Master Chen Zhonghua’s online lesson on Chen Style Taijiquan Practical Method on Sept. 22, 2020. This lesson focused on the double positive circle. Training steps of locking the arm onto the torso; rotate horizontally, rotate vertically; and rotate three-dimensionally.
Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 65 min. In: English Year: 2020 Difficulty:1/5 At:Edmonton Chen Zhonghua Taiji Academy
Master Chen Zhonghua’s corrections on Roy Croucher’s Six Sealing and Four Closing. It covers the basic function of the exercise and various subtle points. Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 57 min. In: English Year: 2020 Difficulty:1/5 At:Edmonton Chen Zhonghua Taiji Academy
Read moreI entered into class late and saw everyone doing double positive circles. He instructed us to do it in a higher stance with our elbows attached to our waist. Read more
Today Master Chen covered the Double Positive Circle.
We started with double positive circle.
We used a rubber cord to tie to elbow to the waist, so that the elbow does not move by itself.
Read more
Upshaw Practical Method Taijiquan Broadsword 1st recording 20200921
– just after Roy’s 2nd private lesson with GM, it was suggested that I record his impressions about his experiences in this learning process
– I’m no journalist so bear with me here Read more
– I am beginning to understand some of the challenges in trying to describe, discuss, even think about PM in ways that pass along that information, in digestible bites to other people Read more
In view of the current Covid-19 restrictions, the government of Wulian held a county wide sports meet, part of it is the 8th Daqingshan Taiji Competition. Thanks to Han Rui, Qiu Liwen, Wang Guixiu and Sun Peiliang.
Video clips:
-so it was just myself, in back of a digital camera, watching GM teach a Zoom class, at 7:30 AM and I thought to myself, ‘Man I have to be careful of what I wish for because sometimes the fates are listening’ Read more
This was a busy week:
- Wednesday
- Private session with Master Chen
- Advanced foundations and Yilu class with Master Allan
- Thursday
- Jian foundations and form class with Master Allan
- Friday
- Private session with Master Allan
- Basic foundations and Yilu class with Master Allan
Key notes in no particular order:
- Your body may be tired and sore from the previous day(s), and you will ask yourself if a day of rest would be better than going to train. Go to class! Once you start moving, blood will flow, and that soreness will go away. Every class has multiple gems, but they’re only available in the moment and in the context of what is being taught. If you miss it, you miss it, which I find to be more painful than the discomfort of tired muscles.
- Move with power: This is a martial art, not a dance. Every move must come from a place of power. Visualise your opponent and make sure you are affecting their body with each movement.
- Our arms are not part of the movement; they are only along for the ride. EVERYTHING comes from the kua and rotation.
- When Master Chen demonstrates a specific point, only look at that point. He could be sacrificing his form elsewhere in the body to emphasise something very specific. If you’re watching other things, you could be learning something wrong.
- When Master Chen is demonstrating a movement, he is not teaching anything theoretical. He is showing you EXACTLY what he is expecting you to do. Do not try to analyse it. Mirror it to the best of your ability.
- Training should not be comfortable. Always grind your joints that little bit further than they want to go, so they will continue to open up.
- We all make the same mistakes! This was evident after Wednesday with Master Chen present for Master Allan’s class. Everyone felt personally targeted by the new elbow exercise video the following day: http://practicalmethod.com/2020/09/elbow-exercise-20200917/
- It isn’t easy in the time of covid, but if possible train with a partner. The difference in someone physically stopping your shoulder from moving back, or locking your knee so it doesn’t follow, makes a big difference! (Please be safe! I’m lucky to get to train with family)
- Practice your form without moving.
- As always: Don’t move, only rotate!
I know I am missing so much, but it was a week of brain overload. I’m very happy with the progress I felt in my body. I was a little concerned on Wednesday as I felt a pop in my right kua. Thankfully it was a good pop. My right side has opened up a lot!
I’m looking forward to seeing the video from Wednesday’s private session. We worked through section 3, which I’m just trying to get my head wrapped around the choreography. If you’re looking for some great detail on that section, I’m sure between my session and Anton’s you’ll get great material. If you’re looking for a great taiji comedy, I’m fairly certain I played the part of the uncoordinated court jester to a T 😀
While observing my training, Master Chen explained that I had slack in my foundation exercise. He went on to clarify that when I was in a posture and started the transition to another posture the tension/stretch was lost. This stretch must be maintained even if one is letting a joint adjust. Master Chen used the example of the elbow, the section below the elbow must be like a stick, and the section above the elbow must also not be slack. To elaborate, Master Chen said to think of a car. Even though the gears rotate, the physical structure of the car is solid. He said that this concept of removing the slack must be used on all parts of the body so that in push hands you will not collapse under the push of your opponent.
