Yang Family Tai Chi Discussion Board

Hello all!

I fully intend to talk to my Shifu about this, but am also looking for a wider opinion base. I have been studying Taiji for about 8 months now, and have loved pretty much every moment of it! The stress relief an peace I have found in my practice are pretty incredible! Plus, it is just plain fun. In the beginning, I seemed to have a natural aptitude for picking up the forms, Push Hands, and other outward applications of the art.
However, now we are getting into some of the nitty-gritty details of things. Detailing the applications for the 13 postures, Qigong, and stepping/timing in Push Hands is frustrating for me right now. It just seems like the progress I had been making slowed to a crawl, and that there are things I am just not getting or understanding. I do recognize that I moved pretty quickly in the beginning, and have much to learn. I have no intention of giving up, and don't want to be guilty of "mastering the superficial" and abandoning my studies.
So, I guess my question is how have you dealt with frustrations in you own practice, or the frustrations of students?
Do you take a deep breath and grind through until you have an aha! moment? Should I just let go of worrying about progress and just do it?
Any hints or tips to offer?

Thank you!
Kirin

Hello Kirin!
Please give me more details of your training schedule. ¿What do you consider “plain fun”? Taiji is not about fun at all… Is about the “essentials”, the 13 postures and martial applications. You learnt considerably fast for 8 months, but now you’re frustrated because this process slowed down. Obviously, is time to focus on the techniques, because 8 months is not time enough to master the art, just the headlines. If your inner peace worth (and I think it does), you have to be patient with yourself. You must learn to practice on a repetitive basis, in order to improve your movements and apply intent, before you can access the “next level”. Qigong is very important for developing and directing your Qi, pushing hands will help you to fill in the form, etc. Don’t wait for an enlighten moment: you have to practice every day, repeating the same movement a thousand times. Do you have what it takes to commit?
Greetings from Uruguay!

Hi Kirin,

Welcome to the board. I agree with AdrianaDS that 8 months is simply not enough to gain much mastery of Tai Chi. I know very few people who have practiced for less than a year and who do Push Hands with much ability. Usually it takes several years and much practice. Some people say Tai Chi is not about learning, but rather about unlearning. In 8 months, someone can learn movement patterns, but can only begin to unlearn bad habits gained over a lifetime.

I found that my learning has gone in spurts. Sometimes it has felt as if Tai Chi were focusing more and more into a few simple points. Sometimes it has felt as if Tai Chi were expanding to take in more and more complexity. I personally have found it all fun, even amid the frustration.

How to deal with the frustration? Be patient. Realize that the important parts of Tai Chi are often subtle and hidden in plain sight. Don't give up the near for the far. The coolest things are how very small changes can have very large effects.

Take care,
Audi