When I began to teach taiji to my wife I wanted to give her a continuous practice that she could explore before learning the complex choreography of an entire taiji form. I taught her to do a series of advancing actions with brush right knee, brush left knee, brush right knee etc., and then a series of "step back to repulse monkey" right, left right. It's a very enjoyable continuous practice for moving in the ever present moment in limited space without choreography-anxiety and it just got a lot better applying the awareness principles you're teaching here.
Wow! Duke Ellington and Irving Mills, Louis and Ella had more dong dang in their music than I've had in my taijji all these years, until I came across your videos Robert. Thanks as always for your superb lessons. At last, natural movement in the taiji form!
It's great to see how you observe these things, and explain and demonstrate more about it. A couple of years ago, I came across a book by Robert Tangora called 'The Internal Structure of Cloud Hands". Scott Meredith has also given me some good tips from his books and videos. These insights made me reevaluate my approach to Cloud Hands, and likewise the opening posture. However, in recent years, and with face-to-face teachers, I've also been taught different aspects to focus on, which then became part of my form practice.
Thanks for commenting. Regarding my approach, I think that a good part of it stems from having studied Kinetic Awareness with Elaine Summers and from my training in physics and having taught it.
The article on fasting (the link above) is the most detailed and thorough information on the subject that I’ve read from a single source. Thank you sir.
What about an online Taji School/Academy...I would love your advice as to how I may benefit more,Since I'm a student of an online Taji School/Academy, in the art of Wu Dang Taji..Don't get me wrong I've been into the internal arts for a while ,namely Xing-I and Bagua as a closed door student...But Taiji because I suffered from anxiety and depression so much so , that my former styles couldn't penetrate was advised by my teachers to add Taiji/Chi. Of which I have been a student for 4 years, and now entering my 5th.My Tai Chi School is in Wu Dang Mountains .I live in London,My teacher for me is great because he doesn't just teach on Tai Chi but also Daoism as a way of life/philosophy as well as chi gong..and to embrace spirit/life through Wu Wei/empty/embrace life through spirit...Something that I connect with and is essentially a part, naturally of the persona I've always had. Though didn't fully understand or know truly until practising Tai Chi. I must add my teachers in the other arts also exhibit and taught this principally..How can I improve my art further until I am able enough to visit Wu Dang itself.And from your years of experience how can I benefit more intrinsically as a student..Would be grateful for your wisdom and advice..Video if from RU-vid/social media your right serves no purpose but to copy and paste.Yet their are also masters who share their videos through DVD's be it form's styles where they explain principally step by step the nature of their art conceptually..Where do you classify these? Because from my understanding, this is how a lot of martial arts styles were learnt/taught though not by DVD'S. but through manual scripts with the principals and concepts outlined, In drawings and writings traditionally....That is also part of tradition in the evolution of Chinese Martial arts.Please as said your point of view would be gratefully received..Thank you for sharing this video because in this modern world these classifications must be pointed out analysed ,and explained..In order to pass on the right methods and ways to and for future generations..Much love sir..Thank You for sharing.Always..🙏
Thanks for your comments and questions. I am not familiar with the online school that you mentioned-or with other such online modes of learning Taiji. My advice is to use your intuition and ask your teacher questions. Regarding anxiety and depression, I plan to make a video on that subject as it is a problem for many people. Of course, there is no one cause, but there is a lot that can be done by recognizing and remedying the possible root causes.
@@dsfgnk4 There are many schools under "Wu Dang Academy"The one I attend have monthly live zoom classes where we can have answers to any questions we need clarified.We also have Daoism classes monthly.I'm really looking forward to your video on anxiety.(I've just seen it, but will have to watch later this evening)Anxiety and the search for "inner peace/self/confidence" is one of the most common reasons people gravitate to Tai Chi myself included..Thank you so much for sharing that video and your insight.Much appreciated. 🙏
Thank you for making this appreciative comment. Much of this routine is along the lines of what I learned from studying Kinetic Awareness with Elaine Summers. I showed her this routine, and she added a few elements and put her “seal of approval” on it.
Thanks for sharing the video. At about 2:52 I like your explanation of how your lower leg swings back when you lift your knee. I had not thought of that detail before.
Thanks for commenting. Glad the video was helpful. Yes, it is important for the thigh, knee, and ankle joints to be free to allow the natural swing of all sections in a timely manner.
Very helpful explanations of "washing" and of "stretching" in the sense of stretching the fascia, much more subtle and wellness enhancing than the contractive tearing of muscle fibers so they'll "build back" longer. Thank you!
