Yang Tai Chi

The Song of Push Hands

Станислав Багалев — Sat, 01 May 2021 17:24:40 +0000

In Ward Off (peng), Roll Back (lu), Press (ji), and Push (an), you must be conscientious.

Upper and lower follow one another.

The other has difficulty advancing.

Let him come and strike with great strength.

Lead his movement, using four ounces to deflect a thousand pounds.

Attract him to emptiness, join, then issue.

Adhere, connect, stick, follow, without letting go or resisting.

The post The Song of Push Hands appeared first on Yang Tai Chi.

Push Hands: Fundamental Skills and Theory

Станислав Багалев — Sat, 01 May 2021 17:18:49 +0000

A conversation with Yang Laoshi, Dave Barrett and Lance Lu

Explanations of the Push Hands exercise range from the simple:“Push Hands is the mutual exploration of the internal energies and is dependent primarily on the sense of touch. The method involves two people making contact at the arms, adhering to each other, and using the Taiji spiral movements.” (Gaffney, pg.150); to the mystical, “…it teaches one to fully realize what sensitivity of the entire body means. Externally, the practitioner develops an acute sense of touch transmitted through the skin. Sensitivity and awareness is also developed internally.The practitioner learns how to empty the body of all force. When one rids the body of all force, one can experience what it is like to be the twinkling distant star; the body is there and yet is not there. Through understanding the principle of Push Hands one can learn to balance Yin and Yang in daily life. Thus the quality of life as a whole is enhanced.” (Jou Tsung Hwa, pg.242)

Practicing Push Hands with a well trained player is to bask in the emanations of a fluid, tranquil force.Practicing with a poorly trained player is a numbing, exhausting experience like being attached to the spin cycle of a washing machine. Sensitivity is the foundation of correct practice, “…to learn to sense out the forcefulness,direction, speed as well as the substantiality or in substantiality of the opponent’s energy to be issued..”(Wang Peisheng, pg. 188). Developing skill in sensing and interpreting energy depends a great deal on the quality of contact and connection between Push Hands partners. In this article we will explore the four key actions that create correct contact. These are found in one of the oldest texts in Taijiquan, “TheSong of Pushing Hands” attributed to Wong Zongyue. They are Zhan: to stick,Lian: to connect, Nian: to adhere, and Sui: to follow. These verbs describe not only physical processes; they illuminate certain strategies that lead to successful practice.

This April, in Seattle, after a day long Push Hands Seminar Yang Laoshi sat down with me and Lance Lu to have a conversation about these four keywords.

DB: Yang Laoshi, could you tell us what Zhan means?

YJ: Zhan in English means sticking, with an uprising or pulling up energy. The phrase in Chinese that describes this is: ti shang ba gao zhi wei ye. This means you can use sticking to pull up and uproot the opponent. It has this type of feeling. Where do you get the sticking?The energy actually comes from both partners. You give some energy into it and the opponent gives some energy and when the two energies cross you are sticking. This sticking energy comes from the pressure between you and the opponent, then you can lead your opponent upwards.If the opponent does not give you the pressure you cannot stick. You are standing there doing nothing,how can I stick? This is the principle expressed in the phrase,“if the opponent doesn’t move, I don’t move”.

In talking about these four principles we need to understand an important cognitive process:the mind creates the intent, you want to do something; the body creates kinetic motion and understanding is created by feeling. So when the opponent starts to form the intent to do something to you,you already understand it, this is the listening energy.

DB: So this is a process of creating the right contact through sensitivity, using the mind?

YJ: The mind goes first! We have a saying that the mind leads the motion, the body responds to the intent and you start to move. With this method we use the mind first and then the physical sensations from the body to feel your opponent. So that is what is meant by the phrase, “Thinking, moving, knowing,feel it.”

DB: These are the elements that go into how to create the correct contact?

YJ: That’s right. Why do we want to do it this way? Because we want to know the opponent, to feel the opponent. How can you do this? These four principles Zhan, Lian, Nian and Sui will help you. So why do we want to stick, adhere, connect and follow because we want to feel and know the opponent. Know what? Know your opponent’s empty and full, yin and yang, whether the opponent is moving forward or going back, coming at you from left or right, you have to be aware of this.

DB: In order to create this sticking process we need to have the correct pressure?

YJ: You cannot say “correct” pressure; you should say that the pressure is right for you, because with some people they will like heavier or lighter pressure depending on their ability and foundation.

DB: We need to join the opponent’s energy to understand their intent. If they are very, very soft we need to be as soft to listen to them, but if we are stiff and tight we can’t listen clearly?

YJ: Generally speaking from Taijiquan’s principle we don’t want to use excessive force. If you use this type of energy it’s not good for you because you have no flexibility: you are stiff and unnatural, not moving freely. So your empty and full sides are easily controlled by your opponent. So if your opponent is very, very soft what are you going to do? Actually we can still use softness. Your opponent is soft, you can be even more soft; make it so your opponent cannot be softer than you, then when they start to use force then you can find their center easily.

DB: What happens if you don’t have this sticking energy?

YJ: If you have no sticking energy then you are sliding the contact points on each other and also actually you have no controlling ability.

DB: How do we correct this problem? By giving more energy?

YJ: No! The solution is that when you are doing the movements, do not start from your point of view.You have to forget yourself, and let the opponent initiate the movement.

DB: Does this lead us to the principle of Sui or following?

YJ: Actually the four principles can be used in the same situation but to explain different aspects of the Push Hands practice. For example,it doesn’t matter if you are following or want to stick. If you don’t follow, you can’t stick. If your opponent wants to go right and you go left then you separate and lose contact. So if they move right you have to follow. This doesn’t mean that you have no choice or influence. If your palm is set correctly you can control your opponent’s angles of motion and make them move in the direction you want them to go. So you still have control but are using their motion, changing their moving curves and circles to create a good position for you and a bad one for him.

DB: Let’s talk more about Sui. In English following means you lead and I go with you.What you are saying is that following also has a control element, that if I maintain contact and use sticking I can follow but also influence the opponent’s motion.

YJ: True, but you cannot always follow your opponent. Following is how you deal with the mat the beginning, eventually you want to create an advantageous position for yourself. You don’t want to follow to the point that you are actually permitting them so far into your center that finally you lose balance. So the phrase in Chinese that explains Sui is: bi zou ciyin zhi wei ye. This means that the opponent is doing something to you, how do you respond? This describes how you respond to the initiation of intent by the opponent. To be responsive you need the correct method.Firstly, you cannot resist the opponent and you must follow them but you cannot always follow.You still have to make some changes. How do you make these changes? Adhering also helps.

DB: So now let’s talk about Nian or adhering.Is there a Chinese saying about this skill?

YJ: Yes, it’s: liu lian qian quan zhiwei ye. This is hard to explain but the saying describes the opponent as totally immersed or enclosed in something like a gel or glue. So they can move anywhere but when they move they cannot be free of this contact.

DB: I think I understand, the opponent has freedom of motion?

YJ: That’s right, but any motion they make is covered by a pressure. For example if you move in air and then move underwater it’s different.Can you do the same thing in air that you can underwater? Yes, but underwater in slow motion maybe it’s the same but if you move quickly it feels different underwater than in the air, because of the pressure.

DB: So the adhering skill seems to be more o fa free energy in that I’m not trying to lift or stick I’m just trying to create constant contact in any direction.

YJ: That’s right: any direction he moves, the opponent is not very free to go. You have adhering to protect you because by adhering eventually you can deflect the opponent’s energy away from your center.

DB: What happens if I don’t have Nian? I may have sticking contact but if the opponent can shake this contact, I’m in trouble. Is Nian more of a protective energy?

YJ: It’s like if you push something in the water as opposed to pushing in the air, what’s the difference? Without Nian, this fluid sensation of contact, the opponent can easily move into your center. If you have Nian, there is this pressure that can be used to guide the opponent to the side.

DB: Is this a more responsive type of energy? With Zhan or sticking I initiate the energy but with Nian is this a passive, constant type of feeling?

YJ: Actually with Zhan, it’s both because you use a part of your opponent’s energy. If they give you nothing you cannot use it. Nian is the same type of thing: if they give you nothing you still cannot redirect them. If something is dropped into a gel it doesn’t move, but when it does move, there is a pressure from contact with the gel.

