Tai Ji Student

Form without substance

2007-09-17T07:49:00.000+08:00

I've been doing the Sun style form since my first lesson with my current teacher. After learning the whole form, it's been doing it over and over again. The one consistent message which keeps coming through is this - my form lacks substance.

I've been trying to figure out what this "substance" is. I think it's the peng quality that should be present at all times, yet my teacher's peng is so hidden, I only realise it when i'm already off balance in push hands. It could be the whole body movement thing. Whatever it is, I was brought to a realisation of what "no substance" is instead of what "substance" is.

One of my push hands buddy gave me an empty push - he was pushing with his hands rather than any movement of the body. And it was done with such speed that it gave the impression of overpowering. It was then I understood what does "no substance" mean. Like a child waving a branch at a cat, the dead branch does not have any substance. If the child plans to whip the cat with the branch, the branch will then contain a kind of tension waiting to be released upon contact - and that's substance.

From that child and branch analogy, I guess what I should be looking for is to have that kind of tension stored in the body at all times. Wouldn't that be tiring? I'm not sure. But I already know what the second step is - to hide the tension, which I suppose, I need to relax the whole body, which in turn might be the first step towards having that kind of hidden tension my teacher has. It sounds like relaxing is the key so that you only release that kind of tension when you need it.

Relax to have tension. The statement is an irony in itself. Am just chasing my own tail?

Different kinds of teaching

2007-09-11T08:11:00.000+08:00

I am slowly aware of how different kind of teaching suits different people, now that I'm experimenting with my own students. However, the method that my current teacher is using, may not suit most people. I guess the first thing that comes to mind is - is he even teaching anything?!!

I'm still doing Sun style. I don't think I'm trying to perfect it, but more of trying to feel the qualitative difference between whole body movement and "broken" movements. I am more or less been left alone trying to "feel" it. It's different from what previous teachers do. Some try to bombard you with the hoard of knowledge they have. Some doesn't know what they're talking about. Some will correct every little bits to the nth degree. And now, no correction at all.

I'm not saying which one is best. I think the best teaching is that which suits me at this time. Sometimes, I wish he corrects me more, but sometimes, I think this is actually the kind of teaching I need at this point, because I already know the correction, just need to internalise the message into my body. So less is definitely more now. I'm struggling to break the barrier of "feeling it". If you're at a lost of what i'm trying to say, don't worry, that makes 2 of us. I somehow feel that the breakthrough is just round the corner, and yet, it's proving to be as elusive as ever.

I think my teacher realises this, and he tries to tease out this feeling through push hands as well as the form. We'll see where will this take us.

A compassionate teacher always loses

2007-07-20T00:07:00.000+08:00

Compassion has a bad name in the competitive world. It means losing. It means you're not up to standard. It means you're not promoted. It means you don't know how to play the game. But sometimes, in order to learn, a teacher has to show you what not to learn. And that is when he needs to "lose" to show you the way. Sadly, such teachings are only effective if the student is ready to learn. If the student is out to "win" the teacher, the loss is more than what the teacher is giving up, the loss is the lesson itself.

To put this into context, I first noticed this in a tai ji push hands class. The thing about push hands is that the more muscle you use, the harder you fall. Then I saw my teacher resisting the temptation to let that happen, but allow the student to continue to push him around, so that the student can learn and not just "push and be done".

I don't know about him, but I would think it must be boring for the teacher to continue to let the student push around and yet choose not to fight back. And yet, my current teacher is doing it over and over again. This is sometimes a more worthwhile lesson than push hands itself - compassion to teach.

My current teacher said that he has fused his life with Tai Ji's teachings. This is probably one of the fusions. If only more students realise what a gift the teacher has been presenting. Maybe you might notice this in one of your class one day. :)

My third teaching session - only one student!

2007-07-04T23:28:00.000+08:00

My third teaching session - only one student. I must be really boring my students! When my teacher commented about a student who didn't turn up, he made a comment which I didn't fully appreciate at the time. He said:

"for students who can't turn up, they should actually tell me in advance out of courtesy..."

For my students who didn't turn up, I actually had to ask if they were coming, just to realise only one could make it that day.

I wonder if it's because the classes are free and hence less appreciated than paid-for classes. My initial thought was to make them pay at least a little bit so that they have a financial stake in the class. And I was planning to donate the proceeds away just as an added incentive for turning up for classes.

I voted against it to see if any students will turn up in the first place. Will see how this goes. But somehow, learning Tai Ji IS boring, until you get the "joy" of it. While performing just to show them the full form, someone commented on how I was "enjoying" it. He had a hard time describing what he saw.

I guess it's a compliment in a sense, although to the trained eye, I'm probably still quite some way off! The more important point is, how to make a Tai Chi class more interesting. Some people like being shown the applications, some like the fact that they're learning something, some like the social aspect of it, some treat it as a form of dance choreography - once you get the movements, you have learnt Tai Chi.

For starters, I guess I have to cater to all tastes, just to get them through the "door". If you have any other suggestions on how to make a class more interesting, please suggest away!

The lure of anticipation

2007-06-28T07:53:00.000+08:00

It's quite common for me to anticipate the next move when doing Tai Chi, be it the form itself, or when doing push hands. Sometimes, you don't even anticipate the next move, you anticipate what's on TV tonight, and what's for dinner tonight, especially when doing Tai Ji!

Although it's not quite obvious why anticipating is bad for us, it's directly detrimental when doing push hands. You see, one of the big “no no” in push hands is to anticipate the next move, because once you anticipate, you’ll lose the moment and if the next action is not as anticipated, then you’ll be in a disadvantageous position. That’s why we are trained to “listen” to the opponent’s movement rather than anticipate.

With all the thinking going on in my head, no wonder my teacher says that those who think too much, can’t progress much in Tai Ji. We cannot be in that moment. We cannot be present to the moment. Always thinking about the next move, possibly thinking about what’s for dinner as well.

So, note to self (and to you fellow students as well), do not anticipate. Be as present as you can. No past, no future, just the present moment. You'll be surprised by the qualitative difference of this to your Tai Ji. There was once when I saw this Tai Ji practitioner doing the form, it was as though he was playing with the space around him. How's that for "in the moment"!

p/s: For a more general view of The Lure of Anticipation, you might want to read this article.

Learning less everyday

2007-06-24T10:25:00.000+08:00

My Tai Ji teacher recently highlighted that (in general), people who needs to think a lot at work are normally those who progressed slowly in Tai Chi. I casually mentioned that I also fall into that category.... and then there was silence.... and then we laughed! :D

I think (yikes!) the "thinking" which is restricting growth is normally the conscious thinking that we do. Conscious learning cannot be applied at will. You can only hold so much thought at any one time. To react to an ever changing situation, conscious thinking is a poor processor. You need a processor which is much more intuitive and with potentially limitless capacity to adapt to our ever changing environment. I think we need to "push" conscious learning to the other-than-conscious mind. To learn less consciously and learn more intuitively.

I hope to use this philosophy - learning less everyday - when learning Tai Chi. Let's see where this will take us.

p/s: this reminds me very much of Yoda - unlearn what you have learnt. :)

A student becomes a teacher

2007-06-17T09:01:00.000+08:00

After becoming a student for years, a few friends asked me to teach Tai Ji. I rejected profusely, citing some lame excuses e.g. not ready, not good enough, do not want to mislead etc. Of course, being friends, they have the normal comeback for each of my excuses. I think the fact that I'm not charging for the class gives a strong incentive for them to try out Tai Chi for the first time!

I did think about why I didn't want to teach in the first place. Those reasons cited were actually true. And yet, something is nagging at the back of my mind about each of these reasons.

1. I don't feel I'm ready to teach.

Then it hit me that I will never be ready. Or to phrase it differently, I can never be ready as I am ready now. There will always be excuses down the line that will make me feel that I'm not ready - the timing is not right, I don't have time, I'm tired etc. It sounds very much like the top 10 excuses for not training!

2. I don't feel I'm good enough.

Also, I will never be good enough. There will always be someone better than me, but the question is, am I good enough for them?

3. I didn't want to mislead them

I didn't want to mislead them, the way I saw some of the teachers misled me! But without those misleading twists in my Tai Ji path, I wouldn't have been able to distinguish the good from the bad. So in a way, meeting these teachers did help. Somehow, the dots are joining.

