Your body and mind on stress

http://www.nytimes.com/1986/09/28/magazine/relieving-stress-mind-over-muscle.html

Try a little experiment: This is what happens to your body on stress. Squeeze fists, arms, shoulders, face, core, etc. into as tight a squeeze as possible...now without letting go of the self-inflicted tightening STRETCH DOWN YOUR TAILBONE as you see in this picture, whether you are standing or sitting. If you cannot do that then pull in your lower abdomen until you feel the tailbone stretch down, then hold the stretch for 5 or 10 seconds. You will feel all the tenseness leave the body. This is a remedy for stress, anger, fear...

Why "Uncovering the Treasure" is not digital

There will never be a digital version of "Uncovering the Treasure" coming to a Tablet, Cellphone or PC near you. For one thing those electronic devices cannot "open and close the body along the spine" like this book can...for another that book smells so good when one's "nose is buried in it". Unfortunately batteries are not included with the book but you can smile when the flight attendant tells everyone to turn off their electronic devices. The book feels different each time, much like the Classical Tai Chi form.  To paraphrase my teacher as well I think there will always be more books passed on to other people than tablets.

"Uncovering the Treasure" by Stephen Hwa, PhD available at Amazon.

Classical Tai Chi individual moves footwork

Video of how to do footwork

I never hear feedback from my Classical Tai Chi students regarding difficulty in doing this, this is reasonable to understand...they do not yet know what it feels like. So, the teacher, a mirror or one's own personal video to monitor the moves and one sees they are pushing with either front or back foot. Also, important to check stance, structure, distance between feet, etc. To the nitty gritty of this they are really in the beginning and most difficult stage where they are learning to gain and keep attention in the core region. Any attention on the leg as evidenced when one pushes then the move will be partially initiated by the leg and as you say "external" movement. I like the expression "...it feels like a suction force pulling the body..." when pulling. If done correctly there will be no feedback of sensation from the leg. If pushing one first feels sensation in the calf, if pulling one feels just the sole of the foot as it seemingly "grips" the floor...no feedback of the leg, calf, thigh, etc.

History of Classical Tai Chi "small circle form" and methods of practice

...and another student's comment, with a response from Master Hwa including a video link to "Hand Push Forward" as a quarter body internal movement. Published by Jim Roach on behalf of William C. and Master Stephen Hwa, excerpted from Classical Tai Chi Forum https://www.dropbox.com/s/2kkxzlewru64s3p/Hand%20Push%20forward.mpg?dl=0

William C. said: "I have been working with the classical tai chi tapes for a couple of weeks now and as a twenty year practitioner of the Yang family style I want to make the following comments. I have never been so clearly informed on the differences in moving the waist while the pelvis and hips are still. I feel like a towel that is being wrung out with the center of the wringing out dynamic is in my abdomen. Also, I have never been instructed in pulling from the leading foot. I was having a hard time with this until at last in practicing the walk I had the feeling at first in the backward walk that there was a suction force pulling me back and it felt quite effortless. It is taking some time to get used to but my practice formerly was to play the form with such big steps, now I really need to think a new dynamic and remind myself to place my heel near the toes of the other foot. It's amazing that this small step produces such a good whole body stretch. I am finding ways to practice the quarter body movement in a repetitive manner in many situations including the physical work that I do. Mainly though in repetitive single tai chi moves. I have never been shown the difference between the internal discipline and momentum before..I am interested in the history of this form, not to prove its validity, that is borne out in the practice." Thank you Master Hwa for the wonderful instruction! William C.

Response from Master Hwa: Your method of practicing the quarter body internal movement is right on. Students in my class tell me that they practice such a single movement when they are driving, standing in the line, during working. One could, therefore, be concentrated on learning the external aspects of the form movements initially, without worrying too much about internal discipline, keeping the learning of internal discipline .offline.. Later on, one can integrate the external aspects with the internal discipline. The history of this form is well recorded up to the Yang family founder. There is a very interesting article talking about large circle tai chi and small circle tai chi, and how Wu, my lineage, learned the tai chi from the Yangs: http://www.wustyle.com/about-us/our-history

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Earlier history about the form which passed down from the Chen to the Yang is not quite as clear. The form I am teaching is actually an intermediate circle, simply because small circle or the compact form as I mentioned in the video, should not be taught to a beginner. When one is proficient with the intermediate circle, you will be able to evolve into small circle naturally.

