Yang Family Tai Chi Discussion Board

Hi Psalchemist, I’m glad you’re finding my posts interesting and informative. That’s a lot of what I was hoping for in posting here: ideas that would expand my practice and to share what I’m learning. I’m glad the light/heavy, light/dark ideas worked out for you. I hadn’t actually thought about dark...

I know what you mean about heaviness having the meaning of something to lug around. I’m still pretty confused by the concepts of substantial and insubstantial. I think it’s something that I do ok, and am constantly refining. I can feel when my steps aren’t perfectly balanced and when I haven’t got m...

Wushuer, Thanks for your explanation of the Wu family five character formulas. They’ve already added some fascinating dimensions to my practice. I have not seen them before, but I have heard similar things. It reminded me of some characters for breathing that one of my teachers taught us: calm, deep...

Hi Wushuer,

You're right, it's time to let this thread get back on track. Thanks very much for your comments of the differences between frame sizes and throw lengths. I appreciate you taking the time to explain them to me.

Kalamondin

Hi Audi, Some of the things in your post on circling and harmony struck me and I wanted to respond to a few of them. You wrote: <<The whole notion of curves storing energy and straight lines emitting energy is a rather deep topic that probably requires its own thread. If you are interested in this, ...

Wushuer, Thanks for your explanation. I understand how much of a barrier language issues can be. I understand what you mean about small throws not having very much leverage. I’m still a bit foggy about the notion of the long throw though. Wushuer: “If he's far away from me, that's a "long"...

Wusherer, Wow, I’m really glad I asked you for definitions, since at my school, the way the words are used is very nearly opposite! I understand that the Chinese word for “wrestling” generally refers to something quite different from Western style wrestling. That’s probably where the gap in my under...

Hi Psalchemist, You asked if I had anything more to say about practicing during lightning storms. Well, IIRC, it’s like this, and I’m sure you know this part already: the atmosphere is highly charged with ions during lightning storms. When the electric potential reaches a certain threshold, it disch...

Hi Wushuer, You said: ...before we can have a discussion on the idea of "combat", we must really be specific about which type of combat we are discussing. I totally agree, so I'm wondering if you could define the terms you're using so that I'm on the same page. Particularly, what do you me...

Thanks Michael and Psalchemist for welcoming me. I'm wondering if anyone can shed light on the relationship of strong emotion, particularly anger, to tai chi theory and practice. I have been told that it is a bad idea to practice when angry, in much the same way that it's bad too practice during a l...

Hi all, I'm new to the discussion board but wanted to share some thoughts I had about this thread, starting from its inception. Audi: You asked (roughly) how much practice it takes others to see an improvement. I was particularly struck by your use of the word quantum--did you merely mean measurable...

Hello, I'm new to posting here (not even sure I'm doing this right) but I've been lurking for a couple years now, on and off, and have greatly enjoyed the various discussions. I'm getting to the point in my forms and push hands practice where I would like to consult more with others about the nature...