So...

The student hence became a teacher, to all 3 students in the first lesson. :D They did try to rope in some other friends, but no one were as keen as them, yet. Maybe after the first class, more will turn up, and better still, none will turn up! Will see how this goes. Watch this space!

Why train tai ji in the morning

2007-05-22T20:50:00.000+08:00

Practising tai ji is hard. But that's not an excuse to not practise. However, the "hard" part seems to nag louder than the "I want to practise" part. So I've rephrased the question to "how can I create the time to practise". I have tried night time, I have tried day time. I have tried weekends. I have tried anytime. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses. I have finally settled on mornings. Here's why.

1. Less distractions

There aren't much thoughts in the mornings, for me anyway. I just wake up and go to work. Everything in between is normally a blur. I would have brushed my teeth, had my breakfast, and changed into my work clothes. However, they are all part of a routine so much so that I wouldn't even think of them. The ultimate aim would be to incorporate training as part of this normal routine. The immediate aim of course, is just to do it in the morning, before the work piles up, before questions start flowing in, before problems start erupting at work or at home, before the day even starts!

2. Less guilt

If i've promised myself to practise everyday, I'll feel very guilty to break that promise. If I am suppose to practise at night, come night time, I will have plenty of excuses not to e.g. too hungry, too tired, something's on TV, worked late etc (see this post). However, if I have practised in the morning, not practising at night is "ok" because I have already done so in the morning. If I do practise again at night, it'll be a bonus!

3. Less stressful

I don't have to rush home after work. Work nowadays are normally unpredictable. It can drag on. Working late will provide a very strong disincentive to train (my top 10 excuses). Working late actually attracts all other excuses like too hungry, too tired, a lot in the mind etc.

4. Habit is stronger than motivation

A regular time slot for tai ji actually works better than coming up with motivation every time I want to practise. As mentioned in (1), the ideal will be to incorporate it as part of a routine. While aiming for that ideal, we can always "just do it" for now.

5. Good atmosphere

The morning air has a certain quality and calmness. It's like the world has fallen asleep and had a good rest. And my tai ji is trying to stir it into motion again.

Next action

I have been trying to maintain this "morning routine" for the past 1 month. I have failed on average about 2 days a week, which is still a good achievement for now. Some failed days are normally my "class" days. So it's not all bad. :) My next goal will be to maintain the same quality of mind from start of a form to the end of a form. Most of the time, I might start out good, but later in the form I'll be more tensed because of lack of concentration, legs giving way, distracted, too hot etc. Care to join me? It's always good to know someone else is training as well.

Moral Tai Ji sword

2007-05-14T20:15:00.000+08:00

Popular sports are normally made popular because of its simplicity. Football - you only need a ball, and some space, any space. Running - just a pair of shoes, even that can be replaced with bare feet! So for Tai Ji, bare hands form is the common pursuit. By venturing into weapons, you either got bored with bare hands, or you really like tai ji!

I've recently dabbled into tai ji broadsword. I guess my teacher got bored with me doing the same mistakes over and over again in the bare hands form. Or he might think that I need some cross training and swordplay might be a good alternative. Whatever the reasons, it started off by a simple question.

"You wanna learn sword?"

"why not..."

So it begins.

I've only started a little of the broad sword form. It's certainly more physically demanding due to an additional weapon. However, the main difference I found was the intent. I was being taught to "be a sword". A sword is made to cut, so I have to carry out that intent. Otherwise, the spirit of the sword is lost. The "performance" won't be as good.

I could tell the stark difference from how the teacher carried his sword to the way I carry it. His sword seems like its part of his arm. Mine seem like a symbiotic relationship gone wrong. His sword play exudes a certain lion quality - bold and steady, mine - it's like the domestic cat, although both is from the cat family, the difference can't be more explicit.

And what has all these got to do with moral tai ji?

I think Tai Ji can be quite a benevolent art. It can be compassionate as well since it only gives out what it receives. In some cases, some practitioner can actually return a force just enough for the opponent to understand and learn, and no more. Of course, this compassion is sometimes lost in the bid to win, commonly seen in push hands, and translated to lots of tug-of-war kind of push hands.

I do hope eventhough the sword is made to cut, I can wield the sword with the same compassion that was taught to me from Tai Ji bare hands form.

Still learning, hopefully always learning...

Having faith

2007-03-14T21:35:00.000+08:00

Today, I want to talk to you about having faith. Of course, i can't actually "talk" to you about it in the normal sense. But I do hope it will generate some thoughts in you and maybe connect us in a way as though we've just had a conversation, just because you have read my post. :)

I have been wanting to verbalise my thoughts on faith for a while. In an attempt to show my wisdom or ignorance on this topic (you be the judge), let's set the background a bit.

I have been learning tai ji for the past 10 years, without actually learning tai ji. I couldn't understand why I can't do the things I'm supposed to do. i couldn't understand why I can't learn the things I'm suppose to learn. I couldn't understand why has it taken me so long to find out that I haven't learnt anything!

Ok, to put things into perspective, I did learn something. I've learnt the movements associated with tai ji. You can instantly recognise someone doing tai ji by their slow movements in the park. I have learnt how to show those movements with reasonable proficiency which could pass as someone who knows a thing or two about tai ji to the untrained eye. They might see some grace in what I do, maybe even feel the softness and the calmness in the choreography.

To me, those are superficial, because I know I haven't learnt the real thing yet. I can theorise the principles associated with tai ji. I can relate the philosophy into my everyday life, although I can't apply it when I can, which goes back to my understanding of tai ji, which is not strong enough to apply in the everyday world.

To be fair, I have made some decisions in life based on the teachings of tai ji. So to say i can't apply the principles is not entirely true. But to be able to say I understand tai ji, I'll need to be able to apply it on a daily basis.

So what has all these got to do with having faith?

Some months ago, i started a private lesson in tai ji. There were plenty of doubts as you can see in this post. The top of the list of questions is "am I the worthy student". After several months, I still doubt myself, more often than expected, which also has the side effect of reducing how long and how hard I'm willing to train.

I'm not conceding that this is an unsolvable problem. In fact, this is not a problem to the world at large! There are plenty more problems that need solving immediately. But what do we normally do when a problem is unsolvable? What do we normally do when we are in despair? The common approach is to call out for God, to say your prayers, to ask for miracles.

It is this call that I want to talk about today.

I believe we have been calling for the wrong things. Regardless of your religion, we normally call for what we cannot achieve. And by calling for that, it's telling the whole world (and beyond) that you can't achieve what you want to achieve. Somehow, by calling this way, you are conceding you need out-of-this-world powers to help you achieve what you need to achieve.

I believe this is a self-prophecy. By telling the whole world that you can't do it, what you're going to get is just an echo of "you can't do it", which will in turn become the loudest broadcast to yourself to remind you that you can't do it. That's just going against what we are actually calling out in the first place!

I believe the call should be a call out to the world that I am going to have faith in myself. A call out to the world that I can actually solve the problem. A call out to the world that the solution that's presented to myself is for myself alone. And if that solution is not the solution I was expecting, maybe it's a solution to the "real" question that I am actually asking!

What I'm trying to say (in a roundabout way!) is that whatever you need is already in you. You just need to have faith in yourself. Having faith will immediately attract the tools you need for your solution. Instead of calling for the whole world to gang up on you, to remind you that you can't do it, you will have the whole world watching and urging you to succeed!

Top 10 excuses for not training

2007-02-23T09:20:00.000+08:00

There's a challenge over at Cook Ding's to dedicate just over a month to train/learn something you've been wanting to. The challenge read as follows:

... from Ash Wednesday (tomorrow) until Easter (April 8), train every day, without fail, no excuses. It's not as easy as it sounds. Some days, you might only be able to get a few minutes of training in; but the point is to do it everyday, no matter what.

I've been wanting to do this regardless of the challenge, but somehow there are always excuses. So i intend to list out my top excuses and hopefully, we can recognise these as excuses and don't use them!

My top 10 excuses (in no particular order) for not training tai ji everyday are:

not enough sleep

too tired

too hungry

need to go out later

need to do a lot of washing

no time/place to shower after training

a lot in the mind

need to spend time with family/friends

work

errands to run

I have purposely left out "no time" because I can't justify that as an excuse any longer. It hit me one day that there is always time, just have to decide how to spend it.

