Here's a question for our internal guys.
From what I know, you're never supposed to reach a stable horse-stance type of position in Yang Tai Chi. After the opening position with the arm raise, yin and yang separate, in a philosophical way, and they play around during the form. This is why you're never supposed to be even-weighted or stationary (as it's a stagnant position, and your'e always supposed to be moving), especially for applications, because you're supposed to be rooted on one side and not on the other so much. Even where the form reaches cross-hands horse stances, one leg (the left) is substantial, and the other is insubstantial, as in you're about to step with it in another direction, so it doesn't carry quite as much weight and therefore it doesn't qualify as a horse stance. In our first closed hands position, we move behind into another Grasp the Sparrow's Tail directly behind, whereas Cheng Man Ching's original 37 form moves into, I think, an "embrace the dragon" position , or something like that, which is kind of like brushing the knee, and then into Grasp the Sparrow's Tail . Also, on the pigeon-toed stance in between "the fair lady weaves the shuttle", we're keeping the weight mostly in the leg where the hands reset into a holding ball to chamber for the next "fair lady"---the leg which will provide a root so we can step with the other. So, according to this fundamental rule, we never reach an even weighted horse...except for our non-stepping cloud hands.
I'm not sure why we dont step, except for the resetting of the back foot on the slanting position, but I don't see a way to resolve this idea of even-weightedness in this stance. Are you supposed to shift your weight as you rotate the hips and torso, or do you stay in a stable stance. I was directed, not by the Master of the school, but by some sifus, to stay in a horse stance. Am I supposed to weight myself on the left leg if my hands are on the left side, then on the right if my hands are on the right or vice-versa? Were they just recommending something I might know from external studies to give me a reference as a starting point to then hammer out?
If I shift my weight, I'm not talking about a big shift---just the subtle shift that's in the closed-hands position. I have to imgaine that there is an imbalance, and I got a somewhat misleading recommendation for the high ma bu, because we have to pivot out the left foot at the end of cloud hands, shift the weight onto it and sweep around with the back leg, then shift the weight back and move into the single whip. In my wushu footwork drills in Longfist, I was drilled constantly on shifting from a horse in one direction to a horse in the other direction. There's very subtle things going on in that shift--where the weight rests, when to shift the weight, when to turn out the back foot, when to lift it up and set it down, and when to punch. I could do this with the cloud hands horse easily, if it were a horse. But is it a horse?BTW, my Longfist teacher was the best Tai Chi practitioner I've ever seen in person....granted, I've never seen SM Gary's in person...
....as I didn't value my Tai Chi enough to take his Tai Chi workshops when they were available
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I'm a bit confused on this, and would really appreciate any input.
The other question: When we move from Grasp the Sparrow's Tail into Single Whip, I've often been taught (just like Cheng Man Ching's form) to allow both hands to rotate counter clockwise to face the other direction.
Now, because we were in a right forward bow stance, our feet were wide in that position. We can't really make a complete 180, can we? I was told to move from a bow in one direction to a bow in the other direction, then the hands float down a little as the left foot draws in a little. I have very strong legs, but I can't for the life of me do this without keeping my pelvis aligned with that 150 degree plane or something along that line. I drag my left foot and overweight my right leg and keep it bowed out to light-straining if I do it this way without resetting it. I have to imgaine that you must shift the weight, or, reset the waist at least.
For the sake of application, I prefer SD's version, so long as I can reset the waist and keep it on that 150 degree plane (I really don't know that it's 150--just an estimate). But this means I never really shift my weight completely forward. I'm fine with that, but maybe you guys could explain this better for me.
My feet get crossed if I try the 180 degree rotation (I can do it with a narrower stance, just like I can in anything internal/external, but I really don't want to compromise my stability and root, so I'm trying not to "cheat" the technique.). In Cheng Man Ching's form, as in most Yang, you shift about 150 degrees or so, without turning out the left foot when turning out of the right bow stance. Rather, you turn that 150 degrees or so, and then rest on the left leg, which hasn't rotated. This allows you to reset the right foot a little and get the rotation you need as you then reset your weight on your right foot, and prepare for single whip by chambering the left foot a little before stepping back out into a stable left bow stance.
How am I supposed to do it, in SD's terms? Some of my teachers are female, and their center of balance is different b/c of their hips. For instance, they draw their leg around in the circle reset step after "sealing the hands/closing door" much further than I need to. When I do it their way, I strain my left knee too much because I have to draw my leg in way too far. I asked the Master of the school, and he immediately diagnosed the problem without even thinking...LOL....and fixed my issue. Is this another instance of the difference in female/male balance? Ah........LOL.....the yin and the yang are a biotch.
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Originally Posted by Shaolin Wookie
. I'm sure it's very hard, but it's incredibly boring.
