Wade Forward in Twist Steps (Qian Tang Ao Bu) Toronto North York Taiji Class on April 13, 2017
Open left leg stretch arms open as if going through a canal. Left arm cross the right arm while left leg pull up.
Lean left leg on toes and rest ->
Land left leg on the heel with toes up. Rotate the left fixed knee-heel-toes triangle on the heel to land the toes.
Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 10 min. In: English Year: 2015 Difficulty:1/5
Aim at the floor
Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 10 min. In: English Year: 2015 Difficulty:1/5
Move Separation
Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 10 min. In: English Year: 2015 Difficulty:1/5
Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 10 min. In: English Year: 2015 Difficulty:2/5
City Date More Details contact Organizer Vienna June 3,4 pawel.mueller@gmail.com Prague June 10,11 pavel@practicalmethod.cz http://practicalmethod.cz Berlin June 17,18 http://www.practicalmethod.de/angebote/anmeldung-czh-in-berlin/ Gdynia June 24,25 chentaiji@wp.pl http://www.practicalmethod.pl/
Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 10 min. In: English Year: 2015 Difficulty:2/5
Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 10 min. In: English Year: 2015 Difficulty:1/5
Helly everybody, 
here my notes of our class today. There was no title, so I would name it: Sequence to complete an action.
Step 1
– is totally free; there is no system
– ex.: go upstairs: one can step with the left foot our right foot first, any position thinkable
– taiji example: making contact with the hand, however and wherever
– learning this step normally takes 3 years
Step 2
– is free, as long as step no. 1 is not affected
– ex.: foot on the steps has to stay, cannot move anymore, but how you are getting the rest of the body on the stairs too, is totally free
– taiji ex.: you can move every point of the body, to come in as long as no. 1 is not moving
– learning this step normally takes 10 years
Step 3
– is free, as long as the centre of no. 2 is not destroyed
– centre can be everywhere
– centre results from size, weight, angles, speed, power etc.
– to learn this step takes normally 30 years
Chen Laoshi: “You have to put this into your yilu”, what for me is very difficult, as I am not sure about the no. 2 in every position, before going to the next one. I hope this knowledge will come to me 😉
Redirect Opponent Power
Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 10 min. In: English Year: 2015 Difficulty:1/5
Inside / Outside separation
Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 10 min. In: English Year: 2015 Difficulty:1/5
Foundation practice and correction
Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 20 min. In: English Year: 2015 Difficulty:1/5 At:Italy
This year we were scheduled to receive master Chen at march, but due to a few issues beyond all of us it wasn’t possible.
The problem for us locally was that by then we had already confirmed with a lot of people, teachers of other taiji styles and other arts who were attending the workshop.
Faced with having to make a decision, me and my partner Flavio Prado decided simply to conduct the workshop ourselves, best we could, and introduce everyone to Practical Method, so when Master Chen comes at a later date, everyone would be more prepared to learn taiji from him.
This is a little bit of how it went down:
We had a lot of fun and everyone was very hard working, interested and pleasant. We finally have an interested group being created which is a great step for us. Everyone in Brazil is dead serious about the martial aspect of the art, which I think benefits the practice.
Taiji is a very interesting art that has different challenges for everyone.
We covered topics ranging from basic foundations, yilu and push hands. Flavio also conducted some lessons on qigong and other general aspects of martial art. Everyone came out feeling they won something, and all of them are very excited with the prospect of being face to face with Master Chen in the future.
Hope you guys enjoy the video, all the best and keep training!
Name: Mark Hanley
Class: Richmond Hill
Practical Method Start Date: Oct. 15, 2016
Martial Art Experience: Karate Black Belt, and practiced Yang Taiji previously
Name: Bruce Robinson
Class: Richmond Hill
Practical Method Start Date: May 23, 2015
Martial Art Experience: Practiced Aikido and Yang Taiji previously.
Name: Kewei Sun
Class: Richmond Hill
Practical Method Start Date: May 23, 2015
Martial Art Experience: Practiced Iron Shirt when he was young.
Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 7 min. In: English Year: 2014 Difficulty:1/5
Application
Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 7 min. In: English Year: 2016 Difficulty:1/5
introduction: balance, yilu
Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 20 min. In: English Year: 2016 Difficulty:1/5
introduction: lever, alignment
Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 20 min. In: English Year: 2016 Difficulty:1/5
The first European Practical Method meeting took place in Vienna in late winter 2017. On 17. – 19. February, people from Göttingen, Berlin and Vienna convened in this wonderful city to practice and exchange experiences.
On Saturday and Sunday, we dedicated a lot of time to practice the Yilu. Also, we worked on basic foundations and put special emphasis on progressions in partner work. Special thanks to Rick, who instructed us in these progressions in the most precise and knowledgeable way.
Altogether, it was a great meeting. I am sure that everyone had her or his very personal insights and “aha!”-moments. I myself, being relatively new to Taiji, surely learned a mountain of things. It has been really motivating to see other people with more experience practicing Taiji.