So what are your excuses? Please share and let us recognise them to remind ourselves that they are just excuses. :)

In the mood for learning

2007-02-19T09:55:00.000+08:00

Learning tai ji is hard work. I guess that's true with learning anything! The more common excuse for procastination (to learn) is that "I'm not in the mood". Taking tai ji as an example, it's highly dependent on the internal state of mind on what you actually learn in a training session.

When i'm not in a good mood, the training session feels wasted because I rushed the training, not appreciating the lessons i can gather from each move. This will actually make me feel less wanting to train and the initial thought of training for at least 1 hour will be shortened to 30 minutes, or less as i leave in a huff... ;) When I'm in a good mood, I feel that i've learnt so much that it's difficult to contain the joy of that learning experience!

Good mood breeds good learning. Bad mood breeds bad learning.

So how do you make sure you do "good learning" all the time? I believe the key is to move from bad mood to good mood whenever you are learning. Even when you are NOT learning, moving from bad mood to good mood is always a good thing!

There are several methods people use to move from bad mood to good mood. Some people prefer breathing exercises, slowing the rhythm of the breath seems to help them. Some likes listening to music. I find doing the form itself a good method to ease you into a good mood. Of course, you can always try alcohol, cigarettes, drugs... One of my teachers actually proposed a bit of alcohol before doing the form! (drunken tai chi anyone?) I personally don't do any of those but that's a choice on my part.

As I peel through these methods, somehow, "having fun" seems to underlie all of them! It's a useful gauge of your mood, and it's also a useful method to employ so that you are learning. With all the complexities of learning, having fun seems to be a simple rule to remember while you are learning!

So the next time you are trying to learn, try to remember to have fun. That way, your learning experience will be enhanced and you'll be having more fun. :D

Rules of engagement

2007-02-10T09:47:00.000+08:00

I was enjoying myself in a push hand exercise but my training partner was intent on uprooting me!

I asked: "Why push me all the way?"

He said: "In order to win in a push hand contest, I have to make at least one of your foot leave the ground to score a point."

"But I'm not in contest with you?!"

"You have to be, because that's how you will win!"

"I'm not trying to win! I'm trying to learn..."

"But every game has its rules of engagement. In push hands, that's the rule of engagement, to win."

At which point I realised that my rules of engagement were different to his!

It's quite liberating to remind myself why I do push hands in the first place. I'm trying to learn sensitivity, I'm trying to learn to relax, and above all, I'm trying to enjoy myself. Those are my rules of engagement. Facing an opponent like him, I've actually learnt more because of his different rules of engagement.

It might be a good thing to clarify the rules of engagement before you actually engage a person. But that defies the Rule of Diversity. The Rule of Diversity dictates that you'll have to train with different people, so that you will actually meet people with different rules of engagement!

That, brings us back to why we have to understand that different people will have different hands. :)

Choosing a tai chi style that suits you

2007-01-19T01:34:00.000+08:00

There was a comment over at wuijimon's on how different tai chi style may suit different kinds of people. This may be caused by different character, different body structure, different goals etc. I'm bow-legged and so I can't exactly keep the knees directly on top of the toes. It'll will always be leaning inwards, but it feels right because the kua is relaxed (read Tai Ji is a pain in the knee) and the posture feels strong. The direction of the knee is still in the direction of the toes.

So different body structure may merit different styles, but probably more so on personalised ways of doing the same style. Tai Ji is an internal martial art after all, so although the expression can be different, the inner quality is the same - relax, relax, relax!

However, instead of looking for a style that suits me, I find myself enjoying each style depending on the inner state of mind! When feeling more energetic, Chen style. When feeling more graceful, Yang style. When feeling very calm, Sun style. It also works the other way, i.e. different style will make me FEEL differently. I hope this is not a case of multiple personality disorder! :D

I guess what I'm tying to say is not to be fixated on any styles. Certain style will suit you at certain point in your life. And certain styles are only available to you at certain point in life! This is certainly the case for me where I didn't exactly choose which style to start off tai chi with, but just joined a local class and learnt whatever the teacher was teaching at that time (which happened to be Wu style for my introduction into Tai Ji!).

Just keep an open mind. A particular Tai Chi style may choose you instead of you choosing a Tai Chi style!

Taiji figure 8 training

2007-01-04T10:05:00.000+08:00

The figure 8 training method is to draw a figure 8 on a horizontal plane while you're in a horse stance, using your body as the pencil, and the butt as the pencil tip (or more precisely, the bottom of the vertical axis running through your body as the pencil tip). Please let me know if you have a good picture to illustrate this. My drawing skills are somewhat limited bordering on non-existent!

Anyway, my previous encounter with this training method was just to draw this figure 8, to train the legs and to train turning the body. Recently, I was asked to revisit this method again, but this time the kua should not protrude. This criteria was not previously included. By including this criteria alone, the intensity of the training is so great that I can't last more than 1 minute of it!

The protrusion of the kua was something recent to me. It is whenever the kua is not relaxed that there will be some protrusion, i.e. some tension at the kua. To resolve this, my current teacher suggests (among other things!) to try out this figure 8 training method.

If you have tried this before, or even if you haven't, please let me know if you are having similar experience. Just be careful about the knees, as the training may seem like drawing circles with the knees.

Strategies

2006-12-18T21:08:00.000+08:00

Pregnant woman on the train, should I get up and free my seat for her? The thing is, I wasn't sure if she's pregnant or not. It might be a very embarassing moment for both of us! Then the guy beside me just got up and left without saying a word or signalling that the seat is for her. He was actually standing up because his stop was here. But it is an interesting strategy nevertheless! It doesn't offend her and allow the "pregnant" woman to make her choice. Fantastic!

Teaching tai ji requires a similar strategy. Instead of saying you are wrong, the teacher said, I prefer it if it's done like this. I'm not planning to teach (not anytime soon anyway!) but it's interesting to observe how a teacher teaches, to see what kind of strategy he goes about to make the student understand. It's always the "win-win" strategy (like the above pregnant woman strategy) that always wins - do not strike at the ego, and yet allow the person to make his/her own choice.

Have you seen any examples of such strategies in your class (be it tai ji or otherwise) or in life? Please share it here!

The way of tea

2006-12-10T13:53:00.000+08:00

In the spirit of changing personalities (see previous post), I thought I highlight this beautiful account of the Way of Tea.

This person has described tea as moving meditation (not unlike tai ji at all!). She has also described how her behaviour has changed by following the Way of Tea, by having a "tea mind" in everything she does.

The philosophy behind having a simple cup of tea following the Way of Tea has much in common with the philosophy of Tai Ji. Have a read and I hope it's something you find interesting as well.

Push hands to change your personality

2006-12-07T01:21:00.000+08:00

It's not everyday I come across a fundamental change in a person in such a short space of time. This was the guy who treated the push hand exercise as a free sparring exercise (see previous article). The past few times I've pushed with him, his hand had lightened up. You can see the restrain he placed on himself by not trying to use force to win. Pushing with him was still aggressive, but this time, I believe both sides are benefiting.

A more surprising change was his personality. Not only was his hand lighter, but his whole demeanour was lighter as well. He is speaking up more, and he's more open now to speak about his mistakes. We actually discussed how to improve as we push each other around. This was such a positive improvement that I felt happy for him, and for others as well since we'll still need push and learn from him.

So there you go, push hands can change your personality. You heard it here first! Or maybe you've got similar stories as well, where tai ji has helped changed a person's personality, for the better I hope! Do share it here.

What does relax mean in tai chi?

2006-11-13T23:35:00.000+08:00

I didn't think relaxing can be confusing. We know how it feels, and yet, different people can interpret it differently. I was chatting away with a another tai ji student and I told him about how difficult it was to relax into the form. I told him to actually use Tai Chi as a martial art, you'll have to be able to achieve the relaxed state of mind in the heat of the battle! He said how difficult can relaxing be? And he showed me a limped hand gesture...

I think we all know what does relaxing feel like. It's a state of mind which is free from worry, free from stress. But when translated to the body, somehow asking the hand to relax is another ball game altogether. We know a tense shoulder is not relaxed, that's where the massuer comes in. So what does relax actually mean in the context of tai chi?

