Different Styles of Tai Chi FIST at a glance?

[taai gihk yahn]

I especially appreciate the constructive criticism!

ugh - it's not criticism: that would suggest I am "teaching", which Im not - it's just thought stimulation, my observations made manifest (!) - take it as such or leave it as such; but I appreciate your graciousness in regards to giving it due consideration, and it seems to be relevant to where you are "at", so if it is of use for you, than that's cool;

[CYMac]

Ok, CYMac.
Here is a video of me doing the traditional Sun form. I noticed your Sun style video, so maybe you can appreciate it.

Please forgive me though - I didn't learn it through divine intervention and I have slightly different tastes in music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uuKOIO7ztU

Great to see someone finally posting their own form! Congrat on the brave move! As you may want to hear abit from what I would say..

The level of your body move too much up and down and the palms are kind of stiffed. Basically, I turned my speaker off and so I can't hear your music, sorry for that! But overall, quite good for a westerner as I have seen. I just don't like the stiffness with the palms and hands, looks like they are kind of hanging by themselves. But anyway, it's just IMO. I do like your video though, so I give you a thumb up on the youtube!

[CYMac]

Here I would like to again thanks Sean66 for the video contribution, I am sure this will be a very good start. The kungfu form nourish with kungfu materials is always pleasant and I am proud of you Sean! Continue to post video of yourself, I am enjoying it too! How about your yang style, did you video record it too?

Oh, I just saw your wingchun too, good video!

[taai gihk yahn]

But overall, quite good for a westerner

great; another racist shows his true "colors" on the forum...

[taai gihk yahn]

concentrating on "what drives the movement", as you aptly put it, definitely helps.

since we're just talking about it, I think that this is the more interesting part (it's not about keeping your body on one level or about your hands being stiff - these are all "external" markers, pointing them out doesn't really get to the heart of the issue; and, as regards the former, body not moving up and dow, is a silly "taichism" that makes no sense - my sifu never taught this way in fact - I mean, where in all the rest of normal human movement does one keep the body the same level? this is absurd, it's natural to go up and down when moving, why any different in taichi?), if one wants to talk about "internal", and as regards what drives the movement - we can consider a few things: volitional movement of the large skeletal musculature, movement of the breath (which is still muscular, but is mediated by a mix of voluntary and involuntary control mechanisms that dominate at various times), involuntary muscular functions (mediated by the autonomic nervous system) and the response of non-contractile tissue (connective tissue matrix); one can also talk about cellular respiration, but that might be a bit of a stretch to factor into the mix...or not...

anyway, this is just a "rough" breakdown, but I think it's useful, insofar as it looks at different types of body structures and what controls them; the idea, I think, is to consider how to unify all of these - how does one synchronize the movement of large skeletal muscle with the breath, the "innards" (e.g. - muscles of digestion) and the "movement" of connective tissue matrix? this, of course, is not so much about fighting (although I suppose that could happen when fighting), it's about moving with full integration for its own sake, which is, I believe, the "point" of moving slowly (at least at first) - it gives one the chance to "listen" to what these various systems are saying, to feel the frequencies at which they are oscillating, and to allow the opportunity for them to synchronize and "move" together - which, I think is a natural thing, it can happen in other situations, not just when doing taichi, as it is programmed into us in order to support the inate drive towards homeostasis; but it seems that taichi is one type of movement that allows us to get into that place;

again, I think that opening / closing move w the palms that features large t/o the Sun form is an indicator of this integrative drive: at level of middle dantian, I think it's a touchstone for 'organizing" these different systems - sort of like bringing it all back to home base afer having done a bunch of other movmements...

[Sean66]

Great post.

In regards to the body moving up and down, this is actually a conscious effort on my part. The idea being that increasing the space between the thigh and the trunk opens the kua and serves to produce a natural generation of power. In any case, it feels very natural to me to move this way.

sort of like bringing it all back to home base afer having done a bunch of other movmements...