Many of us already knew each other, having met before on workshops or at Daqingshan, now having the chance to catch up on what happen since then. But many also could get to know each other for the first time. Being able to practice with many enthusiastic and committed people made the days in Vienna an invaluable experience.
Many thanks to Carlotta, Pawel, Fabian and Rick, who made the meeting possible. Thanks to your commitment, it has been a wonderful and enriching weekend. Hope to see all of you again and many more on the next meeting, which will probably be hosted in Berlin in 2018.
Best wishes, Jann
Left to Right:Dominic Lo, Ken Fong, Eric Foo, Kevin Sun, Lucas Lu, Kelvin Ho, Bruce Robinson, Peter Li, Mark Hanley, Patrick Kuo
introduction: stretch and not moving
Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 20 min. In: English Year: 2016 Difficulty:1/5
twist towel detail, no slack in movement
Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 10 min. In: English Year: 2016 Difficulty:1/5
Speed is not a function of how fast you can move, but of how quickly you can close distance. As such, speed is not a matter of agility, but of directness.
For example, if I can close the distance between myself and the opponent directly in a linear fashion, I can technically reach the opponent before they reach me. This is because if you can close distance with your whole body, it works as a force multiplier. Not only are you closing distance with one body part (the way an arm would be in a punch), but with multiple body parts. Your lower half is closing distance, your waist is moving closer, AND your arm is reaching out. All these movements together allow for a speed that is quicker than any individual slow or fast twitch muscles on their own. Of course, having quick movements is also of benefit and can work well in conjunction with the rest of the body moving forward.
stepping exercise, 2 kua turning of the joint
Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 10 min. In: English Year: 2016 Difficulty:1/5
Location: Vine Cliff Park – Vine Cliff Blvd and Hazelton Ave.
Date: Apr 9, 2017
Time: 8 am – 10:30 am
Instructor: Kelvin Ho
Fee: Free and open to public
If it rains that day, the event location will be moved to:
Bayview Hill Community Centre (open area near the pool)
114 Spadina Rd, Richmond Hill, ON L4B 2Y9
This open class is an event to pre-celebrate World Taiji Day, which will be on Apr 29, 2017. It welcomes anyone interested in learning tai chi. It will let participants experience a typical class, which includes foundations, form and push hands.
See you there!
Registration is recommended, please contact Kelvin Ho by emailing kelvin.ho@practicalmethod.ca or texting 647-738-8384.
foundation exercise to develop three way power
Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 10 min. In: English Year: 2016 Difficulty:1/5
fetching water,
– you must be in front bow stance with weight on front
– back hand open on belly
– front arm down open hand to thigh
– move front KWA out as the only movement – when front arm moves bring elbow to body
Kelvin ho had us doing this foundation exercise today. Issues I had around the move that I experienced
1. Moving shoulders ( I needed to press down first, move the kwa and capture the internal movement to go across my belly rather than up to my back shoulder)
Kelvin indicated that once stretched I should hold it for a minute or two to help loosen the kwa.
2. Moving front hands and arms independently ( the kwa works like a lever attached to the rope and pail gathering well water; when the rope moves back and forth so does the pail) the hands and arm cannot move independently
3. stance too high , I needed to perform the above in a lower stance
Master Chen’s disciple Ping Wei will again teach Practical Method foundations, Yilu and Cannon Fist on June 4th (Sunday, 9:30am-1pm and 2-5pm) in Irvine, California. Registration for the workshop is required for all newcomers; the deadline is 5/26/2017. For location, details and all inquiries, please contact Al Yu at 949-331-2735, or via email: mralyu@yahoo.com.
Watching the teacher during practice sessions
In the beginning I used to observer my teacher’s external form. Where is his hands, the right or left moves first, what’s the next move, how high is his hands. Then I learned to observe beyond the physical form. Where is the weight, his focus, which parts of his body he is locking and releasing, path of movement and connection, parts that are strong and relaxed. How the weight is counterbalanced with hands out stretched, or leaning forward/backward.
Then Self-reflection and assessment is key. Understanding how the body works and moves. Physical appearance: grounding, stretching out, grounding more while expending to maintain balance.
Why we shift weight and settle into posture by dropping weight. – My observation of my teacher- dropping weight grounds the body and creates effectiveness. I.e. stepping into opponent’s space- weight forward – settling into pose, structure and weight drop to create effectiveness.
Toronto North York Taiji Class on March 30, 2017
3 steps
Half horse stance posture
Bring right hand 45 degree palm up – Just above the left thigh
Bring left hand near right hand 45 degree palm up, elbows touching in a straight line Pull elbows to dantian at the same time bringing left foot (with toes) in beside the right foot. Rest the heel of the foot. All should be one action, like a bullet.
Things to check.
yilu stepping moves with yin yang in legs structure
Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 10 min. In: English Year: 2016 Difficulty:1/5
