The expansion of horse mane is a good stretch for the chest and stomach muscles. It is a very good cure for indigestion repeated, say, ten times, and allows the qi to sink down to the belly.
I am beginning to have a sense of kai-he as a forward closing versus back-to-normal of the shoulders: not a closing and opening of the arm-pit, but a forward and backward alternation of the shoulders in relation to the chest. For example in seven stars, in which I have not been closing my elbows and shoulders enough.
Always remember the four directions:
pushing up
down
neutralising (pulling back) or sideways
forward.
These are often very obviously part of a movement, as in pushing the large ball forward, or pulling on a rope but, even when they are not explicitly part of a movement, there always has to be a sense of power going in one of those four directions. Miss Li stressed the need for this also in low fist, going down but pushing the first actively forward rather than just passively downward. Then when being drawn back it is not just coming back up after have been down, but rather coming back up and around after having been down and forward.
Tai Ji is classified as a martial art, so it has to have this martial theme.
Sunday, 4 September 2016
End of April 1980
Tai Ji is like a pagoda: at each stage you get a different view. But also, like climbing a mountain, if you take longer you will learn more! It's not necessarily all good to go quickly.
1. Learning the form.
2. Beginning to get a sense of the alternation of physical expansion and contraction, and breathing.
3. Developing strength by planting the foot firmly and holding both ankle and knee steady, no wobbling (i.e. swaying of the knee from side to side). That is a sign of weakness. At this point flexibility should be sacrificed to tension. Wobbling is definitely wrong: its opposite, trembling, is a sign of good holding of the knee and will, with time, disappear as the qi develops. When there is trembling, the qi is not yet strong. A degree of discomfort or pain is necessary at this stage.
4. Sinking the hips onto a low stool, and folding more at the hips.
5. As the hips begin to sink more and strength really begins to develop, attention comes to the hands: always as if holding something round. As the hands begin to take on the right shape, you begin to feel your back more. The hands do act as channels of communication, though not as in Indian dancing: they do not express anything in particular, or any physical idea, but rather are beautiful in an abstract and quiet sense, but at the same time being meaningful. That is, they are not noisy and continually talking without any real knowledge of what for, nor are they dumb and senseless, nor are they incoherent, but quietly and abstractly meaningful. At this stage it is possible to say what is wrong, but hard to explain the right: roundness without control or tension, the hand always relaxed and control coming from the elbow or shoulder.
6. Following the development of beautiful hands, the spirit begins to show in the eyes ... but we have not yet reached this stage, we are still at stages 3, 4 and 5.
1. Learning the form.
2. Beginning to get a sense of the alternation of physical expansion and contraction, and breathing.
3. Developing strength by planting the foot firmly and holding both ankle and knee steady, no wobbling (i.e. swaying of the knee from side to side). That is a sign of weakness. At this point flexibility should be sacrificed to tension. Wobbling is definitely wrong: its opposite, trembling, is a sign of good holding of the knee and will, with time, disappear as the qi develops. When there is trembling, the qi is not yet strong. A degree of discomfort or pain is necessary at this stage.
4. Sinking the hips onto a low stool, and folding more at the hips.
5. As the hips begin to sink more and strength really begins to develop, attention comes to the hands: always as if holding something round. As the hands begin to take on the right shape, you begin to feel your back more. The hands do act as channels of communication, though not as in Indian dancing: they do not express anything in particular, or any physical idea, but rather are beautiful in an abstract and quiet sense, but at the same time being meaningful. That is, they are not noisy and continually talking without any real knowledge of what for, nor are they dumb and senseless, nor are they incoherent, but quietly and abstractly meaningful. At this stage it is possible to say what is wrong, but hard to explain the right: roundness without control or tension, the hand always relaxed and control coming from the elbow or shoulder.
6. Following the development of beautiful hands, the spirit begins to show in the eyes ... but we have not yet reached this stage, we are still at stages 3, 4 and 5.
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