Doing Tai Chi in the park

Discussion in 'Tai chi' started by Ventguy, Sep 28, 2012.

  1. embra

    embra Valued Member

    I use this quite a lot and often recover my balance. My dickie right hip-joint is never going to see me win a PH competition, but I can use footwork, pivoting and timing a lot more to use in moving step PH to my advantage, relative to fixed step PH.

    The real point for me of PH is its usage in applications - moving step brings this out much more than fixed-step.
     
    Last edited: Feb 17, 2014
  2. taiji48

    taiji48 Valued Member

    This is awesome. Thanks for sharing! Better than the TaijiZen. I will share it on other forums as well.:)
     
  3. Johnno

    Johnno Valued Member

    Isn't that simply the natural progression as people gain more experience? We start with single hand, then progress through the various double handed ones, then after that we progress to moving steps, and so forth.
     
  4. embra

    embra Valued Member

    Depends where you are coming from. It is true that PH progresses with developed skill, experience and interest - and this in turn depends on what you are exposed to, what teaching you experience, how impartial and informative it is and the people you train with.

    I came into TaiQiJuan just over 6 years ago, after a long spell (20+ years) away from all MA due to a dislocated right hip-joint from aikido im my distant youth.

    Aikido is a system essentially of applications (in Taichi terms), but has no forms(there are some - but minimal) or upfront Pushing Hands - it is there but it has taken me a long time to see this - the kokyo exercises of Aikido in their 'advanced' method have some similar exchange of force as in moving step PH.

    When I started TaiQiJuan, static fixed step was very, very hard for me - because my right hip-joint had a tendency to buckle and collapse my structure - but applications were much easier - because I was used to a lot of mobility, movement and joint alignment study (which I had worked on during my 20+ years away.)

    Now I have improved fixed-step PH quite a bit (but it will never be anything outstanding) and come to realise and develop the more mobile aspects of TaiQiJuan, of which moving step PH is one part of.

    It all depends what you're entry point is and how you develop from there.

    Once you get to grips with change and exchange of forces - essentially what PH is - WITH mobility and movement, applications much richer and a lot more interesting.
     
    Last edited: Feb 26, 2014
  5. YouKnowWho

    YouKnowWho Valued Member

    Same in my style as well. But we don't use push hands for competition.

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRN6taKRJzs"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRN6taKRJzs[/ame]

    The line between moving step push hand and wrestling is very difficult to draw. The moment that you apply arm drag, arm wrap, under hook, over hook, head lock, ... the moment that line no longer exist.

    A simple palm push is "push hand". A simple palm push + a simple leg hook is "wrestling".

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQRYtUExMZk"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQRYtUExMZk[/ame]
     
    Last edited: Feb 26, 2014
  6. embra

    embra Valued Member

    There are a lot of TCC folk who simply want to wrestle and compete in moving-step PH - and thats fine.

    Personally I am much more interested in developing the movements, contact qualities and changes - becoming conscious of them - as best I can, the tactics, timing and spacial mobility, recovery and others - and using this in applications - but this is just me.
     
  7. embra

    embra Valued Member

    Is Chang TQJ influenced/related to your Shiao Jiao John?
     
  8. YouKnowWho

    YouKnowWho Valued Member

    In Taiwan, people called Chang Taiji as wrestling Taiji.

    You can add

    - "scoop" into your Peng,
    - "spring" into your Lu,
    - "sharpen" into your Ji,
    - "hook" into your An,
    - ...
     
  9. embra

    embra Valued Member

    The hooking footwork of Chang TQJ looks quite similar to the leg sweeps we use in Cheng Tin Hung (Wudang)TQJ.
     
  10. taiji48

    taiji48 Valued Member

    I agree with you. I am thinking about changing my schedule so I can get up early and go to bed early. This way, I can practice outside in the early morning when the air is fresh.
     
  11. ninjedi

    ninjedi Valued Member

    why do it in the park, something wrong with your backyard?
     
  12. Johnno

    Johnno Valued Member

    Not everyone has a back yard. Or a front yard either.

    I'm very limited for space, so I can understand the appeal of practising in a park. Especially for weapons forms, where lack of space is especially restrictive. The trouble with that is that you might get arrested for practising with a sword in public. But doing something like a long spear form would be physically impossible in a house - unless you lived somewhere like Buckhingahm Palace. But they've got quite a large garden, I believe.
     
  13. ap Oweyn

    ap Oweyn Ret. Supporter

    Seems to me that, depending on where you are, the other people likely to be at the park at 5am are... wait for it... groups of taiji practitioners. Isn't that the iconic image of taiji training? Early mornings in the park. Hell, if I felt like I didn't know what I was doing and was self-conscious about it, that's the last time I'd pick to go. :)
     
  14. ned

    ned Valued Member

    This happened to a(Asian)friend of mine from my taiji class,last year.He was practicing with a wooden sword in the park,some concerned citizen called the police who(after searching his car nearby found his other metal sword) arrested him for possession of an offensive weapon.This despite him telling them he was practicing for an upcoming competition and showing them a clip from the previous year's event.
    It went to court and charges were only dropped a month or so ago.Can't help but feel none of it would have happened if it weren't for his ethnicity.
     
  15. Johnno

    Johnno Valued Member

    Hard to say whether ethnicity would make any difference. That would come down to the police officers involved. But if someone rings them up and reports a man waving a sword around in a public place then they're probably going to at least pop around and have a look.

    I don't even carry my wooden sword around in public. I take it to class in a hockey stick bag, which is a convenient way to carry it and which looks completely innocent. I haven't done any spear stuff yet, so I'll cross that bridge when I come to it!
     
  16. taiji48

    taiji48 Valued Member

    I never thought about this:mad:

    I am still learning the basic forms, but I am told we are going to learn Tai Chi Sword and then the Sabre form in September. It is going to be interesting if I take the sabre to the park.
     
  17. aaradia

    aaradia Choy Li Fut and Yang Tai Chi Chuan Student Moderator Supporter

    Yang style Sabre? That is a fun form! I like it a lot!

    Funny thing is, I originally thought it was a form developed by our GM. He does develop some forms. It feels a little well, CLF broadswordish to me- like a blend of CLF and TCC - which I like. But I found out it is a traditional full on TCC form developed before him.

    I guess it is because there are only so many ways to move a sabre. Or maybe Sabre/ broadsword moves come from a common MA ancestor/ lineage/ style?

    I also know the 2 person sabre. That one is a little weird. It just feels odd swinging a sword AT someone in slow motion.
     
  18. taiji48

    taiji48 Valued Member

    Yeah, I agree with you. Slow motion sword swinging is very weird. I hope it can help with my Tai Chi forms. I am never good with weapons.:mad:
     
  19. El Medico

    El Medico Valued Member

    TC weapon forms are,aside from the initial learning period of course, intended to be practiced at regular speed. When Yang and Wu simplified their hand forms in the 1920s they did not slow up the weapon forms.

    They add another dimension to TC training.If only practiced slow the returns are quite a bit less.Unfortunately this seems to have become more and more common as TC became more and more common.
     
  20. aaradia

    aaradia Choy Li Fut and Yang Tai Chi Chuan Student Moderator Supporter

    Solo weapons don't seem any weirder to me than solo hand forms.

    For some reason two person slow sword swinging (and evading etc.) seems different. I like it, but its weird.
     

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