Internal Force is not Momentum Force

 ɪ ᴅɪᴅ ɴᴏᴛ ᴘᴏꜱᴛ ᴛʜɪꜱ ᴛᴏ ᴛᴏᴜᴛ ᴛᴀᴇ ᴋᴡᴏɴ ᴅᴏ, ɪ ᴘᴏꜱᴛᴇᴅ ɪᴛ ᴛᴏ ᴅᴇᴍᴏɴꜱᴛʀᴀᴛᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴅɪꜰꜰᴇʀᴇɴᴄᴇ ʙᴇᴛᴡᴇᴇɴ "ᴍᴏᴍᴇɴᴛᴜᴍ ꜰᴏʀᴄᴇ" ᴀɴᴅ "ɪɴᴛᴇʀɴᴀʟ ꜰᴏʀᴄᴇ" ɪɴ ᴄʟᴀꜱꜱɪᴄᴀʟ ᴛᴀɪ ᴄʜɪ

Tom Kostusiak and Jim Roach taught Classical Tai Chi to a 4th-grade class, and one of the children wrote: “They taught us Tai Chi, but Mr. Roach said it was good cause we won't fly kick out the window like 1 kid did for him”

Let me explain what I said about why Tai Chi does not do "...fly kicks...": It is also a "...fly kick..." lesson on the pros and cons of Momentum Force. You might also understand how difficult it was subconsciously for Grandmaster Young to give up "external" to learn Tai Chi. A young boy in my 1984 Tae Kwon-Do class once attempted a flying side kick at a heavy bag, missed the bag, and went through the plate glass window at "Scrubs", what was then a Tae Kwon-Do school– "Kwan"

I explained to the children in the 4th-grade class that I once belonged to a Tae Kwon-Do school. It was under the instruction of Grand Master C.S. Kim, and It was located in the 1980s on Niagara Falls Blvd in Tonawanda, NY. It is now a "Scrubs and Beyond" store.

I was a "Red Belt" about to be promoted to Black Belt. I also did Wu's Style Tai Chi in Toronto. When I became a "disciple" of Grandmaster Wu, he said, "...I did not care then, but now you are a teacher, so I care that you do that..." so I gave up Tae Kwon Do. However, I had great difficulty physically giving it up when I sparred in Wu's Style of Tai Chi. Grandmaster Eddie Wu would come out of his office and chide me, saying, "...that's not Tai Chi..." if I mistakenly did a high kick. I gave it up before receiving my Black Belt, and C.S. Kim was unhappy. Chuck Gorino, who owns Gorino Tae Kwon Do in Buffalo, was my classmate then.

I was teaching a line of kids how to do a flying side kick. The Heavy Bag was close to the big plate glass window in the "Scrubs" store. I told one of the kids to "take it easy" because you have to take a running start, then "...fly kick...".

He missed the bag with his foot and crashed through the window onto the sidewalk. Several people were exiting the Drugstore next door, frightened, and lurched back into the parking lot. An unperturbed Grandmaster Kim came out of his office at the noise and said, "Mr. Roach, you clean that up!" The boy only had a small scratch on his foot.

A Classical Tai Chi lesson on the pros and cons of Momentum Force" from Uncovering the Treasure by Stephen Hwa:

"Most other martial arts emphasize offensive movements

and utilize considerable momentum force.

When one is on the ball of his foot, it is easier to push

off, rush the opponent, and build momentum in the

movement. When one depends on momentum in his

strike force, he doesn't have to connect well

with the ground. After all, a flying heavy object in the

air could knock a person down. However, for delivering internal force, "fajin," a solid connection to

the ground is very important."

All reactions:

2Tom Kostusiak and Rashid Oso

Connect arm movements with Torso movements

 Connect arm to core

The key to learning this is to learn from the outside of the body to get to the inside. Master Hwa uses the expression "Outside/In." So, how do you learn to connect your arm movement to your core? My experience with "outside/in" involved going back over the internal discipline I knew 20 years ago so that I could teach it. Master Hwa's workshops at BSU were enlightening because they gave me a better handle on "outside/in."

Don't think you can narrow it down by doing/picturing an anatomical textbook or anatomical terms of the core in your mind. I frequently teach senior citizens; many need help moving from the core. They do not feel much sensation there.

Please don't try to force anything in your core; you will only use your arm. Let one arm hang down and notice the feeling of stretch in your shoulder. Keep feeling that stretch in the shoulder and extend your arm forward, as Master Hwa does in this video. Now notice the effect this has on your core and keep repeating, repeating. You won't get this from trying to move from the core.

Think "outside/in" and look for those sensations in the core, doing this any chance. Look to do it walking, sitting, even when you lie down. Establish "outside/in" feelings; once you have that, you can begin feeling in touch with the core. Only then do you start trying to move the arm from the core. For instance, you feel the sensation in the shoulder, perhaps the back and abdomen as the arm stretches out, so try to pull the arm back using only those muscles.