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“Many go fishing all their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after.”
– Henry David Thoreau
More and more, I have been noticing a shift within my own training. The main emphasis has been zhan zhuang with a sprinkle of form play thrown in the mix. The shift is I don’t really worry about ‘how I look’, ‘how low is my stance’ or ‘how is this fajing’ anymore. Additionally, the whole martial side of the fence has taken a back burner for now.
Am I becoming a “Tai Cheese” practitioner or one of those “Rainbow Taiji Folks”? Perhaps, but I think it really is about perspective. I have no grandiose dreams that I will be able to bounce someone off me using empty force energy or like that.. right now my main goal is to feel healthy and enjoy my practice.
I really wonder about the role of fate and it’s play in my own life. There have been some major changes on a personal/family/professional front within the past couple of months and it’s eerily coincidental similar changes are happening on my taiji goals and training.
This reminds of of the “Uncarved Block” in the Tao of Pooh:
One of the basic principles of Taoism is P’U, the Uncarved Block. The essence of the Uncarved Block is that things in their original simplicity contain their own natural power, power that is easily spoiled and lost when that simplicity is changed.
Source: Just-Pooh.com - The Tao of Pooh
Just a little something I received via email today. A little change to mix things up 
===
Challenges…
The Japanese have always loved fresh fish. But the waters close to Japan have not held many fish for decades. So to feed the Japanese population, fishing boats got bigger and went farther than ever. The farther the fishermen went, the longer it took to bring in the fish. If the return trip took more than a few days, the fish were not fresh. The Japanese did not like the taste. To solve this problem, fishing companies installed freezers on their boats. They would catch the fish and freeze them at sea.
Freezers allowed the boats to go farther and stay longer. However, the Japanese could taste the difference between fresh and frozen and they did not like frozen fish. The frozen fish brought a lower price. So fishing companies installed fish tanks. They would catch the fish and stuff them in the tanks, fin to fin. After a little thrashing around, the fish stopped moving. They were tired and dull, but alive. Unfortunately, the Japanese could still taste the difference. Because the fish did not move for days, they lost their fresh-fish taste. The Japanese preferred the lively taste of fresh fish, not sluggish fish. So how did Japanese fishing companies solve this problem? How do they get fresh-tasting fish to Japan?
If you were consulting the fish industry, what would you recommend? How Japanese Fish Stay Fresh: To keep the fish tasting fresh, the Japanese fishing companies still put the fish in the tanks. But now they add a small shark to each tank. The shark eats a few fish, but most of the fish arrive in a very lively state. The fish are challenged.
Have you realized that some of us are also living in a pond but most of the time tired & dull, so we need a Shark in our life to keep us awake and moving? Basically in our lives Sharks are new challenges to keep us active and taste better…
The more intelligent, persistent and competent you are, the more you enjoy a challenge. If your challenges are the correct size, and if you are steadily conquering those challenges, you are Conqueror. You think of your challenges and get energized. You are excited to try new solutions.
REFLECTION: “Don’t be afraid of pressure. Remember that Pressure is what turns a lump of coal into a diamond”
A phrase I have often heard repeated over and over: “Train the energies, not the applications”. What exactly does this mean? I think everyone understands the phrase, “Train the Applications” as it’s the most commonly used method in martial arts. This is basically taking a movement out of the form and then working on how it applies in a martial sense.
In a recent issue of Tai Chi Magazine, Chen Zhenglei on “The Study of Taijiquan”:
… Taijiquan beginners are often drawn to learning the applications of the postures. If we just use posture applications to explain and understand Taijiquan, then we will never grasp the essence of the art.
… The focus of taijiquan is to train the whole body such that when the need to use it arises, then, depending on the conditions and situation, it will adapt and change as needed and respond accordingly. We cannot be stuck in a “this technique for this attack” thinking.
For more, read the full article online at ChenWired (Registration Required)
Hmm… This reminds me a lot of a comment that Chong posted on my Experience with 6 Sealings 4 Closings article. In it, he basically noted how I should’ve maintained peng energy to effectively apply the rollback (lu energy). However, after reading Chen Zhenglei’s article, I couldn’t help but think about his phrase: “We cannot be stuck in a ‘this technique for this attack’ thinking’”.
