Many excessively bounce around learning the next 'new' form or movement set without ever extracting the real internal value from any of them.
(Bruce
Frantzis)
The way most people do tai chi, it's not a martial art. They could never use it
the way they're doing it. Everything's in their hands, they just fill in the
rest with fantasy talk.
(Pale
Gale)
If
all you learn is a lot of forms, you just become a good dancer.
(James
Wing Woo)
Some of you have talked about learning a short form of tai chi, which has
certain transitional motifs eliminated. The reason for these repeating
transitions is to help you flow within the form - to ride over it without
thinking. When these repetitions are cut out, some of the major movements become
awkward and jam together. The sequence loses some of its smoothness.
(Chungliang Al Huang)
Students of the martial arts in the West feel that they must use their art to
fight, or at least to compete, to show people how good they are. In tai chi,
this is unacceptable, because that is against the principle of tai chi.
(Gabriel
Chin)
The standard Yang set today is Yang Cheng Fu's final revision of 85 postures,
which he
demonstrated in his book published in 1936. Most of the other books published
since then,
including many Western ones, are either variations or reflections of the
author's own personal
expression of the set.
One should note that right from its creation, Yang tai chi chuan has
always been combat-oriented. Yang Cheng Fu always emphasised that the set should
be
practiced with its martial applications in mind. These applications may be
taught through
the fast set, individual posture explanations, tui shou (push hands), san shou
(fixed-step
sparring) and san da (free sparring).
(Alex Yeo)
Yang Cheng Fu (1833-1936) exemplifies
the highest natural talent and achievement in
tai chi since he was entirely self-taught after his father (Yang Chian,
1839-1917) died.
His great example encourages us that even if excellent teachers are hard to
find, we can
develop by ourselves if we really understand and apply the theories and
principles of
tai chi chuan.
(Jou Tsung Hwa)
Tai chi is about changing our internal environment so that life becomes a joy to
live and not a burden to drag into old age and death. It is about helping your
body to let go of the past and your mind to slow down and cease churning. Tai
chi encourages your internal focus to shift toward cherishing and remembering
all that is wonderful in your life. It predisposes you to look forward to ways
to make life better, rather than remembering how unsatisfying it has been.
Most importantly, tai chi gives us the ability to realise a greater human
potential in ourselves and to have genuine compassion for others. Tai chi, with
its gentle strength, moves us closer to feeling more truly alive.
(Bruce Frantzis)
What is the meaning of wardoff energy?
It is like the water supporting a moving boat.
First sink the qi to the tan tien,
then hold the head as if suspended from above.
The entire body is filled with spring-like energy,
opening and closing in a very quick moment.
Even if the opponent uses a thousand pounds of force,
he can be uprooted and made to float without difficulty.
(Tan
Meng-hsien)
Wudang is not for
everyone.
(Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon)
The
body should respond
immediately to the requests of the mind. The less the gap between the two, the
more efficient the action will be (in medical terms this is called 'reflex').
(Vanda Scaravelli)
Losing touch with your core can happen in myriad ways. You may be born with
structural imbalances that eventually lead you to engage the psoas for support.
All sorts of physical traumas can compromise the optimal, healthy functioning of
your psoas: injuries to the pelvis or spine, surgery, broken bones and joint
injuries in your feet and legs, even a torn ligament from over exuberant
stretching in yoga. No matter what their source, muscular imbalances that
compensate for injuries, overdeveloped muscles, and chronic muscular tension all
add to structural instability that affects the psoas.
In addition, our living environment often does not support the proper use of the psoas. From car seats to constrictive clothing, from chairs to shoes that distort posture, many features of modern life curtail our natural movement patterns. In fact, a chronically tightened psoas may date back to your first steps. Baby shoes that constrict the foot, impair the movement of bones, or limit ankle mobility can alter a child's skeletal balance and stifle psoas vitality. Other child-rearing paraphernalia can add to the problem. Rigid plastic baby carriers limit movement, eliminating the natural protection and give-and-take of a mother's body, and playpens restrict the crawling essential for neuromuscular and skeletal maturation. Walkers give infants a false sense of stability, encouraging them to stand and walk before the bones are fully formed and ready to bear weight. Rushing development in this way teaches children to rely on their psoas muscles, rather than their skeletons, for support.
