Einstein said "Reality is an illusion, albeit a very persistent one"

Sometimes what you see in Tai Chi   a video link with an explanation

I read somewhere that Einstein said, "Reality is an illusion, albeit very persistent." In retrospect, and with tongue in cheek, Einstein was particularly correct regarding how students hold to what they perceive even with a cursory examination.

"...I watched the video of Master Hwa at home; you are wrong, Mr. Roach.." I explained that bobbing up and down, straightening the leg, and standing up is not the same as lifting the leg with the core. Upon correction for "bobbing up and down," the student told me, "...I watched the video, and when Master Hwa lifts the pelvis with the core, he straightens his leg and stands up..." I asked the student how many times they watched the video, and the answer was "...once...". That is what I mean by "cursory."

Master Stephen Hwa "It would help if you remembered that sometimes the appearance of reality is an illusion. My students in class often told me that they thought I was moving a certain way and tried to do the same. Later they found out that their observation was not correct. That was why I incorporated different views in my video so you could see my moves at different angles to lessen the chance of a wrong impression. Using a fresh eye to review the lesson video could uncover any misinterpretation of my movements. The other thing to remember is that you perceive that you are moving a certain way, but you are not moving that way. I met one student who had finished the lessons from the video. One problem I observed was that his movements initiated from the chest area when he tried to internalize his move away from the arm and shoulder. He would

scrunch his chest to start an upper body movement. When one of the students in my class makes the turning movement, she does stabilize the pelvic area, but the turning motion initiates from the upper abdomen area. In both of these cases, the concentration on the internal position is too high. It has to be in the navel and below. When done right, you will feel the tight connection to the lower body through the buttock. My 12-year-old student in class made a brief comment: "one thinks that he is not doing external, so it must be internal." It is not an either-or situation. There is an intermediate region, which is neither external nor very internal"

Both end “al” but Centrifugal is not Internal

 

ENDS  “AL” BUT CENTRIFUGAL IS NOT INTERNAL

We are always saying that Classical Tai Chi is underpinned as Science. As a kind of Lab Experiment, at this juncture, show me a completely “internal” 4 minute Form if you disagree with anything  as follows. 

The objective is to play Tai Chi both fast and slow. Did you know that Small Frame, Small Circle is meant to do just that? In our 60’s Master Hwa and I were doing the Form in the 3-minute range. He did it faster than me; better continuity of Internal energy. Now that is faster than the "Fast Form" touted by Ma Yueh Liang. Interestingly, one never sees his Form but sees his wife (Wu's daughter) doing an excellent form. When one learns the Form and is good at it, it varies playing speed from fast to slow. Fast has "Fast" difficulty, and Slow has "Slow" difficulties. 

The crux of this is whether Fast or Slow; one cannot change the Form. Remember Wu told Young it cannot be changed?  Yes, there are various perturbations when it comes to “change”. If one goes very fast sans “Internal”, the Form inevitably changes because of centrifugal force. The postures begin to change because the internal energy flow is not maintained. The centrifuge effect takes the internal out of the equation. Limbs spin out of control, centrifugal force is changing everything about the postures. It's not like just learning a so-called "Fast Form" first. One first builds up Internal Energy; then, one can go fast. 

Slow playing builds up Internal Energy; one can then go faster and faster at a future time. Faster at this junction is called the "tight compact" Form. Yes, the postures get smaller, tighter. The steps for instance would have feet taking tinier steps, half size.  I figured out that Master Hwa went faster than me because he goes tighter and that because I am taller.  It is difficult for me at 6’3” to take tinier steps as it really begins to affect my balance.  We talked, and both laughed, about the size disparity recently and my balance problems because of height.