua Taiji Academy
Chinese Class
Negative Circle
- In-with-elbow, Zhuan Guan, Out-with-hand
- We have get the proper ideal image in our mind, even though we can’t do it properly at this point.
- We must be expressive in our movement during training, so the teacher/instructor can see your intent.
Rotation is when there is movement without displacement.
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Master Chen Zhonghua’s Private Lesson for Anton Phipps on Oct. 19, 2020. Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 47 min. In: English Year: 2020 Difficulty:3/5 At:Edmonton Chen Zhonghua Taiji Academy
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Master Chen Zhonghua’s Private Lesson for Anton Phipps on Oct. 20, 2020. This is the last (6) section of the Yilu.
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Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 40 min. In: English Year: 2020 Difficulty:3/5 At:Edmonton Chen Zhonghua Taiji Academy
Master Chen Zhonghu’s Private lesson for Roy Croucher on Oct. 20, 2020. Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 56 min. In: English Year: 2020 Difficulty:3/5 At:Edmonton Chen Zhonghua Taiji Academy
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Master Chen Zhonghua’s online lesson on Chen Style Taijiquan Practical Method on Oct. 20, 2020. Today’s lesson is on foundations. Master Chen Zhonghua corrected many students on typical errors while Kelvin Ho is leading the training.
Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 67 min. In: English Year: 2020 Difficulty:2/5 At:Edmonton Chen Zhonghua Taiji Academy
