help: tai chi people on (up rooting)

[dragontounge2]

Can any of you up root an opponent. How do you practice?

[greendragon]

I don't know what style of TaiChiChuan you are learning but the answer is there in your form. using a two handed push coming from back leg (apply fa jing) step on your opponents third leg (between their legs). when you push, visualize extending your energy for at least a city block. a low stance is important here, you want your center to be lower than theirs. advanced tip: brush down slightly with your fingertips before pushing , kinda like bouncing a ball. work on timing. work on coordinating upper and lower as in the TCC classics.

[dragontounge2]

Thanks that helps alot.

[Former castleva]

proper unbalancing would help.Plain forcing with muscles won´t probably do much.
It is fairly easy to unbalance ("up root"?" one who´s center/root is high.If you push someone with this kind of root,you´ll possibly knock him off his/her feet.
If you push someone with low center (of gravity) one with a good root,you´ll get a good work-out but I believe that´s it.
A fine example of this kind of person would be aikido master.
I hope I got this right,feel free to correct if not.

[No_Know]

Grasp Sparrows Tail, there's a slight dip and rolling from ball of foot to flat foot for at least a reason.

Not a muscle thing. Leverage--the ounce to move 10000~.

[ged]

please humour me as someone who doesn't do tai-chi.
i am guessing that uprooting is done to unbalance someone so that you can take advantage of their state, and strike quickly to their nose/whatever. why not instead of push, quickly push aside their arms and go straight for the nose? Pushing could be a training exercise, or some such. Really I have no idea :) that's why i come on this board so much, to learn.

[Water Dragon]

Originally posted by ged
please humour me as someone who doesn't do tai-chi.
i am guessing that uprooting is done to unbalance someone so that you can take advantage of their state, and strike quickly to their nose/whatever. why not instead of push, quickly push aside their arms and go straight for the nose? Pushing could be a training exercise, or some such. Really I have no idea :) that's why i come on this board so much, to learn.

Don't look at it like that. The concept is deeper. What you are doing when uprooting is finding the opponents center. When you get it just right, the body tends to fly away. This doesn't happen very often for me. More often, you juice and the other guy goes hopping back or staggers a few feet. You have learned to find the opponents center.

In a fight, you don't push it, you drive into it. This drives the center into the ground and "nails" it there. It's similar in concept to putting someone's head against a wall and then punching them in the face.

Pulling develops a different combat application, but I'm gonna keep mum on that one.

[ged]

Thanks for the post Water Dragon.