Yang Family Tai Chi Discussion Board

Kal, Well, if such is the case, I'm glad I'm not receptive to this type of thing. I would seem to be a serious disadvantage, rather than an advantage of any kind. Your opponent just has to look at you and you fall over, or swoon, or get stabbing pains? That's not a very good position to be in. You g...

Chris, I'm not talking about someone who could possibly do such a thing and doesn't brag about it and make huge claims that they can do it. If those people are out there you're proably right, they wouldn't give a whit about my approval. However, there are plenty of people out there who loudly procla...

TCCstudent, You hardly need ranking to find TCC schools that are simply in it for the money. You can find those without even looking, and almost none of them have a "ranking system". It would be detrimental to them to "rank" because then they'd actually have to learn their art in...

BL, I do agree with you. Laughter is the best medicine I know. I find myself laughing a lot, usually at myself, when I practice. If I didn't have a sense of humor, I wouldn't be doing TCC. It's hard work, and I make a lot of mistakes. Laughing at myself and with others is what makes it worthwhile. P...

BL, I think I picked up what your were putting down about the bird not flying being as much a chi perception thing as a physical one. I quite agree with you, actually. I think, at this time, of chi as being a part of any physical thing. Chi is, to me, something I can feel and touch. I direct my phys...

I have seen forms where you lean forward as you raise your arms, then lean back as you lower them to simulate pushing against, grabbing, then pulling back an opponent. I have seen forms where you keep your fingertips pointed downward from your dangling wrist on Raise Hands, to practice using the bac...

All, I have tried the bird in hand thing. My wife's best friend raises birds, all kinds of birds. So when I had one in the palm of my hand one day, I thought, "How, cool! I'll give this a go." No way! I tried, over and over again, and while I could feel the birds push against my palm, or t...

Louis, I've read Zen and the art of Archery before. A LONG time ago, but I did read it. I got it as a gag gift for X-mas one year when I first got into archery. Who knew later on I'd be searching for it again. I remember now! I gave it to my brother to read, years and years ago, I'll see if he still...

Bamboo Leaf, I'm not receptive to the energy, huh? Funny, that's the same excuse given by most of the people who failed in their attempts to knock me down. Kind of like the people who've tried to hypnotise me and then asked me to cluck like a chicken. I have told all of them the same thing, "Wh...

Anderzander, I, too, have seen these seemingly miraculous demos. However, every time I've stepped up, personally, and said, "OK, do that to me then" it's never, ever worked. Not once. I've tried every time someone has this type of demonstration and offers to "throw" anyone who wi...

Louis, Hmmmm........... In many TCC forms I feel a sensation similar to drawing the bow, aiming, then releasing. Maybe why I've been being drawn back to my bow. The sensations are sometimes eerily similar. I will read this book, as soon as I can bust loose with a few bucks to get it anyway. Thanks f...

Louis, I like the archery correlary. I used to do quite a bit of archery, first with the Boy Scouts (talk about a mis-spent youth!) then on a league for a few years. I have often thought I should take it up again, but my problem has been finding the time to do so. I don't imagine there's an "ar...

Just so we're clear on the subject. throw (thrô) v., threw (thrû), thrown (thrôn), throw·ing, throws. v.tr. To propel through the air with a motion of the hand or arm. To discharge into the air by any means: a machine that throws tennis balls; ash that was thrown by an erupting volcano. To hurl or f...

Bamboo Leaf, Where does it say he threw the disciple who accepted his challenge? From what I see he was able to maintain a consistent level of contact with his opponent using the thread, no more or less. I don't see how the opponent got "thrown" by this method. Anyway, however you look at ...

TCCstudent, I have been asking that same question for a long time now. My final decision to rank came from many factors, some personal, some more esoteric. The deciding factor is my respect for my Center Director, Bill Wojasinski, and my respect for Master Yang Jun. In the end I decided that if they...