HOWEVER, another point dawned on me. Taiji is all about change, it’s about adapting to change. When my rollback was not effective, why didn’t I adapt to the current scenario? Why not just step and apply another lu energy to counter my opponents shoulder stroke (peng energy)?
So.. what does train the energies mean? I’ve made references to various energies above. A lot of this stuff came out during push hands training for me. In double push hands training, the instructor guided us on identifying the various energies given and their associated counter energies.
Given Peng, counter with Lu
Given Lu, counter with Ji
Given Ji, counter with An
Given An, counter with Peng
etc etc
Note, the above outlines just covers the 4 basic energies. All of these can be trained in the chen style basic double push hands pattern. For more details on the taiji energies read Chen Zhaokui Martial Arts Research: 8 Energies of Taijiquan.
Now the tough part is trying to identify the energies within our own training. When I do chen taiji’s buddha warrior pounds mortar, what energies am I employing? To identify the energies, we have to break down our postures into their core components. Once we do this, we can then mix and match various physical manifestations of taiji energies to our liking based upon conditions. The Lu energy could be done with either the rollback in 6 sealings 4 closings, or the double handed deflection in the buddha warrior pounds mortar, or even in the double fisted block before transitioning into ‘punch the ground’. The possibilities are endless if we break down movements like this!
Let us end with a quote linking my two favorite topics, GTD and taiji.
GTD has a lot of parallels with martial arts: the basic moves are simple, but the power comes from combining, integrating, internalizing those moves and the more you learn, the more you realize you can go deeper and learn more and gain more.
Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.
– Source: InsideAwake - Do Not Believe in Anything
Wow.. such a great quote! One of my key take aways from the above quote is the following line: “But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.”
Does this not go against some of the things handed down via the taiji tradition? Are we not supposed to just practice, do what the teacher says, and have faith that what we are doing will produce the desired results? How often do we ask “WHY?” in or own training? Why do I care which way my dantien rotates during said movement? Why do I care which path my qi will follow during said movement?
How much do we observer and analyze our own training methods? Are they aligned with our goals? Hmm…
As quoted by Prot from the movie K-Pax:
Why is a soap bubble round? Because it is the most energy efficient configuration.
Isn’t this idea of finding the most energy efficient configuration similar to our own goals within taiji? I’ve been told that in taiji, we are try to align ourselves in such a way that very little muscular strength is needed to hold the posture.
At first, everything hurts. Legs are in pain, shoulders are in pain, our own minds hurt because we feel awkward and not connected. But over time, the pain usually subsides. Why? Are we using less muscular strength? Have our muscles gotten stronger?
Zheng Manqing said:
“Each of Taiji’s postures has a particular application, just as every object casts a distinct shadow. Taiji practice that ignores practical application bestows health benefits that are artificial at best.”
– As quoted in: Martial Arts Planet: Purpose of Forms?
It’s rather interesting I ran across the quote above after a bit of discussion on my post, Taiji For Health. From my understanding, Minamoto was inquiring if we can get the martial benefits if we with a ‘health’ focus. As health, and spiritual benefits are byproducts of martial training, can we say that martial and spiritual benefits are byproducts of health training?
As quoted on How Taiji Lost Its Quan:
“Hong’s system amalgamated gong and fa. This means the form that is learned can be directly applied in push hands or real fighting situations. Students no longer need to practice Gong for dozens of years in order to extrapolate the fa from these gongs.”
– Chen Zhonghua on “Gong Fa as one” in Hong Junsheng’s Chen Style Taijiquan
To realize the value of ONE YEAR
Ask a student who has failed his final exam.
To realize the value of ONE MONTH
Ask a mother who has given birth to a premature baby.
To realize the value of ONE WEEK
Ask an editor of a weekly newspaper.
To realize the value of ONE DAY
Ask a daily wage laborer who has ten kids to feed.
