Search: Master Chen Zhonghua Online Lesson Kelvin Ho

Back to the kua-to-hand exercise.

  1. Lock the hand, shoulder and kua as a triangle, which is a fixed plane.
  2. We fixed a dot on the plane, and we rotate on the dot without changing the plane itself.
  3. We put this dot just under the elbow.
  4. Kua becomes (就是) the hand. When the opponent touches our hand, it is the same as touching our kua. Ultimately, the opponent is touching the floor.
This plane is something that we maintain during push hands. When we have it, we can move this plane however we want.  The plane itself is double heavy, but if we can make it a revolving door, it is not double heavy anymore. The axis can be put anywhere on the plane or through the plane (a dot on the plane).
Fist of Lifting and Blocking
  1. Elbow does not move.
  2. Rotate the shoulder to cause the fist to change the direction.

Turning Flower over from the Sea Bottom

Today, there is a big breakthrough.
The shoulders finally find the kuas in this movement. It was very possibly due to the exercise taught on Mar 30, 2021:

  • Use the kua to push the hand out. Shoulder, kua and elbow are one piece. The hand stretches against the shoulder. This is a very practical push hand move.

REMEMBER THE PROCEDURE that gets me here, but DON’T FOLLOW THE FEELING.

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Fist of Hitting and Lifting

The flip from one side to another needs to happen because of torso going down. More precisely, the two shoulder-to-kua axes go up and down against the central non-moving axis. Read more

Fist of Lifting and Blocking 搬拦肘

  1. Lock the two elbows as if they are on a table
  2. The two fists only go up to go around. They also have to stretch against the two elbows. Imagine that you have a wall parallel to the chest right in front.
Generally,
  1. The kuas control the rotation on the central vertical axis.
  2. The knees control the height of the body/torso.
  3. The elbow control the horizontal movement.
得意忘形
为什么分门派?
过来多年为什么会变?
因为没有真正明白。

Common mistake in push hands:

  1. Shoulder tends to come up and have power (wrong).
  2. Kua tends to go down and not have power (wrong). Read more

Lock the arms, torso goes down. Lock the torso, pull down the arms. Now there is power.

This is increasing distance. This is switching. This is rotation.

GoDownToIncreaseDistance
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What does it mean to be not in the same dimension?
Open zipper, untie shoe lace

Taiji is to find the holes. We must fix the lattice to find the holes. Fixing the lattice is peng.
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开胯:功能 vs 功夫

功能:用方法达到开胯的目的。

内家拳:外边不变,内边变化。

外家拳:内边不变,外边变化。
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Go over the threshold 过关: hand and shoulder

Get to the special spot 窍: tip of the elbow, inner spot of kua to come out, back of the knee to find alignment, spot at the bottom of the neck

Master Chen explained the switching of the kuas again, how they are like two credit cards touching each other in a T configuration. We need to create a gap and then do the switch.
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Exercise 1: Use the kua to push the hand out. Shoulder, kua and elbow are one piece. The hand stretches against the shoulder. This is a very practical push hand move.

Exercise 2: Elbow Strike (the elbow has to come out)

Exercise 3: Double Push Hands: Pull the opponent in, Front foot goes forward, rear foot follows. Two hands go out from the dantian with a trajectory. We use the back foot to push.

We started with forearm lever exercise. Aim at a dot to create a pivot. The distance the elbows goes down is the same as the distance the finger tip goes up (assuming the pivot is right in the middle).

Ratio 1:1

The meaning is that nothing is left in the middle. Every in-coming thing must go out. This is also called neutralization.

When we eat rice, ideally, we just want the energy, and other physical things should come out of the body. However, there is always some small amount of material, e.g. mineral that remains in the body. This is what causes us to be sick and become old.

Resolving door: One side comes in, the other side goes out. The key is that the door is very solid.

In our movement, redirect the incoming force to the rear foot without moving.

To be soft, it must be solid plus rotation.

Train with the rear foot at the corner, and a big enough stance to lock the body (especially upper body).

