靠 (kào) Shoulder

"Kao", "shoulder or bump"

The left shoulder of Master Master Stephen Hwa  "offsets" the opponents' equilibrium, observation shows this."Shouldering" is 靠 (kào). The pronunciation is something like "cow."The meaning of 靠 (kào) in Tai Chi is to use your body to bump or press against something. "Shoulder" is used, but the word "Kao" actually does not mean "shoulder" specifically. It seems "old" as a word, perhaps traditional where "one word is used for many things* as Master Hwa has explained "The teacher forgot his keys and used "Kao" from his back to get into the office", unfortunately rendering the door useless, Master Hwa used "Kao" with his shoulder to bump his tall student Jim Roach. Master Stephen Hwa used Kao with his back to bump someone's chest that tried to get him in a bearhug from behind. Sifu Jim Roach was carrying a package and had to move a chair out of the way by using "Kao" to bump it with his derriere. Jack Eichel body checked the opponent into the "boards", and in Chinese, this would be called "Kao Not shown for Master Wu is only the beginning of and not how fluid a followup move to Part the Wild Horse’s Mane 野馬分鬃. Note the position of Master Wu's left knee as a "fulcrum". I did this application with classmates at Wu's Tai Chi Academy in Toronto quite a bit...very adaptable and efficient.

"They don't want to do the work"!

Core moves and hand pushes forward

A student’s son once asked: "Why aren't there more people in class"? I responded, "(for one "good/bad" reason or another)...because they do not want to do the work..." That is the nitty-gritty of what I'm about to say here and why I have seen so many students come and go in 40+ years. I started learning Tai Chi in 1976 and heard from the start that it was “internal”. 

What I got was teaching that “talked a good game about internal” and I always felt empty. It was only 28 years later that I encountered this level of sophistication in movement. Try this and like playing the piano, just move the ring finger up and down repetitively. Being honest, notice how the other fingers move "extraneously" even ever so slightly 

On a larger scale, this is the problem one faces with what happens when you learn 1/4 (upper quadrant of core/torso) as Master Hwa shows here. One part moves ok, but the other half of the upper quadrant "chimes" in extraneously and drains off the power of the part you want to move. 

Piano players face the “extraneous” movement conundrum constantly and have to do designed finger exercises to overcome it The same attention to detail, doing exactly as Master Hwa does here over and over and over, etc., is the way to practice ¼, ½ body movement and holds true for learning “internal” in Tai Chi.

An 按 and it syncs with Newton's 3rd law

An 按 video link

AN 按 (push downward) Jin! And to paraphrase my own teacher Master Stephen Hwa who said:  "Sir Isaac Newton can't be wrong", so what happens here in a different presentation? In a previous video from Youtube and also published on Facebook, Master Hwa talked about "Fajin 1 and 2" and in 1 he compares "ordinary force" and "fajin". In one of the videos, he has a student kicking at him and uses "TSAI" to pull with fajin. His backward "reaction force" is nullified, but then he is pulled forward with the "reaction force". The movement "AN" shown here is really a downward push movement of long duration and "stays" with the opponent (yours truly) longer. This is unlike many other fajin push movements that push opponents away and this "stays with". It is very useful in sparring exercises. This particular use of the "An" move is found in the Tai Chi form right after "cross hands" where you do half body turn, step 180, and "diagonal brush knee". The important point here is the initial force is fajin and this has an external followup move. The fajin has a "tenses and relaxes" action but no "return path. With no path for a return (reaction) force, then Master Hwa's body is not being affected. In other words his arms and body do not remain tense, the "tension" is very brief. The followup is external and shows a reaction force as Master Hwa's steps are pulled to the direction of where the opponent moves.

Classical Tai Chi and its link to "The Bee King of China"

"The Torso Method" (aka Internal Discipline)

There are some perennial but interesting mistakes made about Classical Tai Chi and other Tai Chi.  By the same token, my own teacher "Hua Jiping" (Stephen Hwa "Uncovering the Treasure") is confused with the author (The Tao of Taijiquan, Jou Tsung Hwa) This is because of a  Western penchant for not understanding how Chinese surnames are placed.

Actually, his name is Hua Jiping and written so in a book about his father Hua Yizhi "The Bee King of China".  From Amazon.com:  "Hua Yizhi (1893-1956) was a pioneer in Chinese modern agricultural development, the father of Chinese scientific Apiculture, and a dedicated educator, providing modern education to his home town. He was a renowned industrialist and a philanthropist of the Wuxi region" 

In an email to me from Master Hwa: "Jim: I know the confusion between "Jou" and "Hwa". Actually, I regret not meeting him. He is one of the few tai chi practitioners who is truly searching for the truth. Sometimes, he told his students " what I taught you last month, forget about it, it is not correct. let's do this way."

