Classical Taiji Video Instructions for: 8. White Crane Spreads Wings 白鶴亮翅, 9. Brush Knee Push Step Left & Right 4 Times 摟膝拗步左右四度

Many thanks to Joe Milne and Master Hwa for this great information they published in Forum 17...
At the bottom of this Blog is a video with subtitles on how to perform ROUND FORM 8. White Crane Spreads Wings 白鶴亮翅, 9. Brush Knee Push Step Left & Right 4 Times 摟膝拗步左右四度. There are numerous clips here and all are performed in slow motion with overlay written instructions. One should pick an arbitrary direction such as North and start there, with the turning done to the primary and secondary directions such as North West, East, etc.

The following are really written instructions for the Square Form but should give practitioners much in the way of insight to the nuance of the movements.

8. White Crane Spreads Wings 白鶴亮翅
9. Brush Knee Push Step Left & Right 4 Times 摟膝拗步左右四度

Posture 9 – Brush Knee Push Step
White Crane and Brush Knee, Push

A little History of Classical Tai Chi Blog 6

Young Wabu and Wu Jianquan Hong Kong  Square Form and Round Form, are the primary course of study in Classical Tai Chi (See picture above) Grandmaster Yang Wabiu (Young Wabu) is spoken about in the  as being "Dr. Young" and Wu Jian Quan is referred to as Mr. Wu. It speaks of how Wu Jianquan developed the "small frame (small step)" from the "large frame (large step)"...and more. Dr. Stephen Hwa who is my teacher is featured in the Square and Round Form link in the above paragraph. He also studied with Young Wabu (Dr. Young made his living as an Osteopath in Hong Kong before moving to Rochester, NY and Dr. Hwa studied over 30 years with him. Visiting Young Wabu's house for a memorial service a few years ago, I had quite a discussion with both Dr. Hwa and Young Wabu's daughter Sonia about this history) A little different perspective on Classical Tai Chi Mr. Chow: "Yes, we both started Tai Chi Chuan in 1949. " Stephanie: "Who was your teacher?" Mr. & Mrs.: "Dr. Young" Stephanie: "He was teaching Wu Style Tai Chi?" Mrs. Chow: "Yeah, yeah, yeah." Stephanie: "Because I know Yang Style is very popular now." Mr. Chow: "Dr. Young was last student of Mr. Wu who started Wu Style Tai Chi in Hong Kong." Stephanie: "Why and how is Wu different from the other forms? How is it different from Yang or Chen?" Mr. Chow: "Mr. Wu, he was yang (master) with big steps. After sixty years he developed smaller steps." Mrs. Chow: "He thinks when you getting old you don't like to do big steps. See?" Mr. Chow: "Don't expend the energy. We want to get more energy not to expend." Stephanie: "So, the circle (in Wu Style) is smaller. Does that mean the energy intensifies inside? You once told me, Mr. Chow, that our style is healing tai chi and you can feel the warmth emanating through the fingertips and sometimes people lay hands and make people feel better. I've seen you do that." Mr. Chow: "Yes, yes." Stephanie: "And you get it from the chi?" Mr. Chow: "Energy." Mrs. Chow: "Tan-tien." (Area of chi energy) Stephanie: "Which are about two fingers beneath the navel?" Mr. Chow: "Important with this energy is your angle and timing, co-ordinate." Mrs. Chow: "Together." Stephanie: "Your angle and timing. And that's why our tai chi takes such a long time to learn when compared to other styles. Our angles are very important?" Mr. & Mrs.: "Yes, yes." Mr. Chow: "This is very scientific." Stephanie: "When we learn, we're taught Right Hand Square Form first." Mrs. Chow: "Mr. Chow, you tell them why! Must teach them square using numbers (counting the steps) because it's easier to remember." Mr. Chow: "Never gets lost!" Stephanie: "Mr. Chow it was your idea to count while you were teaching?" Mr. Chow: "Yes, I started. Even square. The old-fashioned don't teach square! When your teacher decided you were a very good student and you could become a teacher, then would teach you square." Mrs. Chow: "Square is a good foundation." Mr. Chow: " We turn it upside down (referring to teaching square before the round). The square let the student really understand first (the tai chi form.)" Stephanie: "So you did that or did your teacher turn it around?" Mr. Chow: "Ya, ya." Stephanie: "So your teacher Dr. Young. " Mr. Chow: "Mr. Wu's family even now, only teach round, no square!" Stephanie: "They bend deeply and it looks different from our round." Mr. Chow: "Mr. Wu when the Japanese attacked, (he) came from Shanghai to Hong Kong. My teacher lived in his house all day long. He taught one student at a time. He (Mr. Wu) taught our teacher square first and ordered him to teach square first." Stephanie: "So that's how it started. That was a big change. Now, we learn Right Hand Square first, then Right Hand Round. People think that round is beautiful but I think square is beautiful, too. But the most important aspect is to always practice both. Then the student is taught Left Hand Square and Left Hand Round. Why is that?" Mrs. Chow: "Because of the circle, you know!" Mr. Chow: "Because of yin and yang, contrast and balance." Stephanie: "I think that's good, it exercises the other side of your brain." Mrs. Chow: "Yes, yes!" Stephanie: "I remember when I learned Right Hand Square and then when I began to learn Left Hand Square, I thought I should know what I was doing. But I would get very mixed-up as if I was exercising some other part of my brain. And I do feel more balanced now." Mrs. Chow: "Some people difficult to learn the left." Stephanie: "You have to once again have the patience." Mrs. Chow: "Yes." Stephanie: "What was the school's name in Hong Kong where you learned tai chi?" Mr. & Mrs. "No, no. No name, just Mr. Young." Stephanie: : "How long were you students of his?" Mr. & Mrs. "Seventeen years, sometimes two times a week." Stephanie: "When did you both start teaching?" Mrs. Chow: "Teaching?" Stephanie: "Teaching." Mr. & Mrs. "After we moved here." Stephanie: "So you never taught in Hong Kong, tai chi?" Mrs. Chow: "No! We were too busy to teach art." Stephanie: "What year did you move to America?" Mr. Chow: "1967" Stephanie: "In 1967, you came to Miami?" Mr. Chow: "No, no, no. We came to New York." Mrs. Chow: "The end of 1968." Mr. Chow: "We came to United States invited by TWA for art exhibit in Kennedy Airport."