DB: This is an interesting concept: that no matter what direction or speed the contact is constant.

YJ: It doesn’t matter what direction, any direction you have adhering. So not just forwards and backwards, that’s not the right type of energy.

DB: I’ve seen some explanations of these four principles that say, for example, Zhan is a vertical energy and the others are lateral or diagonal. It seems so complicated.

YJ: No, no, no. These energies include all directions

DB: The final word we have yet to discuss is Lian or connect. Is there an explanatory phrase for this skill?

YJ: Yes: she ji wu li zhi wei ye. This basically describes Lian as forgetting yourself and staying connected with the opponent. Follow your opponent and keep connected with them. Even if they move back you still try to go with them to stay connected.From this connecting skill comes many techniques, for example, being able to borrow the opponent’s energy by connecting from forward to back, back to forward, actually this can be used in any direction.

DB: I’m struggling to understand the differences between following and connecting. In English, basically if someone moves away I follow by going after them. But if the opponent is moving in…

YJ: You still have to follow them!

DB: Yes, I suppose…

YJ: If you don’t follow them in, then you are resisting!

DB: I’m glad you mentioned resisting because I wanted to ask you about this last phrase in The Song of Pushing Hands, “without letting go or resisting”. If we just examine these four principles of sticking,adhering, connecting and following without this last phrase we might lose sight of the whole purpose of developing these skills.

YJ: You know, actually Zhan, Nian, Lian and Sui are techniques that we use in Push Hands but the result is not resisting and not separating with the opponent. The techniques tell you howto use the energy and this phrase, “without letting go or resisting” is the proper result.

DB: Is letting go or losing contact the biggest mistake in Push Hands?

YJ: Yes! If you separate from your opponent you lose all knowledge of their energy and intent. What we want is the mind thinking, the body moving, understanding energy and feeling the opponent; all of this is lost when we separate and lose contact. Why do we need the techniques of Zhan, Nian, Lian and Sui? We want to know the opponent, feel the opponent, and understand the opponent. Then we know how to respond to the opponent. You know the “Song of Pushing Hands” seems quite short but it is very important. It describe show you should practice, what you need to have to practice and finally it describes the strategy you need to succeed. Only six lines but it contains the spirit of Push Hands. Let me give you a free translation of this text. The title actually means the song of striking hands.

DB: Not pushing hands?

YJ: Later on we used this term but these words in the title, Da means strike or beat, Shou means hand. First of all, when you start you have to seriously study ward off, roll back,press, and push. These are the four square energies. When these four energies are done well, combined and coordinated with your upper and lower body movements; the opponent will have a difficult time to come into you, to attack you. The next line means that it doesn’t matter how strong the opponent comes at you, you use what strategy? Use four ounces to deflect a thousand pounds. Here is this method: how do you use four ounces to do this? Let your opponent deeply in, then guide them to the empty area. So you must use adhering to guide them in. If you aren’t adhering to the opponent they will not continue to push you. You connect with and use the opponent’s force coming in and then he will fall by himself.

DB: If the opponent feels you have lost adherence he will stop pushing?

YJ: That’s right. Because he feels something,he wants to push. He wants to come in, he feels he’s almost there, almost there, but still not yet! Then I guide him to the empty space, I remain connected to his energy, linked to his force and I borrow this and release it back out towards him. This is how you borrow the opponent’s energy.

DB: Tell us more about this line, “attract him into emptiness.”

YJ: Let your opponent in and guide them to the empty area. First you have to make your center secure and stable. Then you try to borrow his energy and bring it back to the opponent explosively. The final line of the Song tells what techniques to use to do this: Zhan, Nian,Lian and Sui and warns against losing contact or resisting.

DB: What is resisting and how do we correct it?

YJ: Resisting can be from two sides: one, from your side, your problem. When the opponent tries to do something, you go straight against them. The other resisting can come from the opponent, meaning that when you want to do something, the opponent won’t let you but you still try to do it anyway: this is also resisting. For example, I try one particular technique and you don’t let me, I’ll change to the next step. If you push to me and I don’t let you push, this is resisting. If I try to roll you back and you don’t want to be rolled back and you won’t let me execute this technique, this is also resisting.

DB: So resisting can come from both partners?

YJ: Yes, actually from the Taiji point of view, the interplay between yin and yang, people need to understand if one technique is a dead end you have to change. From yin to yang, from yang to yin, make it alive, don’t get stuck in there, keep it moving, then you will keep the practice alive. If you cross to a dead end, yin cannot change to yang, yang cannot change to yin then there is no more dynamic motion.Force just meets force. Taiji means straight with curve, empty with full; if you are full and I am full, who is yin, who is yang? This is not right and this is resisting.

DB: How do we correct this?

YJ: Use the four principles, these are practical solutions to this problem.Lance Lu: Yang Laoshi, what is the best way to develop these techniques, just practice and more practice?

YJ: Not only practice them but understand them with your mind.

LL: You have to think about them on your own?

YJ: Not just that, you have to understand that these techniques are valuable to you.

LL: So believe in these techniques?

YJ: Yes, and it may be more practical than that. Understand that following is a good strategy for you, connecting is a useful skill for you, adhering can help you control your opponent. If you understand that these techniques will work for you then your body will want to do them. Most beginners in Push Hands have this problem: they are too stiff. Something comes at you, you don’t know it, can’t feel it and the reaction to incoming force is to become tight. You might not even realize this is a reflexive response.

LL: Yes it’s natural to react that way.

YJ: Your reaction is like that, everybody has this response. But we don’t want that: we want softness instead of stiffness.

LL: So we have to change our natural reaction?

YJ: Actually from our point of view, yielding is the natural response. What we call prenatal or natural reaction to incoming force is to yield and follow.What we learn later on, or post-natal, is to resist and become tight. You forget your natural reaction.LL: Then as we grow older, we forget this natural response and move away from our Original Nature?

YJ: Yes! So how do we regain our natural responses and energies? Practice Taijiquan!

Postscript by Lance Lu: Laoshi’s comments have gone a long way in clarifying subtle and elusive concepts, but ultimate clarity will come only after we experience what he is talking about. He’s pointed the way to investigate these concepts, but we have to do the work ourselves, take these ideas and verify them in our own bodies. Do the training to get it from our heads into our bodies. Then, we will understand on a deeper level, and maybe clarity will come. It was important for me to delve into how we develop our skills.In a way, it’s a dilemma for all of us who are not at a high level yet. To get the experience into your body, you need your mind to be convinced that these principles will work. Without actually experiencing their efficacy, doubts will remain, and one will resort to the automatic reaction of stiffness. But if one remains stiff, it will be impossible to experience how soft can overcome hard,and how these theories are useful and practical. It’s like the “chicken or the egg” type of situation. That’s why I brought up “belief ” because it seems tome that at some point in pondering these theories, the student has to take a leap of faith. Laoshi’s contention that our automatic response was not our original or natural response is also anarticle of faith. Since everyone reactsautomatically with stiffness whenattacked, it is easy to conclude that thisis our “natural” response. The tenacityof this response and the difficulty ofbreaking this habit further supports thisnotion. There is no empirical way toprove what our original (pre-natal)nature is, so in the end, we have tobelieve it, and try to reprogram ourselves and see what happens.

The post Push Hands: Fundamental Skills and Theory appeared first on Yang Tai Chi.

Zhan, Nian, Lian, and Sui

Станислав Багалев — Sat, 01 May 2021 17:16:09 +0000

AN ANNOTATED LEXICON

CHARACTER ANALYSIS BY ANDY LEE AND SARAH OLSEN

Commentary Compiled by Dave Barrett

ZHAN

“Zhan is an energy that finds and connects with a partner’s energy”

Gaffney, pg 163

“Zhan means that when you and your opponent touch each other,you must maintain contact at all times, never separating from eachothers touch and never allowing the energy between the two ofyou to be blocked”

Zhang Yun, The Art of Chinese Swordsmanship, pg32

“ ‘Stick to Upward’: stick to the opponent and raise him up for the sake of dislocating his center of gravity, chiefly with the hands andarms but possibly with other parts of the body as the situationdemands”

Yearning K. Chen, pg. 163

“Zhan means that the opponent can be raised upwards and thus uprooted.”

