Yang Family Tai Chi Discussion Board

I recently experienced several deaths in my family (my mother and my mother-in-law), and have been experiencing the attendant sadness and grief. I bring this up in the forum because I noted that during these times of emotional grief, I found the tai chi set particularly easier to do. I associated th...

Jerry,

Since we're talking DVDs....

Is there any word yet on when the new DVD by Yang Jun giving instruction on the 103 will be released for sale?

Larry

Greetings Jim, At the end of August I will complete 4 years of never missing a single day of practice. (I have averaged over three sets per day, though many days were limited to a single set due to having the flu, etc.) I keep a Tai Chi 'diary' in which I note each set, and a running total. (5,567 s...

Thanks to all for the help with pie shen chui. Not to change the subject too abruptly (I hope), but could someone also comment on the move "ban1 lan2 chui2"? The English 'strike, parry and punch' does not seem to fit very well. Online dictionaries lead me to think an English equivalent mig...

Louis, Jerry, Audi -- Perhaps trivial..., but very interesting if one wants to learn something about Chinese! Thanks for the discussion. My own uninformed take on this [the meaning of pie shen chui] is that the expression has something to do with casting, flinging, flicking away something. Perhaps t...

Audi, Louis, Thanks so much for your comments. Could you also comment on pie1 shen1 chui2? From my research, pie1 seems to have the meaning of rejecting or abandoning, but I'm not quite sure how this relates to the phrase pie1 shen1. I get the sense that the complete phrase has to do with a "ca...

I have been going through the listing of the forms in an effort to memorize the Chinese names. (A complete lack of knowledge of Chinese certainly hinders this effort!) This process has led me to wonder about the literal meanings of the Chinese words. For example, wouldn't "Fist under elbow"...

Thankyou to all who have replied to my question. Audi, thanks, as always, for an especially thorough and cogent explanation.

LarryC

I have been trying to learn to pronounce the Chinese names for the moves in the YZD form. I have been using as a reference the CD recording of Master Yang calling the moves (purchased at a YZD seminar in 2001). In matching this recording with the listing of the postures on this web site, I have noti...

Jerry, I appreciate what you are saying about not shifting to far toward the rear leg. And I can see what you mean about the drawing of YCF at the top of this page. Indeed, when I try not to go too far back, I can keep the right foot flat. But when I keep my torso more toward the center, I don't get...

Thank you everyone for your responses. I will take all suggestions to heart.
Larry

When performing Snake Creeps Down, I find it almost impossible to maintain a flat right foot (that is, the foot of the "squatting" leg). Even after 3+ years of an hour-a-day practice, I seem to be no closer to keeping that right foot flat throughout the ENTIRE sequence of SCD. I have assum...

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by JerryKarin: ... At some stage you get enough of the essentials going that you seem to get in gear and experience a whole range of (usual...

In my humble opinion you should simply continue your practice. Learning Tai Chi is such a long-term process (a lifetime)that you probably can't realistically expect any instant gratification in the area of concentration. I do believe that the study of Tai Chi has great potential for teaching yoursel...

Audi, What a great topic for discussion you have proposed. Since you specifically asked for input on this topic without regard to how Earth shattering it may be, I offer the following. How do I know I’m doing the form “right”? One gauge that is meaningful to me is the spontaneous “slight smile” that...