As an adult, learning to consciously release your psoas can rekindle vital energies by re-establishing your connection to your body's internal signals—your instinctual somatic wisdom. Releasing your psoas encourages this process by allowing you to trust your skeletal stability instead of holding yourself up by muscular effort. Sensing your bones supporting weight translates into a physical and emotional feeling of "standing on your own two feet." With a properly functioning psoas, the bones bear weight, the muscles move the bones, and the joints connect the subtle energies of the body. Energy flows through the joints, offering a sense of continuity, like the string flowing through a pearl necklace that transforms it into something more than the sum of its parts. The psoas, by conducting energy, grounds us to the earth, just as a grounding wire prevents shocks and eliminates static on a radio. Freed and grounded, the spine can awaken.
Once
you've learned to sense and release your psoas, you can apply these lessons to
your yoga practice and everyday life. Keeping your psoas released during yoga
practice liberates attention previously directed toward your contracted core,
allowing you to sense more clearly the delicate balance of action between other
muscle groups. And freeing your centre creates a sense of relaxation and calm
that can infuse all your activities. In his poem "Burnt Norton," T.S. Eliot
wrote a phrase that perfectly captures the inner stability and peacefulness that
accompanies a properly functioning psoas: "the still point of the turning
world."
(Liz Koch)
Barry was
telling us a story about the woman who always cut the end of the ham and
somebody asked her why she did it. She said, "Well I don't know, my mother
always did it that way." And they asked her mother and she said, "I don't know,
my mother always did it." And they asked grandma, and she said, "Well, I did it
because otherwise it wouldn't fit into my biggest pot."
(Chungliang Al Huang)
What is the meaning of rollback energy?
Entice the opponent toward you by allowing him to advance,
lightly and nimbly follow his incoming force
without disconnecting and without resisting.
When his force reaches its farthest extent,
it will naturally become empty.
The opponent can then be let go or countered at will.
Maintain your central equilibrium
and your opponent cannot gain an advantage.
(Tan
Meng-hsien)
Eight forces
sustain creation:
Movement and stillness,
Solidification and fluidity,
Extension and contraction,
Unification and division.
(Ueshiba)
As
the practitioner incorporates the quality of tai chi movement into his life, he
finds that he stops banging into things. The result of not falling into each
step provides the opportunity to instantaneously ease back from unexpected
barriers.
(Wolfe Lowenthal)
In tai chi we do not train
ourselves so our bodies are distorted in one way to achieve something special.
(Chungliang Al
Huang)
Mentally
focus on the execution of all movements, or try to visualise each movement.
It helps understand the intrinsic meaning or intentions of the movements.
Avoid
thinking of anything else, you will find it easier to focus on the movement and
use your mind to direct the movements.
(Dr Paul Lam)
Let your practice be short and intense, focussing your attention one one single
action, where body and brain meet at the same point at the same time.
(Vanda Scaravelli)
When holding up the arms, the qi is threaded together continuously.
When the left side is heavy, it then empties, and the right side is already
countering.
When the right is heavy, it empties, and the left is already countering.
The qi is like a wheel, and the whole body must mutually coordinate.
If there is any uncoordinated place, the body becomes disordered and weak.
The defect is to be found in the waist and legs.
(Li I-Yu)
The yin/yang symbol is the interlocking,
melting together of the flow of movement within a circle.
(Chungliang Al Huang)
To make the whole body light and agile
suspend the headtop.
(Song of the 13 Postures)
What is the meaning of squeeze energy?
There are two aspects to its functional use:
The direct way is to go to meet the opponent
and attach gently in one movement.