Olson, pg 49

“The original meaning of Zhan is to paste or stick something up.In Taijiquan practice it means to get your opponent to follow you awhile under your control. It looks as if your opponent is stuck toyour hand or any other part of your body”

Zhang Yun, Four key skills for Push Hands and fighting, pg35

“One’s palms are, so to speak, weightlessly glued to the partner like a shadow to its object or an echo to the sound.”

Cheng Man Ching, Tai Chi Chuan, a simplified method, pg.18

LIAN

“Lian is an energy that links and joins with a partner’s energy”

Gaffney, pg. 163

“Join the opponent in every moment of the struggle, let him take the lead but never leave him, simply dragging on to tire him out and expose his weak points.”

Yearning K. Chen, pg. 163

“Lian means continually using your Jin, your internal force, never letting it break while you are in contact with your opponent. When you touch the opponent, never let him break away from your Lian.”

Zhang Yun, The Art of Chinese Swordsmanship, pg32

“In addition to direction, proximity, body method and stance, one must in particular join together with the opponent. Otherwise the Ti Jin (lifting energy) technique will have no effect; the use of this method must be adapted to circumstances. To get the upper hand in the use of Ti, it comes after leading the opponent, then it matters not which energy-any of them could be used to strike and the opponent will most certainly be dispatched. This is what is meant by the phrase in The Song of Pushing Hands, ‘Lead (him)into emptiness, join, then issue.’”

Chen Yanlin, quoted in Swaim, pg.204-205

“The original meaning of Lian is to continue or link. There are two meanings of Lian in Taijiquan practice. They are to continually follow and change. The first one means that you maintain continual contact by following your opponent and never letting him leave.The other idea of Lian means to continually change as you are fol-lowing. That means each of your techniques are joined togetherlike the links of a chain, never breaking your mind and movement sand never giving you opponent any chance to change.”

Zhang Yun, Four key skills for Push Hands and fighting, pg36.

NIAN

“Nian adheres to and joins with a partners energy”

Gaffney, pg163

“Nian is the ability to follow so closely when the opponent retreats that one is attached like a shadow to him”

Chen Yanlin, The Tao of Tai Chi Chuan, pg220

“If the opponent retreats, to adhere to him tenaciously is to render him in a disadvantageous position and to place him under one’scontrol.”

Lee Ying-arng, pg36 “It is said in The Tai Chi classics that to remain in the most advantageous position and leave one’s opponent at a disadvantage iscalled Nian.”

Jou Tsung Hwa, pg,244

“Nian, or cohering, means continually guiding the movements of your opponent so he cannot escape your control. Paradoxicallyyou do this by following the movements he makes.”

Zhang Yun, The Art of Chinese Swordsmanship, pg32

“One should let some part of his arm, by his keen sense of touch,get adhered to his opponents. And in this state of adherence, one should follow the opponent’s movement, at the same time issue a very slight amount of energy to try and drive the opponent into a disadvantageous or unstable position.”

Wang Peisheng, pg.191

“While engaging the opponent in a struggle, attach to his movements in order not to let him get away.”

Yearning K.Chen, pg.163

“Nian means to have no separation from the opponent so that you may interpret his movement and intent.”

Olson, pg. 49

“The original meaning of Nian is to stick, adhere, or paste to. In Taijiquan practice it means to keep in contact with your opponent and through this contact to make him feel uncomfortable. Keep this contact and never let him go away. It is like something adheres to his body.”

Zhang Yun, Four key skills for Push Hands and fighting, pg36.

SUI

“Forgetting oneself and following others is what is meant by Following. In other words if the opponent does not move, I don’t move.”

Cheng Man Ching, Advanced Tai Chi Form Instructions, pg. 36

“Sui follows and pursues a partner’s energy.”

Gaffney, pg.163

“Follow up the opponent’s movements and the direction of his force and watch for an opportunity to attack him; stand still if he does not move, advance if he retreats and special emphasis is placed on how you take your steps. An advancing step must betaken to your advantage and to the disadvantage of your opponent.”

Yearning K. Chen, pg 164

“Follow means to adapt and change to the conditions and situation, that a good opportunity may be created.”

Olson, pg. 49

“The original meaning of Sui is to follow or obey. In Taijiquan practice that means to follow your opponent’s movement or mind.According to Taijiquan principles, you should avoid going directly against the opponent with your force. You should make tho opponent feel as if he can get you, but do not really let him get you. The most common misunderstanding is to think that Sui just means following or obeying the opponent. It is just like another classical sentence which says,“To follow your opponent is intended to finally let him follow you.” A real Sui skill must include this idea.”

Zhang Yun, Four key skills for Push Hands and fighting, pg37.

The post Zhan, Nian, Lian, and Sui appeared first on Yang Tai Chi.

BUILDING A STRONG FOUNDATION – STANCE WORK IN TAI CHI CHUAN PRACTICE

Станислав Багалев — Sat, 01 May 2021 17:11:38 +0000

AN INTERVIEW WITH MASTERS YANG ZHENDUO AND YANG JUN
CONDUCTED BY DAVE BARRETT, TRANSLATED BY JERRY KARIN

This July when the Masters were in Portland, Oregon for the Seminar, they were kind enough to agree to an interview after a busy day of teaching. We ended up talking for over two hours. The first part of the conversation concerned the ethical values of the Chinese Martial Traditions in general and Tai Chi Chuan in particular. This discussion will be featured in our next issue.

The second topic of our conversation was more technical in nature, dealing specifically with foot work,leg training and stance work. As as tarting point for this discussion I mentioned that Yang Laoshi had written at length concerning this topic in his most recent book. Here is an excerpt from his book to set the stage and then our conversation follows.

“When you make a bow step, as the weight shifts from one foot to the other, you should pay attention to the symmetrical arrangement of the two opposing forces – one leg pushing and the other pushing back or resisting. Whether the front legis pushing backward and the back leg resisting, or the back leg is pushing forward and the front leg resisting, the forces must be coordinated, so as to avoid pushing out too hard or resisting too hard, or pushing out emptily without any compensating resistance. I hope you will work hard to incorporate this point in your form.

If you can achieve just the right balance in this, it will create favorable conditions for upper and lower body to work in concert during transitional moves. When extending the weighted leg to its ultimate position in a bow step, just as in the extension of an arm,extend until it is almost fully extended but not quite. If you over-extend then it becomes forced and looks stiff. If the back leg is bent too much, the pushing force cannot come out, and it will seem as if you have a lot of power but can’t use it.

The resistance of the empty leg goes through a process of gradual engagement. First touch the floor with the heel, continue by allowing the flat of the foot to touch, then the toes grab the floor, and then let the knee bend forward, letting the bending knee and shin slightly incline forward and increasing the resistance from the front leg so as not to allow the knee to pass the toe.

This way, with one leg pushing and one leg resisting, neither force subsiding or becoming too strong, the lower body will become a great deal stronger and more stable. Note that if the knee and shin of the forward leg are standing perpendicular to the ground then it is hard to utilize the resisting force and the back leg won’t be able develop power in its push forward. If the knee goes past the toe, you’ll lose your balance and the back leg again won’t be able to develop much power. Only when you make the knee and shin slightly incline forward, with the knee not going past the toe, can you thoroughly get the full strength of two forces, pushing out and resisting, to come into play…. The key to achieving whole body coordination lies in the pushing and resisting of the two legs. Try to become aware of this in your practice”.

DB: I’d like to ask you about the correct method for balancing the strength expressed in the lower body. In your recent book you mentioned that the balance of oppositional forces of pushing and resisting in the stance work is an important factor in creating a stable body frame. Could you explain how this is done?

YZD: This is a good question. In our theory we have the requirement that the root is in the foot. This is the basis for the foundation. If the foundation is good the upper body will be fine. If the foundation is no good, the upper body cannot be stable. Just like building a house: if the foundation work is not right, the upper structures will be unstable.

It is necessary to focus on the stability of the lower body when we practice Tai Chi Chuan

For example: If you don’t have your feet shoulder width in the bow step,there’s no way to be stable and it’s hard to perform the motions correctly. I really think that the lower body is extremely important and the requirements should really begin with organizing the stance work. If there is something wrong with the upper body, most probably you need to examine the lower body for the cause. If the bottom is correct, the torso and the arms will be better.Like anything, you proceed step by step: if you can’t get the basics correct and then you require something of the upper body, nothing can be done if the bottom is no good,you can’t coordinate. So it all starts from the foundation, this is important.Just like the way we develop as people: our personality should have fundamental qualities of fairness and compassion; these are real basics that provide for the development of the individual.