Thank you for this comment. Yes! I consider that understanding the anatomical action of extending-and learning to activate it-is preferable to imagining the head to be pulled upward in a manner opposite to that of the anatomical action.
@@dsfgnk4 I just learned this from your video but right away I feel it is the superior method. I have always pulled up and realize now that it creates extra tensions. Especially in this area, to enable energy movement through the spine.
Thank you for asking this question. Yes, I have studied healing of self and others, both with qi and with projection of thought energy. Over the past five decades, I have also studied unconventional nutrition plus fasting. I practice daily intermittent fasting, and I fast whenever I’m sick. I have done two approximately month-long fasts, with lasting, positive results. My website, www.chuckrowtaichi.com/, has quite a bit of information in this realm. And I plan to begin creating youtube videos on these subjects soon.
As someone who used to work in a gym and a martial arts centre it was always amazing how many punters were adamant about adhering to one set of principles to the exclusion of all others. It was as though we were always seeking a singular theory/ regime/ diet/ ideology to explain everything and provide all answers. Truth is often more nuanced. Core strength - something my early teachers warned against, now proves so important as we age, in regards to posture, balance and coordination and I’d add not to forget the benefits of eccentric movements as well as the usual concentric movements that everyone knows. Eg. Going down steps rather than up, extending the arm rather than focusing just on the contraction etc. Anyway, lots of research out there to find on this. 🙏
I think stance work as well as holding the ball posture, palms facing inwards is the use of the contractive.contractural strength we tai chi/internal arts students need to utilise or use more to develop physical strength.Not many students focus on Stance work today especially as traditionally taught.10-15 minutes a day is enough for them,When the ancient Masters and our teachers in the past stood for hours..Growing up my first art was Wing Chun I also learnt or should I say dabbled in .lol. (through self taught means) 7 star mantis From Sifu Lee Kam Wings "famous book" on the Seven Star Mantis system.Still as some one who was always health conscious in the physical sense I always worried about my Ab's My Chest and Muscular strength. today I know longer.I'm fortunate to have an athletic body and even more fortunate to have been involved in sports since childhood,Soccer wise. So barring ego or physical vanity notions I no longer do reps of sit-ups or pushups.I found even in Wing Chun An art not being classified as internal though there is the internal nei gong sequence within the Sil Lum Tao Form.I was becoming stiff..Too stiff..Luckily today we have those electro magnetic pulse things we can use to build our abs/arms, one which I use when ever I feel I'm losing my 6 pack.Funny enough never for my arms or chest.Because the benefit of tai chi for me in the sense that even being the Wu Dang System, I practice my forms really slowly, and as well as being a student of Xing-I and Bagua. I build physical strength natural through my San Ti Shi and Bagua circle walking stake exercise which also have stance incorporated to build physical strength/muscular definition in the chest and arms.Much more naturally and pliably than doing push ups which also aid mobility and agility martially/flexibly.Fun fact that I've noticed etc.I'm not some one that enjoys stretching.I've always been lazy regarding this but had to force myself because of Wu Dang Tai Chi to add stretching into my daily practice schedule.Funny thing is Practising Bagua keeps me so flexible, Much more in terms versatility then manually going through stretching routines.Some thing I'm fast knowing/ learning in my practice.A great Video Sir thank you for sharing.Especially for us here who also like the analytical approach to our arts.Much Love🙏
Well said - I have always done some strength exercises and recently I have gone back to doing work with kettlebells - start slow and light and build up gradually.
Thanks. I agree. I am carefully doing so, and its effects are quite beneficial. Training muscular contraction increases nerve action, glycogen storage, muscle tone, endurance, and strength-at any age.
I think you are making a very important and oft overlooked point here Robert. Apart from the regular solo form; push hands and application of movements, we also had something called ‘Extra-training’ which involved strengthening and conditioning of upper and lower limbs. Push ups on both hands; one hand; two fists; one fist; fingers of both hand and single hand (to strengthen fingers for vital point attacks). Transitioning from lying on ones back to standing without using hands/arms as props. Sit-ups to strengthen abdominal, waist and back muscles. The ‘Five Tibetans’. Protracted standing in high and low ma-bu and jade belt stance. Standing like a stork on one leg bent at knee. It is often related that the origins of many martial arts was the close-up observation of animals in combat. In the snake we see how it coils its body before releasing it energy to strike. Just so, in Ba-gua the practitioner coils his body like a spring before releasing the stored energy to strike and or counter. In order for a strike using fajin or internal energy to have any effectiveness, it must have more than simply momentum. It is like a bullet projecting from a gun. The energy is provided by the charge and condensed in the barrel. So the barrel not only gives direction to the bullet , but amplifies the energy delivered by the charge. The muscle fibres produce a byproduct in activity, namely lactic acid, which, if you do not exercise regularly creates stiffness in the muscle. There are other factors also such as salt loss through sweating which can cause electrolyte imbalance in the nerves and thereby cramping. Lactic acid is a bit like the consistency of honey, a sticky material which stops the muscle fibres moving over each other freely. Regular exercise helps keep the muscles in good condition: strong yet supple.
