Dexterity and strength in the waist

 Jim R: Some time ago, I had a conversation with someone who was an editor at a book company and who is also an author of a book on Tai Chi applications:  I am rewriting as much as I remember from the conversation, and I hope this helps one from what I learned from Master Hwa: A civil conversation about training for Fajin and the "Springs" of recent posts on Youtube, and viewing "A chat with Sifu" by Wynter. 

The editor: "I think I understand what you are proposing; however, I still find the emphasis surprising. I should say that although we talk about the legs generating Jin, it is true that the waist, arms, and hands also do something. They cannot be limp and may even provide substantial energy. One of how I teach as I try to translate my understanding of the classics in simple terms is to say that we should always generate power with the biggest and strongest muscles available and let smaller muscles do supporting work. According to at least some definitions, the muscles controlling the thighs and pelvis are the strongest. They certainly have more range of motion than the muscles controlling the lumbar spine. I would say that the waist can add power to the legs, but not the other way around. I would say that the legs are the heavy springs, and the waist has the medium springs. Once the heavy springs have stored the maximum energy they can, they can share some with the medium springs without loss of collective power; however, if you try to maximize the storage in the medium springs before the heavy ones, you will steal energy from them and limit them." 

Jim R said: 

Hi ,  "What you say makes sense if one takes the giant steps of a large frame. As Master Hwa has said, what we do biomechanically only makes sense in a small frame, a small circle. (I show very small steps of Wu Chien Chuan and Hua Jiping in this Blog)  I have to disagree that legs are the strongest, and they certainly are not possessing the most dexterity coupled with great strength. After all, a great baseball player or tennis player may move the legs and arms to set up the "shot," but the waist, in its turning, gives it the power, the "oomph." 

"I am not talking about large springs, large steps, or large frames as done in Yang, Wu, or Chen styles. The "springs" are weak in the elbow and the shoulder and strong in the waist. There are "reaction" forces to be reckoned with when pushing from the legs. The concept of "firming" the legs inopportunely only serves to negate any relaxation of the legs, much as "firming" up the arm that way as well. Failure to relax arms and legs subjects the body to reaction force which a giant stance may well absorb, but significantly large tai chi stances have many drawbacks. Mobility, Orthogonal forces, double weighting, and more. 

The compact and tight compact Forms use "pulling" with both front and back. The step size is relatively small in a compact form, minimal in a tight compact, and much smaller than what Wu Gong Yi showed in the Gold Book. That pulling is by the "engagement" of contracting (abdominal, back, buttock) core muscles with the legs. The style does not eschew pushing with the legs; it uses it with discretion. For instance, it can use pushing once the opponent's balance is offset. A pushing movement, even with a larger step, can be added opportunely as far as elaborating on the reasoning for "rooted in the feet, generated by the waist, controlled by the legs and manifested through the fingers," as you have talked about in your appreciated books about Tai Chi Classics. 

This statement may apply to certain Large Frame moves which use the leg to generate the pushing force. But, it is not usable in the Compact Form, which produces power from the torso, and it is essential to remember not only the difference in frame size that I speak of here. It is important to remember how equal and opposite force will be sent from the waist down through the pelvis to the leg, finally absorbed by the ground through the foot. During that instant, the buttock and leg will naturally energize to transmit the force to the feet, thus firming the lower body structure to support the fa jin."

Controlling movement video

Can Classical Tai Chi Square Form Improve Movement Control? 

It means an unwanted movement that follows uncontrollably after a conscious move. For example, imagine touching and then trying to "stick" to a person's solar plexus with 4 of your fingertips. Still, you end up activating your thumb, which simultaneously makes a fist instead, messing up your "sticking." Remember, you wanted to "follow" the opponent, not hit them with your fist.  

Master Hwa uses the image of sweeping an opponent's leg with yours. If there is another movement in the rest of the body, the sweeping leg loses power as it is drained off. You thought you would "swear" the rest of the body did not move...but it does. The brain needs training on zeroing in the neural signal to ALL junctions.

 Here we have the logical choice of Square Form, where 1000+ movements teach the student to keep integrity in all the Yin/Yang junctions of movement. Yes, the more "robotic", the better because it emphasizes all the small junctions and the large ones of the Yin/Yang pairing. 

The unwanted movement of the thumb is in the brain, not the hand. Master Stephen Hwa's quote: "Most untrained people make moves instinctively...Most beginners cannot keep their neural signals focused on a narrow segment of their body...unintended movement...sloppy movement...".

The unwanted neural activation in the part of the brain that controls the four fingers spreads inappropriately to the amount that holds all fingers and thumb because there is no appropriate inhibition. The hard part of getting better at Classical Tai Chi Form, Sparring, Push hands, or any other form of movement is simply gaining the ability to control unwanted neural activation.

Happy Lunar New Year

 

Happy Lunar New Year:  My wish for everyone in the group is to ask themselves the following and to “follow through” on the answers they find in the New Year:

There is no "flowery," "ethereal," or "new age" language in Classical Tai Chi; there is, however, lots to puzzle over and practice. The book, videos, and online learning delineate the routes to solving the puzzle. However, all the student needs is a small place to practice, a desire to enjoy what they do rather than straining to achieve something, some time, and gumption. Here in brevity, is what I might have wanted to know (as a beginner or practitioner) before I start learning.

* What does "internal energy" mean, and what is the way to get it?

* How do all those types of "forms" (large, compact, square, etc.) fit into a learning program?

* What pieces am I missing to learn Tai Chi?

* How does the way I align myself contribute to gaining internal energy?

* Why are there seemingly so many rules to follow when learning this?

* Why does it seem so complex and challenging many times?

* If Tai Chi originated from martial artists, why is it what I see often will look just like dance?

* What in the world can I gain from doing Classical Tai Chi?