The most basic aspect of stance work is the relationship between deng and cheng (pushing and resisting). If you don’t have this relationship of pushing and resisting,it’s very easy for the body to go off leaning one way or another. One’s equilibrium is affected and can be easily led or taken advantage of.When you practice incorrectly, you will feel it is kind of empty, it seems like the root is not solid. There is a saying, ” Rooted in the feet, developed in the legs, controlled by the waist, and manifested through the limbs.” So it starts from the feet, there is an order of precedence, if you don’t do it this way it’s all mixed up.

DB: Talking specifically about the feet: When the heel goes down and the weight begins to shift, do the toes need to grab the ground and create the oppositional force?

YZD: When you engage your toes it’s just like anything: you can’t over do it. If you have no contact from the toes it’s no good, and if the toes are used too much it’s not right either.Many things are like this, you have to use an appropriate amount of force.Maybe if I try too hard, there’s no need for that. It’s always like this: not to have is incorrect, and to be excessive is not right either. So you should use the 10 Essentials: relax and extend, not too soft or too stiff,one needs to find the balance in between.

in general you should make the essential refinements appropriately and not to an extreme. Our predecessors have formulated these principle requirements. These have helped us to avoid so many dead ends in our practice. They require us to put a great deal of effort into our study, to use practical experiences to integrate the theory into our form.Even though they are general refinements, they are very, very rich in content.

For example: the requirements for the hand. It says extend the palm and curve the fingers. This really requires an integration of stance work, torso positioning, and correct extension of the arms. This question really contains so much practical experience: when I stand the palm up, how should I do it correctly? Over the past few days I’ve noticed a good deal of variation in the palm positions of the students. Everybody says they are standing the palm, but there are not too many who are doing it correctly. So we are going through a learning process. When you study the form you can’t just stop and say, ” I’ve got it now.” We need to learn, become aware, gain practical experience, and then practice more and a little more. Through all these repetitions gradually one becomes more skillful. It’s not sufficient to look at the Essentials and say, ” It says to do this, now I’ve got it, I can read it and that’s enough.” Even though these Essentials have helped us enormously, it’s not enough. The individual needs to practice and search for them, to perfect the motions.

DB: I’d like to focus on just one more point. The formula states, ” Rooted in the feet, developed in the legs.”Many students understand the importance of turning the waist but perhaps not so many are aware of developing the motion in the legs. Specifically the action of the knee: it seems that the knee needs to transfer body weight but many people hold body weight in the knee and end up injuring this area. So how can we develop the motion in the leg and protect the knee at the same time?

YZD: The knee has the function of connecting the upper and lower leg. Of course this joint is very essential. The formula mentions the entire leg,but just like when the arm is discussed it is actually several pieces. In the same way the knee is the essential part of the lower body structure. Its function is to connect the bottom and upper parts of the frame. If you use the knee correctly you can connect the upper and lower parts of the leg. If it is not correct, for example in the bow stance if the forward knee extends beyond the toes, the knee can’t perform it’s function properly. You lose the function. So as with everything, there is a definite degree that is appropriate. Not only the knees, for example if we say the waist is the commander, if you don’t connect the legs correctly even though you have this commanding feature of the waist, without the proper arrangement of the structure above and below, it won’t work. It can’t do it by itself. Very few people pay close attention to the body arrangement principles, some don’t even know that the motions requires these essential refinements, and if you don’t make these changes how can the waist operate correctly? The same goes for the knees.Although they have a type of control-ling force, without coordinating the upper and lower portions of the stance they can’t work.

Throughout the course of our training there is a kind of realization that comes with practice. For example: if you are a leader or boss at work, it’s not just you. If it was just you that would be fine but the problem is there is always someone above or below you. So Tai Chi practice can give you some inspiration:I have to have managed coordination but without the bottom below me operating efficiently to help me, it won’t work out. Throughout this training I need to understand that I need to be very diligent, if I do some-thing I have to do it carefully. We emphasize that there must be ending positions for each motion sequence.Every form has a final position, so too can this be applied to our work life,the idea is the same.

YJ: I’d like to add a point about the legwork, specifically, where one’s energy comes from during the Fajing techniques. A part of the power comes from the contracting and expanding of the leg muscles and the shifting of the body weight. Another part of the strength comes from the rotation of the waist. These combined areas produce the refined energy expressed as Jing. The root of Fajing however is in the footwork. There are other requirements, of course, and if you use these principles correctly you can amplify the power. So” rooted in the feet, developed in the legs” is only a part of this process, how you shift the weight in a coordinated fashion is also important. So many people read, “Upper and lower combined and coordinated”, but they don’t quite understand how critical this requirement is. The intent of the technique and the body weight must arrive at the same time. It’s not that easy. When you move, the whole body must be coordinated, only then will you be able to focus, deliver, and emit energy through one place. So the whole body works together to strengthen the emission process.

YZD: It is not just an isolated part of the body or the coordination of the motion; one must also harmonize the mind to be a part of this entire process.

YJ: If we isolate the motions and practice single applications over and over, one can experience even more clearly the need to coordinate in order to make the energy develop correctly. For example: in staff training it’s very easy to see how coordinating the body will allow the energy to manifest correctly at the opposite end of the staff. If the coordination are incorrect, the energy will be spread out and unfocused. The same applies to the sword form, if you know how to do this then the energy will travel to the tip.

YZD: It’s very clear, whether you or I or she practices in this way. Even though we perform the same motion,there seems to be some difference.Even though we say it should all be he same, there are so many variables in the personal expression of the forms.

DB: Many people when they begin studying Tai Chi are so enchanted by the handwork they neglect the stances and leg work. Hopefully this discussion will alert students that they need to pay attention to the foundation first.

YZD: The handwork, just look at the hand shape, not even the application of techniques, the shape of the hand is quite difficult. To get it just right, if you do it correctly then all of your strength can come out through there,the hand is where it comes out, the ultimate display of energy is in the hand. When we look at the students their hand positions are not quite clear or clean, it’s hard to express the Qi correctly.

DB: This is a topic for another interview! Thank you both for taking the time to talk with us.

YZD: One more thing about the hands: It’s not only the energy that is expressed, but ultimately Spirit that comes out. If you get it right, Energy,Spirit and Essence are present in the handwork. (As he was making these remarks Yang Laoshi suddenly sat upright with his eyes blazing and presented the crispest and cleanest standing palm I’ve ever seen him make, the transformation was startling and the energy expressed in this instant was electric.)

DB: I would love to talk with you at length about this topic but we have imposed too much on your time this evening.

YZD: I’m very happy to be able to sit here and explore these basic ideas.This is very, very good; anytime we can do it again I look forward to it.So that we can raise the level of the general group, whether concrete aspects or general theory, let’s do this again. We can’t just practice the form, we need to use theory to enable and enrich our practice

The post BUILDING A STRONG FOUNDATION – STANCE WORK IN TAI CHI CHUAN PRACTICE appeared first on Yang Tai Chi.

Find Your Balance – An Interview with Grandmaster Yang Jun

Станислав Багалев — Sat, 01 May 2021 14:22:24 +0000

Fernando De Lazzari: First, I would like to thank you for this great opportunity to have this interview and talk about Tai Chi Chuan with you. I really appreciate this moment.Many people think Tai Chi Chuan is a practice for relaxation with soft movements, but we know Tai Chi Chuan is an Art with many aspects. How do we answer the question, “What is Tai Chi Chuan?”