Next, Master Chen spoke on posture. He was pointing out the delicate balance of where the knee placement was relative to foot on the front leg. During this demonstration I made a learning error which I will share for the benefit of readers:
Master Chen was showing me specifically the placement of the front leg, pointing to the front leg to make that clear. After I was convinced that I had an image of how his leg was positioned, I moved around to get another perspective of the overall posture, this is a mistake. Master Chen pointed out that he was specifically making sure that the front leg was correct so that we could learn from the placement. He went on to say that he may even sacrifice some other aspects of his posture to make sure the single point is demonstrated as accurately as possible, so if we as observers look elsewhere we may be copying an incorrect body position.
Specific to the posture, Master Chen demonstrated when the knee was too far back how there was an inability to get full power out of the front lower leg muscles (Tibialis anterior, and Extensor digitorum longus from what I felt). When the knee was bent too far forward, Master Chen demonstrated the inability to get a bite (also resulting on the muscles not engaging). Once the position was correct, he demonstrated that a bite could be obtained, and this could be felt through the Master Chen’s leg muscles.
This is Roy Croucher’s second private lesson. This lesson focused on the mechanics of Fetch Water, one of the foundations exercises.
Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 55 min. In: English Year: 2020 Difficulty:2/5 At:Edmonton Chen Zhonghua Taiji Academy
Practical Method requires that the elbow cannot be hyper-extended. It cannot be strange. In our special language/terminology, we open the elbow with a result that it becomes lively (活).
This exercise is designed to form a habit that the elbow is always slight bent.
twisting towel
Chen Zhonghua’s online lesson on Chen Style Taijiquan Practical Method on Sept. 17, 2020.
Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 58 min. In: English Year: 2020 Difficulty:2/5 At:Edmonton Chen Zhonghua Taiji Academy
Participating in the European Practical Method Meet-Up 2020 in Żywiec in Poland was a great joy for me. Read more
This is Roy Croucher’s first private lesson in this series. In this video, he is corrected on the foundational exercise of Twisting the Towel. Many important aspects of the Chen Style Taijiquan Practical Method are covered. A particular point in this video is how to stretch the vertical line in order to stabilize the kua. One of the kuas must be stable while the other does an opening move. Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 54 min. In: English Year: 2020 Difficulty:1/5 At:Edmonton Chen Zhonghua Taiji Academy
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Master Chen Zhonghua’s Yilu correction for Jody Hall. This is part two. The first part covered the first 13 moves.
Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 15 min. In: English Year: 2020 Difficulty:3/5 At:Edmonton Chen Zhonghua Taiji Academy
Tuesday Foundations lesson included corrections on Twisting towel, Fetching water, and Six sealing four closing. Shifu emphasized the shoulder going down and also taught a chest opening exercise.
-two things I have been thinking about my practice in the past couple of days: 1. the new task of ‘resetting’ my body, given me by GM, is more profound than it seems, 2. the process of how you learn is as at least as important as what you learn
1.
-the task GM has given me may be the most difficult one I’ve ever been given
-not only does it encompass a complete re-working, re-tooling, re-creation of my entire physical self it implicitly tasks me to begin to practice PM all-day long, not jibengong all day long, but finding ways to subtly inject elements of training into every action
-my body awareness and sensitivity will have to go up more than a notch, a quantum leap would be more descriptive, and my ability to accept and work with my cognitive-emotional states will have to ratchet up a notch also
-the task is to ‘re-set’ my body so that it produces expanding Peng (redundant?) energy without any observable or perhaps measurable tension in any body tissues, esp. the contractile muscles, ligaments and tendons
-this is proving to be extremely challenging and is of course affected by my psycho-emotional states, try relaxing contractile tissues while in pain (emotional or physical)
2.
-in keeping with working on my assigned task I noticed that the class last night at the Edmonton studio was remarkable in a couple of ways
-firstly, we had a visitor, GM’s newest disciple Sooyeon Zachrias, who was a most delightful addition to our practice group
-secondly, I found myself fondly remembering my experiences at TigerClaw Gung Fu School in the ’70’s when I trained & and competed in kickboxing, we had a pretty informal competition class atmosphere and we regularly teased and joked with each other and the teachers/coaches
-our group last night was ‘playing’ with each other, there was joking, and teasing and relaxed informality
– we were all laughing out loud, but respectful, nothing out of line or intended to be anything but supportive
– Sooyeon Zachrias mentioned how she was enjoying the training experience with others as mostly she only attends workshops in MapleRidge, thank you Sooyeon for reminding me that the time I share with my brothers and sisters in this art gives me something different from the hrs and hrs I spend working on PM alone
-not saying every class has to be a stand up session or that no laughter means its not a good class, I am trying to say that the moments we share in class are precious
– we all have the physical pains of trying to grind away the rough parts of our joints and the psychological pain of removing from our souls anything that fails to make room for Peng
-hope this is an okay subject to post on PM website
-learning to live a breath at a time
Sooyeon Zacharias Yilu corrections part 1.
Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 16 min. In: English Year: 2020 Difficulty:3/5 At:Edmonton Chen Zhonghua Taiji Academy
Chen Zhonghua’s Sept. 15, 2020. Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 63 min. In: English Year: 2020 Difficulty:2/5 At:Edmonton Chen Zhonghua Taiji Academy
Today, Master Chen covered Foundations and provided corrections on Twisting the Towel.
This the video for Master Chen Zhonghua’s Sept. 14, 2020 Online Lesson in English.
Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 66 min. In: English Year: 2020 Difficulty:2/5 At:Edmonton Chen Zhonghua Taiji Academy
Sooyeon Zachrias discipleship Group 2020.09.13
On Sept. 13, 2020, Sooyeon Zacharias became Master Chen Zhonghua’s 372nd disciple in the Chen Style Taijiquan Practical Method lineage..
Sooyeon Zachrias discipleship Sitting 2020.09.13
Because of various reason including Covid-19, her discipleship ceremony was postponed several times. Finally on Sept. 12, she drove 14 hours from Litton, BC. to Edmonton, Alberta. The next day, she was inducted as Master Chen Zhonghua’s 372nd disciple in a simple ceremony in Master Chen Zhonghua’s Headquater in Edmonton.
Sooyeon Zachrias discipleship Certificate 2020.09.13
Sooyeon started learning the Chen Style Taijiquan Practical Method system in 2018, joining the Maple Ridge practice group. She has not missed one single workshop since then. In 2019, she participated at the 7th Annual Daqingshan International Taiji Competition.
This is the most basic three count of the Practical Method positive circle.
In this mini video, Master Chen Zhonghua explains how to judge the size of movements by using a point of reference.
This is part of the Sept. 8, 2020 online video of Master Chen Zhonghua
Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 1 min. In: English Year: 2020 Difficulty:1/5 At:Edmonton Chen Zhonghua Taiji Academy
Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 4 min. In: English Year: 2020 Difficulty:1/5 At:Edmonton Chen Zhonghua Taiji Academy
– just before class began on Friday evening GM held another instructional session at the Edmonton studio
– he instructed on several topics, I am mindful of trying not to add or delete any of his words intentionally
– he observed part of my first section Yilu and commented that I was still tensing, flexing, using my deltoid muscles when I was doing the form
– he then demonstrated how he could open his hand, create Peng energy in his hand, forearm and upper arm, entire body, while not creating any tension or flexion in the internal contractile tissues; he was totally in control of what was locked and what was moving, down to the tendon & ligament level of his body
– he further demonstrated as he asked me to grasp his forearm firmly, he moved his Kua and his arm, still with no observable tension pulled me off balance, I scrambled to my notebook to begin writing
– the main message was that I need to work towards ‘re-setting’ my entire body so that I only create expansion or Peng energy in it
– he spoke about how Taoist theory holds that for Taiji to work, for our bodies to be ready to create the conditions necessary for Peng, we need to create a centre point, a still point inside our bodies like a black hole, a kind of gyro-scope that creates a centre point around which rotations, stretches, elongations, etc. can happen properly
– I think he said that each body part, joint, fascial connection, all have to have a centre point around which I can learn to open and rotate
– he said that the act of creating Peng energy in the body must become continuous while practising, eventually
– am still not sure of the exact mechanics of how to begin to try to manifest this expanding energy within my body without engaging any of the surrounding musculatures, or even ligs/tendons that are superfluous, it seems I must take what I experienced when GM demo’d on me and try to replicate this within my body as best I can at my skill & understanding level
– a big part of this, it seems, has to do with releasing my anxiety & mental tension during practice to facilitate my ‘listening’ skill, to be able to feel the body dynamics of push hands partners I need to develop sensitivity within my own body, realizing that it is not a direct correlation, my body creating tensionless Peng expansion energy will sometimes likely outstrip my ability to feel/detect movement cues from my push hands partners
– he also demonstrated the footwork skill of using the leading leg to pull your body in the desired direction, rather than pushing off the trailing leg, using the ligaments on the inside of the legs, finishing the movement by using the trailing legs recontacting the floor to create a brake for the momentum, movement
– any errors, omissions, or plain mistakes are due to me, my old man memory, and my beginners understanding of what GM was trying to teach
Part one of yilu correction.
Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 17 min. In: English Year: 2020 Difficulty:3/5 At:Edmonton Chen Zhonghua Taiji Academy
