Real neuromuscular control is "prized"!

 

Pathological reasons aside I ask myself as a teacher why it is so hard for students to develop internal discipline? Facing the facts, "Aging" is one reason. Speaking for myself I'm not the oldest in the Classical Tai Chi of California group, I'm in the forefront, yet I can do the following instructions and I'd like you to try. Aging is associated with a progressive reduction in neuromuscular control, but it can be headed off. "A healthy nervous system is prized in China", Stephen Hwa Ph.D.

Try an easy movement to test yourself: Raise your whole arm out to the front...easy? Now, again, raise to the front and stop, note with vision, exactly where your elbow is in relation to your body, hold it completely still, and raise just the forearm. Now, again, but this time close your eyes, raise your arm to the front, and stop, Now you are depending on "sensation", and "neuromuscular control" note exactly where your elbow is in relation to your body, hold it completely still and raise just the forearm...harder?

Now, again, close your eyes, raise your arm to the front, and this time, keep your shoulder down, stretch your arm till you feel a stretch in your back, hold that stretch, stop, Now raise just the forearm, don't move anything else, keep the stretch in your back. Now you are really depending on "sensation", and "neuromuscular control" and on the road to developing "internal discipline" if you follow the path in Classical Tai Chi.

Legendary Master Wu Chien Chuan demonstrated how to protect spine and back.

Legendary Master Wu Chien Chuan demonstrated how to protect the spine and back.  Youtube link

Grandmaster Wu Chien Chuan is doing a forward, push forward, leaning move. The picture with the red curved line, and the subsequent video, with a directional red arrow, shows a common posture that many Tai Chi practitioners use nowadays. This type of structure occurs when many practitioners attempt a “ forward push forward lean “ posture. 

Please, notice his body has a bend in the region of the Lumbar spine and hip joint area. So any stress or weight coming down will concentrate on that bent area. It is called a “stress concentration area”, There is such “stress concentration, especially if a student with such structure is doing sparring exercise and applying a force to the opponent or an opponent is applying a force to him. This additional force will all concentrate in the stress concentration area in that bend. So a wrong move like this could easily squeeze the disc from his Lumbar area and alter its position. 

Grandmaster Wu, his body structure is a straight line in this posture. He was actually stretching his body from his neck down to the Achilles heel of the back foot. That body is stretched, and the spine is also stretched so the force is coming down from his body. The force is transmitted down through the spine, through the leg to the heel, and absorbed by the ground.

This book is an introduction to a vast topic

 A very well-written review by an unknown author on Amazon: "I have had an interest in Tai Chi for years. I came across Stephen Hwa's material online a little over 2 months ago and I felt it was a bit different than what I had read about Tai Chi. I bought his introductory and martial arts application DVD and then received this book then purchased his forms DVD set.

This book is an introduction to a vast topic. It is given in a concise yet casual, easy-to-read style. It is not meant to teach the entire Tai Chi form but the principles that the form is based on. "Classical Tai Chi" is the form transmitted to Stephen Hwa from his teacher Young Wabu from his teacher, the very famous Wu Chien Chuan, son of Yang Luchan, the founder of Wu style Tai Chi. This form uses "small circle" or "small frame" movements which rely on more use of "internal discipline" versus most other forms.

Internal discipline in my humble understanding is the use of "core" muscles in the abdomen and back to add remarkable power to the already maximally optimized mechanics of Tai Chi moves. The small movements actually allow the core muscles to kick in and increase the power of the moves. Conversely, large frame movements are great for strengthening the limb muscles but may dissociate their movements from the core. The core movements elicit an unusual sensation of flow through the torso and in the body which feels like stretching and tingling like an energy flow.

Based on my current understanding it would take years of practice to learn to fully harness the internal discipline, yet I have noticed even a beginner like myself can benefit from the appreciation of proper mechanics as taught in Classical Tai Chi and the first awareness of the use of our torso muscles in coordination with the limbs. I believe both beginners and advanced students of Tai Chi will benefit from the mystique-free insights in this book. However, I feel that experiential confirmation of benefits may elude those who do not continue to explore the art and science. This knowledge is applicable to daily life and is free of dogmatic rules and so should be enjoyable to those who like to understand what they are learning."

Peace