My student is entering his 2nd year in a Master's Degree Occupational Therapy program. He is also very good with anatomy because he is a teaching assistant in the dissection lab. He tells me these "pnf" PNF stretching, or proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation stretching techniques look very similar to movements in Master Hwa's "10 exercises"...and I think they do as well, for instance "d1" flexion (click lower left picture) looks like exercise e8. In discussing this with him he made the point that OT in general works upper body while PT works lower...yet Tai Chi works both ends of the spectrum in a holistic manner.

"Sometimes an illusion..."

Sometimes an illusion  (a link to video)

At some point a student needs to realize that teacher's know what they are doing and not second guess them, it will be a long difficult journey otherwise. It can be very embarassing for some after arguing with a teacher to see a video of oneself doing something incorrectly and/or Master Hwa doing the same thing correctly...particularly after saying "...I watched the video at home, you are wrong.." I can play and replay all sorts of videos at the studio location. Upon correction for "bobbing up and down" the student in this video told me "...I watched the video and when Master Hwa lifts the pelvis with the core, he straightens his leg and stands up..." I showed this video along with a video of Master Hwa and explained to the student that bobbing up and down/straighten the leg and stand up is not the same as lifting the leg with the core. Master Stephen Hwa has said before: "You need to remember “sometimes the appearance of reality is actually an illusion. My students in class often told me that they thought I was moving a certain way and tried to do the same. Later they found out that their observation was not correct. That was the reason I incorporated different views in my dvd video so you could see my moves at different angles to lessen the chance of wrong impression. Using a fresh eye to review the lesson video could also uncover any misinterpretation of my movements. "

Master Hwa doing correct walking (a link to video)

Is Classical Tai Chi so "new" you are freaked out but yet so "familiar" you are still attracted?

We certainly know what a Buffalo is but it is doubtfull we know what Yin and Yang might be. Yet consumer culture seems to be based on being torn between two opposing forces. I see that new students are curious about the Tai Chi but in the same breath they have a fear of something so new. It makes more and more sense that Master Stephen Hwa now introduces the 10 silk reeling "exercises" from day 1. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=parea10 as an essential precursor to learning the Tai Chi form.

We want people to like the Tai Chi and I often think it should be like opening a christmas present...a nice surprise. Yet it has to have some aura of being familiar so that people are not too freaked out. If it is too "new" it seems to tank, if only slightly "new" it seems to appleal a little more. It is appealing for its "newness" but acceptable for its "familiarity".

The "Exercises" are new on the whole: the "walking", "upper/half/quarter body" turning, the "internal discipline" . Yet there are several other movements/postures that seem immediately recognizable as being Tai Chi...not so "new", but familiar. People recognize those slow, configurated movements like "swimming in air" as being very familiar.

Classical Wu Style Tai Chi corrections to forms

Classical Wu Style Tai Chi corrections to forms
A 2011 Workshop by Stephen Hwa, student of Grandmaster Young Wabu, student of Great Grandmaster Wu Chien Chuan. The subject is on the Classical Wu Style Tai Chi corrections to the forms of individual students.A good resource for this can be found in the DVD series available at: http://ift.tt/1JtLXfG . See the blog at http://ift.tt/1JtLXfI for the important points of this video. Also you are invited to subscribe. Please visit http://ift.tt/1JtLXfI for more discussion and information.
via YouTube Youtube Link