Being relaxed is a conscious effort. It requires your attention and will power to actually want to relax. Relaxing without being mindful about it is not relaxing, it's being lazy. A limped hand is not relaxed. However, if you have the intention to "limp" it, that is relaxed. The qualitative difference is quite startling. It is the difference between doing Tai Ji and being a zombie. Afterall, anything worth your attention would definitely merit your intention as well!*

So the next time you are trying to relax into your form, don't forget to be mindful about it. Of course, to concentrate to relax is actually counter-productive to achieving the state of relaxation! Just be aware of the need to relax. Coax the body into the state of relaxation. But let the body do the rest. You can't force it, but you can definitely tempt it and hopefully, it'll sway in your favour. As Oscar Wilde put it, "I can resist anything but temptation". The body would probably do the same. :)

* This was actually paraphrased from David Allen's Getting Things Done, thanks to the recommendation from wujimon. I think there will be more about this in time to come.

太极与我 Tai Ji and me

2006-11-10T00:49:00.000+08:00

我：太极呀太极，为什么你还不属于我呢?

太极：徒儿呀徒儿，其实我并不属于任何人，却又是大家所能拥有的。

我：那我为什么不能拥有你呢?

太极：那是在你拥有我之前要自己寻找的答案。

me: Dear Tai Ji, why are you still not mine?

Tai Ji: Dear student, I actually do not belong to anyone, and yet I am everyone's.

me: And so why can't you be mine?

Tai Ji: That is the answer you need to seek, before I am yours. :)

Lesson update - relax kua technique

2006-10-24T23:18:00.000+08:00

It's been a while since i've last written about my private tai chi lesson. I've finished the Sun style form some weeks ago, and now i suppose it's fine tuning. The usual suspects are still there - relax, relax, relax! Such a simple word and yet the permutations of body parts that can be relaxed is just too many! So i'm just going to highlight the one that I'm finding most difficult - the kua!

I guess many has written about the kua. I've linked it with why we have knee problems when doing tai ji. Just when I thought I was making some in roads, my push hands classes tell me otherwise. The message is always the same - the kua is not "loose" enough. Going through this with my teacher, he came up with a simple technique which I hope will help you too.

First, let's start with a test of loose kua. Do a horse stance. Turn your upper body to one side while in that stance. Both your knees should stay where they are. If they're following your movement, your kua is not loose.

To do this in a horse stance is difficult. So what he advised was to do it in a higher horse stance. Let the focus be on loosening the kua rather than do a "pretty" horse stance. Give the knees a rest. In fact, try to avoid bending the knees further in an attempt to loosen the kua. The knees are still kept bent though.

I find that this technique actually helps narrow the focus on relaxing the kua. It shuts out distractions from all the other body parts. Please let me know if this helps you, or if I've made this clear enough.

Chi running

2006-10-02T23:02:00.000+08:00

I've done Tai Chi. I've done running. And when I knew I could combine them both, I just couldn't resist to buy that book. And today was the first day I tried out Chi Running, and I have to say... I'm really impressed with the results!

Posture is important in Tai Chi. The alignment from head to toe is important to achieve the "connection" with the ground so that strength can be channelled properly throughout the body. To get proper alignment, I've relied on my own eyes, other people's eyes, my teacher's eyes, and ultimately, my own feeling.

This is exactly what Chi Running is trying to achieve, to use proper alignment to optimise the body structure such that it is most suitable for running. Skeptical? So was I, I just couldn't resist trying it out though. I ran for only 20 minutes, when I normally would have been exhausted, but surprised I wasn't panting. I wasn't even breathing hard. I didn't feel any strain on the leg muscles. No strain on the knees. And I felt energised to go on and on! I had to go because of other commitments, but I'll definitely try it again.

The marketing material says:

low injury rate

requires less effort

requires little or no recovery time after the run

feel energised

I say: if you forgot what it was like to run like a kid, when you don't even think about running but just have the abundance of energy a kid has, try Chi Running.

p/s: It's actually less intensive compared to my normal Tai Chi routine because of the smaller range of motion! So in a way, it's a good introduction to Tai Chi.

Push hands vs free sparring?

2006-09-17T23:40:00.000+08:00

My regular push hand class has pushed me further and further away - the "things I thought I knew" column is migrating to the "things I don't know" column. So i'm losing my balance more often, and losing concentration more often as well, while I ride the transitional learning curve.

One of the bad habits to prevent myself from falling is to grab hold of the opponent, assuming the "attack" has stopped. This method only works if your opponent has the same assumption! I found out through an eye-opening experience - I had a very aggressive opponent, who only wants to win rather than learn through push hands. So while I was falling away, I grabbed his hand which almost had my wrist twisted as he attacked further. I was glad I let go quick enough.
So after that, I curled my fingers up to prevent myself from grabbing again, sort of a loose clench. The opponent continued with his aggressiveness, and plenty of times, his hand was just too far into my domain that I could just break his arm! And I told him that, in which he replied with both his hands attacking the one-handed push hand. I stopped after a couple of rounds.

Moving on to a different opponent, he told me to relax the hand further, just have the intention is sufficient. After the "combat", this experience was more helpful to actually learn the "listening" skills required before I can even diffuse the attack.

I don't know about push hands in other places, but the spirit of push hands seem to have been lost in the midst to win the combat. It's becoming more like free sparring. I think if it's free sparring, it's free sparring. If it's push hands, it's push hands. I think doing free sparring when it's a push hands exercise can be dangerous. If I want to fight, I wouldn't be circling my hands round and round.

My teacher gave a more balanced view. He said we should still push with all opponents. Just remember to learn to deflect/diffuse the oncoming force without using force. Don't play the "i'm stronger than you" game. That way, I'll be learning while the opponent will be a good training partner (although he might not learn anything!).

So let the training begin...

Reading vs doing tai chi

2006-09-04T00:13:00.000+08:00

I read books to understand tai ji. I read books to find answers to why this move must be like this and why the hand must be there. I read to know more, to understand more. My conversation with my teacher told me something entirely different.

He reads to confirm his understanding. He buys lots of books when they're out. But he just puts it aside, until he's ready to read them. That's when he's learnt enough about a certain form and feel confident of his experience. Then only he consults the books.

I guess unconsciously, I am aware of my "lack of experience" part of my training. That's why i'm in a push hand class to test out the theories, and hopefully gain a better understanding of the theories. Never have I thought I should leave the books aside first and try to "feel" it.

Incidentally, I have left the books behind nowadays - which in retrospect, is probably a good thing! :D

Music, rhythm, and tai chi

2006-08-13T10:37:00.000+08:00

Music and rhythm. Do you find it helps your tai chi? Do you just have to have music in order to do tai ji or can make do without it?

My regular tai ji class normally plays some soothing music in the background. During the class, I don't actually realise it's there, but i think it helps in calming and slowing down the movements. It's a push hand class, so it probably can keep everyone from getting too "enthusiastic" in pushing!

Being in the park this morning, there's a group of tai chi class which moves to the beat of the music. Everyone started the form when the music started, and finished the form when the music stopped. And then there's this other group who only made some "grunts". I think it's some sort of "qi gong" method. All they did were some "aw"ing and "ooo"ing.

So what role does music play in your tai chi? Do you do it to the rhythm? Does it relax you? Or do you literally use music as a training method?

In the midst of all the different music going on in the park, I find my senses tuned in most to the rustling of the leaves, the chirping of the birds, the whistling of the insects. The quieter the mind, the louder they are. Now, that's music. :)

Be like a balloon

2006-08-10T23:57:00.000+08:00

I've been struggling with the "peng" jin and can't quite find the right balance between Peng and Muscle. Peng, it seems should have a balloon like quality to it - soft when in contact with something, but strong in terms of the quality of the expansion. It's the soft and strong that i'm trying to grasp. When I try to be soft, or more accurately be relaxed, the hand tends to be "limp". When I try to be strong, the hand just becomes stiff with little flexibility in the wrist, elbow, shoulder. Trying to find the balance is, erm, difficult (which i think is an understatement!).

The speed at which you train your form seems to help with honing this quality. The slower it is, the better you can feel the quality of "soft and strong". However, the leg will take its toll and thus shortening the training time.

Seems like training leg strength, relaxed kua, relaxed limbs etc must all come at the same time! I think that's probably one reason why form training is preferred over standing pole exercises (zhan zhuang). My current teacher made this point when i first started training with him. I'm pleasantly surprised when chessman made the same point in his post.

So back to form training...

