I am interested for the martial aplications of the postures of the Yang style Taijiquan long form !
I own these books on Taijiquan martial applications:
- Practical Use of Tai Chi Chuan: It's Application and Variations - Yang Sau Chung
- Tai Chi Chuan: Its Efects & Practical Applications - Yearning Kung Chen
- Yang Style Taijiquan - Yang Zhen Dou
- Cheng Tzu's Thirteen Treatises on T'ai Chi Ch'uan - Cheng Man Ching
- Tai Chi Chuan Martial Applications - Jwing-Ming Yang
- Taiji Chin Na - Jwing-Ming Yang
I also have these videos:
- Tai Chi Chuan and its Applications - Jwing-Ming Yang
- Yang Tai Chi Chuan Applications - Wing Lam
- Yang Tai Chi Fighting - B. K. Frantzis
The books of the disciples of Yang Cheng Fu are all excelent, but the videos that I have are poor. I need more informations on martial applications.
1) Does anybody see the "Combat Tai- Chi" video series (produced by Inside Kung-Fu Magazine and CFW Enterprises) of Mark Cheng - the instructional video series on the real-time full-body combat applications of each move in the Yang style Tai-Chi long form ?
2) Is aviable any other recommended source (book or video) on martial applications of the Yang style?
By the way: I highly recommended the DVD series on Yang Style Taijiquan (Long form, Straight Sword and Broadsword) by Yang Zheng Duo and Yang Jun! I would like that Yang Zhen-Duo and Yang Jun make a "DVD series" of Yang Style Taijiquan (maybe 10 disks, 240 minuts each !!! ) that shows step by step in the depth: Zhan Zhuang Qigong, principles of Taijiquan and 13 dynamic techincs, 37 techincs of Yang style and its applications, traditional forms, Tui Shou, Ta Lu in San Shou.
(see my Taijiquan homepage at http://www.geocities.com/igor_rakar/qi/taijiquan.htm )
Yang style Taijiquan martial applications
Rogira:
I have studied Mark Cheng's video series. He reviews the entire YCF form (with some variations from the way the Yangs teach it), and shows various applications for each movement. The instruction is thoughtful and the tapes are well-produced and easy to follow. His applications tend to be very hard, and some of them (such as a cross-hands application in which he lifts his partner off the ground and then drops him) seem to me to require significant muscle. On the whole, however, I think this series is well worth watching.
I have been fooling around with applications for a few years and have come to the conclusion that the best source of such applications is ... YOU. Try to understand the basic energies and visualize how you would apply them in the postures from the form. Applications from videos and books are good to study because they show other people's interpretations. But I think we all need to "snap in" our own interpretations, based on the 13 energies and our own body types.
Happy studying,
Gene
I have studied Mark Cheng's video series. He reviews the entire YCF form (with some variations from the way the Yangs teach it), and shows various applications for each movement. The instruction is thoughtful and the tapes are well-produced and easy to follow. His applications tend to be very hard, and some of them (such as a cross-hands application in which he lifts his partner off the ground and then drops him) seem to me to require significant muscle. On the whole, however, I think this series is well worth watching.
I have been fooling around with applications for a few years and have come to the conclusion that the best source of such applications is ... YOU. Try to understand the basic energies and visualize how you would apply them in the postures from the form. Applications from videos and books are good to study because they show other people's interpretations. But I think we all need to "snap in" our own interpretations, based on the 13 energies and our own body types.
Happy studying,
Gene