A “Welcome”

 

One might say this is a legendary piece of lore from the Classical Tai Chi community! 

I am Jim Roach, a teacher of Classical Tai Chi, and I wrote a "Welcome to the Classical Tai Chi Blog" post for this blog in 2008. The contrast between the polite title and the intense demonstration picture perfectly captures the community's blend of internal discipline and lighthearted martial arts camaraderie.

Why the Post is Iconic

• The Setup: I meant the Blog post to ease people into and encourage them to take up Classical Tai Chi. Anyone reading would be encouraged to learn internal discipline. 
• The Reality: The media explaining the martial application shows  the seemingly tgentle, soft-spoken Master Stephen Hwa applying subtle internal power to instantly unbalance and push Sifu Tom Kostusiak straight to the ground.
• The Humor: The absolute mismatch between a warm, cozy "Welcome" header and a video of a martial arts master dropping his student makes it an enduring inside joke among practitioners on forums and the official Classical Tai Chi Facebook Page. 

There is a technique and technicality behind the post. 

It was meant to be humorous, funny on its surface; a video clip actually does show a core tenet of Master Hwa's teachings:

Internal Core Power: The movement originates entirely from the abdominal and back muscles (the core), bypassing obvious shoulder or arm force. 

Small Circle Application:

 Căi Pull, yank, jerk, pluck an opponent off balance 

This Wu-style derivative uses micro-movements to redirect an opponent's momentum before they even realize they are off-balance. 

The "Bounce": Tom's dramatic fall isn't theatrical "compliance"—it is the physical result of mistiming or underestimating Master Hwa's internal alignment, which leaves the defender with nowhere to go but down.

Key Concepts in Classical Tai Chi Methodology

• The Small Circle Wu Style: Classical Tai Chi focuses heavily on the traditional Wu Style, specifically the "Small Circle" form. This variation emphasizes internal discipline, micro-movements, and deep joint protection—especially for the knees. 
• Square vs. Round Forms: I would highlight Master Hwa's teachings here regarding the strict progression from the "Square" form to the "Round" form. Anyone just starting uses the rigid, frame-by-frame Square form to learn precise structural alignment before graduating to the fluid, continuous Round form. 
• Internal Torso Energy: One will not be moving purely with the arms and legs. The classical tai chi method requires all motion through the core and torso. This structural requirement builds significant strength in the spine and lower back.

Trade in your "inner being" for "internal energy"

Re this image: Getting Internal Energy also involves knowing what is "incorrect" about body structure and what is "correct"...

I would love to join your classes when you start them in California! I hope there is room, or else Im sure I can find another time:) I love energy work and connecting with my Inner Being (as everyone does without knowing it;) Cant wait to start! I take long bike rides. I was wondering if this would hinder any of the energy flow? Maybe it would ground it more? Anyways peace and love!

Peace and Love,

aaauuummm

Dear aaauuummm,

So much of what we do with Classical Tai Chi is directed toward "inner". Conversely there are books, dvd's, varieties of "Tai Chi". In all of those we hear of "inner" as well but what "inner" is has never been made clear and how to achieve "inner" is not articulated.

So much of what we do with Classical Tai Chi is directed toward "energy flow". Conversely there is much information along with many varieties of Tai Chi. In all of those we hear of "energy flow" as well, but what "energy flow" is has never been made clear and how to achieve "energy flow" is not articulated.

So what has not been made clear and what has not been explained can be considered to be the essential parts of the picture that have been left out. What is "inner" in Classical Tai Chi? and How do I get "energy flow"? might be 2 questions to ask oneself.

The videos at the end of this discussion(click on them) are parts of what we teach in Classical Tai Chi. Looking at them one might see things as being complicated. Further viewing is necessary then one begins to see that there are rules for what we do. Then one begins to see the outline or structure of what we do. Finally one sees that this is indeed based on scientific reasoning. All of these things are stringently linked together even though one may not see that linkage in the beginning.

The definition of "inner" can also be interchanged with the word "internal". The word "Inner" can be linked with "energy flow" and we have "internal energy" View the videos and then begin summarizing to yourself how (much like a puzzle) the pieces fit together to achieve "internal energy flow".

Your use of the word "inner" out of context from "energy flow" suggests that you may believe that Tai Chi is simply about having the correct mental demeanor and that any movement will thus be a correct one. I have heard this many times before and in his book "Uncovering the Treasure" my teacher refers to it as "an unspoken belief among modern Tai Chi practitioners that as long as one has the right mental state, almost any movement is a Tai Chi movement".