Blog 5 Video of Basic Walking for New Students...it's not "Like" anything you've done before

THREE BLIND MEN AND AN ELEPHANT

Can any of them formulate a good "concept" much less a "true" one of what the elephant is? There is a saying in Chinese (pinyin) which is zhǐ lù weí mǎ…”pointing at a deer and calling it a horse”…literally twisting the truth. This is only remedied by wǒ zuò wǒ liǎo jiě…I do and (only then can I say) I understand. The basic walking we are going to show below is not "like" anything you have done before and neither is the vast majority of the Internal Discipline we show in this Blog... We'll also attempt to explain here why students should not fret over "concepts".

"The study of Classical Tai Chi in the beginning through advanced stages is as logical and rigorous as the study of any scientific discipline"...Master Stephen Hwa, Ph.D. What beginning students run up against however is the desire to conceptualize something that is based almost entirely on an individual's personal experience. 3 blind men will surely each have a different "concept" of an elephant when touching it for the 1st time, how should the zoo keeper provide a "concept" of the elephant for them by mere explanation? Won't their "concept" be considerably different in 1,3,5 years if they faithfully come back each day and touch more of the elephant each time?

The other problem is that a lack of a concept sometimes seems to spur students to try harder to intellectualize what is experiential. For instance, one hears pronouncements or affirmations about what "Qi" is from beginning students. Or one hears "conceptualizations" from beginning students about the Internal Discipline. "Oh, that is like belly dancing", "Oh, that is like an exercise I used to teach in Karate", "Oh, that is like the 24 Forms of Wu Style Tai Chi, etc. Or regarding the subject of "Qi": "Oh, I know what that is, it is like energy, it is air, it is like...", or "I teach Karate and since I have experience with that it stands to reason that I can not only teach Tai Chi but I can articulate what "Qi" is..." Let me get this straight, science cannot thoroughly articulate what "Qi" is but you can? The question I have to remarks like that is, "Why is it such a persistent issue that everyone assumes they can explain "Qi" or teach how to cultivate it, when they have not gone through the "beginning through advanced" stages we mentioned previously? Science has no answers at the level of understanding we talk about...how would someone who has not studied Classical Tai Chi or Qigong in depth have an answer. It is only when one reaches the advanced stage and contemplates such problems as by example "conceptualizing what Qi is" where one truly sees Science has no answers... it should be a humbling experience. How then is there any "conceptualization" to be had for the beginning practitioner?

What the blind men actually said:
“This queer animal is like our straw fans swinging back and forth to give us a breeze. However, it’s not so big or well made. The main portion is rather wispy.”
“No, no!” the first blind man shouted in disagreement. “This queer animal resembles two big trees without any branches.”
“You’re both wrong.” the third man replied. “This queer animal is similar to a snake; it’s long and round, and very strong.”
How they argued! Each one insisted that he alone was correct. Of course, there was no conclusion for not one had thoroughly examined the whole elephant. How can anyone describe the whole until he has learned the total of the parts.
(Kuo, Louise and Kuo, Yuan-Hsi, Chinese Folk Tales, 1976, Celestial Arts: Millbrae, CA, pp. 83-85.)

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Open/Close (Folding Like a Door) Exercise for New Students Blog 4

The 纏絲工()[silk reeling work]demonstrated here is based on the same principle of movement in Classical Tai Chi we described in the recent "Hand follows foot..." Blog. The principle being one which folds the body at the spine. In this instruction however, the feet/legs are not moving. Unlike "Hand follows foot..." however, one side of the body is truly kept as still as possible while the other side is moved. An often used simile is that of "folding the body like a book". Master Stephen Hwa here uses the phrase "folding like a door"

The exercise demonstrated here is a "pure" silk reeling, since the movement can and should be continuous with no interruptions or breaks.

