Patience can be learned when learning to fight a video link:
From a student and Master Hwa responds: "I have become impatient with the slowness of the learning curve regarding Classical Tai Chi for this reason alone: the forms playing does not seem to be leading to the martial application, and there does not seem to be any partners out this way who know Classical Tai that I can practice. So, I am enrolling in a Win Stun class (Jim R. said, I think you mean Wing Chun) through a park district close to where I live.
"By the way, how long does it take to be a Tai Chi fighter? Have you had a sparring experience?
Hope all is well with you and your family."
Jim R. said: Needless to say, there was more to this narrative and J.D. complains that the Wing Chun Sifu severely throttled him. Master Hwa responded thusly:
Hi J. D. There is no mystery to be good at martial art application. This is discussed in my book and video.
You need to go through three steps:
1. Develop internal energy or power through Form practice, so that one can deliver the power at any angle and position.
2. Practice the form such that the ability of delivery becomes instinctive, no need to think.
3. Practice push hand and sparing to develop sensitivity and finesse.
As I recall when you visited me in Florida, you were not close to master step 1. You were able to use internal discipline at several moves but not all angles. From your description of your sparing experience, you still need to think when you move. No wonder you were always one step behind, and being controlled by the opponent.
Step 3 needs a partner to practice. There is no short cut to that.
I hope I have answered your questions.
Jim R: Years ago, I taught students Taekwondo at Kim's Dojang in Buffalo. It was somewhat horrifying to see a Taekwando student I was teaching go through the front window of Kim's Dojang when he missed the heavy bag with a flying sidekick. I use the fictitious name "Cato" for that poor guy with tongue in cheek. Cato was the Pink Panther's "sparring nemesis", always destroying furniture in the home for Peter Seller's character. I had warned the student to be very careful after I noticed him excessively hopping around in the lineup of students waiting to kick. The heavy bag was always hung too close to the front window in the Dojang. The student's lead foot did not hit the bag on target and the weight of the bag redirected him through the window and onto the sidewalk outside. He only had a minor scratch on his ankle but the large window was totaled. An elderly couple exiting the drugstore almost was almost hit by the flying glass to say nothing of the student. What an incredible amount of momentum can be generated by a flying body. I am thankful for internal with heels on the ground as a wonderful progression from external. One certainly cannot do a one-inch punch with even a 1/4 inch of play in the heel and floor. It is important to have power but equally important to not have "loss"
Finesse is the watchword in the video and something the "Win Stun" guy and Kato flying through the window guy are too impatient for (patience can be learned). Notice Hwa Laoshi's statement that this is a good intro. to sparring. In either of his pulling OR following, he is Yielding to Jason's force. This is directed particularly to the "Overview Videos emphasis that "Fajin" is useful only when you detect an opening in an opponent's movement, such as taking advantage of his body's momentum or deficiency in his rooting and striking without any forewarning. It is not a move with brutal force but with finesse and sensitivity. That is the reason why (JD, Kato, and many impatient others may never "get it") training a Tai Chi fighter is much more difficult than training an external martial arts fighter."
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