Stephen Hwa

I'm under the impression from speaking to Master Stephen Hwa, that he gets the question "are you related to Jou Tsung Hwa" quite a bit. He patiently explains that his surname is Hwa and therefore no relation to Jou (surname Jou). Actually, at a Rochester, NY World Tai Chi Day event (2005) while watching a demo of Hua Tuo's "5 animal frolics", Master Stephen Hwa told me that his family surname Hwa in original Chinese spelling is Hua. He also tells me that the family is related to a distant ancestor Hua Tuo who may be the first ancient Chinese surgeon.

Stephen Hwa mentions the "Dao of Taijiquan" published in 1989 in his own book "Uncovering the Treasure" published in 2010 and speaks of a couple of Jou's statements. In his book Hwa, (Stephen Hwa) makes reference to Jou, Tsung Hwa's statement that the "Torso Method" "The Torso Method" (aka Internal Discipline) he mentions in "The Tao of Taijiquan, p. A31" is none other than the "Internal Discipline" explained in loving detail in "Uncovering the Treasure, p. 1 and 2, that he teaches in Classical Taijiquan.

What happens internally with "tension and relaxation"?

Youtube video:

What happens with "tension and relaxation"internally?

So, what happens in the body when you do “Internal Movement” from the core with tension and relaxation (explained for Chinese and Western)?

Jim R. said: If you see Master Hwa's Youtube video in this post, there is less oxygen needed for relaxed muscles and hence the rate of breathing is slow. Since the heart is not required to be beating so fast to supply oxygen out to tense muscles, heart rate and blood pressure decline. Thus the normal blood flow will return to the belly and digestion resumes where the belly is calmed and also the hands and feet are warmed up. As a result, this series of body adaptations all occur and fall naturally into place as the voluntary muscles are being directed into a state of relaxation, and changes in mood will follow which makes the body feel calm and refreshed. A student of Master Hwa's said that she felt "heat" when she practiced but she said others faces turned red and perspired.

Master Hwa said:  “The Chinese way of explanation is that the abdomen is “Sea of Qi”. When one learns to connect one’s body so that Qi can flow without blockage during movements, Qi will fill every part of the body, Most obvious are fingers (hot and tingling). One will also feel hot and sweaty in the head. But, it should not be a flush red face, it should be a nice healthy color. Cardio exercise will result in a flush red face.”

Jim R: A Western explanation is that our internal movements are penetrating deep into the abdomen and the back, stimulating the function of the organs and promoting blood flow in those areas which result in the heat in the fingers, hot and sweaty in the head. Since most often, these movements are carried out slowly, the heartbeat does not increase significantly.

Video of "joint" (square) form

Video of "joint" (square) form

There would be injury to the knee if the person in this video only attempted to turn the foot. When one turns the lower body as shown in the video the turning is done from the CORE not from the leg, foot, etc. In the Tai Chi classics this is an adage of "hand follows foot, elbow follows knee, shoulder follows hip".  This video of my longtime student and a certified teacher Jason executing just the 1st 15 movements of the "Square" Form, sometimes referred to as "Joint" Form. Although there is incredible "articulation" of joints, it's real purpose is to teach students how attain a “delineation” and to move one part of the body while keeping the other still...a difficult task for beginners. Jason used my letter about his Tai Chi expertise to assist in gaining entrance to the D'Youville College Masters Degree Program. 3 years later he used Tai Chi and Heart rehabilitation as his Thesis for a Master's degree in Occupational Therapy. He is now a practicing OT in Colorado Springs, CO. His movements are very good, but the amazing thing was he learned the entire footwork of the 108 movement Square form FIRST at my urging. With his good work, I hope my present-day students can now see the importance of why I teach them lots of footwork first.

Ancient Humans walked with weight back on Savanna

Video link to safe walking

Look at the picture of the Savanna. My teacher Master Stephen Hwa has said early humans had to walk very carefully with their weight back, not letting gravity pull the body forward in order to cope with such unstable ground in the night as well as day. If you are walking with weight back you are not pushing so much with the back foot as you are pulling with the front. With such pulling, the core will engage by default.  This is not entirely correct and it is easy to hurt the legs this way. In Classical Tai Che we use the core to engage the legs. In this Youtube video link above, Master Stephen Hwa teaches you how to Tai Chi walk and use Tai Chi walk for everyday walking, how to engage the core, keep weight back, etc.