Taiji is only realized with speed.
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Exercise 1: Use the left hand to grab the right wrist, stretch the right fingers. This is not just a demonstration, it is the method to train. People often ask Master Chen how to train, in fact, he just showed us. We only need to do it 60 times in each session. Doing it 60 times means to not use too much power, or using the right amount such that you can do it 60 times. When you use the left hand to grab the right, squeeze the armpit to lock the left hand, so that the left hand itself does not move. In order to stretch, we must lock something.
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When the body action is correct, the energy is wrong.

When the energy is correct, the body action is wrong.
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Maintain two lines (This exercise came from Twisting the towel.)

  1. Head to foot
  2. Front finger tip to the central vertical line on the back

We want to first stretch things out, and then add something in the middle to further stretch a little bit. We must constantly add that little bit of stretch in our training. This is neigong training.
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Fetch Water
Application: Shoulder strike (kao), power comes from dantian
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What is success? It’s to never give up.

Why would one give up? He had a change of heart.

中文两字词语是阴阳的。信念 – 信往外,念往内。
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Think about the rods/bars that link the old kind of train’s wheels together. Those rods only ever go forward even those each wheel only rotates. This is yin-yang reversal. There is a joint in the middle of the wheel, there is another joint at the place where the rod is attached to the wheel. If there is no such joint and the rod is totally glued to the wheel, as the wheel rotates, the rod will also turn around with the wheel.
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Put the elbow on the table.

Shoulders goes down to the elbow.
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Hold a rod not by grabing it with the whole palm, but split the span into two dots. One dot on the index finger underneath the rod acts as the pivot, and another one at the root of the palm placed above the rod acts as the balancing arm. We can tilt the rod the other end of the rod this way without lifting the rod itself.

This is what allows the power to go along the rod to the other end, and it is said to go over.
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– Today we worked on Pole Shaking (Positive and Negative Circle).

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During training (when we are not yet successful), we use extra effort and focus to get it. It is tiring.

Once you are successful, the body gets used to it and will not be tiring anymore. The hair has been combed. The effort has gone through a filter. Read more

This lesson is about staying on topic, and then categorization within a topic.

There are only 3 types of movements in Practical Method:

  1. Elbow-in (Pull)
  2. Hand-out (Push)
  3. Rotate Read more

The axis in real usage exists only functionally. 滚珠轴承 Ball Bearing.

We create a shell (restriction) on the outside, then the axis inside must exist, but you can’t touch it unlike a real rod in a globe.
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Key things, e.g.

  1. Forward is to push.
  2. Backward is to pull.
  3. Middle is to rotate.
  4. Separation of yin and yang

We must remember the key things even if we don’t understand it. Read more

Chinese Class

Shoulder and kua must be open to be able to find a relationship.

Yin-yang is a relationship. We train to seek such relationship in different body parts.

Going straight is to hit (打).
Rotation is to avoid/neutralize (化).
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Chinese Class

When we rotate, if the rotation goes forward, the entire object must move back to balance it.

Rear kua rotates forward, the kua itself must go backwards.
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Chinese Class

45 degrees vs 90 degrees

90 degrees are theoretical.

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When we do the correct taiji actions, your opponent will always feel your actions are awkward to him. We just do what we train to do.

对手对不上。

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Negative Circle

  1. First adjust, lock the middle finger tip, elbow-in over the top
  2. 3-way split
    1. right elbow-in to the left rear
    2. shoulder down
    3. right kua and knee point forward but not moving Read more

If you ever wonder how lessons are taught in Practical Method Online Classes, here is an opportunity to experience for free from Feb 22 to 25, 2021.  People at different levels are participating in these classes.

