Trembling in the legs is due to muscles still struggling - for example, tension in standing - eventually you can let go of this and let the qi hold you up: "in Tai Ji our root should come up as far as our knee".
The hands have first to relax and then to become expressive. That is, while not stiff they should also not be simply limp. As you push out, it is as if your fingers contact something - as in Pulling on an arm. In double-handed Forward Press the fingertips actually push down a bit at the end of the expansion. When your hands have begun to relax and become the right shape, it will be as if the air feels round.
In breathing, it is said that the breath moves in a circular way: coming in through the nose and down the back, then up the front and out again. As you exhale you are also simultaneously pulling fresher air further down. So that Miss Li used to experience, when practising in cold weather, that she would feel cool first around the solar plexus then, when she exhaled, the cold air would move down to the pit of her stomach. She would end up feeling very relaxed and warm in her muscles and limbs, but cool inside.
To promote good breathing remember kai-he, opening the shoulders and elbows on expansion, rolling the muscles in on contraction, which is also part of coming back to the centre before each new movement. Check your posture: head up, neck straight, central spine straight, shoulders down, arch a little wider.
Today I concentrated on keeping my head up, looking at where my hands were going rather than at them, looking out to the horizon, as if I was as aware of what was behind me as of what was in front. It was a very different experience: it felt a lot lighter and calmer, and that my normal head-down posture was closely connected to my constricted/controlled breathing. For a moment or two I felt that I let my breath go completely and it got smoother and more natural. It was also interesting that, although I could see far more of other people and occasionally got caught up in their movements, I was far less preoccupied/competitive with them. I remembered how when I started I had to do Tai Ji with my eyes closed, so as not to be distracted by the others. This new experience was like opening up further. In fact, afterwards I stood quietly with my eyes open and felt a lot of energy flowing up the front like a fountain.
Miss Li asked me to work some more on my hands. She said I have a good flowing form and my legs are good, but my hands aren't accurate enough. Don't let it disturb my normal practice, but when I have time run over a section and work on the hand positions: this way I will be able to discover and work out where they should be.
Sunday, 30 October 2016
Saturday, 29 October 2016
From October 1980
You can analyse arm movements in terms of long/short and in/out. In
long/short one arm is extended and one contracted, very clear in
Sideways Stepping and Low Stretch. When both are contracted or both
extended it is in/out. In different positions, depending on the distance
of the upper arm from the torso, the armpits are open or closed. Miss
Li particularly stressed that there is long/short in Horse Mane, where
the front arm is up and out with the armpit a bit open, while the back
arm is closer to the body. And in Low Stretch, where the left arm is
long and out, while the right arm is nearer in, switching around twice
on the way back up.
When Miss Li first thought of teaching Tai Ji in England, she thought that compared to real Grand Masters she knew so little and so she could not teach. But when she was asked to teach Ba Gua to a martial artist in Manchester, when she saw how he moved she knew that he knew nothing: so while she also knew only a little bit, she still felt that she had something to teach as others knew even less. But we have to beware of becoming "fallen angels", like the angel which wanted to be God and was closed out of heaven; or in the Taoist saying "when you become full up, then you begin to decline and fall". That is, that once you think you know so much, then you learn nothing new and begin to decay. So we have to be on our guard so that we do not become "fallen angels", but rather realise how far we have still to go, and how much there is still to learn.
There are two kinds of step, two kinds of direction of the feet. In the first, both feet are pointing out from the centre at the same angle, with the knees bent an equal amount, as in Wide Arch with the elbows stretching out. In the second, the feet are pointing out from the centre at slightly different angles, with the torso rotated forward and the front knee bent more, as in Forward Brush Knee.
In all steps after planting the heel firmly, hold the toes up from the ground for quite a long time: as you transfer your weight onto that foot, transfer it onto the heel and only last put your toes down. This will create much more movement and strengthening of the thigh muscles. Whereas, if you let your toes land more or less straightaway, your leg muscles, especially in the thigh, will be far more passive and loose.
Always stretch the arms in harmony with sinking the weight onto the legs: sitting down and stretching as the same movement. In moving the arms, the movement ripples down originating from the centre and manifesting in the arm, as first movement of the shoulder, then the elbow, then the wrist, and finally right down to the fingers ... like a worm moving across the ground.
Also, allow the elbow to become flexible, so that you do not move with stiff arms held out a long way from your body with your shoulders raised; but rather with shoulders sunk down and arms closer to the torso, and elbows flexing and rolling to allow movement, for example in Sideways Stepping. The joints of the shoulder and elbow will loosen up after much practice, and this sort of movement closer to the torso will build up the qi.
