Why so hard to develop Neigong (internal discipline)?

Link to Internal

Jim R said: Pathological reasons aside I ask myself as a teacher why it is so hard for students to develop internal discipline? I have suspected for some time that people, in general, think of themselves as looking out from inside their heads and simply riding around inside their bodies. I think this is where the essence of Classical Tai Chi as "mindfulness meditation" comes to fruition. The head in this scenario reigns supreme but really is a purveyor of the illusion. 

I'm not talking about eyesight per se here but the neuroscientist Sam Harris has pointed out research that shows people always think of objects as closer to their head than say their knees, back, etc.

In his book, Uncovering the Treasure, Master Stephen Hwa talks about the Mental state of a beginner and elucidates on how we think of the torso: "We think about the dexterity of hands or feet but think of the torso as a dull part of the body, not knowing that the torso can be developed to have just as much dexterity.

 As a result, almost everyone who starts on Classical Tai Chi is awkward in their torso. Precise
command and control of the neuromuscular system in the torso area are nonexistent.Yet, it is crucial in the development of Internal Discipline. During early Form training, students have to look intensely inward trying to establish communication with the torso, not just for command and control but also to develop sensitivity to the sensation of the body's feedback. Knowing the correct sensation of a movement is one of the best tools to achieve self-improvement."

Why do the 關節 Guānjié (Square) form and not etc., etc.

The link to be "square"

Why do the 關節 Guānjié form and not etc., etc?

I practice and teach a Compact Square, also called "Joint" or 關節 Guānjié Form in addition to Compact Round Form. Specifically, this is directed to interested readers who may or may not practice the Square Form of Classical Tai Chi.  Generally, one must assume that not many people are familiar with the Square ("Fang") Form.  To my knowledge, it came to fruition during the 20th century. It arose as inception and development by the Wu Family Tai Chi and its representatives. In its various incarnations and variations, it has been introduced and taught by the disciples and family of Wu Chien Chuan. What is not agreed upon even among the family and representatives is which version is correct. To explain this I can only offer that there is a very obvious difference between large frame square form and compact frame square form...a size difference.  

All of the commentaries that have been offered about Classical Tai Chi-square form leads me to think that even the very obvious difference of size is not apparent to practitioners of large frame.  To be fair, there also appears to be a majority of practitioners in large frame practice who have never heard of the Compact frame.  In addition, the most current commentary  from the mass media and the uninitiated (including Tai Chi practitioners and even some who practice another version of large frame square form)   is that the Compact square form looks "robotic", hence the following article:

In regard to the "Robot" portrayal: I have for some time now not concurred with any representation, narrative or designation that fails to accurately explain the rationale of any Tai Chi movements to students. It would be injudicious to assume a priori that a robot's Tai Chi could be any more or less correct than a human's. Particularly because IMHO the majority of Tai Chi that is taught nowadays is not correct, to begin with. The reason for this is simply because it demonstrates time and again that it deviates from its origins and roots.

I have also seen it time and again over 40 years that Tai Chi forms become watered down if not passed on intact from one generation to the next. The Square form ensures that there is no deviation in this process, no moves are added, no moves are subtracted. For that reason, I am happy for this opportunity to reiterate that the performance of Square Form should look Robotic. In fact, the more robotic the portrayal, the better the performance.

Anyway, in the final analysis, the delineation of yin and yang is the eventual goal. That is to teach students what parts of the body to keep still and what parts to move. The part that is still is Yin and the part that moves is Yang.

The majority of people who start Tai Chi, however, cannot keep much still when it calls for it. Additionally, that rule to delineate yin and yang is the most important lesson Wu Chien Chuan passed on to Young Wabu.

What most often happens is that students by habit move from the individual joints, eg; shoulder. It is difficult to teach students to keep a shoulder still, elbow still, a hip still. The movement at these joints "muddies" the overall quality of movement and in many respects drains off the power that could have been generated had it remained still. Correct Tai Chi thus becomes difficult to teach because the nerve impulses that govern movement from the joints have been cultivated over a lifetime. It is no wonder then that students struggle with learning, thinking all the wrong reasons for their difficulties. 

A review meant as FAQ

This is dedicated to my teacher and to all my students past, present and especially those (all of us) who find things "difficult", read on please:  Review of "Uncovering the Treasure: Classical Tai Chi's Path to Internal Energy & Health by Stephen Hwa

Reviewed in the United States on June 2, 2010
Verified Purchase

Format: Paperback

Stephen Hwa has written a book called "Uncovering the Treasure", Classical Tai Chi's Path to Internal Energy & Health. This review concerns that book and largely I try to be in accord with Amazon's recommendations that reviews should be succinct, yet detailed and specific. As a rule Amazon suggests that the review informs readers whether or not the book measures up to: "What I wanted to know before I purchased the book"? For this, I hope the reader will bear with me because I have to play the role of both beginner and practicing student. This is equally difficult because I am a teacher of this art and often find myself lacking the "mind of a beginner" or novice, which as it is said is open to many possibilities, that of the expert being few.