OL20201102-2

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We practiced an empty handed exercise, standing on one leg:

  1. one foot stretches backward
  2. arms from the armpit stretch forward
  3. body goes down (going down is regarded as not moving)
  • Train only arm-foot coordination first
  • Cave chest in
  • Hand and foot do not link to the torso
  • Make the moves small. The risk of linking the torso either to the foot or hand increases with large moves
  • Once the arm-foot coordination is trained and none of them are linking to the torso, we can add the drop of the body. Add it small
  • Torso has a free fall
  • Dropping of the body: to drop we have to create space. Holding a book between two hands, if you create space between the hands and the book, the book is going to fall
  •  Three independent actions: a three way split. Our problem is we always link into one move
  • Analogy: Master Chen can see John and Kelvin on his computer, but they are independent/unrelated to each other
  • The separation of the directions not linking, not merging into each other is what Master Chen describes as “Moves must be clear”
  • The middle (torso in this case) cannot take sides, it must be independent, like a judge. The judge only applies the principle of the law, he/she does not take sides for neither of the two parts
  • The power of hand and foot is totally dependent on how strong (not moving) the centre is
  • As a training method we can rock shoulders and legs. They must be independent from the body
  • If the middle is not involved, every move is correct
  • When the middle is not involved, the hand becomes very powerful. The problem is we always want to move the middle. You realize you need at least 4 people holding you for this move to be useable
  • There is always one move in the Form which clearly  demonstrates the concept we are talking about. In this case it is the first move of White Crane (right after Turn Left to BWAPM) in the 13s. But we must be able to find it in every move of the Form
  • The move we practiced is the “easy part” and it is already very difficult to apply. The reversed part: don’t move the hands, move the body. This is even more difficult because there is no way to fix the hands while doing Push Hands. The hands are interacting with the opponent. It’s a sensitivity issue: you have to create a split of a second when your hands are not moving and you can move the body
  • Taiji is about balance. Balance in the ancient word means scale. Hong uses the concept of Leaver to achieve balance. When you find the pivot, you’re balanced
  • 100% not possible does not means it does not happen. It is like you buying a lottery ticket. The probability of winning is so low, you cannot even calculate it. So it is impossible for you to win. But it does not mean it doesn’t happen. We must understand this!

Two power training exercises on BWAPM

  1. Touch the opponents arm, jerk with the elbow-in, if we get stuck, turn with waist.
  2. Next move. Place the left foot on opponent’s knee and grab the opponent’s arm, small elbow-in and small kick to the knee to jerk the opponent.

Yilu Correction:

  • The dantian should stick out, while the chest should cave in. It looks like an S.
  • Tie shoulders to the kuas.
  • Initiate action from the kuas.
  • BWAPM: Throw the right kua from down under and up to so the right knee touches the right elbow Read more

2020 was a very different year. The world suffered from covid-19, everyone had to experience a lot of changes. Master Chen Zhonghua used to hold workshops all over the world non-stop throughout the year, which was inevitably halted, but Practical Method seeked to adapt and developed an online teaching platform with the latest technology. From a set of random classes to regularly scheduled classes by the beginning of 2021, the participating students made rapid progress and benefited a lot from them. This was largely due to being able to have more timely access to Master Chen Zhonghua and his instructors for guidance. The pandemic created an opportunity to allow a new level of Practical Method to soar to a higher level in the new year. Read more

Chinese Class

Open the knee

A student asks about how to open the knee.  Master Chen Zhonghua said the idea of opening was very simple. However being to able to do it requires many other simple things to be put together. There are so many that we are unable to do them, and we simply give up. Read more

What is the seam (缝 feng)?

  • The place between two actions where it needs to change direction (such as, go back).
  • Grandmaster Hong said that we needed to get to 天衣无缝 tian yi wu feng. Heavenly clothes have no seam.
  • However, we can’t pretend that there is no seam in the first place, and hide it.

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Rhythm/Sequence of movements

We need modify our bahaviour to cause a real change.
In-with-elbow must cause out-with-hand.  Withdraw is to issue.
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Vertical Peng

  • Going down without doing down.
  • It’s like a telescoping stick becoming smaller.
  • There is no bending at the waist.
  • The peng must be maintained.

Hands always go out (Nothing is outside of being big).
Elbows always go in (Nothing is inside of being small).
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