Wisdom! Thank you, elder brother. I believed this was so when I started and I received so many lectures by elder practitioners who claimed to know more than I did. But I maintained that Daoism’s tenets were meant to instill a since of “right action” not “do as little as you can” and that maintaining the health of the body was honoring nature.
Thanks for this valuable perspective. I think that the admonition not to develop contractive strength is based on the fact that expansive strength is hard to teach, and many Taiji practitioners don’t develop it but end up mainly doing movement with ordinary strength. But once expansive strength is achieved and the difference between the two kinds of strength is experienced, then cultivating both kinds of strength is important.
Your videos are little nuggets of insights that bring much needed light to some of the areas of the Taiji form practice. "Fair lady weaves the shuttle" has a few variations, even just within the community of ZMQ practitioners. Also, as well as feet positioning, I've recently done some workshops with a Huang system based approach. They emphasise getting a feel for the central axis as it displaces through the transitions and even relate it to the fire element. It can be difficult for people to do and there is risk of knee injury if done incorrectly by twisting a knee when loaded, or even partially loaded For it to be done more safely, comfortably and smoothly, the waist (Yao) needs to be loose and the hips (Kua) must be able to open and close freely through as complete a range of movement as possible without any strain. Other teachers may refer to this as "sitting in the pocket" of the hip joints or openning and closing the inguinal creases to provide mobility with stability and maintain a root in the weighted leg. Until that looseness and openness is developed, through practising the form and other exercises, then one should avoid forcing the movement. With patience and practice it will gradually improve. What I've been doing the last couple of years is to pivot on the heal to T-step as you show here, but then before lifting the other leg I pivot on the ball of the of unweighted foot to take up more of the angle before turning and stepping. Then I can "sit in the pocket" which allows easy, smooth rotation that is not such a large range of movement to place the unweighted leg in its forward position to the new corner. I suppose it's a bit of a work around for me, as I don't have enough hip flexibility to open up without taking my knees out of alignment. So, it's back to training and keep at it. I'm now 65, so the regular training is a key part to maintaining health and managing any injuries that may happen. Maybe some Bagua circle walking and palm changes could help with training these type of transitions. What do you think?
Thanks for this worthwhile addition of the ball pivot on the empty foot after it pivots on the heel but is still empty. Interestingly, the “Four Corners” (with different names) are in the two Bagua forms I’ve learned. Practicing Bagua added a lot to my Taiji.
Continuity breaks can occur for these reasons too: Changes in speed - there shouldn't be sudden accelerations, pauses or stops during the form practice. Changes in height also break continuity - once the height is chosen at the beginning, keep it constant during form practice. Some people refute these two things, saying that in combat it's necessary to change speed and height. However, the Taiji Form is a training method, not combat. It's slow and continuous for reasons of principles. The analogy of pulling the thread of silk without it going slack or breaking is to help understand the principle of continuity. It requires relaxed concentration and letting go. I'm not there yet, but I have moments when it all comes together. My teacher tells me to stop thinking about it and let everything follow the waist - but sometimes my mind goes to my arms instead of staying with the dan tian, that's when I lose the continuity.
@@dsfgnk4 Thank you sir.I'm a student of Wu Dang Tai Chi.I've always known and heard about "Chen Man Ching" as a martial arts enthusiast from combat magazine as well as inside kungfu/Masters presents before I began to practice taji and internal arts as a way of life..Thank you for sharing your knowledge sir.Some thing for future generations as well as myself can utilise/share and learn for the betterment of our internal arts systems for so many years to come.I'm grateful to have found your channel and wisdom.Much love from London,UK 🙏❤
Since I began applying your insights concerning dong dang and nei jin to my form, I've been progressively amending my way of performing all of the actions of the short form, including Cloud Hands. It is encouraging to hear your explanation of the way you now practice this action as the changes I've recently made are clearly bringing my own way much closer to yours. For some time now, I've been applying "qi down/qi up" hydraulics in this movement so that the downward motion of one hand feels that it drives the upward motion of the other.II've also become more aware of how the elasticity involved in the horizontal wind-up and release of the kwa while turning to the side and returning to centre also provides propulsive motion to the rising arm. The way you're describing here feels fully compatible with and complementary to the "hydraulic"/fluid dynamic approach I was applying before I began to study your methods. This all feels to me like the way forward to a wu wei taiji practice that's more flowing and powerful than anything I've felt before during my past 4 decades of practice. Thanks again for all that you share.
