Chen Style Taijiquan and Hunyuan Taiji email: practicalmethod@qq.com

Yilu completed since last video: 200

Areas of focus in the last month:

• Keeping the front kua up
• Straightening the hips to pull the shoulder over the kua
• Opening the kua by connecting directly to the foot and bypassing the knee

Areas to work on next:

• Sinking shoulder into kua
• Keeping hands on the line
• Do not retreat with torso during elbow in

Training Log for Prior Month

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In the previous section I covered The  4 Essential Taijiquan Techniques, which included Peng, Lu, Ji & An.  I left that lesson on here for review and quick reference.  In this finial section, part 3, I will cover The 4 Corner/Auxiliary Techniques, which include Cai, Lie, Zhou & Kao.  It is located after section 2.   Subsequent information from Master Chen’s writing will also be included in the descriptions. For those that are interested, I will moderate a Zoom discussion about all 3 sections this coming Sunday July 5th at 8 am CST. If you want to attend and can’t, please message me and we can set up a private Zoom session.

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I have recently started re-reading Chen Style Taijiquan Practical method Vol. One: Theory by Hong Junsheng Shi Gong as translated by Chen Zhonghua Shifu. Not cover to cover…just browsing/scannng through while locking on to some points.

As I was doing this I noticed that I was enjoying the book more than in the past.I think one of the reasons is that as one matures in any special skill/art…understanding at a new level is achieved. And so clarity is pleasant.Of course this is an endless path. Otherwise it might not be worth the time & effort needed to aquire the higher levels.
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Since January 2017, I have been teaching Chen Style Taijiquan Practical Method at Paradise Valley Community College (Phoenix, Arizona) every Monday and Wednesday as a one credit class. I started just one class per semester (Spring and Fall) plus summer session. From January 2019 on, my Tai Chi class was split into two classes. One for total beginners, the other for returning students. More important, I developed a core group of Tai Chi students we meet outside of college and consistently meet every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings (one hour) at Roadrunner Park. So, this core group of 10 students would practice at least 5 time a week. Some I know practice every day. Read more

For this Online Video Class, I will be examining the contents in a segmented manner.  In this classic video, Master Chen descriptively teaches the 8 Techniques in Taijiquan.  In this 1st segment of the online video class, I will cover the Basic Energies in Taiji Applications.  In the 2nd segment I will cover The 4 Essential Taijiquan Techniques, which include Peng, Lu, Ji & An.  In the last segment I will cover The 4 Corner/Auxiliary Taijiquan Techniques, which include Cai, Lie, Zhou & Kao.

This video is definitely worth taking the time to thoroughly investigate and gain an understanding of the techniques of Taijiquan.  I will moderate a Zoom group session during the last segment for those that purchased the video as a means of solidifying the material taught by Master Chen.

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In this short online instructional video, Master Chen teaches many essential elements that are necessary when applying Ji to an opponent and several principles inherit to Practical Method.  Ji, squeezing, is a passive action that has “water like qualities”.  Ji, like water “takes up all the space in all directions”.

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Over the past year, I’ve worked on a number of exercises with a focus on the knees and kua. Here are a few examples and results I’ve noticed:

• Ensure the bottom is represented during the movement
  • Step 2 here: How to engage the waist
  • What it looks like: When your upper body moves, there is expansion in the bottom. Typically both knees expanding outwards.
  • Result: Body becomes more even, action is created from the waist (and lower) rather than entirely from the top.

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In Adjust the Middle Online video, Master Zhonghua Chen teaches how to strengthen one’s own structure and how to break your opponent’s structure and take their power away.

Early on in the video Master Chen utilizes a rubber cord to demonstrate how the 2 ends are connected by pulling in the middle.  He emphasizes that the outside of the 2 ends are the outside and what is between the 2 outside points is considered inside.  In the video he demonstrated this on the rubber cord and then on a student.
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I have been a computer engineer for 24 years and work with 1 and 0s for a living. For a simple light switch, it typically has only two states, and is either on or off. By putting a lot of these switches together, a digital computer was born. Each pair of on and off, represented as 1 and 0 using high voltage and low voltage in a computer, forms a basic unit called a bit. Eight bits make one byte. For the english language, each alphabet or symbol can be represented by such a byte. It is unimaginable how the on and off states of many such switches can be turned into a device, such as a smartphone, tablet, or desktop/notebook computer, that does so many amazing things for us.

In Practical Method, in-with-elbow and out-with-hand are our 1 and 0. Read more

Click on the picture above to go to the video.  Please leave comments in the reply video section.

The important components: 1.  Having 2 lines, 2. Having separation 3.  Resolve through rotation (one line is the catch or lock and the rotation provides the other action for the other line).  Click on the gif

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In this short video, Master Chen teaches key concepts and principles that are necessary in push hands and in the development of our taiji skills.  After watching the video you will gain and understanding of what it means to “match” an opponent’s power. Additionally, you will have a clear understanding of how “adding” beyond the contact point requires yin yang separation, which is an inherent principle to Practical Method Taijiquan.
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We have heard so much about the non-moving dot, and why we need to have it.  Do you know how to use it? In this video, Master Chen demonstrated numerous examples on how the opponent fell out by going around the dot.

See you online at 10 am ET on Saturday, May 2, 2020 at http://practicalmethod.com/2014/12/go-around-the-centre-online-video-trailer/.

(I originally posted this on Facebook, but was asked to also post here, so here goes. Readers shouldn’t take any of this seriously, I am a total beginner in Practical Method)

I listened to the Tai Chi Day podcast interview of Master Chen, and two things struck me.

First, I find it very fascinating that Hong Junsheng’s ‘feel’ (sorry I don’t know the right technical term) is very different from master Chen’s.

Master Chen said he had 3 distinct sources of skills (1 from his specific physique, 1 from Hunyuan, 1 from ‘Hong style’) so what we feel when we get instruction is very different from master Chen is often a composite ( at least that is what I understood, I could be wrong) so for example we feel that master Chen has a strong grip – I’ve felt it, like talons of steel, –  this apparently comes from his work with the Hunyuan system- , whereas Master Hong Junshen didn’t ‘grip’ and had a completely ’empty’ feel, so when you fell down you’d think it was something wrong you did, and not something he did. I find the idea of each master developing a personal ‘feel’ very intriguing. Read more

The “Dimension: 5 Points” online video builds upon the understanding and skills that were covered in the Step Up To Ji, Move Into Empty Space and Warping Energy 2 Online videos and classes. It allows Practical Method Taijiquan practitioners the opportunity to expand on ones’ understanding of how to use multiple dimensions to immobilize an opponent much like a spiderweb does to ensnare a moth helpless.

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