To realize the value of ONE HOUR
Ask the lovers who are waiting to meet
To realize the value of ONE MINUTE
Ask a person who has missed the train.
To realize the value of ONE SECOND
Ask a person who has survived an accident.
To realize the value of ONE MILLISECOND
Ask the person who has won a silver medal in the Olympics.
Time waits for no one. Treasure every moment that you have! And treasure it more because you Share it with someone special . . . special enough to have your time. . .
– Unknown Author
Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon:
Don’t think…FEEL. It is like a finger pointing to the moon. Do not concentrate on the finger or you will miss all that heavenly glory…you understand?
Let us pair the above quote with the following from TT Liang:
If you only learn from teachers, better not have teachers. If you only learn from books, better not have books. (Previously posted: Value of Self Learning)
And finally mix it all up with the key to taiji:
Practice.
Practice.
Practice.
And you will have a recipe for success.
If you require an opponent, I will fight you. If you want to taste the ground, feel free to attack me.
Tai chi is simply not for the impatient person.
If you are restless and desperate to possess fa jing, you are learning the wrong martial art.
This is a scholars art.
You must be slow and patient, calm and methodical.
Practicing wushu [gongfu] is like writing Chinese calligraphy.
Each move must be practiced a thousand times before they can be joined together.
– Shaolin Monk, Discovery Atlas: China Revealed
. . . refinement of technique comes from the continuing pursuit of a flowing connection in Chansigong, day by day.
These three subjects of study … ZhanZhuang, Chansigong, Form … become the teacher. One listens intently to their messages, an intuitive and intellectual grasp of their instruction as vital as persistence in practice.
– Kinthissa taiji - everyday practice : In Search of Good Posture
[tags]Taiji,quotes,zhanzhuang,silkreeling,training,posture[/tags]
As quoted by Tung Ying Chieh:
Everytime when you practice the form, there are at least three things you must do. The first one is to relax your muscle. The second one is to adjust your postures. The third one is to concentrate more on intentions and spiritual styles. When you can master all the movements, then the spiritual style will appear when you move. When you reach this stage your improvement will be better and quicker.
– Source: Neigong.net - Words of Experience by Tung Ying Chieh
It’s interesting to note the first thing is to relax. I often forget about this core principle of taiji b/c I am trying too hard. I am using too much muscle or too much force and not thinking enough about relaxing. This is especially true when I practice the chen style sets.
Also, I think I focus a bit too much on postures and adjustments before relaxing. It’s almost doing things ‘backwards’, that is focusing on the posture before relaxing. This is often why I feel sore at times or I sweat a bit too much during training.
The thing that really caught me about this quote was the third point. That is the focus on intentions and spiritual styles. No where does he mention the martial applications.
Great tidbits from a famed student of Yang Chengfu. I have often heard that when there was a battle to be fought to uphold the style, it was Tung Ying Chieh on the front line taking on the challengers. Hmm…
[tags]taiji, dong, tyc, quotes, wisdom, tips[/tags]
Action originates in inaction
stillness is the mother of movement– Wang Xiang Zhai (Founder of Yiquan)
What does this mean for taiji practitioners? At first, I would think not much, however on the first day of my first taiji class, the instructor got us in this weird position in which we were standing with our feet shoulder width apart and looked as if we were holding beach balls. I know pretty much everyone in the class felt a bit funny b/c we wanted to learn taiji and do taiji, why did he have us standing like this?
After correcting us, he turned around and held the same posture in front of the class. We kind of just looked around and giggled at each other wondering how long he was going to have us hold this posture. After a little bit of time, I started to feel soreness in my legs and shoulders and wanted to move. I just couldn’t stand it anymore and *needed* to move. What felt like an eternity turned out to be 5 minutes. He then told us a story that with his teacher, all the students were expected to hold this posture (aka ‘holding the ball’, or zhan zhuang) for 20 minutes before the start of class.
After class, I spoke with him about this whole holding the ball thing and he briefly explained that it was used to develop internal energy and central equilibrium. I just looked at him all puzzled and he finally told me to just give it a try and see what happens. At the end of the next class, he handed me a book titled The Way of Energy.