Thank you for expressing all of these wonderful insights. Taiji and its benefits are truly amazing! I am so glad to be able to share what I have experienced and their benefits, and I’m gratified to hear that my doing so benefits others.
I agree completely with your focus on movement coming from the lower dantien and want to add some comments on it. For me it has lead to the greatest discovery about the true meaning of tai chi. One first discovers ,as you and Cheng Man Ching have ,that all movement is managed by the lower dantien, The limbs just come along for the ride, but they are not limp since one’s awareness fills them. This gives them a subtle tension, but they report to the lower dantien. Once one is immersed in this process the microscopic orbit engages, where the chi travels from the lower dantien, down to the perineum, up the back, thru the upper palate, down the front and again thru the lower dantien. After some practice the macroscopic orbit starts which builds branches on the microscopic orbit. The energy branches in two places, first down the front of legs, into the earth, returning sharply up the back of legs, and joining the microscopic obit. The second branch is from between the shoulder blades to the heart chakra, and then joining the flow down to the lower dantien once again. This branching into the earth and into the heart represents the full realization of the form and gives the practitioner access to the unlimited energy of the earth and opens up the heart to love and compassion. Do you agree with these ideas and have any sense they are right? I really enjoy your deep understanding of tai chi. Thank you.
Thank you for watching my videos and commenting appreciatively. I would say that some of the movement of the limbs arises from the momentum produced by the shifting and turning of the trunk of the body, but some of the upward movement of the limbs against gravity comes from nei jin (internal expansive strength). I would also say that allowing the dan tien to relax and fill with hydraulic pressure is necessary for attaining nei jin. Regarding qi, I have read about the different pathways of its flow that have been mapped out by Traditional Chinese Medicine, but questions about that field of knowledge are better answered by someone more versed than I in acupuncture or nei gong.
@@dsfgnk4 Thank you for replying to my comments. I do think that what you call internal expansive strength is what I call awareness of the limbs. I can't say that I've really experienced all the processes I discussed but do have good evidence from different sources that this is right.
Very good Robert. I have trained with Zhai Wei Chuan who is China’s representative for Wu/Hao Taiji. His teachers teacher wrote the classic you a discussing - colloquially they coin the term: 一开无不开,一合无不合。Here the key characters are "kai" and "he" - open and close. To get the body to move together and be still “together,” requires the knowledge and understanding of what kai and he mean and specially how you kai and he in the body. This idea is the root concept, related to yin and yang from which Taiji both developed and evolved, and what makes it truly unique as a form of physical movement.
Thank you so much for adding this important amplification of the meaning of this saying and its associated Chinese terms and their characters. I am familiar with “kai” and its traditional and original characters, showing two swinging doors and hands below opening the lock. In my understanding, “kai” can have a meaning beyond simply “open,” namely, “initiate/activate.” Yang Cheng-fu is reported to have frequently said, “song kai,” which are fundamental yin/yang complements. I interpret “kai” in this regard as activating “nei jin” (internal expansive strength) (yang) and “he” as condensing (yin) the “nei jin.” And I totally agree with your last sentence!
If you have developed the qi over the whole body so that it is interconnected, the idea of the whole body moving as a unit is obvious. It is an academic discussion to someone who has not developed the qi covering the body and who doesn't move the qi with the dantian.
This is why the Taiji Classics are confirmatory only. If you haven't already built the mechanism to do it properly it is meaningless, and you have to revert to intellectualizing it.
Thank you for bringing up the subject of fascia. Fascia has interesting functions that are now being scientifically studied. However, I have not heard of any scientific evidence for claims ascribed to fascia for producing internal strength (nei jin) or, in this case, for the transmission of psychic energy. I am eager to hear such evidence in terms of physiology or other areas of scientific or other knowledge.
@@dsfgnk4 I have no scientific knowledge of this. I only repeat what my Sifu has taught his students. When he moves his fascia, then the opponent's fascia connects and mimics his fascia movement and as such their body moves 'uncontrollably'. I am not at that stage so I cannot confirm with my own practice, but I and others have witnessed other students being moved. One student flew across the room and hit a chair and almost broke his ribs with a minor movement from our Sifu. This only occured after the student challened the Sifu directly so was not a demonstration.
Love it Robert, the demo of elasticity and how the energy ripples through the body causing strethcing, lymph to flow, fascia effects, etc. Spiraling does too. Keep up the good teaching!!! Pete