When Miss Li first thought of teaching Tai Ji in England, she thought that compared to real Grand Masters she knew so little and so she could not teach. But when she was asked to teach Ba Gua to a martial artist in Manchester, when she saw how he moved she knew that he knew nothing: so while she also knew only a little bit, she still felt that she had something to teach as others knew even less. But we have to beware of becoming "fallen angels", like the angel which wanted to be God and was closed out of heaven; or in the Taoist saying "when you become full up, then you begin to decline and fall". That is, that once you think you know so much, then you learn nothing new and begin to decay. So we have to be on our guard so that we do not become "fallen angels", but rather realise how far we have still to go, and how much there is still to learn.
There are two kinds of step, two kinds of direction of the feet. In the first, both feet are pointing out from the centre at the same angle, with the knees bent an equal amount, as in Wide Arch with the elbows stretching out. In the second, the feet are pointing out from the centre at slightly different angles, with the torso rotated forward and the front knee bent more, as in Forward Brush Knee.
In all steps after planting the heel firmly, hold the toes up from the ground for quite a long time: as you transfer your weight onto that foot, transfer it onto the heel and only last put your toes down. This will create much more movement and strengthening of the thigh muscles. Whereas, if you let your toes land more or less straightaway, your leg muscles, especially in the thigh, will be far more passive and loose.
Always stretch the arms in harmony with sinking the weight onto the legs: sitting down and stretching as the same movement. In moving the arms, the movement ripples down originating from the centre and manifesting in the arm, as first movement of the shoulder, then the elbow, then the wrist, and finally right down to the fingers ... like a worm moving across the ground.
Also, allow the elbow to become flexible, so that you do not move with stiff arms held out a long way from your body with your shoulders raised; but rather with shoulders sunk down and arms closer to the torso, and elbows flexing and rolling to allow movement, for example in Sideways Stepping. The joints of the shoulder and elbow will loosen up after much practice, and this sort of movement closer to the torso will build up the qi.
Thursday, 27 October 2016
From October 1980
Tai Ji is not for fighting, it is for health and well-being, but it is still a martial art ... with the emphasis on art. That is to say, there are principles in the movements which derive from practical principles of self defence. For example, a straight or "broken" arm is a weak point as it would allow your opponent to press your whole arm against your body and take the initiative; whereas a slightly bent arm is more solid and springy. Similarly with the legs, any inward bending of the knees creates a weak point which would collapse if your body was pushed; whereas if both the knees are pointing outwards in the same direction as the toes there is more strength and resilience in the legs.
Let the form become a bit "tighter", by brushing the upper arms against the body so as to start each movement from the centre. However, in bringing the elbows closer to the centre, watch out that this does not raise the shoulders. So think of kai-he as bringing the elbows into the centre and twisting them in.
Let the qi flow out to the ends of the fingers from the palm, so hold your hand loosely curved and open, rather than with the fingers contracted inwards. Then three types of hand/wrist are still possible. Bent backwards, so that the wrist is more or less upright: used in Ba Gua especially, and also in some forms of Tai Ji. Very soft and slightly drooping: as in Zheng Manqing's Tai Chi style. Relaxed but more level, alive and connected: the Rose Li style of Tai Ji.
Miss Li said that as she watches us she sees less our form than our muscles and how they are moving, and in seeing the muscles she sympathizes and feels as if she is doing Tai Ji with us. In this way she can feel how we are doing it and how we are breathing. This is the "secret" of Pushing Hands: by looking and touching you can see how the other person is moving and breathing. She said she would show us more Pushing Hands in the future, but basically we should regard it as the dessert after the meal, whereas the solo form is the main course and that's why you go to a particular restaurant. Though after your main course it's natural to want a dessert!
In going down for the Low Stretch pay attention to the head direction: from Single Whip the head looks forward to the left, then as you pull back you look back over your right upper arm, and as you go down your head goes down and round in a circle to looking left again.
Miss Li said that the teacher only works to remove barriers to the development of a good physical form ... what will then come forth from the mind, who knows? You have to be very careful in talking about the "mental" aspect, because too much talk about inner experiences will lead to expectation and frustration, or to incomprehension and confusion. What she would say though, is that in this temperate climate you will feel heat in your body beginning to develop, and that after you have finished the form you can feel it some distance away: try holding one hand a few feet away from the other and see if you can feel the heat. She also remarked that the hands will become supple, soft and sensitive like a child's. Instead of being stiff and bony, the structure will soften and become more flexible and malleable, while the skin will also stay soft and the touch become increasingly sensitive ("scholar's hands").
Once again she emphasised the practice of low sitting which we should be developing. This will lead to an increased folding at the hips, so that as we sink lower our torso does not tip forward, but stays upright.
