In the Tai Chi tradition, apart from breathing exercises, there are 3 main types of movement exercises which facilitate development:

1. Form: Solo/Partner/weapons work
2. Qigong
3. Standing Postures

Form is very important in developing all aspects of Tai Chi and can encompass all the teachings of Tai Chi. Qigong has specific function towards both health and developing the internal for mind, body and even spirit too. However Standing postures can produce a love/hate relationship in as much as they can be demanding yet require no real movement externally and really does ask a lot of the internal workings as well as the mind.

In every posture of the form the requirement is to learn the physical shapes and order of postures so we can string them along into an elongated set of movements as practice to make the body healthier and stronger and also to examine the internal function to help us understand the function of postures (again for health but also for martial application). However the principle of internal : rooting in the feet; directing the force up the legs to the base of the spine; ascending the spine and separating between the shoulder so as to direct the whole body force out the arms to discharge through the hands, is exactly the same for Standing postures too. The single exception is that one is done with the application of external movement and the other is done with the application of  internal  movement.

The effects of Standing postures at first may seem small and time consuming by just standing there apparently doing nothing however the results of it are to unblock the stagnation and closed body habits of posture so the whole body force can consistently flow freely and unobstructed. Standing postures may be seen in this way as a foundation to the form, and a good method to return the body back to its original open state maybe after injuries or illness. This aspect shows that standing postures are a powerful yet simple Qigong exercise to aid health.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine the simple idea is that good robust health is obtained by balancing all systems in the body by maintaining a smooth and consistent even flow of whole body force. This same condition is what we employ every time we do form or partner work, so again it is the foundation of all of Tai Chi.

One of Yang Cheng-fu’s 10 essential points of Tai Chi is “Stillness within movement and movement within stillness” which is explicit in terms of Standing postures in that the external is still whilst the internal beavers away unblocking stagnation and allowing the infrastructure of our body to adjust and improve. The quote also is referring to whilst the external is moving we should have no tension but an even flow which is devoid of dense strength from the muscles thus creating internal stillness. The same movements that occur in standing postures occur in all form work too. This is why the form is considered a high level and complex qigong in its self.

Therefore good practice is when we relate to different modes of exercise within the Tai Chi portfolio, we can carry the same thread of practice through them all and gain overall benefits which are the same (despite some exercises being stylised towards specific purposes e’g’ health, martial art, meditation etc).

When we see some exercises of Tai Chi practice less favourable than others we are in effect denying all of the components of Tai Chi as they all lead to the same goal. Standing postures are simple in practice but demanding in patience usually because the muscles wear out quickly and start to ache. This is only a phase as the body recognises stagnation in the muscles and old habits in posture and seeks to correct them with alignment and opening the joints of the body. When the walls of obstruction gradually wear away and crumble the effects of standing posture and their practice can be quite powerful and satisfying. The results of them can be immediately injected into our form work to speed up our development.

If you find yourself standing in a queue for a period of time always try to employ the principles of relaxing the whole body, “stretching out the bones” more commonly known as not allowing the joint to close tight, and sinking the heavy down in the body to allow the light to rise up. Externally it looks like nothing is happening but if you can stand it you’ll find a whole world of curiosity waiting to be discovered inside.

I rarely cite whole articles from other sources in teaching but a topic that has arisen in 2019 so far is the use of the eyes in Tai Chi.

The eyes are said to express Spirit (Shen) and Intention (Yi) when doing Tai Chi meaning the Spirit shows aliveness and Intention shows awareness and content of the Tai Chi being done. This is important in the same way when we meet people inn life we looks to their eyes for a number or reasons maybe to check that they are engaged with us when we speak; to identify their sincerity in responding to us and also to maybe see register the quality of their conscious mind which is usually in Chinese Medicine and Internal arts referred to as Shen Ming ( quality of consciousness).

Dr Chi Chiang-tao said that the eyes can assist us in leading our intention when we do form and Push Hands and that with the mind we can mobilise the whole body movements on a deeper level.

So from Peter Lim’s wonderful website on Tai Chi I present a short article on how the Yang Family style of Tai Chi views the use of the eyes in Tai Chi, and I hope this increases our vision in all aspects of practice of our Tai Chi too.