Master Yang Jun: Tai Chi Chuan actually is a multiple function exercise. It was created as a martial art. It has developed into a special way of exercising. It works in many areas. Today many people are coming to Tai Chi Chuan for its health benefits. It is benefiting many people with disabilities, and those who cannot do some hard exercise. Many appreciate how effective it is in reducing stress. This is how Tai Chi Chuan is working for this group of people. But you know, Tai Chi Chuan has a deep philosophy behind it. It can help you to understand yourself better. It can improve your lifestyle by helping to find your balance, and become a better-balanced person. And not only that – actually Tai Chi Chuan is a type of martial art that uses a very different approach from many other martial arts. It asks you to soften yourself and relax yourself. One must explore the soft then unify the soft with the hard. And also it has a goal – to make ourselves use the soft balanced with the hard, and the basic method involves seeking a balance. We must understand the dynamics of balanced energy. I think many people watching Tai Chi Chuan really don’t see this, because they see the soft flowing motions. People doing the soft Form don’t really have the whole picture of Tai Chi Chuan. It actually is a whole system of training: standing meditation, moving practice, slow practice, fast practice, self practice, partner practice, bare hand practice, weapons practice. It is a complete training system. It’s not just like, you know, sometimes what we see in the park, people are practicing the movements in a soft, slow way. Most people assume that this is for senior people, for the people who have health issues, but Tai Chi Chuan can be useful for every type of person. Especially for the people who are looking for an exercise that balances the body and mind. It’s not just physical movements, it has internal understanding and physical performing combined.

FDL: Can we consider Tai Chi Chuan a kind of meditation? Why?

MYJ: Yes, we can. We say that Tai Chi Chuan is a kind of meditation exercise. So first, from the physical movement point of view, it includes a stillness practice. Even when we are practicing the Form sequence: the body moves, we ask you to maintain a calm mind. So, from many points of view, we want you to be self-balanced, to be calm in your mind. The goal of calming the mind is to keep yourself centered, to have a clear picture and a complete under-standing of the whole situation. So that’s why we consider Tai Chi Chuan a kind of meditation practice. We also have a very special method of relaxation. It is not just a physical relaxation; it is also a mental relaxation. We ask you not to put your tension in a detailed local area; we must have an understanding, an overview, which balances internal functions with external situations. So one part of the relaxation is about your body, the other part is about your mind.

FDL: Tai Chi Chuan can help improve people’s health. Nowadays so many people are interested in practicing Tai Chi, and the number is growing. In your opinion, why do you think that the number is increasing?

MYJ: First of all, why people are so enthusiastic about it is because they have tried the practice and received the benefits. We are involved in on-going programs with academics to study Tai Chi Chuan’s benefits. In China and in the West, often you can see doctors recommending Tai Chi Chuan as a choice for health exercise. And recently I also heard that President Obama encourages people to use Tai Chi Chuan for their health practice. So, many people in many different areas are doing re-search to understand Tai Chi Chuan’s health benefits, which makes people aware that Tai Chi Chuan can help people; this is the first thing.Second: Tai Chi Chuan has a special way of practice, which is truly gentle, slow and even, with a focus on understanding energy. This is the difference from many other kinds of exercise. We require that you harmonize the physical practice with your mental awareness. From this balanced combination of internal and external we can develop a unity of body, mind, and spirit.As we learn more about Tai Chi, we understand that Yin and Yang are combined together in a dynamic balance– this is Taiji. So many people involved in Tai Chi are also interested in the philosophical foundations of our practice. This Taiji theory helps you with the mind and mental balance, mind understanding, dealing with your colleagues, dealing with your personal issues, and how you can find your balance without big conflicts. Many, many areas of Tai Chi Chuan are very special. I believe that because of this kind of difference from many other exercises, people are interested and involved with Tai Chi Chuan. An interesting aspect of our practice is that the more you understand Tai Chi Chuan, the more you can learn from Tai Chi Chuan. It’s not just learning the movements, and then you are finished. We are going to keep practicing the same movements, but your mind keeps improving your understanding from your personal feeling throughout the practice. Then you can expand into theory study, using our theories to guide and enrich your practice. This is a kind of exercise that is unique and different from many others. So that’s why I believe that the more people practice and study, the deeper their understanding Tai Chi becomes.

FDL: What is the ultimate goal of the Tai Chi Chuan practice?

MYJ: Basically, we have three goals for practice – one is rooting, which creates physical balance. The second is how you can unify your energy. Throughout your physical performing and practice – you want to improve in these areas. But Tai Chi Chuan is not just for your physical balance and unifying your energy – it is about your spirit. The process of your practice is first to exercise your body, and in the second stage, you can understand your heart. Then in the third stage you can understand and change your personal characteristics, to be very well balanced from the physical and also from your internal. It’s a physical point to start, but it extends to your spirit.

FDL: What is your advice for beginners? What are the main points that beginners have to pay attention to develop themselves in Tai Chi Chuan? How about your advice for advanced practitioners?

MYJ: Ok, for the beginners actually the most important part is to continue and follow through. In China we have a saying: “Everything, when you start it, feels difficult. When you already have begun, then you can find your way to continue.” So, at the beginning time, to continue the practice is the most important advice for beginners – don’t quit. It’s very easy to quit, because sometimes be-fore you really can understand it, you are already thinking “this is maybe too difficult for me”. But actually it’s difficult for everyone to start; it’s not just for you. In the beginning, there is so much to take in – you need to learn the movements, you need to understand the Principles, certainly it can be too much information for you to receive at once.So I suggest for beginners – you need to understand some basic things: first you need to understand what it is to relax, and maybe you just practice some basic standing. As far as the movements go – for sure you need to remember them – but if you cannot remember them, pay attention to the basic methods. The motions need to be gradually memorized.For example, what is the foot-work we need to do? What is the body shape we need to do? And pay attention to those basic elements, then understand those from a standing point of view, then you can gradually, gradually extend into the practice of the whole Form.So focus on the basics. If you try and focus on everything at once you might not find anything! This is my advice for beginners.Once the sequences become familiar and we don’t need to think about them anymore, we can be more focused on other things to understand. The Classics of Tai Chi Chuan tell us that as we gain experience through our movement practice, we need to expand into understanding our energy. For most of us, we need to realize that understanding the energy is our priority. It’s not just about the movements. Movements are just a way that we express the refined energies, but our priority, actually our goal, is to understand these energies. Understanding energy has two sides: through the Form practice, through personal practice, you have the self-understanding side. Through the practice of Push Hands, you also learn to understand the energy from your opponent. So, to better understand Tai Chi Chuan, you need to start understanding the energy perspective, not just the movement patterns.

FDL: Thank you very much for your time and for this opportunity. It is always a pleasure for us to learn and talk about Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan with you. Your teachings will be very important to all practitioners and help us a lot.

MYJ: Interviews and conversations like this are good to promote Tai Chi Chuan and help people to better understand the Art. For me it was a pleasure to help.

The post Find Your Balance – An Interview with Grandmaster Yang Jun appeared first on Yang Tai Chi.

Intro to the essential form – by master Yang Jun

Станислав Багалев — Sat, 01 May 2021 14:11:39 +0000

The tradition of Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan follows generations of modifications that
became standardized into the style that we know today during the life of Yang Chengfu.
His form and the character of his practice became the model and representative of the
current Yang Family Style. After centuries of study and practice, this style has been
proven to be great for martial arts practice as well as for health benefits. Following the standard
method of Yang Chengfu’s form is the foundation and root of our style. In China, this kind of
foundational form is called a “Mén hù quán” 门户拳, or door sequence form.

In the world of today, there are two issues that we are aware of with our practice. The first issue is that the traditional form takes a long time to learn and people in modern schools often find it difficult to commit to studying something that requires such an investment of time. The second issue is that tai chi is often performed at social events, and when we are performing on stage we cannot take very much time. Normally, they give us 4-5 minutes to perform at events, so the long form is not very useful for this. Tai chi competition events also limit the performing time to under 4 minutes. It’s important for these events to have a shorter performance time, since it’s very difficult and time consuming for the judges to try to score performers who are doing long forms.

These reasons are why I created the Essential Form, which contains 22-23 movements. It is to meet the needs of the modern world. This form contains three kinds of kicking and all of the stances. The Essential Form has single leg, bow, empty, twisting stances, straight stance, and the lotus kick. I also adopted push-hands 360 degree turning techniques into the Essential Form cloud hands method. As for the hand techniques, the Essential Form has the fist, hook, palm, and most of the other techniques from the traditional form. This is why I decided to name it the Essential Form. I hope that this form can be spread around the world, so that it can be used as a beginner sequence and also as the ranking and competition form. I hope that it will be used for stage performances as well. One important point that I want to make clear is that this is not meant to replace the Traditional (103) Form.