Over and above all of this is my abiding appreciation for what I have learned all these years from Stephen Hwa, Ph.D., whose academic qualifications alone provide ample ability to provide us with such a rational and scientific treatise. This is in addition to the 30+ years he has spent studying and teaching the art. Equally little known is the fact that he was the single student of Yang Wabu (Young Wabu) who was a personal student and disciple of Wu Chien Chuan. I say "single" because Stephen Hwa started in Yang's class with many other students, all dropped out leaving Stephen as the lone student for the next 30 years. One teacher, one student for 30 years.

Yes, it is easy to see I am a "ringer" but the book may really be for those who have wandered the Tai Chi path many years and felt unfulfilled. For those who feel like they have been taken down too many one-way streets and wrong routes regarding the "internal" of this "internal martial art". You will understand my appreciation once you read the book. There is no "flowery", "ethereal" or "new age" language to be found in the book, there is however lots to puzzle over and to practice. The routes to solving the puzzle are clearly delineated however, all the student needs is a small place to practice, a desire to enjoy what they do rather than straining to achieve something and some time and gumption. Here in brevity is what I might have wanted to know (as a beginner or practitioner) before I purchased the book.

* What is meant by "internal energy" and what is the way to get it?

* How do all those types of "forms", (large, compact, square, etc.) fit into a learning program?

* What pieces am I missing in order to learn Tai Chi?

* How does the way I align myself contribute to gaining internal energy?

* Why are there seemingly so many rules to follow when learning this?

* Why does it seem so complex and difficult many times?

* If Tai Chi originated from martial artists, why is it what I see many times looks like dance?

* What in the world can I gain from doing Tai Chi?

* Are there any dangers in doing this, what should I cultivate, what should I avoid?

* Why does it take so long to learn?

* This art has no "belts" what distinguishes beginners from advanced?

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Welcome to CTC

NEW INFO: Starting the first Sunday, January 5, and Wednesday, January 8, 2020, Classical Tai Chi of Buffalo will offer free and ongoing Tai Chi classes. The classes will be at 10 A.M. on Sundays and 6:30 P.M. on Wednesdays, Rockwell Hall, room 302. For those who come on Wednesday and do not have a parking permit, please contact the instructor at the phone number or email address below. Anyone wishing to attend is urged to register ahead of time. Tai Chi is often referred to as mindfulness meditation in motion. Classes are taught by James Roach who has over forty years of experience in several styles of Tai Chi. Please contact them at info@classicaltaichiofbuffalo.com or leave message at (716)218-0094 to register. More information can be found on their website and Facebook page.

Open to: students, faculty, staff, everyone

Classical Tai Chi is an illusion...to the "untrained eye"

https://facebook.com/events/370947716933432/?ti=as. 

He will tell you himself: To the eye of a body/mind not trained with "internal discipline", what you see at the Facebook video link is an illusion. What you see is really the illusion of continuous movement and the untrained eye does not see the Yin/Yang (not moving/moving) of each movement. First you learn that Yin/Yang for each move then connect the moves. Other than that and one is dancing no better than training for the "Prom".New free Tai Chi classes, starting Jan. 8, 2020, 6:30 - 7:30 PM. Free classes also continuing Sundays 10-11 AM. Rockwell Hall, Room 302, 1300 Elmwood Ave., Bflo., NY. Prior registration for class is mandated at info@classicaltaichiofbuffalo.com

"Ordinary Force" v. "Non-ordinary Force"

View the video and more at:
https://www.facebook.com/classicaltaichijimroach/posts/1455929284565128

Jim R. said: New free Tai Chi classes now available Wed., Jan. 8, 2020, 6:30-7:30 PM and free classes also continuing Sundays 10-11 AM. Rockwell Hall, Rm., 302, 1300 Elmwood Ave., Bflo., NY. Try this little experiment: "Ordinary Force" can be felt if you stand absolutely perpendicular and push with your arms as hard as possible against a wall. The "reaction force" will make you careen backward. In this video, I am in a discussion about the pitfalls of external ("ordinary") force with Master Hwa, Tom K., and Ike Schultz. What Ike says about the "snapping" REACTION FORCE effect on the shoulder joint when punching is also true of "snapping" REACTION FORCE effect on knees and hips when kicking. So, doesn't logic also dictate "ordinary" force stopping at the hips when pushing with the back leg? Stand with the same hand position but not using arm muscles to push, just legs. It can be felt if you stand perfectly perpendicular and push with your legs as hard as possible through your arms and hands against a wall. The "REACTION FORCE" will make you careen back as well.