What is little known (a missing piece) is that Tai Chi has a physical "inner" or internal discipline which is called in Chinese..."Neigong" (nay gong). The other missing piece is that the physical "internal energy flow" is what is transmitted and generated from the correct use of body mechanics. This is called "neijing" (nay jing) it is the physical "inner or internal energy" created and circulated within the body while the body externally is physically relaxed. Note my persistent use of the word "physical". This gets us away from reliance on "inner" as a strictly mental component necessary to do Tai Chi or what my teacher calls "the emphasis on the ethereal aspects of Tai Chi".

• Tai Chi Square and Round Form
• Internal Discipline
• Internal Discipline in Tai Chi Walking
• Silk Reeling
• Tai Chi Walk

See you in class,

Sifu Jim Roach

The "Tai Chi Classics" have some glaring mistakes

Video excerpted from "Tao of Martial Applications DVD series Volume III"

Recently a question arose in the Yahoo Email Group of Classical Tai Chi regarding the statement:  "Every movement in Tai Chi Form has to have 2 complementary sides of the body, a moving part Yang and a stationary part Yin. When the yin-yang junction is located in the torso of the body, it is an internal move.  When it is outside of the torso, it is an external move." This statement has we have said before was the most important statement made by Wu Chien Chuan to his student Young Wabu. You can find this statement on p. 2 of the book "Uncovering the Treasure" by Stephen Hwa Ph.D. and it is available at Amazon.

The statement was challenged by someone who asked: "Can someone please explain to me how this conforms to the classics of "when moving, there is no place that does not move". "When still, there is no place that is not still".  He continued by saying "The statement about 2 complementary sides, moving Yang and stationary Yin sounds like a broken posture as how a force can pass through the body, if it is not working together as a unit, moving as one".

Master Stephen Hwa has written the following response on October 6, 2011 to the question and challenge, the video above provides an illustration  of his major points about holding the body still while executing a movement that sweeps the leg of the opponent. The video very graphically shows how the movement only works if the nonmoving side of the body is held very still.  Further information about the "Sweeping Movement" is contained in the topic  "The Concept of Yin (nonmoving) and Yang (moving)" on pp. 50 - 51, "Uncovering the Treasure" by Stephen Hwa, Ph.D.

Tai Chi Classics

These Classics started became known in the 1930-40s when book about Tai Chi started to be published in China. These writings reported in those books are a collection of short works attributed to different authors from Chang San-Feng to anonymous authors. Even though their authorship cannot be verified, they are considered to be the holy writ on Tai Chi. They do contain some insights and principles of Tai Chi; but also some glaring mistakes.

How is that possible that both good and bad could be contained in one work. My suspicion is that there is more than one person involved in the writing as we see now. One of my ancestors in the fifteen century wrote a collection of short poems. We have the original hand written manuscript which we published three years ago. During research, we discovered that these poems have been published six times over the years. Many of the published poems are identical to the manuscript; but some have been altered – the later version has more alteration than the earlier version. Apparently, these publishers exercised their poetic license trying to add what they thought a better wording. This kind of alteration is very common in old writings in China and also in the west, such as the bible. The church has devoted inordinate effort to select an acceptable version of the bible.

Two major mistakes in the Classics are: "when one part moves everything moves" and "The jin should be generated from the legs". The later was discussed in Forum 11.

During our last work shop in Buffalo, I warned everyone that you would be challenged by "when one part moves everything moves" when you talk about Classical Tai Chi in public Tai Chi gathering. So you better be prepared. First of all, any martial art move depends upon rooting, there will be a nonmoving part of the body attached to the ground to provide the rooting. Only external martial art which uses push off to generate momentum to attack can qualify "everything moves". In addition, some of these rooted moves, the requirement of nonmoving is very dramatic. During one of the Jou Tsung Hwa Birthday Celebration Gathering ( David Brown was there), I demonstrate this point by asking audience to do a leg sweeping move by standing on one foot and sweep the other leg and move their body with it just slightly. I heard many "ouch" sound from the audience. Then they do the same move while keeping the side of the body above the standing foot still. There was no pain in the knee and delivered a much more powerful sweep.

I think you all need to keep this demonstration in your pocket. Because, you will need it in the future.

Stephen Hwa, Ph.D.