After learning the Essential Form, people should gradually shift to the long form, since to receive the health benefits of tai chi, the Essential Form is too short to provide enough daily practice time. I hope that you enjoy this new form. Please let us know if you have any feedback. My wish is that you will practice it, enjoy it, and help to spread it so that we can move to the next stage of how we will use it. In the future, it will also be used for the symposium.

预备式 — Prepare
1. 起势 – Opening
2. 拦雀尾 – Grasp Bird’s Tail
3. 野马分鬃 – Parting Horse’s Mane (Left)
4. 玉女穿梭(右左) – Fair Lady Works with Shuttle (Right and Left)
5. 搂膝拗步 – Right Brush Knee and Push
6. 金鸡独立(左右) – Golden Rooster Stands on One Leg (Left and Right)
7. 倒撵猴(左右)– Repulse Monkey (Left and Right)
8. 高探马穿掌- High pat on Horse and Thrust Palm
9. 右分脚 – Right Separation Kick
10. 左蹬脚– Left Heel Kick
11. 双峰贯耳 – Twin Fists Box Ears
12. 撤步海底针 – Step Back Needle at the Sea Bottom
13. 云手(左右) – Cloud Hands (Left and Right)
14. 单鞭下势 – Single Whip/Low Form
15. 上步七星 – Step Forward Seven Stars
16. 退步跨虎 – Step Back and Ride the Tiger
17. 转身摆莲 – Turn Body and Swing Over Lotus
18. 弯弓射虎 – Bend Bow Shoot Tiger
19. 进步搬拦捶 – Step Forward, Parry, Block and Punch
20. 如封似闭 – Apparent Close-up
21. 十字手 – Cross Hands
22. 收势 – Closing Form
还原 – Return to Original State

The post Intro to the essential form – by master Yang Jun appeared first on Yang Tai Chi.

A talk on the practice by Yang Chengfu

Станислав Багалев — Sat, 01 May 2021 14:06:39 +0000

Although there are rather a lot of different styles of Chinese martial arts, they are all alike in that successive generations have striven all their lives and with all their might to explain the principles and theory contained in these techniques, but these efforts have never been totally successful. Nevertheless,if a student will expend the effort of one day of practice, he will receive the achievements of a day of work. Over days and months this accumulates till “when the water arrives the dikes are ready”.

Tai Chi Chuan is the art of letting hardness dwell within softness and hiding a needle within cotton;from the point of view of techniques, physiology, and physics,there is considerable philosophy contained within it. Hence those who would research it need to undergo a definite process of development over a considerable period of time. Though one may have the instruction of a fine teacher and the criticism of good friends, the one thing which is most important and which one cannot do without is daily personal training. Without it one can discuss and analyze all day, think and ponder for years, but when one day you encounter an opponent you are like a hole with nothing in it – you are still quite inexpert,lacking the skills (kung fu) borne of daily practice. This is what the ancients meant by “thinking forever is useless, better to practice”. If morning and evening there is never an gap, hot or cold never an exception, so that the moment you think of it you proceed to do your training, then young or old, man or woman, you will alike be rewarded with success.

These days from north to south,from the Yellow River regions to the Yangtse River regions, more and more comrades are learning Tai Chi Chuan, which is heartening for the future of martial arts.However, among these comrades,there is no shortage of those who concentrate and practice hard,study sincerely, and whose future ought to be limitless, yet typically they fail to avoid two kinds of pitfall: in the first case they are very talented, still young and strong, able to apply one criticism to many places, their understanding surpasses that of most people;alas once they make some slight achievement, they are satisfied too quickly, stop in the middle and never really get it. In the second instance, the person is anxious to make rapid progress, throwing it together sloppily, so that before a year is through, they have gone completely through bare hand,sword, knife and spear. Although they can ‘paint a gourd by following a template’ , they really haven’t achieved the enlightenment in this. The moment you scrutinize their direction and movement, upper and lower body,internal and external, none of it turns out to be standard. In order to correct them, you have to correct every move, and corrections given in the morning are forgotten by evening. That’s why you often hear people say: “it’s easy to learn tai chi, but hard to correct it”. The reason for this saying is people trying to learn too fast. Such a group takes their mistakes and transmits them to the next generation, necessarily fooling both themselves and others, and this is the most discouraging thing for the future of the art.

In Tai Chi Chuan, we first learn the form or frame. That is to say, according to each posture name from the manual, we are taught the postures by a teacher, one a ta time. The student does his best to calm his mind, and silently attentive, pondering, trying, he performs the moves: that is called practicing the form’. At this time the student focuses on ‘inner’,’outer’, ‘upper’ and ‘lower’. ‘Inner means ‘using intent rather than force’. ‘Lower’ means ‘the chi is sunk to the cinnabar field (dantian)’.’Upper’ means ‘Empty, lively,pushing up and energetic (xu1ling2 ding3 jing4 – refers to requirements for the head).’Outer’ means: the entire body is light and nimble, all the joints are connected as a whole, (movement proceeds) from foot to leg to waist, sink the shoulders and keep elbows bent (low). Those beginning their study should first take the above several instructions and perfect them,pondering and trying morning and evening. Move by move, you must always carefully seek these.When you practice a move, strive for correctness, and only when you have practiced it till it is right go on to the next move. Proceed in this way until you have gradually completed all the postures. This way there is nothing to correct and you do not tend over time towards violating the principles.

In practice as you are moving,the bones and joints of the entire body must all relax and extend and be natural. The mouth and abdomen must not block breathing.The four limbs, the waist and the legs must not use strong force.Something like these last two sentences is always said by people learning internal arts but once they start to move, once they turn the body or kick the legs or twist the waist, their breath becomes labored and their body sways; these defects are all due to stopping the breath and using strong force.

1. When you practice, the head must not incline to either side or tilt forward or backward. There is a phrase ‘you must suspend the tip of the head’. This is as though something were placed on the top of the head. Avoid a tall cost a stiff straightness! That’s what is meant by ‘suspend’. Although the gazes should be directed levelly ahead, sometimes it must turn in accordance with the position of the body. Even though the line of the gaze is empty, it plays an important role in transformations and supplements what is left wanting by the body and hand positions. The mouth seems open but it’s not, seems closed but not quite.Nose and mouth inhale and exhale: do what is natural. If some saliva accumulates below the tongue, swallow it; don’t spit it out.

2. The torso should be centered and not leaning. The line between ji liang and wei lu (?)should hang straight and not be bent to one side. But when you encounter transformations between open and closed yous should have the flexibility of waist turn which comes of sunk chest, pulled up back and lowered shoulders. This is something you need to pay attention to in the beginning stages of learning. Otherwise, as time goes on it will become hard to change and will turn into stiffness, so that although you have put in a lot of practice, it will be hard to improve your applications.

3. The bones and joints of the two arms all need to be relaxed open. The shoulders should hang down and the elbows should bend downward. The palms should be slightly extended and the fingers slightly bent. Use intent to move the arms and chi to suffuse the fingers. As the days and months of practice accumulate, the internal energy connects and becomes nimble, and mysterious ability grows of itself.

4. In the two legs you must distinguish ’empty’ and ‘full’. Picking up and dropping (of the feet) should be like way a cat moves. When your body weight shifts to the left, then left is ‘full and the right is termed ’empty’. If you shift to the right, then right is ‘full’ and the left is termed empty’. What is termed empty is not really empty, the position still hasn’t been abandoned, but rather there is the intent of (possible) expanding or shrinking left there. What is termed ‘full’ is just weighted and that’s all, it is not using too much force or fierce strength. So when the leg bends it should go until it is straight up and down, further than that is called excessive force. The torso will tip forward and then you will have lost the centered posture and the opponent gets an opportunity to attack.

5. In the kicks we must distinguish between the two types: toe kicks (in the manual left and right separate leg, also called left and right flap legs)and heel kicks. In toe kicks, pay attention to the tip of the foot,whereas in heel kicks pay attention to the entire sole of the foot.When the intent arrives then the chi arrives and when the chi arrives then energy arrives by itself. But your bones and joints must relax open and you must stably kick out the foot. This is the easiest time to give rise to strong force. If the body is slightly bent then you will be unstable and the kicking foo twill not deliver much force.

