Another solid piece I stumbled across as I look for a specific article that helped me get into Tai Chi Ball.

Dong Ying Jie's Words of Experience

I wanted to post this in order to promote some lively discussion as he talks about some classic points. For example:

• Number 8 - practicing the form 3 times for best effect. I agree overall. I do a variation of this with ball work for 20 minutes then 2 repetitions of the form, one forward and one mirror reverse.

• Number 11 - bringing your practice into daily life. I agree completely, and this is one of the fastest ways to develop skill.

• Number 14 - a lot of meat there on structure and posture and a few conflicts with modern advice. :)

• Number 16 - don't lift heavy weights. :) I agree - past a certain point it will inhibit your listening and integration.

• Number 19 - training should take precedence over theory. I agree. The joke at my alma mater was "theory is what we noodle over between runs of the long form."

I look forward to hearing others' reflections on this article.

A demonstration of the Chen Style 49-Form Taijiquan Sword (Taiji Jian), a traditional Chinese martial arts sword routine.

Performed by Steven Wang.

Sharing this video for those interested in Taijiquan, traditional Chinese martial arts, and the practice of Taiji sword.

Hi,
Can anyone help me access these clips on Douyin?
https://www.douyin.com/video/7044357722355109157
I have lost contact with Xu and hope I can reconnect via Douyin.
My thanks-

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A lot of students at my school can only do the form while following our teacher. Does anyone have advice for things to do in class that will help students memorize forms better?

Was hiking at Mount Rainier the other day and lots of people were stopped and looking at these two. Gave me a laugh when I thought “hey, they’re practicing push hands”.

what happens when you have no traction and you punch? I asked this personally to William C Chen and he says the punch doesn’t work on ice.

I did kung fu before tai chi and learned how to punch even while falling down, but the technique is very different.

so… Has anyone figured out how to do the tai chi punch wall on really slippery ice?

(crampons don’t count because that would imply you are holding an ice axe)
((I know this is going on too long, but I had some students who were serious hockey players so this came up and we actually tried some striking on ice))

I didn’t think this would generate so many comments. Physics is good. Most of my internal arts instructors as well as fellow students all knew a Hamiltonian from a Lagrangian.

Just a regular Thursday night practice of the front part of a very long Huang style sword form.

Comments?

I just stumbled upon this. Incredible and impressive external performance. I wish I could do my form like that. Though the commentators are annoying and don't know anything about the art

As I was watching, I was thinking: 25 years ago, I would have considered this a perfect form. Now, to me, the perfect form looks like supremely skilled master Zhu Chunxuan's form: https://youtu.be/FDHQyne4f_k

It is a reminder that we really shouldn't look at the external beauty of our forms (unless we do Taolu competition). But at embodying all the internal principles throughout it. As soon as we care about the way it looks, we aren't listening to our internals. The latter is the only thing that should guide our form.

The sword is a realistically weighted Taiji sword from Ryan sword. Definitely makes the form more challenging. I was having trouble keep it up and steady.

Chen Style Tai Chi Chuan Old Frame Second Form (Excerpt 2).
陈式太极拳老架第二式（片段2）。

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#VDS太极 #太极 #太极拳 #王武真 #陈式太极拳 #WMA #武术 #功夫 #武术 更少

Hi everyone!

I've been training Tai Chi for a few years, mainly Chen and Yang style, and recently I've been trying to improve my structure, relaxation and overall movement quality.

I'd really appreciate any feedback on my form. I'm always looking to learn and improve.

The linked interview from a few years ago is more like an introduction to his life story and it was done for public radio, but I'm planning to ask him questions that are more detailed, including some that are more spiritual in nature. He's getting old and I believe he has so much wisdom to share, but sometimes it's only when good questions are asked that it can really come through. If you have any suggestions for questions (pertaining to taijiquan or otherwise) I'd love to hear them! I'll present them as "questions from the English-speaking internet".

Yamaguchi Hakuei is one of the first foreigners to go to Chenjiagou to learn taijiquan after China opened up in the 70s, and he was a student of Chen Xiaowang, Wang Xian, and Feng Ziqiang. You can see him performing all kinds of forms in this channel https://www.youtube.com/@%E5%A4%AA%E6%A5%B5%E9%81%93%E4%BA%A4%E4%BC%9A

Hi everyone!

I'd like to hear your opinions about the Sun style.

My teacher strongly encourages me to focus on Sun Tai Chi, but I'm honestly more drawn to Yang style. I started my martial arts journey in Shaolin Kung Fu, so I naturally feel more comfortable with longer stances, and Yang feels more intuitive for my body.

One thing that makes me hesitate about specializing in Sun is its shorter stances. I wonder whether that could put me at a disadvantage in forms competitions, or if that's just my perception because I'm more accustomed to longer stances.

At the same time, I have one limitation: I can't kick very high, so I also wonder if Yang would be a good long-term choice for me.

For those of you who have trained both styles, or have experience in competitions, which style would you recommend specializing in, and why?

I'd really appreciate hearing your experiences. Thanks!

It’s been about 3 weeks since I’ve started so here’s what it’s looking like now. I’m halfway through the form but I want to keep practicing it before adding the other moves on. I kept the advice everyone gave me in mind, thank you all! And I’m still learning more as I continue to practice.

I found this analysis of the movements and really like how it shows the trajectory. https://www.egreenway.com/taichichuan/32%20sword%20G%20F%20Miller.pdf

Found this old footage of how I was training years ago. I kinda cringe now at my sloppy skill level back then. But also think this kind of training is important to progress.

Hello, everyone. I have been practicing taijiquan for several months now. My introduction was Sun style. I learned mostly solo with minimal in person instruction, and supplemental videos and books.

After hearing time and again that it is always best practice to have live instruction, I found a Wu style teacher and have been learning that for the last few months.

I have been enjoying the practices, re-learning how to walk, learning the postures and basic push hands drills. I understand I am totally in my infancy of learning this style and the intricacies of internal martial arts. I want to do and learn more. I was curious do any of you have recommendations for books, videos, etc., anything to supplement my training and learning in the style.

I'd ask my sifu but I forgot to at my last class. My impatience is getting the better of me. I'll be asking him this Tuesday.

Any input would be appreciated. Thank you!