Wow… There has been quite a barrage of videos put out by Chen Zhonghua over the past couple of days. One that caught my eye was a demonstration of the first 13 moves of the Hong Chen Style Practical Method. To get this level, most would have to purchase a video and hope alternate angles were shown.

URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aATVSYY7fyc

For me, this is an example of Chen Zhonghua being part of the new waves of teachers. I get the feeling he does not hold back and just lays it all out there. No reservations, either you get it, or you don’t. No secrets. Skill comes about by gongfu, hard work and effort.

I’ve seen footage of his seminar DVDs and I admit, they are great! I get a chance to actually see what is being taught and trained at the seminars. Sure, I don’t get the hands on corrections, but I do get the corrections, the exercises, and the explanations. He goes into great depth about why things work and shows how they work and common pitfalls.

URL:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6lSGiuyhB4

I have to admit, I like this approach. When I checked his youtube profile tonight, there were 35 Shared videos!! Now that’s what I’m talking about!

ZenMindSword has often written about the differences between muscle supported structure and intention/qi supported structure on his Taiji@Stagmont blog. In addition, we’ve had some interesting discussions in the past about the role of muscles in applications as well as the role of intention in applications (redirect vs intention-based neutralization, Waist Independent of Hips?)

In a current post, ZenMindSword addresses the issue of whether low stance training is necessary for cultivating ‘Rou’. In this post, he outlines some points to consider during taiji training:

a) health
- calm mind
- relaxed demeanour (wujimon’s inner smile?)
- using little effort to move the body
- swimming on dry land flavor of movement

b) martial
- focused mind intention
- mind over body flavor
- unified body movement (6 harmonies)
- balanced movement
- minimal effort and body movement between different postures
- one part move, every part moves principle
- relaxed hands
- little effort to turn the body even on a weighted leg

One of the points that really hit something for me was this idea of “using little effort to move the body” and “minimal effort and body movement between different postures”.  We’ve all heard of using 4 oz to move a thousand pounds, but what about using only 4 oz when we move?

Everytime I think of something like this, I get taken back to my days of Yang training under the TT Liang camp. I know I’ve mentioned this time and time before, but it keeps nipping me in the bud. One of the things I asked while training was, Is It Ok to Sweat During Taiji Training? At the time, I got a little smirk and the following response:

. . . sometimes it’s good to sweat and other times it’s not. He then went on to talk about how it’s ok to sweat if you are trying to rid your body of toxins, etc but not normally.

I put a little emphasis in the part that struck me. He tried to tell me that normally, it is not ok to sweat, but I just didn’t get it. Was he trying to tell me that if we only use 4 oz to move, then we will not sweat? Was he trying to tell me I was using too much muscle and not enough intention?  Come to think of it, I really regret not spending more time at this school b/c my mind was too busy trying to chase the chen bug. But come to think of it, I was just not ready to accept the teaching at the time. My training was not prepared for it. My cup was not empty.

During last night’s zhan zhuang session I just couldn’t seem to settle. I was feeling tension in my calves and thighs. My mind was wandering around jumping from thought to thought. I stood with eyes open and eyes closed. Nothing seemed to work for me until I remembered a technique one of my taiji/meditation buddy told me about. It’s called the Inner Smile.

What is the Inner Smile?

“In ancient China, the Taoists taught that a constant inner smile, a smile to oneself, insured health, happiness and longevity. Why? Smiling to yourself is like basking in love: you become your own best friend. Living with an inner smile is to live in harmony with yourself.” -Mantak Chia

– Source: The Inner Smile Meditation Technique

So I gave it a shot. I changed my gaze to be directed just slightly over the tip of my nose. In doing so, I felt the muscles around my eyes relaxed. Then I closed my eyes for a couple of breaths.  Slowly, I raised the corners of my mouth until I felt a slight “Inner Smile”.

It was amazing! The minute I did this, I felt like a rush of energy starting at the corners of my mouth spread through the back of my head then down my whole body. It was like everything was connected. I was able to feel the energy expand to my toes and my fingertips. In this state, I was able to sense how much tension I carried around in my ankles and wrists. As I held the Inner Smile, I melted away the tension.