A couple of years later, I moved to another state and started taiji at a new school. At the beginning of class, the teacher told all of us to form a circle. After doing so, he said “Posture #1″ and everybody stood shoulder width apart and appeared to be holding beach balls at the dantien level. Posture #2 was beach ball at heart level, etc etc.. We held each posture for 5 minutes totalling 20 minutes of class time spent on just standing!
Fast forward a bit to another school I attended. The beginning of class consisted of standing shoulder width apart with our hands at our sides (wuji posture) and then switching to standing post (aka universal post, beach ball at heart, zhan zhuang).
So.. what’s the point of all this talk about zhan zhuang or standing meditation? The point is that I feel it’s a very valuable tool and training aid and by the examples above, other people also seem to think so. I guess I’ve just been fortuneate enough to have trained at schools that see value in cultivating and training in the neigong aspects of the art.
I’ve often heard a saying that if a teacher really wants to teach you something, he’ll teach you qigong and various neigong techniques, but if a teacher doesnt’ really want to teach you, then he’ll just give you a bunch of forms. This is one of the reasons why I see value in just doing a couple of forms instead of being a “forms collector”. In my early days, I wanted to do it all. I wanted to do the 24 form, then the 48 form, then the 42 form, etc etc, I just wanted more forms.
After being exposed to more traditional methods, I realized a common trait among them is the emphasis on the neigong (via zhan zhuang, qigong, or silk reeling) and the focus on few forms. The idea is to take movements and break them down into their core comonents and principles. At first, we just learn the external movement, then we try to understand the core components, then we try to realize the principles. I’ve often heard taiji is like an onion, over time, you just skin layers, going deeper and deeper into the techniques.
[tags]taiji,quotes,zhanzhuang,yiquan,neigong[/tags]
“Yundong Guilu” (The Principle of Movements)
- Yi dantien wei hai xin
- Yi dong quan shen bi dong
- Jie jie guan chuan
- Yi qi guan tong
- Dantien is at the heart of the body’s motion
- Once a part moves, the whole body moves
- Joint by joint energy threads through
- Thus the force transmits unimpeded in one action
– Chen Xiao Wang: Carrying the Burden of Taiji Legacy
[tags]chen, cxw, principles, taiji, quotes[/tags]
Those who drink the water of Chen Jiagou, their legs will shake.
– Chen Taiji Saying
Memorable Quotes from Coach Carter:
Timo Cruz:
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. It’s not just in some of us; it is in everyone.
And as we let our own lights shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
– Based on Our Deepest Fear by Marianne Williamson
If I believe entirely in books, better not read books; if I rely entirely on teachers, better not have teachers.
– Master T.T. Liang
I dug up this quote after reading a post by Shang Lee regarding Reading versus Doing taiji. Does this same logic apply if we believe too much in our own experience?
[tags]taiji, quotes, ttliang, books, experience[/tags]
Sifu Stier:
I consider personal demonstrations of skill for an Internal Style martial artist to include, but not necessarily be limited to, the ability to monitor and control their own internal mental and physical environment…i.e. personal biorhythms, intrinsic energy cycles, internal organ functions, normal thought patterns and emotional patterns, etc., in order to attain and maintain a state of perpetual good health in body, mind and spirit.
Additionally, I would consider the ability to personally maintain a healthy body weight, an excellent state of overall physical fitness, and the ability to apply the Form Postures to self-defense as a soft style internal kung-fu art. In the end, whatever is expressed outwardly….our personal demonstration…is a reflection of what we think and feel inwardly.
What good is it to be a peerless fighter as a martial artist if lack of attention to some of these other training agenda priorities results in dying too young….or perhaps worse….living too long in a state of disability and poor health as an elderly person?
I think this is a great quote and really gets to the point I was trying to get at when I spoke about the role of character in martial arts. Is this too much to ask? To me, it’s the epitome of a martial artists. I may be naive, but I sort of expect a martial arts master to be of calm mind and character and to treat his/her body well. I think Sifu Stier hit it on the head with:
In the end, whatever is expressed outwardly … our personal demonstration, is a reflection of what we think and feel inwardly.
