A different way of training

[tai chi hermit]

I don't know if this has been done, or if it is a waste of time or not. but i am in a situation where i dont have a teacher to guid me in taiji. i know the long form, the applications, and my ward off, rollback, press, and push are pretty down. i was thinking about focusing more on hardening my body, lifting weights, and conditioning now until i find a good teacher. stupid or should i go for it?

[Prairie]

Do whatever makes you happy.

However, these other methods won't help your taijiquan. Certainly endurance training can help, but you can get that through practice of taiji as well.

Some people will say that weight lifting can cause your body to become stiff and hold tension. I don't know if this is necessarily the case, but be careful about it anyway.

[chessman71]

I think of strength training as building raw, unrefined strength. Taiji uses more refined power for it's techniques. So what I do is take what my external conditioning gives my body and refine it through lots of silk reeling, qigong, ruler exercises, and single movement practice -- like doing grasp the bird's tail repeatedly on both sides.

You convert the raw strength into refined strength. This way weight lifting can support your taiji.

I think if you do the conditioning like that and make sure you're doing a lot more taiji than external conditioning, you'll make good progress.

[tai chi hermit]

well i am highly conditioned and taiji doesnt seem to wear me down at all, no matter how long i do it. but practicing jing wears me down, but still it takes a while. i just feel as though i am only improving technique and not improving my internal power, or at least it feels like that to me. is it recognizable?

[chessman71]

well i am highly conditioned and taiji doesnt seem to wear me down at all, no matter how long i do it. but practicing jing wears me down, but still it takes a while. i just feel as though i am only improving technique and not improving my internal power, or at least it feels like that to me. is it recognizable?

Well, this seems to be at odds somewhat with your initial post. i thought that you were looking at doing the conditioning because you didn't have a teacher handy.

"Internal power" has many components. You can use weights to some extent t condition the body to express internal power. But that is only one component of the training. If the other more important parts are missing, then weight lifting alone aren't going to help.

So it's hard to say.

[bawang]

yes, weight lifting is pretty important. you should do weight lifting relaxed or partly relaxed without using too much effort and gradually build the weight up.

i strongly suggest you look for a cable machine. it builds root and whole body coordination, you will have perfect poture after doing this machine and all your jing will come fro the hips. if you find one in your gym tell me!

[GiggityZZ]

i think weight training along with taiji is a good idea. adding weight training to ur schedule has many benefits. i believe that it compliments ur internal strengths as well.

training both internal and external strenghts makes ur body in balanced harmony.

u cant just train one, without the other. thats like lifting weights with only the right arm. do u know wat i mean?

make sure not to lift improperly or lift too much.
when u lift weights, make sure u get the full range of motion, so that all ur muscle developes. and not just part of the muscle. so when ur lifting weight, pull back as far as ur arm can go and push as far as ur arms can go

do not neglect ur taiji training though

[tai chi hermit]

you say don't neglect it..... so around about how many days a week is good? lately ive been training 6 days a week, but it is extremely hard due to certain circumstances. also, i've read that it is not good to train when you are tired.... is this true? ive been feeling really tired lately and i feel it has something to do with the changing weather from summer to fall. should i just toughen it out and forget about being tired? or what...

[bawang]

what exactly you were doing for the 6 days? weights?
if you have no more time then do the most important excercises like pushups and sites and squats. that's more important than taiji form. if you feel tired then rest it obvious.
i suggest you start doing whatever you plan to do, because too much talking waste qi.
the tiny things you should be able to decide for yourself.

[tai chi hermit]

6 days, is pretty much just taiji over and over and over.

[GiggityZZ]

taichi hermit, if ur feeling tired then u need to
make sure u get at least 8 hours of sleep a night,
drink a good amount of water during the day.
like possibly 4 glasses of water at the least.
stay hydrated throughout the day, especially when u practice ur forms.

i cant tell u wats making u tired, but u shouldnt push urself to train if ur exhausted or a bit tired.

like myself. when i feel too sore and tired to wake up at 5 a.m. for my jogging, i sometimes take 1 day off in a week at the most. sometimes i skip 2 days in a week. but i make sure i dont get carried away with skipping my jog.

[imperialtaichi]

Hello Tai Chi Hermit,

If you do want some weight training, find yourself a long heavy flexible spear.

The length helps you send the power out.

The uneven (stretched out centre of gravity) weight help you build levering type of power.

The flexibility simulates a moving/non-static/resilient opponent.

Cheers,
John

[tai chi hermit]

just wanted to say, thanks a lot everyone for your posts, they really have helped me. hope the best for all of you

[Takuan]

I do Yang Taijiquan, and I lift consistently to put on as much mass as I can, it's only helped my Taiji being stronger, I have MUCH more energy than when I did Taiji alone, I recommend at least trying out lifting and doin taiji as well, but as others have stated, be sure to not neglect the internal power, and train weights with the Taiji mindset as well.

Definitely don't weight train if you're tired though, it's like injury city then >.<.

[RickMatz]

I suggest an investment in zhan zhuang training.