Liked on YouTube: Tight Compact Form

Tight Compact Form
Faster speeds: How fast one can play the form is limited by the internal energy possessed by the practitioner. Losing firm control of the movement, skipping details of the internal movement, building up tension, and not being able to maintain the yin-yang balance are some of the signs that the playing speed is beyond the capability of the practitioner. When the speed reaches 4 min., (Tight) Compact Form will be a natural choice. It is an exhilarating experience to play the form in the 2-3 min. range while maintaining the relax-energizing balance (ying-yang balance)in the body just as playing at the normal speed, and enjoying the rapid circulation of the internal energy. To achieve poise and relaxation at this speed is important preparation for martial art application.One does not learn to play this fast by practicing fast. The foundation is built at the regular speed where every detail is honed to perfection and that the internal energy is developed to a high degree
via YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aL5V7jHBWE

Why Classical Tai Chi is like "dance" (not)

Why Tai Chi is like "dance" (not) 

After reading the following can you please explain to me why you are so enamored of dancers' movements as being de rigueur for Tai Chi, especially those hand flourishes? The delineation of Yin and Yang, what moves and what does not move is the essence of Square Form. But did you know "delineation", "what does not move..." is extremely important in Dance? "If I had a nickel" is not a meme but is a given when it comes to hearing Tai Chi compared to dance, dancers compared to Tai Chi, etc. "Compared" so much that students insist their Tai Chi should mimic dance movement...especially the hands and arms AKA "Port de bras". Well did you know that dancers also face problems getting students to Port de bras correctly? It is a classical ballet term meaning “movement of the arms.” It describes how dancers move their arms from one position to another. Now doesn't the following sound more and more like the import of instructions for delineation of what moves and what does not move in Square Form?

"When doing proper port de bras, dancers will move their arms from their back and shoulders (without lifting the shoulders awkwardly upwards) while trying to move as smoothly as possible. The shape of the arms should be rounded so there is no visible break at the elbows and wrists. In classical ballet, the arms should never be fully straight or hyper-extended at the elbows. Also, the hands should be shaped with the fingers extended running mostly in the same direction, but not stuck together like a paddle or overly extended."

Differentiate to escape "brain traps"

 

Differentiate to escape "brain traps" a video

As it is said in Neuroscience, "... the overall system in our brains that is devoted to empathy can’t run at the same time as the system that is devoted to rational analysis..." We have talked for 12 years on this page about the delineation of Yin and Yang and here is a synopsis of why some as Master Hwa says: "...may never get it..." UNLESS??

People like the "one-inch punch" using "quarter body movement" and small circle but the more they try to do it the less they succeed. One might say they become subject to a Dystonia but more a kind of "Focal Dystonia", a kind of "brain trap". For instance, one may occasionally, say "occasionally" that our shoulders lift as we drive the car, shoulders are up and they don't need to be. THE way out of the trap is to dismantle the process by learning to redifferentiate the muscles that raise the shoulders from those that drive the car....one becomes aware that the 2 actions are being done simultaneously. One becomes aware for instance that there is too much movement externally in the arm AS the internal movement is being made. One becomes aware that there is too much movement in the left side of the core as the right side executes the punch...maybe. It's just as Master Hwa has said in multitude about '...weakest links...." in moving internally. We have outlined a path for progress over the past 12 years on this Facebook page, but only you can walk the "path", we can't walk it for you because we have our own "walk" to be aware of..."...empathy can't run at the same time as rational analysis..."

Seeing "deeply" and connecting conclusively

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Great martial art during a great Pandemic. We are being challenged by a Pandemic and in its grip doing Tai Chi is even more challenging. Fortunately, we have a great mentor. Here's a deeper explanation of the "challenging" statement as not just applied to perpetuating one's personal discipline of training. I think one can say this quite readily about Master Stephen Hwa's work in bringing Classical Tai Chi to a scientific and artistic forefront

I use a quote from a book called "The Great Influenza". " The greatest challenge of science, its art, lies in asking an important question and framing it in a way that allows it to be broken into manageable pieces, into experiments that can be conducted that ultimately lead to answers. To do this requires a certain kind of genius, one that probes vertically and sees horizontally."

Barry, John M.. The Great Influenza (p. 60). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition