Tai Chi walking training

Tai Chi walking video link

Jim R. said: What Master Hwa does here with students touching a post in this video link has proven itself to be indispensable in my classes. Also indispensable to ice and snow walking in beautiful Buffalo, NY. While we do not have a post we do use the walls on the 3rd floor Rockwell at the College. I do adjust a couple of ways by having students lightly touch one finger, keeping good structure. The body does not remember the finger but it certainly remembers good or bad structure Doing this also allows us to move down the hall as well as standing still Tai Chi walking training. There is nothing like his "static" stationary idea to also train the following characteristic: "The second characteristic mentioned in "Uncovering the Treasure", the great book by Stephen Hwa on Amazon, p.65

"The characteristic of keeping the body's center of gravity under control, not allowing it to fall forward as in the common walking motion, includes a key provision that when one steps out with one foot, the bodyweight stays back without moving until the front foot is flat on the ground, then one pulls the body forward until all the bodyweight is on the front foot. While in the common walking motion the body weight shifts with the foot stepping forward so part of the bodyweight lands on the heels of the front foot. Landing the body weight on the heel of the front foot combined with the back foot pushing forward on its toe is a primary reason that people slip and fall on icy or slippery surfaces."

My teacher has "beginner's mind", my student has "expert's mind"

My teacher has "beginner's mind", my student has "expert's mind"

When learning Classical Tai Chi "Form", essentially (there are certainly more things to learn) one needs to learn 4 things and in the following order: 1. Direction, 2. Hand position, 3. Timing, 4. Internal Discipline.  The concern with hand position and even hand "direction" can be put on the back burner. There can be a million and one arbitrary hand movements positions, and hand directions but if the feet move in the wrong direction any concerns with hand "direction"  is moot. In his DVD series, my teacher teaches "direction" and includes "hand direction" along with "foot diretion" at the same time. But this is, after all, a DVD with limited space and time. My student Jason B., for instance, learned the whole 108 Square Form, just using his feet, no hands "directions" ...then added "hands".  Anyway, I was teaching "foot direction" recently, had pointed out the "order" of learning but a student said:  "You need to stand over there so students can see your hands!"  

For a teacher, this is an ideal opportunity to point out the difference between "expert's mind" and "beginner's mind" to all students.   It was the Japanese Zen Master Shunryu Suzuki who said: "In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, in the expert's mind there are few." 

Here is the difference and an example:

My own teacher who is an "expert" taught me that Tai Chi is "mindfulness meditation", to see and be aware of many "possibilities". A student who is a beginner taught me to see and be aware of a few "possibilities".  My teacher's mind is open, relaxed, what more can one say. My student's mind needs to be open to more possibilities, one needs to say something. 

Why so hard to develop Neigong (internal discipline)?

Link to Internal Discipline

Jim R said: Pathological reasons aside I ask myself as a teacher why it is so hard for students to develop internal discipline? I have suspected for some time that people, in general, think of themselves as looking out from inside their heads and simply riding around inside their bodies. I think this is where the essence of Classical Tai Chi as "mindfulness meditation" comes to fruition. The head in this scenario reigns supreme but really is a purveyor of the illusion. . I'm not talking about eyesight per se here but the neuroscientist Sam Harris has pointed out research that shows people always think of objects as closer to their head than say their knees, back, etc.

In his book, Uncovering the Treasure, Master Stephen Hwa talks about the Mental state of a beginner and elucidates on how we think of the torso: "We think about the dexterity of hands or feet but think
of the torso as a dull part of the body, not knowing that the torso can be developed to have just as much
dexterity. As a result, almost everyone who starts on Classical Tai Chi is awkward in their torso. Precise
command and control of the neuromuscular system in the torso area are nonexistent.Yet, it is crucial in the development of Internal Discipline. During early Form training, students have to look intensely inward trying to establish communication with the torso, not just for command and control but also to develop sensitivity to the sensation of the body's feedback. Knowing the correct sensation of a movement is one of the best tools to achieve self-improvement."

Why do the 關節 Guānjié form and not etc., etc.

The link to be "square"

Why do the 關節 Guānjié form and not etc., etc?

I practice and teach a Compact Square, also called "Joint" or 關節 Guānjié Form in addition to Compact Round Form. Specifically, this is directed to interested readers who may or may not practice the Square Form of Classical Tai Chi.  Generally, one must assume that not many people are familiar with the Square ("Fang") Form.  To my knowledge, it came to fruition during the 20th century. It arose as inception and development by the Wu Family Tai Chi and its representatives. In its various incarnations and variations, it has been introduced and taught by the disciples and family of Wu Chien Chuan. What is not agreed upon even among the family and representatives is which version is correct. To explain this I can only offer that there is a very obvious difference between large frame square form and compact frame square form...a size difference.  

All of the commentaries that have been offered about Classical Tai Chi-square form leads me to think that even the very obvious difference of size is not apparent to practitioners of large frame.  To be fair, there also appears to be a majority of practitioners in large frame practice who have never heard of the Compact frame.  In addition, the most current commentary  from the mass media and the uninitiated (including Tai Chi practitioners and even some who practice another version of large frame square form)   is that the Compact square form looks "robotic", hence the following article:

In regard to the "Robot" portrayal: I have for some time now not concurred with any representation, narrative or designation that fails to accurately explain the rationale of any Tai Chi movements to students. It would be injudicious to assume a priori that a robot's Tai Chi could be any more or less correct than a human's. Particularly because IMHO the majority of Tai Chi that is taught nowadays is not correct, to begin with. The reason for this is simply because it demonstrates time and again that it deviates from its origins and roots.

I have also seen it time and again over 40 years that Tai Chi forms become watered down if not passed on intact from one generation to the next. The Square form ensures that there is no deviation in this process, no moves are added, no moves are subtracted. For that reason, I am happy for this opportunity to reiterate that the performance of Square Form should look Robotic. In fact, the more robotic the portrayal, the better the performance.

Anyway, in the final analysis, the delineation of yin and yang is the eventual goal. That is to teach students what parts of the body to keep still and what parts to move. The part that is still is Yin and the part that moves is Yang.

The majority of people who start Tai Chi, however, cannot keep much still when it calls for it. Additionally, that rule to delineate yin and yang is the most important lesson Wu Chien Chuan passed on to Young Wabu.

What most often happens is that students by habit move from the individual joints, eg; shoulder. It is difficult to teach students to keep a shoulder still, elbow still, a hip still. The movement at these joints "muddies" the overall quality of movement and in many respects drains off the power that could have been generated had it remained still. Correct Tai Chi thus becomes difficult to teach because the nerve impulses that govern movement from the joints have been cultivated over a lifetime. It is no wonder then that students struggle with learning, thinking all the wrong reasons for their difficulties. 

Many times in Tai Chi students cannot find correct neuromuscular control. One can stretch the students arm so they feel the connection of arm to back and also to a lesser degree the abdomen. Eventually one can use back and abdominal to power arm movement.Doing the Lions share of repairing the hole where logical reasoning disappeared, "righting the ship" and saving Tai Chi.

"Helen A." who is a student on Master Hwa's Classical Tai Chi Teachable course: Helen said: "When I try to move my arms from my back muscles, as you recommend, I feel the movement of the muscle in my stomach area (core muscle?). Does this mean that I am doing the movement correctly?" Master Hwa said: "You got it!! It is the purpose of this exercise to connect arm movement to the back and the abdomen muscles so that eventually you can use the energy of these muscles to power the arm movement."