In the process of learning Tai Chi, we first learn bare hand form(a solo exercise), such as Tai Chi Chuan, or Tai Chi Long Fist; after that comes single-handed push hands, fixed step push hands,moving step push hands, big rollback (da4lu3), sparring(san4shou3); and finally comes the weapons such as Tai Chi sword, Tai Chi knife, Tai Chi spear (13 spear).

As to practice times, every day after getting up practice the form twice. If you don’t have time in the morning, then twice before bed.You should practice seven or eight times a day, but at very least once in the morning and once at night.If you have been drinking heavily or have eaten a lot, avoid practice.For places to practice, a courtyard or large room with good air circulation and lots of light are suitable. But avoid places directly exposed to strong wind or places that are shady and damp or have poor air quality. Because once the body starts exercising, the breath naturally becomes deeper so strong wind or poor quality air,because they would go deep into the belly and harm the lungs,might easily cause illness. As for practice clothes, loose Chinese clothing or short clothing along with wide toed cloth shoes are suitable. When you practice, if you happen to perspire a lot don’t remove all your clothing or rinse with cold water; otherwise you might get sick.

The post A talk on the practice by Yang Chengfu appeared first on Yang Tai Chi.

Sink the shoulder and drop the elbows

Станислав Багалев — Sat, 10 Apr 2021 00:44:28 +0000

A series of essays by Holly Sweeney,Director, Montclair Center, New Jersey

To understand this principle, we have to begin with the basic anatomy of the arm structure at the shoulder.

There is one joint that connects all the bones of the arm structure to the rest of our body: the sternoclavicular joint (Figure 1, circle a). This joint is located on the top of the sternum (breastbone). From this joint, the clavicle extends outward and meets the acromium (the raised ridge of the scapula(shoulder blade). The meeting of these two bones form the second joint of the shoulder area, the acromioclavicular joint (Figure 1, circle b). The third joint we encounter is the glenohumeral joint (shoulder joint) which is formed by the rounded head of the humerus (long bone of the upper arm) resting against a depression on the outer edge of the scapula, the glenoid fossa(Figure 1, circle c).

Looking at the bones in the shoulder area, we can discern the job that each one does:

The clavicle holds the arm structure away from the body, the scapula provides muscle attachments that provide strength to the arm and connection to the rest of the body, the glenohumeral joint (shoulder joint) allows 360degrees of freedom in the movement of the arm.

The clavicle, in holding the arm away from the body in the rib area, fulfills two important functions.One is protective. The clavicle gives our bodies a “crumple zone”, to borrow a term from automobile designers. When we fall, the shoulder area is frequently the area of impact. The clavicle transfers the force of the fall across the top of the rib cage,absorbing energy and thus helping to prevent damage to the bones of the ribs and injury to the vital organs. If the fall is hard, the clavicle will sometimes break to dissipate the force that would otherwise damage the rib cage.

The other essential function of the clavicle is providing clearance for the glenohumeral joint.Without the clavicle, the shoulder joint would not be able to clear the rib cage and rotate with 360 degrees of freedom.

The scapula provides many surfaces for muscle attachments.Through these attachments, the arm structure is linked to the head, the rib cage, the vertebral column, and the pelvis. It is the position of the scapula, relative to the head and the rib cage, which creates the posture of the shoulder joint. The movement of the scapula raises, lowers, tilts, pulls back, or pulls forward the location of the shoulder joint relative to the rest of our body. The muscles that attach to the scapula are some of the most massive in our body. We can hang our entire body from one arm or do a handstand because of the power that is provided by the scapular muscles.

The glenohumeral joint, by contrast, is not built for power but for precision and range of movement. The muscles of the “rotator cuff ”that guide movement at the shoulder joint are positioned in away that is similar to the muscles that attach to the sphere of our eyeballs and allow our eyes to gaze in a 360 degree range. The design of the rotator cuff gives the glenohumeral joint (close up,pg.10) enormous flexibility.However, the rotator cuff is vulnerable to injury particularly when the rounded head of the humerus is pushed upward, in other words, when the shoulder joint is not sunk. This type of injury can happen when we fall onto our hand when our arm is stretched out with the elbow locked or when our arm is forced backward when it is raised up or when the shoulder joint is forced forward when the arm is held back(as in “rollback”).

Now that we have a basic knowledge of the anatomy of the arm structure, we can understand how to “sink our shoulders”. We know that to “sink the shoulder”we have to move the scapula in some way because it is the scapula that determines the posture of the shoulder joint.

In order to “sink the shoulder”,it is important to know what raises up the shoulder joint and prevents us from sinking it. The posture of your head affects the posture of your shoulder joint because of the many muscle attachments that connect the arm structure to the head. When your head is held forward of your body,(notice the position of your head relative to your body as you are reading this journal article!), your scapula will be pulled up and forward toward the top of your ribs. This raises up and tilts your shoulder joint forward, making it impossible to “sink” it (Figure 2a)

A more upright head posture(Figure 2b) will allow the scapula and shoulder joint to maintain a lower posture.

Next, we have to consider the muscles that can pull the scapula downward and thus lower the posture of the shoulder joint.Figure 3a diagrams the action of the pectoralis minor muscle with black arrows. This muscle pulls the scapula downward, forward,and in towards the ribs. We can feel the action of this muscle if we place the palm of our hand on our breastbone and let the fingers rest against our chest, reaching diagonally upward with the middle finger touching the caracoid process of the scapula – the bony“hook” we can see below “b” and beside “c” in Figure 1. With our hand in this position, Figure 3b,we can feel the action of this muscle if we tighten it to pull the shoulder joint down and forward relative to the front of our rib cage.

Looking at Figure 4a, we see arrows that represent the line of action of the serratus anteriormuscle. This muscle attaches to the inner surface of the scapula(the side that lies against the back of the rib cage) and reaches forward to connect to the firsteight or nine ribs toward the front of the rib cage. This muscle is easy to see on athletes who have developed great upper body strength, like boxers or gymnasts.If you look at the sides of their rib cage, serratus anterior looks like fingers reaching around and down toward the abdominal “six pack”muscles. When we activate this muscle, we can feel the lower edge of our scapula sliding diagonally down and forward, Figure 4b.The serratus anterior pulls the scapula from the back of our bodies toward the front, rotating the scapula slightly as its lower edge is pulled forward and down along the curve of the rib cage. As the scapula rotates, the shoulder joint is moved slightly outward,abducting the arm away from the body, which preserves the mobility and freedom of the glenohumeral joint.

Since discussion of the principle states that “sinking the shoulders” means the shoulders “relax open and hang downward”, the action of the serratus anteriormuscle combined with upright head posture would seem to fulfill the requirement. Of course, in any action, many muscles contribute,so we are referring to the primary mover or line of action where we would focus our intention as we strive to fulfill the principle.

The action of the pectoralis minor muscle also lowers the shoulder joint but it closes the arm toward the ribs rather than opening the arm. If we compare Figure 5a and Figure 5b, we see “sink the shoulder” using two different intentions. In Figure 5a, the intention is through the pectoralis minor muscle and in Figure 5b, the intention is lead through the serratus anterior muscle. In both photos, the shoulder joint is lowered. In 5a, the joint is also pulled in toward the body, or closed. In 5b, the joint is slightly abducted, or open. It would seem that Figure 5b illustrates an intention that is following the principle more accurately because it includes a concept of opening.

The position of the elbows is also mentioned the principle, chen zhui jian zui zhou. The elbows should be “dropped” or“drooped”. Again, we look to the study of anatomy to discover how elbows can be drooped while the arm is lifted up.

The orientation of the elbow joint, whether the elbow is pointed downward or outward or upward or inward, is determined by the rotation of the humerus, the long bone of the upper arm. Rotation of the arm bone calls into play the mighty latissimus dorsi muscle, diagrammed in Figure 6. This muscle is the primary link between the arm structure and the waist area.Without the action of the latissimus dorsi, there would be no way to transfer energy from the waist to the hands. “Drooping”the elbows requires rotation of the humerus, this action engages the latissimus dorsi, and connects the arm structure to the waist. The action of this muscle also draws the arm structure downward and backward, balancing the action of the serratus anterior which pulls the shoulder joint downward and forward. This forward and backward“dance” between the latissimusdorsi and the serratus anteriormuscles give the feeling that the shoulder joint is being moved from below rather than from above, in other words, the movement of the joint is “sunk”.