My first private tai ji lesson

2006-07-03T21:35:00.000+08:00

To say it’s my first private tai ji lesson might not be entirely true, as I have come across several teachers over the years. None of those extended beyond anything more permanent. This is the first time I am able to commit to a teacher, or to be more accurate, this is the first time that an opportunity presented itself in the form of a teacher just for me!

The class started off with some of the standard questions - how long you’ve been doing tai ji, what style, what teacher etc. Then, it’s “show me your tai ji”. I was a bit nervous as I haven’t had ONE pair of eyes staring only at me. It was 6 in the morning. There weren’t many other people to distract him.

I did Chen Lao Jia Yi Lu. I was trying hard to show my best, but because of that, my mind just couldn’t relax to let it flow. Nothing was connecting. And then the leg got wobbly because of lack of concentration. And then I forgot a move. Imagine that…

I eventually stopped half-way and just asked him “how was it”.

“You look a bit nervous…”

*feeble smile* (You’re damn right…)

Because of the many corrections required, he suggested that I start afresh with a new style and stick to it. This does have the advantage of not requiring me to unlearn all my previous bad habits, plus it’s something new to learn, which is always nice in itself. And there it goes, my first lesson in Sun style tai ji.

I picked up the general form quite easily due to the similarities with the other styles. One thing which required a bit of adjustment is the leg movement. It features quite a mobile base. I’m sure I will write more about this in time.

After all the “hard work”, we started chatting. I asked him about his training previously. It was 3 hours in the morning, 3 hours at night. Mental note - I’m not doing enough, not even close! I asked him about standing poles vs form training. He trained mostly in forms. He said standing poles are good, but don’t do too long. It gives a good root, but may lead you to having “dead weight”, i.e. the feet may become accustom to one posture and will not be as nimble. He told me to focus on doing the form, and making sure each movement is well rooted. That’s as much as I can remember from the lesson.

It feels good to be part of a class again. Gets me focused on training and won’t stray too far off from getting the basics correct rather than cultivating another set of bad habits.

Searching for the feeling

2006-06-27T12:22:00.000+08:00

Wujimon wrote an interesting post on how tai chi is taught through the transmission of touch. The lessons learnt from these corrections normally far outweigh any other class room exposure I've had. I especially remember the "don't look down" criteria. I have a tendency to look down to check the posture alignment but was always told to "feel" the posture alignment rather than judging it with my own eyes.

So one night, during a standing posture training, the spine suddenly just lengthens and there was this rush of heat, what wujimon refers to as "the burn". And then I understood what correct alignment feels like. However, since that experience, I've been trying to reproduce that feeling. It's difficult. I haven't been able to reproduce it as intensely as the first time. And then I find myself frustrated over not being able to do it. The training boils down to "searching for the feeling".

I spend more time searching for the feeling and forgot that I must just allow the feeling to manifest itself. Self-correct based on feeling does have this disadvantage. So, what did I do? I stopped doing tai ji for a while, and went back to it when I "forgot" about the feeling. ;)

Taking private lessons

2006-06-12T23:46:00.000+08:00

Chessman wrote a very interesting article on personal transmission in Tai Ji. I've always suspected that some things are better, or sometimes only, taught personally rather than in a group setting. I've heard stories of how other teachers learn and the better ones are those who just practise with their teachers on a daily basis. However, there's a constant internal struggle on whether I should go down this route. The hotly debated points boil down to the following:

1. Am I the worthy student?

I guess this is on top of the list - always doubting myself whether I can actually go to a higher level. I enjoy learning all aspects of Tai Ji. But could I actually be that worthy student? Am I talented enough to go to the higher level? I can't kid myself on this as some talent is required. Could I actually be that person?

2. Is he/she a worthy teacher?

A more difficult question to answer, as you'll never find out until some time down the line when you begin find more questions than can be answered by the teacher.

3. Can I afford the fees?

This could be at the top as well because, if it's free, I would have tried it out for a few sessions to see if I'm getting the real deal! Never mind if I'm the worthy student or if the teacher is good. Plus, like wujimon, I've got a sore spot for martial arts. If it's quality training, I am quite willing to pay. However, I am accountable to more than myself now.

4. Can I afford the time?

I have all the time in the world now and yet I can't justify to myself to spend on a private tutor. When I rejoin the rat race, I have a feeling that time will be a luxury. However, I can afford it then though. ;)

So....

It's difficult to find a balance between these factors. Or maybe I'm just missing something really obvious here, like what do I really want... or how badly do I want it?

Have you debated these in your head before? I think these criteria equally applies to anything that you have thought of learning, be it yoga, salsa, a new language, piano, how to draw, how to write etc. What thought process did you go through? Did it boil down to these 2 questions - what do you really really want & how badly do you want it?

The 4 stages of learning

2006-06-12T18:40:00.000+08:00

I am reading The Winning Investment Habits of Warren Buffett & George Soros and one of the chapters deal with the 4 stages of learning - in this case, learning how to invest. The 4 stages are:

Unconscious incompetence

Conscious incompetence

Consicious competence

Unconscious competence

In other words, each of the above stage means that:

You don't know that you don't know

You know that you don't know

You know what you know and know what you don't know

You unconsciously know that you know

I'm surprised I found these gems in an investment book. In the context of Tai Ji, they fit quite well as well! I think i am in the 2nd stage, where I now realise I don't actually know that much. What I find interesting is that stage 1 can easily be mistaken as stage 3, where you think you know what you already know, and know what you don't know. I think a lot of people fall into this trap when doing tai ji, especially those who have been "at it" for a long time.

It's difficult to admit that all your training has not even scratched the surface of what is tai ji. But without realising that you are in stage 1, you can't actually move to stage 2, not to mention stage 3! Stage 1 is where confidence is highest, but skills is lowest - ignorance is bliss, until you find out that you don't actually know anything!

So, are you brave enough to admit that you're in stage 1?

Dreaming one day that i'll be in stage 4...

Heightened senses

2006-05-29T09:11:00.000+08:00

Another morning of tai ji. Not that I've been doing rather religiously... Motivation low these days. And I can't blame it on the weather in Singapore as I normally do in Scotland. I could always blame it on mosquitoes... ;)

I've been doing tai ji at the top level of a multi-storey carpark. It's quite quiet and with trees surrounding the carpark, it's quite a nice environment. After a few standing postures, I proceed to a small part of the form, focusing on the transitions. It's quite taxing and the mind just wanders and gets tired. Nothing to do with the body can't take it though, coz I could still walk home. ;)

On my way back, suddenly everything sounds very clear. I could hear the crisp sound of my footsteps. I could hear the woman talking to herself (or mobile phone!) far away. I could hear the sound made by the tires of the bicycle with the pavement. All the voices are clearer than normal. What's going on here? Has anyone got this sensation after practice?

Telling others about tai ji

2006-05-24T15:23:00.000+08:00

I always find it difficult to judge how much to talk about tai ji with non-tai ji folk or tai ji beginners. It's ok if someone comes up to you and ask a specific question, like what comes after this step. The more difficult ones i've encountered are... can tai chi kill? Even the mere mention that tai ji is a martial art is sufficient to deter most people from doing tai ji! So what do you do? Depending on who you meet, will you actively try to bring tai ji into the conversation? Or will you withhold unless someone raised it first?

Push hands offers a very helpful solution. Let's look at some of the common rules for push hands.

Only move when the opponent moves. And if the opponent doesn't move? You may choose to tempt the person into thinking that you're in a disadvantage position so that the opponent does move. This tests how much your opponent wants to move.
Only push as far as you can manage without losing your balance.
Only push as far as what the opponent can reasonably take. He or she is your training partner after all!
Always keep your core balanced.

Now, can we translate this to how we tell others about tai ji? Let's see...

Only tell when someone asks. If no one ask, you may choose to tempt the person into asking. This also tests how much that person wants to know.
Only talk about what you know, without losing your head!
Only talk as far as what the person wants to know. You're engaging in a conversation after all!
Always keep your core balanced, i.e. remember what's important to you in the conversation.

This works when you're telling others about something you feel passionate about as well. Common culprits are those who talk about politics and religion. They just don't know when to stop. Maybe we should introduce tai ji as part of political science or religious studies. So, another reason to learn tai ji, the different theories packaged into tai ji is useful in real life!