She also emphasised the opening and closing of the armpits: generally closing on the inbreath, then one or both opening on the outbreath. The closing of the armpits on the inbreath helps to activate the elbows and to bring the arms in to the centre, for all movements outwards should originate from the centre. For example, in Forward Brush Knee we may begin by learning the form as a large arm-circling movement at the side of the body, with stiff shoulder and elbow joints, and a marked twisting of the hips; but as we develop, the hips and knees hold more firmly in the centre and the arms move in a smaller circle directly in front of the torso, from which they can then expand outwards to complete the form. Miss Li said that she had been reading many authors stressing that all movement should begin from the centre in Tai Ji, and on thinking about it had decided that they were right in this sense. But the centre should not be interpreted too rigidly or literally: not to be measured in inches! but discovered through movement.
She said that we should be careful not to move so slowly that the flowing quality of our Tai Ji is disturbed. Such artifical slowness will produce a sort of juddering in the arms, a jerkiness, and if this happens go a bit faster until you develop a natural slowness.
As we were standing waiting at the beginning, she said "can anybody tell me what they think about when standing quietly at the start?". Someone said "nothing", which she scorned a bit and said, of course your mind has to be attached to something, and added that she has noticed that what she does is to think of her "tail" and her neck.
She stressed that Tai Ji shoulders should be down and back, in which they are slightly different from Ba Gua shoulders, which come a little bit up and forward, to round towards the front.
Let the form become a bit "tighter", by brushing the upper arms against the body so as to start each movement from the centre. However, in bringing the elbows closer to the centre, watch out that this does not raise the shoulders. So think of kai-he as bringing the elbows into the centre and twisting them in.
Let the qi flow out to the ends of the fingers from the palm, so hold your hand loosely curved and open, rather than with the fingers contracted inwards. Then three types of hand/wrist are still possible. Bent backwards, so that the wrist is more or less upright: used in Ba Gua especially, and also in some forms of Tai Ji. Very soft and slightly drooping: as in Zheng Manqing's Tai Chi style. Relaxed but more level, alive and connected: the Rose Li style of Tai Ji.
Miss Li said that as she watches us she sees less our form than our muscles and how they are moving, and in seeing the muscles she sympathizes and feels as if she is doing Tai Ji with us. In this way she can feel how we are doing it and how we are breathing. This is the "secret" of Pushing Hands: by looking and touching you can see how the other person is moving and breathing. She said she would show us more Pushing Hands in the future, but basically we should regard it as the dessert after the meal, whereas the solo form is the main course and that's why you go to a particular restaurant. Though after your main course it's natural to want a dessert!
In going down for the Low Stretch pay attention to the head direction: from Single Whip the head looks forward to the left, then as you pull back you look back over your right upper arm, and as you go down your head goes down and round in a circle to looking left again.
Miss Li said that the teacher only works to remove barriers to the development of a good physical form ... what will then come forth from the mind, who knows? You have to be very careful in talking about the "mental" aspect, because too much talk about inner experiences will lead to expectation and frustration, or to incomprehension and confusion. What she would say though, is that in this temperate climate you will feel heat in your body beginning to develop, and that after you have finished the form you can feel it some distance away: try holding one hand a few feet away from the other and see if you can feel the heat. She also remarked that the hands will become supple, soft and sensitive like a child's. Instead of being stiff and bony, the structure will soften and become more flexible and malleable, while the skin will also stay soft and the touch become increasingly sensitive ("scholar's hands").
Once again she emphasised the practice of low sitting which we should be developing. This will lead to an increased folding at the hips, so that as we sink lower our torso does not tip forward, but stays upright.
She also emphasised the opening and closing of the armpits: generally closing on the inbreath, then one or both opening on the outbreath. The closing of the armpits on the inbreath helps to activate the elbows and to bring the arms in to the centre, for all movements outwards should originate from the centre. For example, in Forward Brush Knee we may begin by learning the form as a large arm-circling movement at the side of the body, with stiff shoulder and elbow joints, and a marked twisting of the hips; but as we develop, the hips and knees hold more firmly in the centre and the arms move in a smaller circle directly in front of the torso, from which they can then expand outwards to complete the form. Miss Li said that she had been reading many authors stressing that all movement should begin from the centre in Tai Ji, and on thinking about it had decided that they were right in this sense. But the centre should not be interpreted too rigidly or literally: not to be measured in inches! but discovered through movement.
She said that we should be careful not to move so slowly that the flowing quality of our Tai Ji is disturbed. Such artifical slowness will produce a sort of juddering in the arms, a jerkiness, and if this happens go a bit faster until you develop a natural slowness.
As we were standing waiting at the beginning, she said "can anybody tell me what they think about when standing quietly at the start?". Someone said "nothing", which she scorned a bit and said, of course your mind has to be attached to something, and added that she has noticed that what she does is to think of her "tail" and her neck.
She stressed that Tai Ji shoulders should be down and back, in which they are slightly different from Ba Gua shoulders, which come a little bit up and forward, to round towards the front.
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