Looks All Right, But Not Up To Standard, Every Move Is Lost To The Opponent!

Recently, i got the chance to perform my Yang style form in front of my teacher. And he told me, "Well, to people who don't really know taiji, your form looks all right, but it is still not up to my standard. You are giving every move to your opponent." What he actually means is that although my form looks okay to the untrained eye, it is not practical (for fighting purposes). So he told me to demonstrate my form from the start to the first Cross Hands（十字手）and he would start to correct. However, when I was done, he told me that there were too many errors and told me to perform the from the start up to the end of Grasp the Sparrow's Tail (揽雀尾). These are my errors:

1. When I did the starting posture, I tend to lean back a little and I did not sit into my kua（胯）enough.

2. When I lower my hands, I tend to draw my elbows down back towards my body. This is not right as i should keep my hands almost straight and lower it down in that manner so that the qi can flow freely. If you do it in this manner, you can feel as if your hand has sort of expanded(膨胀).

3. When doing the press (挤) My left palm should directly press onto my arm.

There are 1 or 2 other errors but they are hard to describe so i will not add them in here. But luckily, there were no problems with my leg postures and foot work. I was really happy to know that there are no problems with them as i have really spent lots of effort on my footwork!

The first error also got me thinking that actually taiji trains the qi too but as i am sometimes so caught up in having the correct structural alignment and having correct timing for each move that i forget about the qi aspect of taiji. I was thinking that taiji could actually be done as a qigong exercise where the emphasis is on letting the qi flow to every part smoothly and training the yi at the same time. Maybe i would incorporate it into my daily training, performing one sequence with emphasis on qi!

Dan Bian (Single Whip): Large and open or compact?

Today while at class, my main teacher did not come as he was off to be some competition judge so my secondary teacher took over. He sounded out a problem with my Single Whip as he felt it did not look nice. Basically he said that my Single Whip was not wide enough and my left hand was not extended far enough and was also too high.

This is how i usually do it:

Usually when i practise, the hands of my Single Whip are about 125 degrees apart. The direction which the arms face are the same as the directions which the legs face. My left hand would be just above my left knee and not exceeding the knee. The height of my hand is usually around my mouth level with the tip of my middle finger at the height of the tip of my nose. Note that I learn the Yang style here.

However he told me to extend my left hand until it is almost straight and bring my right hand back to about 155 degrees. Bringing my hand that far back would cause it to deviate from the original direction of my back leg so naturally, my back leg would have to shift too.

This is when i realised that my Yang style has started to take the characteristics of maybe the CMC style or the Wu Style where the postures are more compact and not so large and open as is traditionally done by Yang Cheng Fu.

I don't know if it is correct but i don't like to keep my hands too far away from my body so as to be better able to block off any hits from the enemy. This point is also advocated by my Da Shi Xiong (Eldest Senior) who is more combat oriented. But this second teacher of mine follows more closely to the the guidelines of the Yang Style, or rather, Yang Cheng Fu Style.

I once read an article stating that Yang Cheng Fu used large and open movements due to his large physique when he was older. It is said in the article that because of his large physique, he could easily use large and open postures in combat as his sheer weight and power would be able to push through any small resistance the enemy offered. Moreover, i feel, keeping a compact form would be more defensive which he did not really need due to his sheer power and it may even hinder his movement. Thus i feel he used large postures to put his weight and mass to good effect. Another good point about large and open postures is that it is healthier as they allow smoother qi flow as the body is stretched. This is emphasized by his son, Yang Zhen Duo. I think that is why he standardised his form with large open movements ultimately.

Comparing the pros and cons, i am quite confused as to which style should i use. Should i continue doing it as how i have always done it, compact? Or should i do it the traditionally the Yang Cheng Fu way? Because, after all, i am learning his form!

Long Time No See

Well, it has been a long time since i posted anything on so i'll write something today. Recently i was surfing the net when i found many interesting stuff!

The first one is video clips of members of great Dong family performing their taichi from www.chipellis.com. They are simply incredible! You can see that they are really demonstrating what we always read in the books and old writings! The push hands practises were really incredible too! It is said that Dong Hu Ling was welcome to any challenges when he set up school in Thailand and never fell to even one. That shows his skill.

The next was of Don Doherty. The guy who was a student of Cheng Tin-Hung, the Taichi Bodyguard. What he says and teaches sounds incredible and i would really want to see it. He also mentioned a push hand duel he had with Chu King-Hung which the latter lost terribly. Although i don't know much about Yang Sau Ching, I think it is safe to assume he has a considerable skill since he trained directly under his father for 19 years. However i feel that the disciple's skill is not a reflection of the master's skill as the master may not be a good teacher or the disciple not an observant one. So when he expressed doubts on Master Yang Cheng Fu's skill and tradition, i believe that it is unfounded. Nevertheless, kudos to him for being able to spread the message that Taichi is really a formidable martial art around the world.
This article also got me interested in Cheng Tin-hung and i'll be researching on him.

Recently, i was at the Tiancai International Chen Style Taichi Competition, and it was quite an eye opener. Pity i missed the second day of the competition and the performance part as i had to do some lousy guard duty in camp! Although my fellow senior only managed to clinch a silver medal, my fellow junior who has only learnt for 6 months managed to beat my senior who has practised for like 10 years by 0.01 points in scores! Quite incredible huh! My fellow junior has not even finished learning the whole Yilu routine! Looks like there is still hope for taichi as genuises emerge all the time! Which means i'll have to work doubly hard so as not to loose out to them! In the competition, there were even small kids competing in the weapon section. In due time, i think they will be so damn good! What potential!

As for me now, i am in a sad state, sick with fever and a terrible cough, i could not practise taichi for nearly a week now. But sometimes, i find a period of break actually helps me to get new insights on taichi. While normal practices strenghten the basics. Hopefully i can recover soon enough to get on with my practise!