To me, this really sums up the idea of finding taiji in everyday life.
[tags]character,health,skill,life,taiji[/tags]
“My taijiquan is like a garden. Take what you like. Plant them in your garden and let them grow.”
– Hong Junsheng
Chen Style Taijiquan Practical Method - Volume 1: Theory (page xi)
“What would you guys like to do?” he [Wai Lun Choi] asked. We inquired about the Hsing-I five fists, Pa-Kua’s single and double palm changes and getting an introduction to Liu Ho Pa Fa. “Well, O.K. but you must understand the Principles-don’t talk style, only one style-human style! You must analyze and understand the physics and physiology of movement.”
The form is the alphabet; Pushing hands and San Shou are learning to read and write. The ability to read and write is what makes the alphabet useful.
– Grandmater Tchoung Ta-tchen
via Hsiung Yang-Ho’s San Shou Form
Cheng Man Ching:
It is said, “The barehand form is yin, the sword is yang.” The one is to release tension, find root, cultivate stillness, and allow chi to enter. The other is to express this chi, to engage, to expand into action.
– Tai Chi Inspirations 2006 (May)
How many reps of the form is sufficient? [emptyflower thread] I’ve often thought about this myself. I have an acquaintance that tells me he does a form 8 times a day! I have another that shoots for 3 reps a day. Before, I used to think that a minimum of 3 reps per session was required as the first rep is just to loosen up the body, the second rep with a little more focus on flow and finally the third rep was the “training” or “development” rep. I felt without doing 3 reps, you would never get to any real “training” aspect of the form but just merely scratching the surface.
How about now? Has that changed? No. I still believe 3 reps is good, but I’ve changed my definition a bit. I feel 3 reps of *anything* is the key. Break the form into a small section and do at least 3 reps of that section, or even move. Sure, at least a full rep of the whole form is very good, but I often don’t have time to do that or I just don’t feel like doing it and want to focus on a particular section/movement.
I’ve also modified things a bit as I now feel that doing zhanzhuang IS ESSENTIAL in any training session. I used to feel that perhaps silk reeling was essential too, but I feel that zhanzhuang is more essential as it’s the key. I remember reading a quote in a yiquan book that I think sums up the idea:
Action originates in inaction and stillness is the mother of movement - Wang Xiang Zhai (Founder of Yiquan)
I think this could be taken a bit further that the key to understanding movement is to first understand stillness.
[edit] wuyizidi had a good reply to the original thread that summarizes some of my own feelings:
With the exception of Li Style, Yang, Wu (also called hao style in the west), wu (quan yu), and sun style forms should be more or less identical to Chen style as taught by Chen Changxing. Different styles count the movement differently, so in wu style the number of movement is 83, where as in Yang it’s 108.
Today the Chen style Lao Jia yi lu takes about 18-20 minutes to perform. But in most other styles, wu style included, it should take ~50 minutes to complete the form. In the old days people say in your first set you should concentrate on the physical movements, the second set focus on application (shen, intention), and the third set is more free, just follow your feeling. You can take breaks in between the sets. Performing forms back to back is hard. Remember the basic requirement of form practice is relaxed, slow, smooth, even. The analogy usually given is a wind-up clock. To the observer, all 83 movements should blend seemless together as one long, continuous movement (hence Taiji’s original name is long fist), like the movement of the seconds hand on a chronograph. You can imagine how hard it is to maintain that level of evenness and continuity. Even the slightlest lapse in concentration could cause breaks in between movements.
So that’s at least 3 hours of practice right there on the form practice alone. In the old days people did a lot more conditioning, push hand/sparring, and weapons training on top of that.
” A non-explosion missle will still make a big hole when it falls into your house. ”
The key to giving one’s life meaning is to take on something and master it! To go for less is poor. As someone once said, we should not seek to be like the masters of old, but to seek what they sought.
– Unknown