In particular you should look for a sensation of "folding" at the lower back. Gradually, one notices this sensation moving from more near the upper back to the lower as they become more proficient with the exercises.

As you see Master Hwa do here, you can use the free hand to "feel" exactly where the sensations of "folding" are taking place.

Wuji (無極) Positions and Zhan Zhuang (站桩)

Adirondack morning... Meacham Lake Wilderness (Sept. 09)

To those that do not know, Wuji (無極) Positions and Zhan Zhuang (站桩) are present in every posture of the "Square Form". At the heart of this is an awareness of whether one is doing any Tai Chi posture correctly.

It is said in Classical Tai Chi that one does not learn to go fast by going fast and one might also say that one does not learn to go slow by going slow. How then does one get "faster", how then does one get "slower"? What is not understood by most students is that the ability of the practitioner to generate (internal energy) and control (internal discipline)the Qi is the major factor. Such Qi is developed over a lifetime of practice, not weeks, months or even a few years.

Students can however take measures so that the movements are being done correctly and it is in this correctness that one can insure the development of the Qi. The square form obviously is not learned by everyone, but all students learn the basic walking which is really Square Form.

Take the time to pause and simply stand still (Zhan Zhuang (站桩)while doing the basic walking practice. When the body is perpendicular to the floor and one is "sitting back" (see figure 3 & 4 of Forum 10)you can pause. Check your posture in this position, there is plenty of time especially if you incorporate this more and more into the practice. You are not trying to set a record for how long you stand, try holding for 10 seconds then move.

Take the time to pause and simply stand still (Zhan Zhuang (站桩)when the body is tilted forward over the front foot as well. Check your posture in this position as well for 10 seconds then move. It is in those 2 essential components of the basic walking that such pauses and self correction that one begins to plumb the depths of the practice...improvement comes from such contemplation.

Yang or Wu Style, what's in a name?

People in Tai Chi say: "we stand perpendicular to the ground because that is what you do in Yang Style", "we don't stand perpendicular to the ground because it is Wu Style". On the humor side, I met a Judo teacher who criticized the Wu Style "tilt" and her rationale was "Because we have hips". I have not heard functional justification for standing perpendicular to the ground in postures.

By functional we mean a coherent and comprehensive rationale directly related to why one should stand perpendicular to the ground. Frequently we hear: "Yang Style always stands this way", "my teacher said so", "it is for centering", "it aligns the acupuncture points with the ground", etc. and it leaves us wondering.

 This article referred to Cook Ding's Kitchen: September 2009. https://cookdingskitchen.blogspot.com/2009/09/ As Wustyle.com in Hong Kong reports: "In 1916 Grand Master Wu Chien Chuan, along with other famous Wushu experts of the time Yang Shao Hou, Yang Cheng Fu, Hsu Sheng Chi Tzu Hsiu, Sun Lu T'ang, Liu En Shou, Liu Tsai Chen, Chang Chung Yuan, Tong Lian Chi, Chiang Teng Tsui, Hsing Shih Ju and others established the Beijing Institute of Physical Education."  

These most famous teachers from "Yang Style", "Wu Style", etc., taught under the same roof. If I had to venture an opinion, I would say the teachers themselves were not going around saying, "I'm teaching Yang Style and because of that, the correct way to stand is perpendicular to the ground". My other opinion would be that it was not teachers but it was students who came up with the names, like: "I'm studying something from Yang", "I'm studying something from Wu". I would also venture another opinion and say, those gentlemen did not develop their arts in a vacuum...they also trained with each other, compared arts, pushed hands with one another, etc. That itself has profound implications. Reference to this can be found at Cook Ding's Kitchen: September 2009 (cookdingskitchen.blogspot.com)

Finally, I quote Master Hwa in answering a student's question:

Q. Why do you emphasize "classical" Tai Chi; and not "Wu" Tai Chi?

Tai Chi Health Benefits. https://www.classicaltaichi.com/tai-chi-health-benefits.html According to my teacher Grand Master Young Wabu, he heard his teacher, the legendary master Wu Chian Chuan said that Wu did not change the Yang Tai Chi learned from the Yang’s. In fact, Wu Chian Chuan emphatically said, "It can not be changed".

The fact is that the knowledge cycle of learning the classical Tai Chi to understand its eventual consequences is very long. To learn the Tai Chi form takes several years to be proficient. To test the effectiveness of what has been learned in actual martial art application takes another few years. To confirm what the health implications are, especially during older age, requires a human generation. Here we have the classical Tai Chi with its numerous components meticulously optimized to satisfy both the requirements of martial art application and health benefits. It must be a multi-generation effort. When Wu Chian Chuan taught my teacher, Tai Chi was already in such an advanced state. One can fully appreciate what he said, "It can not be changed".