Your practice is "a drop in the bucket"

1st student, slouching in a chair: "I've been practicing 3 days a week and my balance has not improved". 2nd student leaning against the wall: "So have I, and I am frustrated by the teacher's corrections in class". The teacher overhears and says: "Did you ever see Master Stephen Hwa's Facebook picture of the Dad who is doing terrible things to his knees while he shows his child something"? "You both know the idiom "drop in the bucket",?  Your 3 x a week practice is just that. Let me clarify in the spirit of the idiom that the big problem is not with how many "days" but with how many hours because you have to practice all day". 1st student: " I can't practice all day, I have to go to work". Teacher: "I'm not talking "formal practice", I'm talking about what my own teacher Master Stephen Hwa calls "offline practice", which is not just doing "internal work", or "Form" but more importantly becoming AWARE 24/7 of what your body is DOING/NOT DOING. It's rather futile and absurd to ask for "benefits of Tai Chi" and still insist the only time you are AWARE is doing the Tai Chi Form or internal exercises"

Fajin's pragmatic philosophy of not getting knocked backward

Video link to Fajin effects


Note Master Hwa's perpendicular stance to Tom's leaning. Without superb ability to "tense and instant relax" how else do you think Master Hwa does not get knocked back because of Newton's 3rd law? A student made a very insightful comment about the true pragmatic nature of "tension and relaxation" saying: "Most excellent explanation! Thank you! And too, if we could only apply this principle to everything we do in our life - to every movement to every thought to every emotion, life would flow much easier." and Master Hwa replied: Excellent!! You have grasped the philosophy in this practice"

Tai Chi walking training

Tai Chi walking video link

Jim R. said: What Master Hwa does here with students touching a post in this video link has proven itself to be indispensable in my classes. Also indispensable to ice and snow walking in beautiful Buffalo, NY. While we do not have a post we do use the walls on the 3rd floor Rockwell at the College. I do adjust a couple of ways by having students lightly touch one finger, keeping good structure. The body does not remember the finger but it certainly remembers good or bad structure Doing this also allows us to move down the hall as well as standing still Tai Chi walking training. There is nothing like his "static" stationary idea to also train the following characteristic: "The second characteristic mentioned in "Uncovering the Treasure", the great book by Stephen Hwa on Amazon, p.65

"The characteristic of keeping the body's center of gravity under control, not allowing it to fall forward as in the common walking motion, includes a key provision that when one steps out with one foot, the bodyweight stays back without moving until the front foot is flat on the ground, then one pulls the body forward until all the bodyweight is on the front foot. While in the common walking motion the body weight shifts with the foot stepping forward so part of the bodyweight lands on the heels of the front foot. Landing the body weight on the heel of the front foot combined with the back foot pushing forward on its toe is a primary reason that people slip and fall on icy or slippery surfaces."

My teacher has "beginner's mind", my student has "expert's mind"

My teacher has "beginner's mind", my student has "expert's mind"

When learning Classical Tai Chi "Form", essentially (there are certainly more things to learn) one needs to learn 4 things and in the following order: 1. Direction, 2. Hand position, 3. Timing, 4. Internal Discipline.  The concern with hand position and even hand "direction" can be put on the back burner. There can be a million and one arbitrary hand movements positions, and hand directions but if the feet move in the wrong direction any concerns with hand "direction"  is moot. In his DVD series, my teacher teaches "direction" and includes "hand direction" along with "foot diretion" at the same time. But this is, after all, a DVD with limited space and time. My student Jason B., for instance, learned the whole 108 Square Form, just using his feet, no hands "directions" ...then added "hands".  Anyway, I was teaching "foot direction" recently, had pointed out the "order" of learning but a student said:  "You need to stand over there so students can see your hands!"  

For a teacher, this is an ideal opportunity to point out the difference between "expert's mind" and "beginner's mind" to all students.   It was the Japanese Zen Master Shunryu Suzuki who said: "In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, in the expert's mind there are few." 

Here is the difference and an example:

My own teacher who is an "expert" taught me that Tai Chi is "mindfulness meditation", to see and be aware of many "possibilities". A student who is a beginner taught me to see and be aware of a few "possibilities".  My teacher's mind is open, relaxed, what more can one say. My student's mind needs to be open to more possibilities, one needs to say something.