In summary, to fulfill this principle we have to keep in mind a few points:

1. The position of our head will affect our ability to sink our shoulders.

2. Our shoulder joint is lowered by moving our scapula.

3. It is important to keep our shoulder joint open when we sink it to retain flexibility in our shoulder joint.

4. Sinking the shoulder joint protects us from injury.

5. By rotating our elbows downward, we connect our arms to our waist area.

The post Sink the shoulder and drop the elbows appeared first on Yang Tai Chi.

Practice continuously and without interruption

Станислав Багалев — Sat, 10 Apr 2021 00:34:18 +0000

Written and illustrated by Holly Sweeney

Yang Chengfu’s Ten Essentials insured that the practice of Tai Chi Chuan would improve people’s health. It is impossible to overstate the importance of these Ten Essentials in identifying the elements that make Tai Chi Chuan a healthful practice. Without the Ten Essentials, it is doubtful that Tai Chi Chuan would be recognized all over the world as a unique exercise system that offers special benefits to those who practice it.

PART I

Looking at: “Practice continuously

and without interruption”

Smooth continuous movement is probably the most recognizable characteristic of traditional Yang Style Tai Chi Chuan. Anyone who has ever witnessed Yang style Tai Chi players remembers this distinctive quality of their practice.

What is the benefit of “practice continuously and without interruption” from a scientific viewpoint? There are unique results that occur as a result of applying this principle from the Ten Essentials. Slow, smooth, continuous movement produces at least two special conditioning effects for nerves, muscles, and tendons. To understand the conditioning that occurs, we first have to learn about the functional properties of nerves, muscles, and tendons.

FUNCTIONALLY, a “muscle” represents a group of “motor units”.

A motor unit is one nerve cell, or neuron, and all the muscle fibers which it activates. (Figure 1) This is not the same as muscle structures that we see in anatomy books and that have familiar names like “biceps, triceps, quadriceps.” We cannot see a motor unit. However, any movement, large or small, weak or powerful, happens because motor units are called into action. When a motor unit activates, it is called “recruitment.”

“RECRUITMENT” means the excitement of a nerve and all the muscle fibers it activates.

Motor units vary according to the ratio of muscle fibers to each nerve cell. If there are just a few muscle fibers activated by one nerve cell, that kind of motor unit will be found in an area of the body where precise and controlled tasks are performed, like our hands. For instance, a motor unit in our hands could have one nerve that activates 12 muscle fibers, (a low ratio of 1/12) because our hands have to perform intricate tasks. With so few fibers to each nerve cell, there will be many motor units in our hands compared to say our thighs. In our thighs, we could have a motor unit with one nerve activating 2,000 muscle fibers, (a high ratio of 1/2,000), because power rather than precision is the main job for that part of our bodies. Generally, the ratio of nerve to muscle fibers in a motor unit varies according to the demands that are placed on the area of the body where that motor unit exists. For instance, a tap dancer will have more motor units in his feet and legs than the average person because he places more demand for precision on that part of his body than the average person.

The tap dancer’s increased number of motor units is an example of the way our bodies adapt to the demands we place on them. These adaptations will occur throughout our lives. In scientific language, this adaptation to demand is named “conditioning” or “training effect”.

Being able to move smoothly with as little or as much force as we wish to apply is quite a feat given the fact that muscle fibers are “all or nothing”. This means that when a motor unit is recruited, the muscle fibers in that unit contract, all the way, as hard as they can. So, how do we ever manage to control the way we move? There are two ways this is accomplished.

One way is that our brain can adjust the rate at which impulses arrive to stimulate our motor units. To sustain a movement, like we do when we hold a posture, a steady stream of nerve pulses must arrive to our motor units to keep the muscle fibers from relaxing between impulses. This works until the muscle fibers fatigue. Imagine a symphony conductor who is directing a whole orchestra of motor units. The conductor is tapping his baton in the air to indicate a continuous pulse in a particular section of the orchestra. The sound coming from this section would seem to be continuous until the motor units began to fatigue, then the sound would become shaky and disconnected. All of us have probably experienced this effect when we have held a Tai Chi posture for a long time and we feel a part of our body start to shake.

The other way we can make controlled continuous movement is by changing the number of motor units that are active at any one time. Muscle activity can be made smooth by making motor units recruit at different times. In this case, the symphony conductor would point his baton at one area of the orchestra and then another and then another in such a way that the sound would seem continuous and uninterrupted. While one section plays the other section rests for a moment but the sound is continuous. Sequential activation of motor units is an elegant solution for the problem of making smooth continuous movement because it prevents fatigue since some motor units can rest while other units work.

The practice of smooth, continuous, controlled movement demands that our bodies activate and maintain more motor units than quick or interrupted movement! This means that someone practicing Tai Chi is consistently activating more motor units per minute than a person playing, for example, tennis. This is a significant conditioning benefit, particularly when the normal process of aging is factored into the picture.

As we age, cells die and may or may not be replaced in our bodies. Nerve cells are part of this normal die-off. However, when a motor unit nerve cell dies, all the muscle fibers connected to it are rendered useless and will quickly atrophy unless those fibers are incorporated into another motor unit. Whether or not a new motor unit will be formed is largely dependent on demand. “Use it or lose it” is a wise axiom. If there is no demand for a motor unit, it will not be replaced. Our bodies are interested in efficiency; nothing is maintained unless it is needed for something.

Losing muscle mass and balance capabilities are well documented parts of the aging process. However, it is now understood that loss of motor units is a significant factor in both these age-related physical changes. It is now recognized that the most effective way to increase strength and balance in older adults is to practice activities that increase motor unit recruitment, which means that more motor units will be created and maintained. This is one of the reasons that Tai Chi has been proven to be so helpful in improving balance and strength in older populations. Tai Chi practice, with its emphasis on smooth continuous movement, demands the participation of many motor units throughout the body for prolonged periods of time. This requires that the body not only actively maintain existing motor units but create new ones to fulfill the demand! This is one of the most beneficial conditioning effects to be gained from practicing the Ten Essentials. What else does the principle “practice continuously and without interruption” do for us?

The other training benefit that we receive from practicing movements slowly and continuously has to do with our tendons. In order to make a movement, our muscles have to be attached to something. Tendons attach our muscles to our bones so that movement can occur at our joints. While muscles are “excitable” elastic tissues, meaning they actively change shape when stimulated by a nerve, tendons are “passive” elastic tissues, meaning they change shape when a pulling force acts on them.(Figure 2)

Tendons exhibit some of the most amazing biomechanical properties of any tissue in our bodies. For example, tendons have incredible tensile strength. “Tensile strength” means the ability to resist being pulled apart. A tendon can resist a pull of about 15,000 pounds. A muscle can resist only about a 30 pound pull before it tears apart. Also, tendons display different viscoelastic properties depending on how they are pulled. If the pull is even and continuous, tendons will “creep”, meaning slowly elongate. If the pull is sudden and abrupt, tendons will stiffen. This property of tendons is important to understand when we do stretching exercises. If we bounce our body weight into the stretch, our tendons will stiffen, exerting more pulling force on our muscles which can cause tears if the force is too great. If we do stretching exercises in a slow and gentle way, the tendons will elongate and our muscles will be protected from injury.

Another interesting property of tendons is their ability to store energy. Tendons can store about ten times more energy than steel and they are also very energy efficient – about 93% of the energy they store can be returned and used. In fact, the short term energy storage achieved by our tendons when we move around accounts for at least 50% of our bodies overall energy efficiency.

Tendons make the action of our muscles more powerful by storing the force of our muscle contractions. The slower the contraction, the more energy is transferred to the tendon. Therefore, the essential principle of continuous, uninterrupted movement performed at a slow rate of speed creates ideal conditions for maximum energy storage in our tendons which contributes greatly to our overall endurance and strength.

In summary, practicing Tai Chi Chuan with slow, smooth, flowing, uninterrupted movement provides a strong training effect for our bodies by stimulating our nervous systems to create and maintain high numbers of motor units and by exercising our tendons in a way that promotes elasticity and efficiency.

The post Practice continuously and without interruption appeared first on Yang Tai Chi.