Taiji's Proficiency

[TaiChiBob]

Greetings..

Perhaps this is a case of "not seeing the forest for the trees".. it's all there.. the MA, the health, the spirituality, the meditation, the philosophy, it's all there.. Now, either the instructor or the student (or both) may not have the intention or inclination to deal with all of those aspects, but it's not a failure of the art itself..

A bit of wonderful wisdom imparted to me goes something like.. "we are what we have chosen to be, the beauty of it is that we are free to choose again and again.. " Too often we hear people lament the poor instruction, the poor quality of students, the lack of combat effectiveness in Tai Chi, etc... Choose again, find a better teacher, move to another area, visit China, test yourself.. but, stop blaming the Art until you have experienced the fullness of it.. Centuries of history detail the benefits and practicallity of Tai Chi, yet.. the dark imaginings of people affected by a couple of poor experiences would seek to devalue this Treasure of the Orient..

Even those that train for primarily health purposes, if they train with focused intention, will find enhanced reflex actions (muscle memory) in times of need.. the sad expectation by too many is that Tai Chi should produce some World Class "whoop A$$" champion.. if that's the goal, i suggest that you have misconceived the nature of Tai Chi.. it CAN produce that person, but why?.. when there is so much more to living a quality life than being a bad-a$$.. That being said, i do train/teach as hard as any other school i am aware of in the martial aspect of Tai Chi, i simply balance that with health and meditation/philosophy.. in almost every instance, once the student is exposed to the depth of philosophy and spirituality in Tai Chi, the desire to fight diminishes while the training to fight increases.. Another excellent piece of wisdom i have seen in here is.. "better to be a warrior in the garden, than a gardener in the war".. of interest is that the better part is in the garden, not the war..

oops, i've rambled again, sorry.. Be well..

[Laughing Cow]

It is my belief that you won't get the FULL benefit of any system unless you train all the aspects.

Agreed that sometimes changing teachers might be needed in order to be able to cover all the aspects.

One thing I see often in the kwoon is a lack of communication from the student to the teacher.
And thus often the teacher is not fully aware of the students needs and desires.
Which often results in a disgruntled student leaving to seek a new teacher.

Cheers.

[Rurouni Kenshi]

Walter, if you know how to do a spin kick at full speed and power while keeping the sole of the foot grounded please tell me.
in years of taekwondo training (which i do not practice anymore)
i never seen anybody able to perform a spin kick this way.

for the limitations to the kicks, you should read the book of yang jwing ming, wich give a complete insight of the way kicks are used in internal martial art.
the main problem with high kick is to still be able to emit jin, otherwise it is just external.

[TaiChiBob]

Greetings..

During the spin the foot is rotated by a toe-to-heel/heel-to-toe motion positioning the foot squarely on the ground just ahead of contact.. this permits a full connection to the ground and a substantial transfer of "earth energy".. or so i was taught.. additionally, if you can rotate the DanTien ahead of contact, it is possible to whip this technique into position..

Be well..

[Ron Panunto]

High kicks in real fights are low percentage techniques. With one foot high off the ground your balance is precarious and you expose your groin to your opponent, and in the case of a spinning kick you expose your back to your opponent. Any savy fighter will rush a person trying to do a high kick and knock him on his ass. This is what taiji stategy is all about - close the distance ASAP and keep your opponent off balance.

There are high kicks in the taiji forms, but they are used for training. Real kicks are mostly to the shins and knees and occasionally to the groin and stomach.

If you want to practice using taiji to fight with, then fight as part of your training. This can be done with moving free-style push hands, posture applications training, and sparring.

Ron Panunto

[Walter Joyce]

I do know how to throw full power spinning kicks with the sole on the ground, the kick isn't thrown until thethe foot is planted.

As for Yang Jwing Ming, I rarely if ever rely on his advice.

And lets not conuse jumping kicks with high kicks...there is a difference.

[looking_up]

Hey Walter,

Looks like you've been training more, posting less. Thanks for reminding me about that lesson...

Are you still training bagua, or have you been converted completely over to Chen style for the moment?

Cheers!!!