William C. C. Chen Tai Chi Chuan info?

[taai gihk yahn]

"Closed fist" or tightly clenched fists stop the flow of energy at the area of resistance.. WCC Chen teaches hollow fist relaxed power.. the relaxed/flexible striking is very quick, it flows into the target, and continues after contact.. it has the very desirable attribute of being 'changable', where the clenched version is not only comitted, it's very controllable.. not only does the clenched fist trap energy in the hands, it stops the flow in the arms which creates 'levers' useful in manipulating position..

I don't buy it; holding the fist "hollow" does not confer any particular advantage: Yang changed it to accommodate his upscale students; it's the same reasoning behind his taking out the seminal movement (from a Taoist alchemical perspective) of Arhat Grinding the Mortar - stomping on the ground would be unseemly; so too went the double jump front kick in the middle of the Second Chapter, the low spinning sweep (Iron Broom) at the end of it and the double jumping / spinning kick at the end of the form (if it's called Double / Twin Lotus, why is there only one kick in the extant form?); these are all movements in the version of the "pre-Beijing" (as my teacher refers to it) Yang form I learned, and there is no "hollow fist" anywhere to be found; at the same time, we do not hold the closed fist "tightly clenched" either, as that does create unnecessary tension during delivery as described above (basically, firing finger flexors maximally has a synergistic effect up through flexori carpi and biceps, which certainly slows the extension of the arm - so no need to talk about "energy" abstractly, it's very well-describable from a neuromuscular perspective) but on impact the fist is tightened; but this is not different from what I have seen in other styles, internal or otherwise: even my old TKD instructor used to punch this way; and William would understand this as well, what with his boxing background...

Reverse Abdominable Breathing (Taoist Breathing) is the actuallity of breath in combat, normal abdominal breathing (Buddhist Breathing) creates a conflict in the energetics of dynamic combat.. the 'expand/inhale~contract/exhale' (Buddhist) negates the compression necessary to accelerate and amplify energy expressions.. as an example, tightly purse your lips so that very little air-flow occurs, then observe your abdomen as you force the exhale and inhale.. it will exemplify Reverse Breathing and create compression.. as it turns out, Reverse Breathing occurs naturally during combat.. to train contrary to that creates unnecessary tension..

this I agree with completely; so-called "reverse" breathing creates a more stable base of support for the second phase of diaphragmatic contraction, because it prevents the abdominal viscera from descending as much as they would during "belly" breathing; so with the central tendon of the diaphragm stabilized, the peripheral fibers are able to contract more fully / strongly to elevate / externally rotate the ribs, allowing for more air to enter the lungs; the contributes to, among other things, better spinal health, better autonomic tone, better lymphatic drainage and better abdominal visceral function; this is all because of the "compression" (followed by a "decompression" part) that creates a "backflow" effect, pushing lymph and venus blood out of the organ systems and back into the vena cava;

What i notice about most Taiji players is that they have been taught 'unnatural' movement.. the form is useful to teach very natural principles of structure, mechanics, alignment, balance, timing and movement.. to create movements that insist on unnatural movements or contrived postures, also creates conflict within the player.. the first thing noticable in a posture or movement that has been trained in a manner not consistent with natural movement, it that it IS noticable.. it tells your partner that something is happening, it alerts them to your intentions.. natural movement, even at combat speed, is much less noticable..

true

We use 'unconventional' training methods to enhance speed, accuracy and power 'naturally'.. for example, i will put one of those soft weighted rubber balls (3-4 lbs) on a pedestal behind the heavy bag at head height.. the object is to grab and retrieve the ball, touching the shoulder of the hand that grabs it as quickly as possible.. a great way to train the hook.. or, i stand behind the student and toss one of those balls over their head while they wait to grab it.. what this does is to eliminate the idea of conflict and train the 'natural' speed necessary to identify a target and move naturally to acquire it.. the students have little if any tension, and the movements are fluid and fast.. although it takes much time and practice to integrate natural movement into combative skills, the result is a magnitude greater than the tensed fighter waiting to explode into a predetermined 'form'.. a relaxed fighter applying 'principles' as the situation evolves remains fluid and changes with the situation..

I am a big fan of the 4# ball, use it in PT w/my kids all the time - great for getting them to coordinate breathing, movement from the core and visual-vestibular integration; the basic position is to have them hold the ball at heart level with what basically amounts to a Lotus Mudra (but don't tell them that!) and go from there; incidentally, I also do push-hands drills with some of 'em, it is a pretty efficient means by which to identify and treat deficits in proprioception, bilateral integration / coordination, etc., and gives me the opportunity to "model" via tactile input what I want them to be doing...