What to wear when doing Tai Ji

2006-05-21T10:28:00.000+08:00

I'm surprised i'm actually posting this as I have never been associated to having any fashion sense! in this rare occasion, my wife will totally back me up on this point. But since i've recently purchased two identical track bottoms, I think i shall venture down the road of humiliation by attempting to convince you what kind of gear do you require to get you started in tai ji.

First, if you've never done tai ji before, forget about getting any gear! Just dress depending on the environment and weather (if outdoors). For outdoor classes, dress as you would dress going out for a walk. The most important thing is to just go join a class, wearing anything you feel comfortable in. There are no special shoes required. You can go in a simple sports shoes, or if you haven't got one, go in any shoes you have. If you find your shoes restrict you, just go bare-footed. You can go in your jeans if that's comfortable to you. You can go in your shorts if you prefer.

The key is, do not invest in any gear until you actually find yourself liking tai ji!

It sounds kind'a strange me not promoting tai ji, but I believe there's something equivalent to tai ji for everyone. Tai ji works for me, for now. It complements what I want to achieve in life at this period of my life. There are plenty of examples what "does it" for other people, like jogging or swimming in the morning, poetry, bible etc. It's the counterweight for all the "hard" things that we do everyday.

So, you have decided you like tai ji. What next? The most important will be shoes... flexible, flat sole shoes are the best. Canvas type shoes are normally good value for money, but might be cold during winter times (if you practice outdoors!). If you can afford soft leather shoes, go for it. But remember, you'll need to really balance it with the amount of practice you're doing. No point buying a pair of expensive shoes when all you do with it is to slip it on only when you're going to class!

And why did I buy track bottoms? After coming back to Malaysia, the weather here does not permit me to wear my fleece track bottoms, the ones i use to wear in Scotland! So i've opted for shorts. They are good in this climate, but is restrictive in terms of movements. The shorts i'm wearing are not very short shorts (those you see marathon runners wear), but just common beach wear type shorts. They restrict movements when I'm trying to do a slightly wider stance, or going from a wider stance to a smaller stance. So every time i move through the form, i add extra movements into the form like pulling up my shorts.... Also, there are plenty of mosquitoes here in the mornings and evenings. I could have some of the star constellations mapped out on my legs! I wonder why i didn't buy the track bottoms earlier...

So when choosing a track bottom, make sure the thickness and material is suited for your climate. Also, try it on to see if it's truly stretchable. Check that you can actually stretch your legs without adjusting the trackies.

Now, towards the luxurious end, you can get yourself the full works of silk material. They are expensive. And the quality varies as well. If you're not a silk person, you won't know how to differentiate good silk from bad. So, buy from someone you can trust, and get advice from them.

The incentive to get really good attire is that you might perform better and practise harder. I've seen people who got them and actually put in that much more effort to make the silk costume look good! or i should say to make them look better in the silk costume, but it's difficult to tell who they're working for, the costume or themselves. ;)

There's nothing wrong with that and if that works as a motivational factor for you, please do so! From experience in other sports, I know they are just temporary and won't last long. The novelty of fashionable stuff wears off pretty quickly. I haven't and still don't own a silk costume. Of course, economics may play an important role. Getting fashionable stuff is expensive hobby! That's why it's a very lucrative business in itself.

So just focus on tai ji. The improvements you make while practising tai ji is more rewarding qualitatively. You can always decide later to get the top-notch stuff when you feel you've finally mastered something. I find that the more I know, the more I find myself in the "I don't know" camp. So i'm still putting off buying a silk costume. :)

New website

2006-05-19T10:07:00.000+08:00

After the long silence, i've decided to move my blogs to one site.

http://shanglee.com

For tai ji blog only, please go to

http://shanglee.com/blog/category/tai-ji/

i'm still tweaking the site a little, but most of all previous posts are there. some are even updated! no prize for those who find it though. ;) please also let me know if there are any broken links!

Remember to update your links!

What is kua?

2006-05-04T14:17:00.000+08:00

Kua is the link between your hips and your thighs. That's my basic understanding of it. But a good test of a relaxed kua is when you can't find your kua! The tension between thigh and hip disappears. I've actually felt this in a teacher. But I can't reproduce it myself. Only very rarely that i can reproduce it in a high stance (you don't need a low stance for a song kua) and the rest of the legs hurt like hell! The good thing about that is you can feel the whole of the feet "grabbing" the ground (全脚抓地). Rooted, if only for a few seconds. I'm in the process of extending the time I can do this, and hopefully, I'll be able to do it in other wider and lower stances as well. I'm still in the high stance.

Categories

Tai ji is a pain in the knee!

2006-05-04T13:39:00.000+08:00

Knee pains are really common in Tai Chi. I remembered my first time (!) when I had a knee pain from doing tai ji training. It was quite frustrating especially when I asked the teacher and all the teacher said was... "yes, there must be something wrong with your stance". The teacher might have good intentions by wanting me to find out on my own, but I wasn't buying it. After that remark, I stopped going to his class completely...

It was not until 2 years later did I find the real reason for the pain in the knee. I must be really unlucky or did not have much fate in meeting teachers. I wonder if this is one of those things you hear about that "when the student is ready the teacher will appear"! I guess I wasn't ready for a long time.

Anyway, just to hope that you don't fall into this trap as well, I hope I can share a bit of my thoughts here on knee pain.

A popular correction for knee pain is that "your knee should point in the direction of your toes". I've tried this for ages, and everytime I find my knee not pointing in that direction, I literally move the knee into that direction. This works for a while, but it's difficult to see where the knee is in some postures (unless you have a mirror or an experienced person who can spot these things!). By the time your head moved round to see where your knee is, you would have moved your knee, thus invalidating your observation. Remember Schrodinger's cat from your physics days? (I can't claim I could, but visually, this theory is easy to remember just because there's a cat involved.) So, what do you do in such a situation?

The answer to this is a seemingly unrelated aspect, SONG KUA! A lot of body pains can be related to this "song kua" but we'll focus on the knee in this article. It's not the knee which is pointing the wrong direction, it's the kua that's not relaxed enough resulting in a wrongly pointed knee! (This was such an epiphany for me at that time!) By relaxing your kua, your knee is automatically allowed to move wherever feels natural, and the natural position is the same direction as the toes! Correcting the knee itself is actually the wrong approach to solving the knee problem. Relaxing the kua is. But correcting the knee is easier to understand and teach. Because, how would you explain what the kua is? Maybe this post might help.

Another common thing I do during training is to "bounce" up and down to test whether I'm in the correct position, and whether the kua is relaxed enough. This, as I've just found today, is very bad for the knee! The knee is already under a lot of pressure, and you're still adding more stress to it! When in the form, just move on, and don't try dance half-way doing the form.

Let me know if these techniques help.

How to train longer?

2006-05-02T21:02:00.000+08:00

I've been trying to train a bit longer now that I have more time in my hands. It's not going as planned. With all the good intentions of training longer every time i stepped out the door, always end up coming back earlier than intended. Today, i tried training the very basics of standing with "song kua". I didn't even try a very low stance. It's as high as you can get but to make sure the kua is really open. Apparently, as I found out today, it's when you place your finger at your kua, you can't actually feel any tension!...

I just stood there in a meditational posture, remembering also to keep the back straight. It was really tiring and when i opened my eyes (i.e. i couldn't take it any longer), it was just over 5 minutes! My goodness... And then, the rest of the form training was more difficult because of that. Legs were just like jelly.

Sometimes, just before coming back, i'll ask myself "can i stand the pain a bit longer"? And then the counter in the head would be "i won't be doing any quality training because i couldn't concentrate on being relaxed when the legs are shaking". And then if i do come back from training.. "i could have trained a bit longer"...

All the battle of thoughts, and I've come to one conclusion inspired by the form itself. What do you do when you train with the form? Do you try to correct every bit with the principles as you go through it? Or do you try to go with the flow?

I find that correcting bits when going through the form very tiring. It's like checking the dictionary for every word you don't understand! I've actually tried doing this once, but you just lose interest in the whole story. After that, I end up just checking one or two words that interest me, and try to fully understand those words.

Similarly, when going through the form, you can just pick and choose a section that you want to work on and practise that section separately, trying to fully understand it. Keep the section you're trying to practice as short as possible so that you get maximum focus.