Yang Style Eye Usage
By Yang Zheng Ji
Translated by Peter Lim Tian Tek

Yang style Taijiquan is very particular about the method of using the eyes. Tradition has it that when Yang Cheng Fu pushed hands or engaged in combat, when emitting jing would look at the opponent and the opponent on receiving the strength would fall in the direction which he looked. Looking at Yang Shao Hou’s precious image, his eyes appears to have brightness shooting forth, this is a result of long term training fully concentrating on the eyes as well as the internal qi.

Yang Cheng Fu said: ” The eyes though should look forward levelly, sometimes following the body and so shift, the line of sight though may be fixed on emptiness is an essential movement in the change, this compensates the body method’s inadequacies.”

Yang style Taijiquan’s requirements regarding the eyes are:

1. The eyes should look forward levelly. In normal circumstances, the eyes look levelly forward, looking through the hand in front towards the front, caring for the hand, but not fixed dead on the hand. The eyes can also look downward to the front, it must follow the boxing posture’s main hand movement and so determine the direction to look.
2. The expression of the eyes is in accordance to the movements, the principle of the eyes’s turning follows the body’s movements. The body moves the eyes follow, the body faces what direction, the eyes gaze towards that direction. Taijiquan’s practice has continuous forward advancing backward retreating left and right turns, when forward advancing backward retreating, left turn right rotate depends on the waist and body turning, the eyes in left looking right glancing must follow the waist and body’s turning to turn.
3. The eyes and the intent are consistant. The eyes are the mind’s focal point, what the mind is considering, the eyes is concentrated upon, if the eyes and the movements are not in accordance the internal and external are also not in agreement, the usage of the eyes have an important use in push hands, necessary to observe the opponent’s upper and lower portions, closely observing the direction of movement of the opponent’s back, in the course of movement catching hold of the opportune time to cause the opponent to be in a predicament.
4. The method of the eyes must be natural. When utilising the eyes, do not stare, do not close the eyes, keep the spirit held within. The correct use of the expression of the eyes has a relationship with the energy at the top is light and sensitive (xu ling ding jing), the energy at the top is light and sensitive, then the spirit can be raised, then the eyes will naturally have expression.

I hope everyone enjoyed their summer break and are ready to come back to classes which are commencing tomorrow Thursday 6th September – 7:00pm.

I thought I’d outline what to expect as a reminder of what has been and what will be. We will continue to practice the Long Form as our major form exercise and also continue to embed and refine the Da Lu we have all learnt as a rule for this term.

1. Whilst doing solo and partner practice over the break I thought it would be helpful to re-introduce the concept of weekly applications revision with a chance to review in order, hopefully every week, the applications of the Short Form postures on an ongoing basis. This will seek to both remind us all of the function of postures (which is vital to understanding the Jin level the 3rd level of practice in Dr Chi Chiang-tao’s levels of Taiji). Jin level is important to comprehend because it helps us understand the internal structure of how the body moves in order to perform the function of the application.
2. We will continue with the Da Lu we have learnt to further refine it but between now and Christmas I would like to start teaching the next Da Lu too which is the first one I learnt and is 7 postures long, and again is a 2-person exercise helping us to understand Taiji application concepts with pre-arranged movements.
3. I would like to take Push Hands further so all students feel able and well practiced at Roll-back, Press and Push as a standard practice of Push Hands.
4. Between now and Christmas I would also like to take my lead from the Taoist and Traditional Chinese Medicine line of though of teaching The Crane qigong exercise as with Taoist thought Autumn is the season of the element Metal and relates specially to both the Lower Intestine and the Lungs.

As ever the classes are yours and the direction is aided by myself to help all students develop and advance in Taiji for the benefit of your own personal mastery. Regular practice and repeated practice are the key in Taiji and after the first term back I will also re-visit for one 10 week term Yang Cheng-fu-‘s 10 essentials of Taiji which we will nimbly slip into every lesson.

If you have not practised as much as you have wanted to over the Summer have no fear as Thursday class will also offer up a good opportunity for revision and questions on basics as well as specifics as ever.