The indirect way is to use the reaction force
like the rebound of a ball bouncing off a wall, or
a coin thrown on a drumhead,
bouncing off with a ringing sound.
(Tan Meng-hsien)
The best form of endurance
exercise is the performance of the event.
(Bruce Lee)
The lightness of your
step relates directly to the lightness of your energy,
emotions and thoughts and vice versa, though lightness does not mean airiness.
Every footstep must make intelligent contact with the ground.
The soles of your feet are important receptors which collect information from
the ground.
(Barefoot Doctor)
If you notice there
is one part of the body not moving when other parts are, then your are not in
perfect coordination. For example, when doing "Parting Wild Horse's Mane", as
one of your hand is moving up, the other moving down, your legs should be moving
at the same time but a slower rate (since there is less distance for the legs to
travel). A common problem is hands are moving and legs have reached their
designated position and are stationary, this is when your body is not well
coordinated.
(Dr Paul Lam)
In going forward or stepping back, there
is not even the slightest disorder.
(Li I-Yu)
Tai chi does not mean oriental
wisdom or something exotic. It is the wisdom of your own senses, your own mind
and body together as one process.
(Chungliang Al
Huang)
Extension and contraction, opening and closing, should be natural.
(Song of the 13 Postures)
What is the meaning of
press energy?
When applied it is like flowing water.
The substantial is concealed in the insubstantial.
When the flow is swift it is difficult to resist.
Coming to a high place, it swells and fills the place up;
meeting a hollow it dives downward.
The waves rise and fall,
finding a hole they will surely surge in.
(Tan
Meng-hsien)
The mind
should be calm.
If the mind is not calm, one cannot concentrate, and when the arm is raised,
whether forward or back, left or right, it is completely without certain
direction. Therefore, it is necessary to maintain a calm mind.
The entire mind must also experience and comprehend the movements of the
opponent.
(Li I-Yu)
Control your
movements so that they are slow, even and continuous, gradually your inner force
will develop which will become unceasing. Think of the circular path of each
movement, in tai chi every movement is in curve or circle that has no ending or
beginning.
(Dr Paul Lam)
As we work, we use the form as a
guide. It is something we work with, not something you learn to show off.
The form is a process that serves you, not an adornment you bring back to hang
on your wall.
(Chungliang Al
Huang)
Ju jitsu, aikido and especially tai chi, work in a way that is completely
opposite from many forms of dance, specifically ballet. It seems that more and
more people interested in dance and movement are turning to Eastern forms of
movement as they search for a richer and more supple expression.
In tai chi the body is placed in a position where the six outward rotators are
eccentricity contracting with the abdominals and gluteals relaxed. This
eccentric contraction of the the six outward rotators counteracts the short
resting length of the iliopsoas as well as gravity. Being in the tai chi posture
utilizes gravity to one's advantage. The main difference then is in the use of
the abdominals and the gluteals, and that in tai chi the force of gravity is
utilized to stretch the iliopsoas and flexors, while in ballet gravity is not
used.
It is possible to use gravity to stretch the flexors and iliopsoas in ballet but
this is not understood in the teaching of this art.
(Liz
Koch)
Upper and
lower coordinate,
and the opponent finds it difficult to penetrate.
(Song of Push Hands)
You must not allow the opponent to put any force on you.
(Cheng Man Ching)
Tai chi
is the one exercise that can universally help solve our growing health crisis.
It has stood the test of thousands of years. We have a generation of baby
boomers with increasing health problems; old people who are sick, in pain,
fearful, and cranky; a middle class that is increasingly incapable of affording
most of the drugs that are prescribed for their ailments; children that are
flaccid, diabetic and asthmatic. People of all ages are addicted to drugs,
alcohol, sugar, cigarettes, and caffeine. Stress follows almost everyone like a
shadow.
(Bruce Frantzis)
Another problem is that the master may
try to teach you what he can do now as a result of years of practice, instead of
showing you a process that can gradually lead you to this.
(Chungliang Al
Huang)
Page created 14 May 2003