When doing the form itself, try to remember the corrections when going through the form. But when you passed that bit that you've just remembered you've done wrongly, don't go back. You end up losing the flow and ultimately lose interest. Force yourself to carry on. And accept that you've made a mistake. At least you've spotted it and is conscious of it. Find some way to remember it so that you can do it the next time. I find blogging helps!

So when you come back from training and feel that you should have done longer, force yourself to carry on and accept that you've given up that chance to do longer. At least you've spotted it and is conscious of it. Find a way to remind yourself that you'll do longer the next time. Any suggestions warmly welcomed!

A great push hander

2006-05-01T21:47:00.000+08:00

One of my teachers said, a good push-hander is someone whom you can't test his intentions but end up being led away. With a great push-hander, you won't even realise that he or she has led you away because it looked so effortless that you thought it's all your fault for losing your own footing!

And what happens when 2 great push-handers meet? they'll just touch each other (at the wrists of course) and know who's less competent. Of course, that's all speculation. It'll be good to actually witness such a concrete example! Let me know if someone actually managed to arrange such a contest.

Such a contest might be boring to watch if all they did is touch for a few seconds and start congratulating each other's Gong Fu! Maybe it's ego at stake and they would like to give/keep their "faces". We'll never really know what happened. Only the push-handers themselves will know. That might be the main point though. Push hand is to test the push-handers, not a demonstrative sport. It's meant to test your own skills, not to show others that you've pushed someone 10 feet away.

Categories

World Tai Chi Day

2006-05-01T08:37:00.000+08:00

I was actually surprised when wujimon told me there's a World Tai Chi and Qi Gong Day. It took me a while to find out that this started 8 years ago and is being held on the last saturday of April each year (it wasn't clear from the website until i went through their PowerPoint Presentation!).

Let's see, what did I do on Saturday. I was at an education fair learning about what courses are being offered out there. I was later in a beach enjoying the sands and the sea, doing no Tai Ji though... I've actually declared everyday to be a Tai Ji day, but naturally, the tendency to be lazy is always there, if only I knew it was a world Tai Chi day... nah, i don't think that'll help. Back to my everyday's Tai Chi day routine.

Did anyone do anything special on Saturday to celebrate the World Tai Chi day?

Categories

event

Take off (your clothes) and enter - immediately!

2006-04-28T13:15:00.000+08:00

My teacher gave me a very useful mnemonic yesterday. It's when using 玉女穿梭 or more commonly translated as Fair Lady Playing/Working/Weaving shuttles.

The mnemonic only works well in Mandarin, so my English speaking readers will just have to remember that after guiding the opponent's attacking hand upwards, your own attacking hand should immediately enter into the opponent's space. It's not a parry then punch (with fist or palm), it's a parry (by guiding away) AND punch at the same time. In Mandarin, this sounds very much like taking off your clothes and enter immediately! It's the age old marketing technique - sex sells!

And for the Chinese speaking readers, 托了就进。也就是说别浪费时间，脱了就进！哈哈。。。

Categories

mnemonic

Different people different hands

2006-04-27T23:52:00.000+08:00

Different people different hands, sounds obvious but often forgotten. We have to treat each hand differently, that is we have to treat each opponent differently. Everyone has different strengths and weaknesses. Everyone has their own preferences and dislikes. Everyone pushes in a different rhythm.

However the best ones have no preferences (or dislikes). The best ones will just "listen" to the opponent and adapt. The best ones understand that different people has different hands.

I guess right now i'm so far from it, I just try to focus on "song kua". I always wonder why most push hands people i've seen always have a very "strong" hand, i.e. muscle more than whole body movement. A lot of them also seem intent on winning! I'm always skeptical pushing with these people because, as much as I want to learn the whole body movement, I'm very likely to be drawn into a strength contest! I guess now I understand how to learn from these people. I also have to understand that different people have different hands. That's how I will improve!

So push with as many people as you can, but remember the principles. Let them push you around but don't forget the principles. Just understand how to adapt. You'll learn more that way and sooner or later, you'll be "winning" just because you have understood and learnt from them.

Remember, different people, different hands!

Categories

pushhand

Where are the good teachers?

2006-04-26T14:38:00.000+08:00

Finding good teachers is difficult everywhere. I've posted this question to Jarek Szymanski who started the website China From Inside and he too relates to the difficulty of finding a teacher who can teach the basics, even in China! So where are all the good teachers then? Should we wait for the teacher to appear in front of you before starting tai ji just because you don't want to be led down the "wrong" path?...(click here for more)

My experience with teachers has been to learn from whoever's in the vicinity. It's something to do with fate, if you believe in that sort of thing. It's also a very practical approach. If the class is close to you, chances are high that you're going to attend his class quite regularly. However, this approach doesn't filter out the good from the bad. It does take a lot of trial and error to find someone whom you can really trust and whom you think knows his stuff.

A proxy to finding a good instructor is to look at the size of the class. The larger the size, the class is generally more well regarded. The fact that the instructor has students coming along on a regular basis must mean that he's got something to teach.

Another proxy is to look at the diversity of the class. Diversity can be in terms of age, sex and physical attributes. If there's equal numbers of young and old, the instruction must be generic enough to be applied to people of all ages, and yet specific enough to keep both the young and the old to keep coming back for more classes - a sign of a good teacher. Similar argument can be used when looking at the sex composition of the class or the physical attributes of her students. The more diverse the class is, it means the teacher really understands the theory and can apply it to all sections of the society.

Both these proxies work well to a certain extent. There's also Mike Sigman's teacher's test (just google it, you'll find plenty of places talking about this test) which I haven't tried before just because I'm too timid to walk up to a teacher and say "push me"!

I find that the best teacher is always yourself! Treat all other teachers as guides to your own improvement. I use the word teacher as meaning the class instructor, the students and books you happen to read, because all can tell you what to do and what not to do.

Always question why each method has to be the case and experience it yourself. Only through self realisation that you truly understand the art that is Tai Chi. Your body actually knows more about what's wrong than you give it credit for. Listen to the aches and pains of the body. It's always an indication of something is wrong. Also listen for the flow and the "good feeling", that's also an indication of something is right. The key here is listen to yourself. Heighten the sensitivity to feel your body as you do your tai ji. Use the instruction from your teacher (be it the instructor or the student or a book) as a guide only. Until you feel it for yourself, the instruction will only remain as that - an instruction. You haven't learnt it yet. Stay true to Tai Ji! It's an experiential journey...

Categories

The waiting game

2006-04-25T15:25:00.000+08:00

Do you hate waiting? Waiting for your turn in the queue, waiting for the bus to arrive, waiting for the rain to stop, waiting for the clothes to dry, waiting for the lift to open its doors while you frantically press the "up" button, waiting for the perfect Tai Ji teacher to appear? Waiting for this paragraph to end?

Personally, I don't like waiting. So sometimes, I do wonder what attracted me to Tai Ji in the first place. As most people i've spoken to relate Tai Ji to slowly waving your hands and moving your legs - they can't wait for it to be over! They'll be thinking "what's for dinner tonight" or "what if I don't finish my work tonight" or "can that person stop coughing?"!!...(click here for more)

Even people who do Tai Ji regularly, when being corrected by a teacher, they can't wait for the instruction to be over because the legs hurt! It gets worse when the teacher is correcting you in front of the class, because you're trying to listen to the explanation, but at the same time trying to maintain composure so as not to crumble under muscle stress!!

So why wait?

One of my teachers gave me the most interesting answer. It's a measure of Gong Fu - i.e. a measure of how much skill you have acquired throughout the years. Execution of a technique takes patience - waiting for the right moment. To be able to wait is to be able to tell your body to hold on that bit longer, to have the will power to tell your muscles that another minute is still ok.

That's my motivation to wait. To be able to tell myself that I can wait that bit longer. To be able to tell myself that my will power is strong. And hopefully one day, to be able to tell the guy on the floor that "I've waited for you for 30 years, that's why i'm still standing and you're on the floor..." ;)

Categories

general

A spine (tingling) question

2006-04-23T14:01:00.000+08:00

This question has been with me for a while, and when I thought I found the answer, something (or rather someone!) else always manage to prove otherwise.

I've been doing various styles just because I happen to be in the location and that teacher of a particular style happens to be there. After speaking to many teachers, this fundamental question seems to elude me. The direction of the lower spine.

