Yang Family Tai Chi Discussion Board

Also, it doesn't hurt that every book, magazine, video or instructor I've ever dealt with refers to Grasp the Bird's Tail as "Yang style Taijiquan's signature sequence."

The way it's done in wushu circles, the arms are held out straight, as though throwing a level-fist (palm down) punch at shoulder-height, with the knuckles touching. Remember that stepping forward will close the distance somewhat, so if you gauge the distance with curved arms your bow stance will pu...

Actually, depending on the instructor, there can be several levels to partner-practice, including sparring (after all, developing reaction time without simulating real situations would be exceedingly difficult). Generally, as I understand it, the process goes: Solo Form; Tui Shou (Push Hands); Da Lu...

I agree with this concept of universality. I myself learned the traditional form first, although I honestly cannot say "according to whose school," since that would require a great deal of lineage-tracing. It should suffice to say that my instructor, Peter Puna, is a very excellent martial...

Actually, stress-reduction is one of the biggest selling-points of Taiji in North America. It relaxes the muscles, realigns the cirvical and lumbar spine, and helps to reduce blood pressure.

There's a great article on the use of Taiji for stress reduction in American businesses at qi-journal.com

I agree completely. Push Hands is method of training. The way I see it, the particular exercises are set -- although the methods from teacher to teacher can be very different, the one thing they have in common is that they are choreographed exercises. The USAWKF has fixed-step and moving Push Hands ...

I like the language reference. In music, we have a saying: "You don't really speak a language until you stop translating it in your head before speaking." Thus, if combat is like a conversation, learning "stock phrases" out of a tourist's language guide will clearly be ineffectiv...

For what it's worth, the Wu style makes a complete separation. The empty foot is completely empty, so that in a bow stance (which is actually very different from the Yang stances), you should be able to lift your back leg as easily as you can lift your front leg in the empty steps. And this is the s...

On the other hand, leaning is absolutely forbidden in the training of Yang style Wushu routines (in the standardized forms); yet the masters there seem to employ a very slight lean in the forward movements as a circumstance of the energy and strength of the movement.

SB

True, and the directions are important, and your analysis is absolutely valid. However, since the question was whether the steps themselves held hidden applications of these energies, what I have done is to look at the energies as they are ususally considered in the hand forms, and tried to find how...

Hmmm.... I haven't heard of leaning in the traditional Yang style, either the Cheng Fu or Ban Hou branches. I do know it exists in the Wu style, but only because the stances are short -- the weight is still centered above the load-bearing leg. This is much harder to do in long stances, because it ex...

Here are a couple of sites I've found useful. The first is just links. The others have lots of info on history, practise, and everything else. http://www.silvertigertaichi.com/links.htm http://www.neijia.com www.neijia.com http://www.hsing-i.com http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Philosophy/Taichi/index.html...

As I mentioned in the original string, I am reading Kao, for this purpose, as "bump" rather than "shoulder-stroke." The Raise Hands to White Crane transition certainly shows Kao in the upper body, but the energy in the leg is Ji (in fact, because you are twisting, then stepping i...

I've seen a couple of ways to gauge the distance, but the one I like best involves both partners extending both hands to the front and touching their fists. This is useful, because sometimes we forget that people's arms aren't always the same length. For a good read on the different levels, position...

Lie means "split." Although theorists often debate what precisely this means, the general consensus is that it refers to a division of energies in multiple directions at the same time. One model is in Fair Lady Weaves Shuttles, where the energy threads upwards, forward and to the side, cau...