I’ve had a fairly productive month in Taiji, but I’ve also had a bit of a rough one. My knees started becoming inflamed again, so I had to take it easy a couple of days.
There has been less emphasis on form work and more emphasis on push hands. We’ve also gotten into some of the theory beyond just application.
It seems like the “soft” or “internal” arts have a lot of theory discussion, particularly in terms of application, but not a lot of actual practice of application. This is why I like my school: it’s a martial school, and that means practicing the ideas behind the art. I’ve not yet started self defense training, nor learned how strike the right way, but that is because I need to learn how to use my body before I can do those things.
Push hands is a martial game in Taiji despite what any instructor tells you. The difference between push hands and sparring, or even fighting, is simply the energy used. Push hands is designed to train and test touch sensitivity and form. The same techniques can be applied to fighting by using more aggressive yang energy and being more sensitive with yin energy. That’s not really the complete story, but it is the basic idea.
Some of the things I’ve worked on in push hands are tackle negation, rear arm splitting, and some free form moving push hands.
I see, in my mind, tackle negation having some of the same blocking mechanics as should strike negation. The difference is instead of an upper torso negation, it is a lower torso negation, and the second arm plays a more important role in disrupting the attack. In negating a tackle, I use my elbow to roll my opponent around my structure and can then push or press, or use some other technique to disrupt his structure. In tackle negation, I use more of a peng technique with either an upper torso splitting or a push, depending on the type of tackle and where my arms are in relation to my opponent.
I’m really not likely to encounter a tackle maneuver in Taiji push hands because it can easily be done wrong, and cause a break in structure and loss of root. Strategically, it’s not a good idea unless you have a sure advantage in using it.
Previously, I had learned front arm splitting, which is the act of splitting my opponents structure using their front arm. Now, I’m learning how to do it from their rear arm. It’s not really that much different, but some of the energies are a little different. The advantage of using a front arm technique is it is easy to perform, and when done against someone who is less experienced, can be very successful. However, rear arm splitting adds a twist, so to speak. Rear arm splitting has the advantage of causing your opponent to be twisted, or crossed, making it very easy to knock him down.
I haven’t gotten into negating rear arm splitting just yet, but I have seen it briefly, and it appears to be quite different from front arm splitting.
During this next month (July) I will be taking a break from Taiji training. I am changing some focus in my life in order to attempt to break a problem I’m having that will take at least a month. Hopefully I’ll be able to make the appropriate adjustment to return to Taiji in August in much better health and begin new habits and start accelerating my growth into Taiji at least a small amount. With that said, I will most likely not be writing another This Month In Taijiquan until the end of August as I will only be focusing on form work during the next month while I pursue other goals.
Most of the names of the form movements used are referenced from http://www.egreenway.com/taichichuan/longyang.htm.
I train in traditional Yang style Taijiquan at Authentic Kung Fu Dallas under Sifu Bobby Garcia. Authentic Kung Fu Dallas also teaches adult and kids Northern Praying Mantis Boxing under Sifu Bobby Garcia, and Wing Chun Kuen under Joram Greber. http://www.authentickungfudallas.com/
These are my interpretations and thoughts on what I am learning and may not be entirely accurate. I do invite correction and discussion on anything mentioned. I encourage the use of my forum for further discussion.
leave a reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.