* Are there any dangers in doing this? What should I cultivate, and what should I avoid?

* Why does it take so long to learn?

* This art has no "belts" what distinguishes beginners from advanced?

Uncovering The Treasure: Classical Tai Chi's Path to Internal Energy .... https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13143102-uncovering-the-treasure  as well as being available on Amazon.com for purchase.  Yes, I wrote this in another time to "good reads".

The research is in!

 Link to video of Classical Tai Chi Walking

Here is some research as we learn and "...we learn to walk again..."  I'm going to use Tai Chi Master Stephen Hwa's "coined term," "Ordinary Force,"  and here is some real irony in light of how Tai Chi critics troll Classical Tai Chi Square Form as "ROBOTIC." Understanding how humans walk with my own term, "Ordinary Walk" (which uses "ordinary force"), could help engineers improve walking by developing better human exoskeletons and walking ROBOTS. This is according to research done at a movement lab c/o Ohio State University. 

On his 75th birthday, Master Hwa walked toward me down the school hallway. His walk was Classical Tai Chi extraordinary, not "Ordinary," and each step was accompanied by a corresponding "quarter body move" of the core. This Classical Tai Chi walking is not "ordinary force," and there is no "reaction force" coming back up the legs to "flounder" the body. The legs remain relaxed, with no tension to transfer "reaction force ."We are not Simone Biles floundering that missed step, but we have floundering experiences when we "ordinary walk" daily.   

Simone Biles is not perfect, nor are we. When we walk, our steps are all different. With "ordinary walking," a researcher's mathematical model and data suggest that each step is a tiny fall. There is random-looking variation in our footfalls,  in our steps. We unconsciously do this to get it right, 

  Surprisingly, Scientists have done the math and footsteps related to pelvic positions with "ordinary walk ."When researchers compared this pelvis movement to footfall variations, they found nothing random. It seems pelvic fluctuations can predict more than 80 percent of the side-to-side variation in foot placement. We talk about the "Torso method" in Classical Tai Chi. In everyday walking, however, the torso top tips left, and our effort goes more "leftish" to correct. Torso tips right and stepping further right occurs. How ironic! We diverge to left or right with each walking step, front or back. So these are FALLS, and we fix them with the torso, mainly the pelvis, to control them.

Data shows that following pelvic movement shows where your next step lands better than watching your feet. Your pelvis knows best. They also ruled out other possible influences, like where a person was on a  treadmill belt. The single best explanation for a person's pattern of footfalls was self-correction. 

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Whether aware of it or not, each human being is faced with a dilemma in the form of "controlled falling" every time we take a step. The center of gravity is NOT under control, we rely on our subconscious, and we delude ourselves if we think it is conscious walking. 

Some critics say the "square form is robotic," This may be shocking, but stability is not present in their everyday walking, nor is it in yours. Making robots, the scientists said, is about being stable. A robot stops, "it is stable if it does not fall," so it can go very slowly. One must think that the Classical Tai Chi-square form, disposed of as being "robotic," has a creative side. Our walking and controlled falling via momentum have their parallel in the animal kingdom. Ride a horse, however, and sometimes all four hooves are airborne. No slow motion for horses, and it is the same for humans. Our center of mass moves to its highest point in front of the lead foot. So, we begin to fall forward, but our other foot rushes forward to catch us. We then raise our center of mass and "reset" the system for the next step. 

So walking is momentum-based falling and catching (or "controlled falling"), and you are never in a permanent, stable state. Hence the stage is always set for a fall in everyone, both young and old.

Is it any wonder then that we are subject to falling when older? We lose strength in the legs, feeling in the feet, coordination, and more. One has to ask what has happened to the role of the rest of the body in this dilemma. Is the "rest of the body" not the core or torso? In essence, we rely on faulty mechanisms to carry us through an old age that may also be fraught with some disease. 

Master Stephen Hwa says that not every student who starts Tai Chi wishes to become proficient in the art. On the other hand, Classical Tai Chi walking training has many facets. "walking" also tunes the nervous system in the lower body and strengthens it. The essence of "walking" training is to teach the student to use "internal discipline" to direct the movements of the torso to move the legs. The walking training prepares the student how to maintain the correct body posture. Additional elements of the walking training teach the student how to integrate the principles of Tai Chi walking into everyday life.

Straight Lines, Short Distance

Link to Square Form 

Key points on practicing Square Form:

To achieve internal movements, the body must have yin(stationary part) and yang(moving part) paired at the right place. Learning to set the yin-yang pair correctly, the first task is to learn how to set the yin part of the body correctly which is what Square Form trains you to do. That is why Square Form looks robotic-when one part of body moves the other parts of body remain completely still. Therefore, practicing Square Form the more robotic look, the better. If you do not maintain the stillness while other parts of body is moving, the objective of doing Square Form is compromised. You need to know that these yin-yang pairs practiced in the Square Form are imbedded in the Round Form dynamically transforming from one yin-yang pair to another to give the effect of constant motion and continuity.

“This Square Form was taught by Grand Master Wu Chief Chuan to my teacher Young Wabu. At that time, students learning Square Form would not be taught internal, upper quadrant body movements. Therefore, movements using upper quarter body intensively were modified in this Square Form. As a result, this Square form at certain locations is different from the round form.” Master Stephen Hwa

108 Small Circle Round Form

Video Link Facebook page of Stephen Hwa

YouTube video linkYouTube video link

small frame vs large frame

The difference between small frame (small circle) and large frame tai chi form:

There is saying in China 内传小架,外传大架, "small frame reserved for family insiders; large frame for everyone else."

Small Frame does not mean: just have smaller movements. There are fundamental differences between small and large frame. It is the internal discipline in movements (all movements are carried out from the torso, not from the limbs) resulted in small frame.