To Paullywalnuts2: Internal Discipline is not "one size fits all"

From Youtube comments on Master Hwa's videos

Discussing the "rationale" of why we do things...examples.


"The internal discipline is the key to unlocking the mysteries of tai chi and gung fu. the waist must be trained first. master young talked about that in every lesson. training the core that way works the nerves allowing the chi to flow. this discipline works for all frames small, mid and large"  Paullywalnuts


"I  have two of Master Hwa's DVDs and I find his concepts fascinating. I am a practitioner of Wu Style TCC (disciple of the Wu Family). However, we have been taught that all of the movements are generated by the "hips" first, not the "waist". I still do not understand why Master Hwa thinks that the hips should remain less mobile than the waist. The hips are the fulcrum of the body and connect the upper with the lower". dhjmckenzie


Paullywalnuts2:  I disagree with both you and dhjmckenzie. 


Paullywalnuts2 :  it is difficult to teach and incorporate  internal  discipline to students of  large frame.  Large requires the use of leg muscle to push the body forward and back.  Compact Form  uses the core to pull the body forward and back.   Stretch out and pull back of the arm in large frame, frequent large swings of arms at shoulders  requires the use of  both shoulder and arm strength.  In compact form  the upper quarter body movements are entirely internal  and directed by the core.

dhjmckenzie: Not a  one size fit all concept.  Internal Discipline works  with  Compact Form.  It does not work for large, forms. "Generating movements " from hips in large frame is different than "generating" Internal Discipline in "Compact"  . The hips...are a joint for movement not power. When the hips are used for power instead of the core, the power is drained off.  In  Large  Frame any hip turning is also external. Hip turning puts Yin/Yang junction at knees which makes them subject to "shear" forces. How well this works in large frame is different than how it works in compact frame.  Hip turning will not work in compact frame because of such "shear" forces due to the compact stance.

Why did we use the examples above, if not to get students thinking and formenting rationales about what they do or do not do.   There is a rationale to what we do in in Classical Tai Chi and it is available to both beginner and advanced students at any time.  It is like a catalyst agent to enable you to correct yourself.  Unfortunately, most students don't know it exists, "I want to just do my Tai Chi and not have to think about it" is the refrain.

How  to improve then?    Reason how you hope to improve without thinking through what you are doing in Tai Chi.  See if you can comment on the obvious inconsistencies to Tai Chi principles in comparison to old masters, then think how are you going to examine what you are doing in your own practice.