Yang Family Tai Chi Discussion Board

Hi Audi, I have to approach your arguments one by one. I'm snipping, but hopefully not distorting. >[Audi] This disregard for physical directions might seem absurd to some and indeed may be >completely off base. I have posted this to provoke thought rather than to advance a theory that I have worked...

Hi, I've moved Audi's comments to a new thread to make them easier to discuss. [Audi] A third choice is to see the wubu as describing power interchanges that govern the different stages or steps necessary to complete any one posture. I am not much of an expert on Five Element Theory, but I will try ...

Hi Audi, I have looked at Mr. Masich's page, and I think what he is writes is true, if not exactly new. Imho, it's certainly true that the bu are always at the core of CMA. I think he's also right that "footwork" (a word he may not use) is the most neglected part of contemporary training. ...

Picking back up. quote:Steve said: Similarly, the shi "Lu" (Rollback) is almost universally done while moving to the rear, turning to one side, and somewhat downward. [Audi] I could be wrong, but I thought that Yang Chengfu's form also has instances of Lu in a forward stance, such as in th...

Hi Audi, Hope you can excuse the delays in my replies. Class has begun, and I’m swamped. Anyway, you wrote >I am not advocating any separation of the wubu from the bamen. What I meant was that although >directional and compass terms are used with respect to the bamen, these are not their principal e...

Hi Louis, "I’ve seen references to the alternate name, Panther and Tiger Return to Mountain. In Wu Gongzao’s book, there is a note to Wu Jianquan’s form instructions that it’s an alternate name, but it gives Embrace Tiger, Return to Mountain as the primary name." Fwiw, I've also heard the ...

Hi Louis, yes, I think it is an interesting speculation backed up by the application. I also agree that the phrase could be a reference to a familiar folk motif as much as an allusion to a literary text. A "tiger" almost has to refer to a ferocious opponent. "Embrace" is somewhat...

Hi Louis, "It could be that whoever created this taiji form name took the literary expression, fang hu gui shan, and by changing the first character from “release” to the contrastive “embrace” put an ironic twist on it. Instead of releasing the enemy, allowing him to escape to cause future trou...

Hi Audi, you wrote: "With these interpretations, direction per se may be no more important than the compass directions that are attributed to the Bamen (Eight Gates)." [Steve] I'm not sure that I would separate the wubu from the bamen on the basis of direction. I don't think they are theor...

Hi Louis, yes, I recall the discussions re: "position" versus "disposition." I agree with the idea of "shi" as incorporating, let's say, the movement and stasis of any act. My point in the last concerned its use in interpreting the "water wheel" analogy. I thi...

Hi Louis, "So, perhaps this reference to a geomantic compass in the Taiji Circle poem has to do with cultivating an internal sense of how to position oneself, how to get your bearings, and how to navigate the terrain. Everything proceeds from this." I think it also meshes with the fundamen...

Hi Bob, I think you speak for a lot of people, and your words are especially relevant because you come from another tradition. I agree with you wholeheartedly the deeds of Yangs and those in their associations speak well for their characters. If that is something worth learhing; they have been excel...

Hi Jeff, great links! Now the question, using Audi's translation, is about the skill that is meant: "The skill is like the rush of a water wheel, fast and slow, like dragons (gathering Qi) through the clouds, and tigers (dispersing Qi) through the winds. If you want to use the Disk of Heaven, c...

Hi, this thread has, unintentionally but interestingly, come back to the idea of "circles" and "turning" in tcc (loosely, speaking). Louis brought up the idea of the Chinese water wheel. The only picture I could find on the net is here http://www.oakroad.net/nathangray/image-1334...

Hi Audi, Yuri, Audi, I like your translation of the passage; but, I tend to see the greater "problem" or issue to be that of interpretation. There's disagreement even among the native Chinese-speaking scholars, as you know. Yuri's point about the use of metal and fire for "forward&quo...