Tai Chi and the Dark Ages

Tai Chi and the Dark Ages

http://www.classicaltaichi.com/tai-chi-health-benefits.html

We may well be in the "dark ages" when it comes to sophistication about the core, Tai Chi and the core. It is more than disillusioning to put in a search to Professor Google on "core of the body", etc. and see how many hits come back on how to super strengthen the core, aka "rock hard abs", "six pack abs", "washboard abs", etc. Other than "hits" on Classical Tai Chi I don't see anything on how to get in touch with the core, how to do subtle movement with the core, how to do intricate movement with the core, how to improve the dexterity of the core, how to extend the walking movement of the legs into the core, how to first tune the nervous system instead of one hundred situps in order to make internal core movement spontaneous, how to take subtle and intricate movement of the core and improve the robustness of the internal organs, how to tune the nervous system to develop a stronger "qi" (rather than having the right "mental/spiritual" state of mind to do so)

Liked on YouTube: Classical Wu Style Square and Round Form. Produced June 2016

Classical Wu Style Square and Round Form. Produced June 2016
Classical Wu Style Square and Round Form. An brief video introduction. For more information, see http://ift.tt/1JtLXfG
via YouTube http://youtu.be/7GyzH6W15Yk

"Cold Hands, Warm Heart" but in Classical Tai Chi where's the "Yi"

Examining my own movements I discovered that simply opening the hand, straighten the fingers more solved the problem of "bending the arm at the elbow". I think you will be pleasantly surprised, especially musicians, dancers, typists, etc. who use their hands alot.

Here is a golden rationale for this from Master Stephen Hwa

"For some students, “Yi” (intention of movement) is fairly easy to develop. For some students, it is quite difficult to be consistent – other intentions creep in subconsciously from time to time. Students who have studied dancing or are interested in dancing have such problems. Normally, the fingers become very warm after playing the Form even in cold weather. One of my students here who had already achieved good internal movements complained about cold fingers. Upon close examination, she frequently had small flourishes in her hands and fingers. After reducing that flourish, her problem of cold finger improved. Extraneous motions, or nerve signals, along the path of Qi, such as shoulder, elbow, and arms, have the same effect of disrupting the flow of Qi between the body and the fingers. People who use their hands intensively, such as dancers, typists, and piano players could have such problems. It is important for them to keep localized nerve activity dormant and let the Qi from the body take over. This is a good reason to learn the square form from which the practitioner will get used to movements with steady arms and hands without localized impulses.

 

 The focus here is on the arms and hands not on the legs and foot. The reason is that during form playing, the lower limbs have definite functions to perform and its energy and Qi are already integrated with that of the torso. During Form playing, the upper limb’s function is entirely abstract and mental and is easily distracted. 

 

******************** S. T. writes: I have finally finished the “parting the wild horse’s mane” lesson. I thought I had learned earlier lessons well, until I saw myself practice these lessons in front of the mirror. I realize I looked pretty bad. What a wake up call!
 

MASTER HWA’S RESPONSE: This is on par with most students at this stage. This is your first stage in learning those lessons. It will take quite bit more practice to make it look decent. You see, your eye is now much more discriminating than what you can actually do, because you have watched my video for so long. You know what the form should look like. You can actually correct yourself by watching yourself play. Mirror is convenient but not very ideal, because you have to turn your head to watch yourself in the mirror, which will distort your form playing. The ideal way is to use video to record your play and then analyze the problems from the video. At this stage, you want to watch out not only your form position and timing of movements; but also those little extraneous movements unconsciously added to the form, a little shrug of the shoulder here and a flick of hand there etc. These extraneous movements are difficult to get rid of. ************"

My additional thoughts: 

"The fingers are not rigid when straight, they are energized. Where is the intention "Yi" going in a hand with fingers that are bent as opposed to a hand with fingers that are straight? If fingers are bent isn't the direction you are going even skewed? Also, with straightened fingers I can use the fingers like a spear or sword tip but I can quickly bend them to a fist, it gives me more option. With bent fingers and no intent if I connect even with soft tissue, I may break a finger. With straightened fingers I feel the sensations of "qi" in my hand, with bent there are none. Pushing on my chest with straightened fingers is the first time I felt one of Master Hwa's applications and he said "...you forgot this one..." I had asked him about applications for the grasp bird's tail series when we first met and was showing off what I had learned in Toronto..