This is how I see it as well. Opening and closing hands is a moment to concentrate on and check one's posture (especially the shoulders and chest) before moving on.

By the way, taai, what style of taijiquan do you practice?

[CYMac]

Great post.

In regards to the body moving up and down, this is actually a conscious effort on my part. The idea being that increasing the space between the thigh and the trunk opens the kua and serves to produce a natural generation of power. In any case, it feels very natural to me to move this way.



This is how I see it as well. Opening and closing hands is a moment to concentrate on and check one's posture (especially the shoulders and chest) before moving on.

By the way, taai, what style of taijiquan do you practice?

Of course, everybody have their own preference in Taichi, and so I agree with you. Doing taichi your way works for you then it's a good way for you. I am sure you do enjoy the taichi vibe too! Which one you enjoy doing more? the sun or the yang style? have you practiced other styles of taichi?

[Juan Alvarez]

D@mn it! I wish I could do something to make you proud of me too!

[CYMac]

D@mn it! I wish I could do something to make you proud of me too!

Show yourself doing taichi~

It's kind of funny that when these kind of exchange of videos of people doing taichi comes up, people talk more than showing, so I give Sean a thumbs up for showing his taichi, which is brave and good. I wish others who talk a lot can have the guts to show too, that will make it more interesting and meaningful instead of just knowing how to criticize people without actually being able to show it themselves.

[Juan Alvarez]

And then you would be proud of me? Oh, goodie!

[taai gihk yahn]

Great post.

thanks

In regards to the body moving up and down, this is actually a conscious effort on my part. The idea being that increasing the space between the thigh and the trunk opens the kua and serves to produce a natural generation of power. In any case, it feels very natural to me to move this way.

I agree 100%; on a more mundane level, it is important for stimuating lymphatic flow / venous return, especially at inguinal crease (kua)

This is how I see it as well. Opening and closing hands is a moment to concentrate on and check one's posture (especially the shoulders and chest) before moving on.

cool;

By the way, taai, what style of taijiquan do you practice?

it is an "old" Yang style - my teacher's, teacher's teacher studied w Yang Lu Chan and learned an older version of the form; it's similar to the "standard" form, but has some other "stuff" in it (e.g. - jumping kicks, low sweeps); unfortunately, i only know one form that I have been refining for 15 yrs. - it's maybe not as exciting as doing 15 different versions, but that's just me...

[taai gihk yahn]

Show yourself doing taichi~

It's kind of funny that when these kind of exchange of videos of people doing taichi comes up, people talk more than showing, so I give Sean a thumbs up for showing his taichi, which is brave and good. I wish others who talk a lot can have the guts to show too, that will make it more interesting and meaningful instead of just knowing how to criticize people without actually being able to show it themselves.

lol; seems that Sean and I are having a productive dialogue that you can't even follow, so you have to fall back on a lame argument; go practice your 500 forms...

[CYMac]

lol; seems that Sean and I are having a productive dialogue that you can't even follow, so you have to fall back on a lame argument; go practice your 500 forms...

The original yang style form have 37 movements, and it's not the long form either. Plus if you know about yang style, you should have heard about the "fast form" in the tung ying kit style haven't you?

[taai gihk yahn]

The original yang style form have 37 movements, and it's not the long form either.

actualy, the "original" form has 13 movements (why 13? there's a very Taoist question for you)

Plus if you know about yang style, you should have heard about the "fast form" in the tung ying kit style haven't you?

my teacher's teacher was very good friends with Master Tung, so yes, I've "heard" of it...

[CYMac]

actualy, the "original" form has 13 movements (why 13? there's a very Taoist question for you)


my teacher's teacher was very good friends with Master Tung, so yes, I've "heard" of it...

Why 13? hahahaha! I just love that question!

I do know the tung's fast form as well, might be cool to exchange ideas with your original 13 form.