Tension and Relaxation

Discussion in 'Tai chi' started by PsiCop, Sep 21, 2003.

  1. PsiCop

    PsiCop Antonio gets the women...

    I'm a 1st Dan in Tang Soo Do, a very hard style art similar to Tae Kwon Do. Well, I've heard my instructor tell me many times to loosen up and don't be so rigid. I've tried to do just that over the last year or two, but I just can't get it. When I try to use relaxation in all of my muscles except the necessary ones in a technique, I find my technique to be weak.

    This brings me to my question. Since your art is based on tension and relaxion of muscles until the point of strike, can you give me a few pointers or a link to an article that could help me learn to relax my muscles to increase my speed. I'm faster than most, but i realize that i could be even much faster than i am now if i could just get this down. any help is greatly appreciated. ;)
     
  2. TkdWarrior

    TkdWarrior Valued Member

    u r thinking too much, forget about relaxation n be relaxed... this is only way...
    -TkdWarrior-
     
  3. yangtaichi

    yangtaichi New Member

    you must think to unthink
    you must concentrate to loose your focus
    you must... not watch crappy 30 year old kung fu movies anymore

    j/k, i mean come on those are the best kind

    have you ever tried meditation? or just to relax in everyday life. let me ask you, how stressed are you, outside of the dojo? when you practice leave the world outside with your shoes at the door.
    i find even on my most stressed day, i be in the worst mood ever and just want to break something. but the shoes come off, i start the 8 jewels and by the time im done warming up im too sweaty to think about other stuff.

    so yeah what TKD said, just chill out, or as my sifu would put it

    have power without being stiff,
    be flexable without being weak

    hope this helps
     
  4. PsiCop

    PsiCop Antonio gets the women...

    I'm not stressed at all. I can do good relaxation techniques before going to sleep, and I can easily relax when i'm just chilling out. I only have a problem with doing it in my movement and techniques
     
  5. WhiteWizard

    WhiteWizard Arctic Assasain

    you could try doing your techniques slowly and really relaxed may get your body used to performing that way not sure if that would work but just a suggestion
     
  6. Kof_Andy

    Kof_Andy New Member

    Sometimes to learn correctly you must lose your strength first.;) Try doing the same technique like 500 times, and your last 100 you'll be forced to relaxe. hehe cause there is no more power left. Kicking punching has never been a problem for me, although i do this quiet often for iaido.
     
  7. nzric

    nzric on lookout for bad guys

    Try some general exercises with a partner where you don't have much time to react to an attack (where you defend from a natural stance, not from a rigid/sparring posture to begin with). If you see someone out of your peripheral vision coming at you with a strike you don't have much time to tense up and focus - therefore your defence will naturally be more relaxed and spontaneous.

    If anybody you know is into tai chi try two person exercises, especially da lu and san sao. Also, look into silk-reeling/sticking exercises (like chee sau) where you maintain body contact with the opponent to read his intention. This teaches relaxation pretty well as you need to be relaxed/yin to be receptive to how they move (and what they're planning).

    Use your body (legs, hips, waist) to direct and move your arms - try not to tense your arms at all. A lot of internal strikes are percussion-type blows, they're aimed at quick dislocation/joint breaking or pressure point (and eye/neck/groin) blows, so they're not designed with power (karate brick fighting styles) in mind. One point about internal strikes is that they're relaxed up to the point of impact, but another important thing is you need to relax immediately after the impact in order to get the whipping action.

    Check out Erle Montaigue (www.taijiworld.net) - he has a lot of free articles and he sells hundreds of videos online. His style is very martial as well so I'm sure you'll find some good tips (check out his online clip of "true fa-jing").
     
  8. PsiCop

    PsiCop Antonio gets the women...

    thanx, that helped quite a bit. ill try using what you guys said and see if i can make it more natural to act fluidly.
     

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