I will text you all as well and hope to see you all tomorrow.

Much Love

Phil.

Here is some footage showing Dr Chi performing Push Hands with his students, the most notable was Alan Peck’s first teacher Master John Kells.

The Da Lu you see in this footage is the one we are currently learning and therefore it is of good note to study it and absorb the dynamics and quality of application.

Many people ask about Tai Chi and whether it is effective as a martial art. The answer is yes however that is not a simple and straight forward yes. Finding someone who has trained well to demonstrate the applications and execute them effectively  approaches a fuller yes. This is just the same thing as a weapon. If a weapon is not handled with skill it might be ineffective in what it can achieve, and therefore it may not harm anyone, but in the hands of someone with knowledge and experience it then has deadly application. However, demonstration of applications and technique can be very useful not just to verify fighting ability but also more real time co-ordination.

Here a couple of clips of some useful and interesting application of Tai Chi postures and Tai Chi principles.

Here is an interesting clip of Master Sam Tam who was a peer of Master Alan Peck and who both studied under Grand Master Chi Chiang-tao at the same time.

Interesting and old footage of Grand Master Huang Sheng-shyan’s public and some would say controversial fight against a famed wrestler at the time circa late 1950’s early 1960’s.

An interesting clip from modern day martial artist both internal and externalist Chris Crudelli demonstrating Tai Chi fighting techniques.

From time to time I will try to post up some other bits of applications or even form work from past Masters as although the quality of film may be variable we can learn from this documentation the Tai Chi principles being used in either combat demonstration of form work.

In the  Tai Chi classics there is great mention of the hips or waist and the importance it plays in our Tai Chi practice. Yang Cheng-fu draws two of his 10 Golden rules of Tai Chi together to highlight this when he speaks of Loosening the Waist and uniting both upper and lower parts of the body. These 2 particular points have a special relationship in helping the body work as one unit.

This is not just for form practice but actually for all Tai Chi whether it’s open hand forms (Short and Long), Weapons forms and Push Hands too. Why are the hips and waist so important?

The hips/waist are at the bottom of the spine and therefore are the foundation for everything that happens in the upper body. However the hips/waist also sit on top of the legs and also act as the gateway to allow our root from the feet that then channels all movement up the legs to pass onto the spine. It’s like a lock-gate that you would see on a canal system on the river ways in that it controls what passes through it. Again the classics speak very clearly on how we transmit the force for all Tai Chi movement in our body when it says Qi is rooted in the feet; channelled  through the legs; directed by the waist onto the spine and then is expressed in the hands and fingers by way of the arms.

A common feeling in practitioners who cannot feel the whole body as one unit is that the legs move and the upper half of the body including the arms move separately. This is because the waist is closed and does allow the unification of upper and lower.

If we forcibly turn our waists with strength then we usually close it and we still keep the upper and lower separated. However if we sink our waist and hips, and like Tai Chi teachings make it feel like a ball on water i.e. frictionless, then we open it and can allow all the work we do with our feet connected to the ground to transmit naturally up through to the spine.

Push Hands is an excellent opportunity to learn how to loosen the waist and make it feel like a ball on water. In Push Hands we need to unite the sensitivity of the upper half of the body with the work done by the lower half of the body for yielding and attack to be successful. Yes, you’ve guessed it, the key to this is the loosening of the waist. In this way the hips/waist have 2 functions:

1. As mentioned their looseness allows us to make 2 separated movements of upper and lower into one whole body movement through connecting them together.
2. The loose turning of the waist is how we yield and neutralise an opponents attack.

When the lower lumbar of the spine is closed the backside protrudes a little and this is a physiological sign that the Tailbone/Coccyx known as the Wei-Lu in Tai Chi and Chinese Medicine has not sunk downwards to help lower alignment of the spine. Some Tai Chi schools of thought say we must tuck the Wei-lu down and in, which is not entirely correct. If we do this physically and with force tension can still be held and the waist actually can still remain closed. So we sink our mind intention or Yi down through the whole pelvis, and the effect can be felt very subtly at first of the Wei-lu dropping and an opening or greater connection from the legs up onto the spine. This opens up and connects upper and lower as Yang Cheng-fu instructs us. When we walk around in our normal lives it is a significantly valuable practice to sink the mind down through the pelvic region and let go of the waist all the time to open up the hips/waist.  This allows us to develop it as a good habit, and when we practice any form solo or with a partner we must try to do the same.