Chen style seems to have a lower spine slightly facing backward (buttocks slightly sticking out) whereas Yang style and Sun style seems to make sure it's tucked in. The theory (normal reference is Wong Zong Yue) seems to be in favour of the post-Chen styles due to the straight spine alignment. But looking at Chen Xiao Wang, there is no doubt that his method is very effective. Maybe someone on the internet can enlighten me?

Categories

Stand like a mountain!

2006-04-22T12:03:00.000+08:00

Need motivation? Have doubts about Tai Chi? Check out this video! It's a news clip reporting on Chen Xiao Wang, and how the Tae Kwan Do School was trying to challenge him. It's reported in Mandarin but I'm sure the demonstration will speak for itself.. ;)

I've met him once in Bristol, UK. I flew down from Scotland just to see with my own eyes why he's so highly regarded. As I was the only Mandarin speaking person there, he gave me a bit more instruction. Actually, i got much more than an instruction - he corrected my posture...(click here for more)

I was actually devastated after he corrected my posture. My legs were aching like they've never been before. I was sweating like a pig in spring time! And more importantly, I've realised all that I have learnt has not even scraped the surface of the real Tai Chi! After investing years of training, it was disappointing to find that out, to say the least!

On hindsight, I was really lucky to have met him. It was a turning point for me. It opened my eyes to what Tai Chi really is and can do. Knowing the theory is only part of the understanding. To fully understand tai chi, you have to know it through and through, from balls to bones (to borrow a phrase from the Matrix).

Watching a video of him does give me a lot of motivation to train up again. To aspire to get the real deal. Hopefully, the clip can do the same for you too!

Categories

Tai Ji or Tai Chi?

2006-04-21T16:16:00.000+08:00

I've never realised the distinction between them until a Chinese teacher of mine pointed it out. He just came from China to UK and found it bizarre why we call Tai Ji, Tai Chi? Chi as it is pronounced refers to something else in Mandarin, more commonly written as Qi (or Ki in Japanese). Whereas Ji is what is translated as "ultimate" or "extreme". You may have heard of Tai Chi Chuan sometimes being referred to as the Grand Ultimate Fist!

So why do we inherit the name Tai Chi? ...(click here for more)Apparently, it was one type of romanization of the Chinese language (the romanization system is known as the Wade-Giles system. As mentioned in Wikipedia, it's not useful for teaching Chinese pronunciation! There are more modern romanizations now. I based mine on the Han Yu Pin Yin system I was taught at a very young age. It's taught mainly to Chinese communities rather than non-Chinese communities. However, since more and more people are taking up Mandarin, it may become de facto standard very soon!

On the topic of definitions, thought you might like to know that Chuan or Quan is commonly translated to fist (as in Grand Ultimate Fist). The fist here actually means that it can be used to punch, i.e. Tai Ji is a martial art, a self-defence system! As with any martial art system, it'll take years of dilligent practice before it can be used in self-defence. You have to be so patient, so calm and so confident that you're able to "listen" to your opponent in the heat of the battle!

I'm sure more will be blogged about this in the future, but fear not, all practice is not lost. The beauty of Tai Ji is that you'll benefit if you practise correctly and regularly. So, keep on practising!

Categories

Breaking a habit

2006-04-20T13:51:00.000+08:00

Habit - a recurrent, often unconscious pattern of behavior that is acquired through frequent repetition. Note the word frequent!

I was doing Tai Ji in a public park today, when I came across a teacher telling his students to walk backwards! ...(click here for more)I was a bit amused at what teachers can come up with, and so I eavesdropped... Apparently, it's got something to do with the spine (I couldn't hear the full conversation).

However, it wasn't the fact that walking backwards got me thinking. It was the message that the teacher is trying to tell them, whether the students, or the teacher realised it or not! The best training to improve is to incorporate the training into your daily life - like walking backwards in the park to get home!

A lot of the general training of Tai Ji can be incorporated into the daily life, like correct back posture. You can do that in front of the TV, standing up, walking to the toilet etc. What about at work? I knew someone who had to move parcels from one desk to the other, and he emphasised on the waist turning to move it from one to the other. What about push open the door using the waist? You get the drift...

So, try to put practice into your daily life. Remember, you're trying to break habits your body has known for a long time. The best way to do that is to convert the training into your new habits by slotting them into your daily routine. You're only limited by your imagination!

Categories

Becoming a student

2006-04-17T09:35:00.000+08:00

So why after all these years, i'm suddenly declaring to become a student again?

First, I like being a student. It's got its own special aura to it. You don't need to act like you know something (which in fact you don't!). You don't need to feel stupid or ignorant because you're both simultaneously! And the best part is, you get to ask all the silly questions and make all the mistakes you can think of, and no one will think less of you, or be annoyed at you!

However, I have to say that the biggest incentive to become a student is the humility that follows it. Most learning adults, after being at it for a while, will come to a point where they feel they know a lot already and hence stop improving, stop learning. It is this hole i'm trying to avoid falling into.

I've also been "at it" for a number of years. Yet, i felt like I've not actually grasp the fundamentals! The basics are normally the most difficult to grasp, despite the name "basic".

So, be a student. You will feel lighter and more open to new ways. It keeps everything you try to learn fresh as you'll be always questioning. And hence you'll be always learning, always improving... ;)

Categories

Starting to learn tai ji

2006-04-16T22:19:00.000+08:00

Tai Ji is popular in Malaysia, which is where I was born. However, it's always got that senior citizen stigma attached to it. When you're a teenager, I wouldn't brag or be seen that I was doing Tai Ji. It's uncool and certainly not something I would tell girls about! At that age, anything not cool was not girl-friendly! It was only when I was doing university in Scotland that I first started doing Tai Ji, or more commonly known there as Tai Chi. I was 20 then...(click here for more)

Starting to learn anything new has its ups and downs moments. The upside is that you get to learn something new, meet new people and feel like a student in school again. The downside unfortunately, is also each and everyone of those things, learning something new (starting again), meeting new people (that you probably want to avoid) and feel like a student in school again (being corrected for every single mistake you make, feeling stupid and ignorant). It is very much a case of how you view it, a glass half full or half empty.

So why is starting something new so difficult? We can come up with a variety of reasons e.g. not cool, no shoes, no proper attire, no place to learn, no teacher, no motivation, no buddy to go with, no interest but forced to learn (by husband/wife/childern, by health or the lack of!), learning place too far, don't like the people there, no result, too hot, too cold etc. The list just goes on and on, limited only by your own imagination.

Why not put this imagination into better use and focus on the outcome you want to achieve rather than the excuses for not achieving? By imagining the result, you're building a goal for yourself, something to aspire to. By imagining excuses, you're chaining yourself to a rock. With each new excuse, you're adding another layer to the rock, making it harder and harder to move on, to start. One day, you'll find yourself so reluctant to move that no amount of persuasion will let you leave your rock. You've become the rock!

So if you've built yourself a large rock, the first step is to stop adding more layers to the rock. Stop giving yourself more excuses not to start. Remember, more excuses, bigger rock! Lugging a big rock around is heavy, even though it's metaphorical. You will feel its weight everytime you feel like starting but just can't seem to motivate yourself to. It feeds on your negativity and becomes stronger as your will power becomes weaker. So stop feeding it. Your negative thoughts are its food.

Then, start chipping away at the rock by imagining the outcome you want. Removing layer upon layer by thinking the positive things you want to achieve like better health, expanding your social circle, meeting like-minded people, having strong legs, build stamina, feel good at work, feel motivated in life etc. Slowly but surely, your rock will reduce in size.

However, the key to each of these steps is to start. If you're like me, you'll probably need something to jump-start that engine. I set my alarm to go off at 6 in the morning today and forced myself to wake up eventhough it's a weekend. Once out there in the open, all the laziness just fade away as soon as I start doing and stop thinking of excuses. Find something drastic that you need to do to jump-start your engine. All you need is that one time. So, stop reading this and go out now! Do come back some time today ;)

Categories

Introduction

2006-02-22T03:36:00.000+08:00

I'm about to become a tai ji student... again. Hopefully i can chart my progress here as a tai ji student and share some of my views on tai ji. It may inspire you to take up the art, or you may walk away in disgust, never to visit this site again.. that's up to you. BUT, if i did stir such an emotion in you, there's probably something in tai ji for you. ;)

Forever a student of tai ji...