Righting the ship

from Instagram

You have to practice every day. There is also a media disservice misperception that Tai Chi is a once-a-week, somebody leads you, " sweating to the oldies". Otherwise, you are only fooling yourself, and doing that is seldom obvious. This was an unpaid commercial to continue repairing the hole where logical reasoning disappeared, "righting the ship" and saving Tai Chi.

Classical Tai Chi is implicit "Mindfulness" of the direction

First concern is which direction

                 (video link)

It is pretty easy for most people to watch a movie and be "mindful" not being distracted at all...it is pretty stimulating.   For most beginners in Tai Chi however there is little stimulation, one might say mind/body sensation to be had when learning "does this arm go here, does that leg go there" etc. So one might say Mindfulness in Tai Chi at least for beginners is upstaging distraction with even lower stimulation, not higher...this is quite a task. Classical Tai Chi takes a different tact, it gets you going in the right direction first thing. Of course, this does take practice at home after class unlike the many forms of exercise where one can go to class then come home to days of no exercise.  Classical Tai Chi is also not a panacea for not being mindful, it requires daily maintenance.   So for most beginners in Tai Chi mindfulness is a practice for training your mind to focus more on what stimulates less and then move on to learning hand position, timing then internal discipline.  Notice I used the keyword "focus".  

Lots of Tai Chi instruction coupled with "mindfulness" asks that you be "aware", "be present", " know what all of your body is doing, etc. but this is all pretty difficult for beginners. Classical Tai Chi, on the other hand, assumes if you don't know which direction to be aware or present in it matters little how you are moving the arms and legs.  If you are lost in a giant forest and do not know which way to walk you could probably wave the arms for a long time and literally not get anywhere. Waving arms with no "internal movement" from the core is called "external" Tai Chi. 

In Classical Tai Chi  the ultimate goal is to learn "internal discipline" and every move inward directs every move outward.  Arm and leg movement without an inward movement is called "external" Tai Chi not "internal".  First things first however, moving in the right direction,not only teaches direction but also teaches the "internal discipline" of the lower body...how to move the legs from an internal movement of the core muscles.

Waist turns, hips do not! Most who do this are surprised when they are told how much their hips are moving...unless trained one simply does not feel such extraneous movement.Doing the Lions share of repairing the hole where logical reasoning disappeared, "righting the ship" and saving Tai Chi.

Junction of movement has to be in torso to be "internal"

Starting at 1:15 you hear Master Hwa address "hips vs. waist" and ask "...some of you were here last time, I want to see...turning movement, how do you turn...". The fellow behind (who I recall from the previous year at this same workshop) turns at the hips and turning his whole body.  You know it is very interesting that 

Did you know that the ability to turn from the waist, not turning the hips is considered the “second stage” of learning in Tai Chi. Did you know that if you don’t reach this stage you are not truly practicing Tai Chi? Did you know that THE TAO OF TAI-CHI CHUAN: Way to Rejuvenation" Jou Tsung Hwa,  Tai Chi Foundation, 1991, page A31, stated that "The Second Stage. The hallmark of the second stage is the use of torso method. Torso method is characterized by use of the body, specifically the waist and spine, to initiate and empower the movements of the arms and legs . Only those who reach this stage can truly be said to be practicing Tai Chi, yet these are few indeed."  Master Hwa once told me that he would have liked to meet Master Jou “…he was someone that really was searching for the truth about Tai Chi…”

Self defense, the other is self defense of the self

from Instagram

Folding

The folding move involves one entire side of the body; arm, torso, and leg, moving as a unit. In the example shown in the video left side then the right side of the body are folding and unfolding by keeping the other side of the body stationary.  The stationary part provides support, some of the power for the move and grounding. The left side of the body is yang, the right side yin, then it alternates with right sidy yang and left side yin, etc. The Yin-yang Internal Discipline of the Tai Chi junction is at the spine. One can visualize that the spine is a hinge, so each side of the body, like a door, can fold or unfold using that hinge. This is also a half-body move, right side vs. left  This move in Tai Chi Classics is described as "upper and lower body following each other" Another classical description is, "hand follows the foot, elbow follows the knee, and shoulder follows the hip". This is an important example of how to make a move but still keep each side of the body's alignment intact. This move can be achieved only when the turning power comes from the waist and the entire back's muscles. If one uses the upper body power for this move, the lower body will not likely be able to follow the upper body's move. The left foot will likely be lagging behind the move to form a twisted structure on the left side of the body greatly reducing the power of the move. see https://www.facebook.com/classicaltaichijimroach/