The other benefit of doing this, in and outside of our Tai Chi practice, is that it keeps the mind quite low in the body and thus naturally allows us to sink the Qi and reduce upper body tension, which is good for Tai Chi in general as well as our health. So in summary, the hips/waist help us to advance in our practice in all areas in Tai Chi and also help provide a better quality of health too. So make it your habit to loosen the waist, unite the upper and lower body into one and for Qi and internal force to take over tension and dissolve it so nothing obstructs your internal practice and experience.

In Tai Chi we always speak about various classical quotes from the canon of Tai Chi texts such as ” be rooted in the feet”, “the body moves as one unit”, “use the intention to move the body” and “keep the body sunk” etc. All these things are true and very important in Tai Chi and recognising them with actual experience helps us comprehend the teachings of the classics and what comes down through lineage teachers.

In order to assist us in developing our Tai Chi to the highest levels we all need to have clear instructions in what we are looking for as correct experience or else we never can tell if we have the goal in our sights.

So, attached here is an extremely useful pictogram of all the aspects one needs to get the Jin (or tai Chi intrinsic force) to come from the feet; through the legs; directed by the waist; up the spine and to separate between the shoulder blades to funnel out through the arms and hands. It simply splits down into the physical, energetic and mind aspects as a checklist of vital points one needs to get the force from foot to hand.

Hi all this is just a quick note to say that the first class back at the Lam Rim Centre will be Wednesday 2nd September at 8:00 – 9:30pm. From that point all other classes will continue as normal.

Monday classes will resume on Monday 7th September at 6:30-8:00pm.

As an additional note to late Wednesday classes, a local Yoga school has now taken up the early slot on a Wednesday. Due to the nature of their class structure, and after having a conversation with the teacher, can I ask all students not enter the hall (where we practice our form) to get to the café area until 7:50pm please. This is due to it being with beginners and a portion of teaching that requires meditation and out of respect I said the school would be mindful of this.

So as the weather is variable and we’re coming towards the end of Summer when coming in to the side entrance if you come early can you please either remain downstairs, or if you can get through the Main doors to the centre go up the central stairs (equally being mindful of practitioners in the practice rooms on the ground floor), to the café? Many thanks.

As with last year both classes over a 10 week period went through and reviewed Yang Cheng-fu’s 10 essential points of practice, this term we will be doing something similar. Over a 4 week period both classes will be being introduced to and taught Dr Chi Chiang-tao’s 7 point practice of Tai Chi.

Dr Chi Chiang-tao’s 7 Point’s of Practice:

1. Full

2. Empty

3. Yin

4. Yang

5. Open

6. Closed

7. Central Equilibrium

By paring up most the of the points we will deepen our practice of the natural and correct techniques of Tai Chi and how we can develop and advance our practice and experience. The 7 point principles are essential in Tai Chi whether you want to practice just for health or martial art. A thorough understanding of them is vital to advancing to higher stages in Tai Chi practice.

Enjoy the last week before we come back to classes and as the season transforms so does our awareness to make sure our practice adapts to any changes internal or external, yet always for ours and others benefits.

See you soon

Phil and Chris

An interesting little clip here at the turn of the 90’s of Master Alan Peck’s first tai Chi teacher back in London demonstrating the emptying and issuing forces developed in Push Hands:

Wu Yu-hsiang (who founded Wu Style Tai Chi) was a scholar from a wealthy and influential family who became a senior student of Yang Lu-Chan (founder of Yang style tai Chi). Wu’s most famous student was his nephew Li I Yu a formidable Tai Chi Master and a scholar who produced many manuscripts which are considered part of the canon of the tai Chi classics today. One of his most famous writing was called Song of the Essence and Application of T’ai chi Ch’uan. Please take some time to read and absorb the highly realised teachings he recorded which will contain many familiar sayings you may have read or heard in the classes: Li I Yu