Jim R. said: "There is a thing called "NON-ORDINARY" Force that is not "external" and is a skill to be learned via internal discipline. The comment at this point might be, "but what if I take a large step forward and tilt my body forward?" Of course, you won't careen back because the "Reaction Force" is absorbed by the back foot...but your force is still "external and ordinary". The conundrum is how to take a "SMALL" step (small frame, small circle), tilt the body forward or even stand perpendicular like Master Hwa in this photo...and not careen back from "reaction force". He used the "non-ordinary" force."

Adarsh Vazhakandy said: "clear explanation. this student has grasped the essence of internal power"

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.

Seeing your practice objectively

Round Form & Square Form

Jim D: Master Hwa, I appreciated your encouragement regarding my training regimen. Some questions and experiences I have are as follows:
1) Your insight "l...sometimes what we think is real is only an illusion..." concerned me at first because I am not able to see myself objectively, and I do not know what your experience is subjectively. How does one know that we are continuing to maintain/attain the correct form when we do not have the benefit of a watchful eye of a Master?
Master Hwa's reply: I use two approaches:
The external approach: From time to time, take a video of Form playing and reviewing and critique the video. If one understands what is required, this method can reveal certain deficiencies in the movements. From your comments below, you have already considering doing this.

The internal approach: Develop one's internal eye; see the movements from inside. This is to develop a keen sense of feeling of your body and remember what you should feel when you do a movement correctly. The beauty of this method is that, since there are many duplicate or nearly identical movements, if you know one of them, you can apply to the others also. In fact, when you start on the journey of learning tai chi, you have to develop better sense of feeling with your movements in the first place. Otherwise, you will not be able to learn the subtle internal movements. Furthermore, when you have mastered the Form, the sense of feeling of the circulating internal energy and the feeling of stretching and coiling in the body constitute the flowing of qi in the body. Sense of feeling is the heart of Tai Chi Form practice. Notable examples are: the feeling of stretching down the tailbone; the feeling of stretching in the back and energizing in the tan tien when you keep the elbow-in, instead of the spread chicken-wing style. Again, from your question, you are already mindful of this.

Tai Chi and the link to balance

IIt was inevitable that recent Tai Chi studies of folks with good or improving balance would show a positive link between physical balance and dementia. Those with the best balance and walking abilities at the start of recent studies were three times less likely to have developed dementia as those with lower physical abilities. It's not a big leap in thinking and reasoning that with some faithful practice, the Classical Tai Chi with it's "small frame" tilted postures can probably even dramatically improve your balance within months or even weeks. Be sure to not use large steps but include Classical Tai Chi "walking" with its abbreviated size steps to maintain and improve balance in your daily routine, especially after the age of 60. Give a try with eyes closed to balancing on one foot or stand up and sit down without using your hands. Adults of all ages should make it a goal to try frequently standing on one foot, for at least 30 seconds. With eyes closed and using just the very tip of one finger to touch the wall while one footing will also keep a good structure and not affect the process.

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.

Square form is analogous to printing

Learning kǎishū or regular script ("printing") then cǎoshū cursive script ("writing") is analogous to learn Square Form with its stops and pauses then learning Round Form with continuous internal motion. Every movement in square form has a clear-cut moving part of the body and a stationary part of the body. Normally we call them the yin and yang pair of the body Yin is the stationary and yang is the moving part of the body. The junction of the Yin and Yang is where the power of the movement is generated. When the junction is in the Torso of the body the power of the movement is generated by the Torso of the body. You can refer to this as internal power or internal energy. The movement is an internal movement that is what we try to learn from practicing the Tai Chi form...how to make “internal movement”. The difficulty comes in learning to set the stationary part of the body precisely. Any smearing or vagueness in the stationary part of the body will result in inefficient power generation. This inefficient power generation will occur at the joint or at the junction. This is an indication that the practitioner does not have sufficient control or efficient control of the body. The movement will look precise and robotic. It is also important in learning the square form to learn how to set the correct body posture or body structure during movement. People want to practice the Forum day in and day out for years this could result in injury if the body structure or postures are not correct. Square form is a great template for learning round form every movement has a clear starting point and a clear endpoint. This is similar to the way we all might have learned to write first we learned to print and then we learned to do the cursive script without stopping our movement. Learning to print as you remember goes from point to point in making the letters clear and precise.This learning of using a square form carries over from one generation to the next so that learning the form practicing the form maintains its Integrity and precision over the years.