20 Years

John Kells used to quote his teacher, Dr Chi Chiang Tao, as saying

" 1 year learning to push, 20 years learning to yield".

Don't be in a hurry to push. Without understanding yielding and the transformation of energy we will always resort to brute force.

Creating Neural Pathways

In our Tai Chi training we are told to use the mind, not force.

T.T. Liang wrote that imagination becomes reality.

We focus on points in the body to create linkages/pathways for energy flow.

We don't think,we feel.

We create anew every single time we practise our forms.

This is an interesting link about creating neural pathways.

http://themindunleashed.org/2014/03/train-brain-let-go-habits-10-methods-creating-new-neural-pathways.html

Explaing Double Push Hands

Suspending the Headtop

I think that the biggest mistake that can be made is to think of Taijiquan as some kind of structural mechanics. If this were the case it ought to be fairly easy to master.

Instead it is about energetics.

Suspending the Headtop is a good example of this. For years I either imagined that I had a book on top of my head or a ponytail tied up to a rafter or beam in the ceiling. The trouble for me is that it resulted in a lot of tension.

I believe that misconceptions of this concept arise due to the difficulties in translating writings that were coded to support a oral/experiental process.

Louis Swaim discusses just this in his translation " Fu Zhongwen - Mastering Yang Style Taijiquan, (North Atlantic Press 1999) about the meaning of "an intangible and lively energy lifts the crown of the head" - p182.

Swaim quotes fromYang Jwing Ming, T.T.Liang, Robert W Smith, Jou Tsung Hwa and others,all offering diverse interpretations pp182-182.

What I find interesting is that we are talking about the wrong focal point, which is not the crown of the head. The crown of the head is commonly referred to as the Ba Hui point. Instead it is the Niwan point,which is not the crown but is located instead deep inside the brain. Scott Meredith discusses this extensively in his book "Juice-Radical Taiji Energetics" pp 76 - 83.

Sam Tam also echoes this point as the place from which to suspend the headtop in Jan Diepersloot's book " The Tao of Yiquan 1999, p215.

Scott Meredith likens the Niwan point to the Ajna in the Yogic tradition and one of my teachers, John Kells also worked with a point deep in the brain which he called the Ankh.

So whatever your take on this,there is plenty to work on.  I'm off to practise!

External to Internal

This quote from Scott Meredith ( Author of Juice: Radical Taiji Energetics) sums it up nicely and it applies to Tai Chi, Xingyi,Bagua etc.


 "we begin with physical structure and slowly replace it, bit by bit, with energetic substance. We  begin with physical movement and slowly replace it, bit by bit, with energetic dynamics"

Small Space

Allen Ginsberg writes about practising Tai Chi in his poem " In My Kitchen in New York" 1984.

I love it because it mirrors the many thoughts that come and go in practise. Also because I frequently practise in my kitchen when the weather prevents me from going outside.

When learning the form it is usually best if you have a space large enough so you don't need to make adjustments.

Later on you can practise an entire form in a very small space by understanding single weightedness and making adjustment steps in accordance with that principle. It is possible to practise a series of postures almost on the spot. Might film that at some point and post it.

Here is a kitchen I recently practised the entire Cheng Man Ching form in.

What about Breathing?

I think it was in one of John Kells' classes that someone asked about breathing.

Good Idea was the answer.

Some people co-ordinate the in and out breath with their postures.

I'm personally not in favour of this approach.

Let the breathing be natural. I feel that you will otherwise create tension in trying to combine it with movements.

Whether you move fast or slow, the breath will follow naturally. I think it is more important to remain relaxed, lively and spirited.

Of course opinions vary :)