Over on the Slanted Flying website is this interesting article on counter-point neutralizing with a number of illustrated examples.
I remember Dave Martin, my Sun style teacher, showing me an example in response to a lock which was rendered ineffective by placing my hand on his chest.
The article can be read here
Hopping in T'ai Chi seems to be something to ridicule. The students are just jumping to make the teacher look good. It's all fake.
Or is it. What's really going on?
In his book T'ai Chi Ch'uan for Health and Self Defense, T.T. Liang writes " When one has been struck and is just about to fall over, he must hop like a sparrow". One of my friends likens this to a T'ai chi version of a breakfall.
So it was great to come across a good article on shorelinetaichi.com which addresses hopping, the rationale behind it and places it in a proper context.
The article can be read here. and there are some good links at the end.
If you are interested in the writings of Sun Lutang you can find excellent translations on the BrennanTranslation website.
The link is here
Here is old footage from Andrew Kluge's Youtube channel of Sun style Xingyi, Ba Gua and Taijiquan.
