The Hand & The Sword

The straight sword is an extension of the hand.

In the study of Taiji we need to learn the principles particularly that of the 3-Count and 5-Count properly. Otherwise, when we learn the straight sword we will have a hard time catching the proper timing required to move the straight sword in tandem with the body.

When I see my student play the straight sword form I see this problem so it bears repeating the importance of correct learning. In the initial stages of wielding the straight sword the student would normally not feel anything is off and wrong.

But when he has worked on it for some months he will start to have doubts on certain movements and the changes. If he has learned the 3-Count and 5-Count properly in the long form then he will make the connection between the empty hand and the straight sword as an extension of it. Subsequently, he will be able to apply the lessons previously to solving the problems of the straight sword.

Otherwise, he will have a hard time figuring things out especially when some of the changes in the movements of the straight sword can be very subtle and without the means to control the timing the movement would look off and the power will not come. Sometimes, one can cheat by doing the movements quickly to cover up but at the end of the day wrong is wrong and one will still not be able to control the straight sword.

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Form in Push Hands

Importance of Connecting

The taping of my student on two previous occasions had helped him to understand how he was inefficiently moving his legs in push hands. This is why I keep telling him to practice the form to acquire the correct habits.

This week the topic of doing form in a certain manner moved on to its role in fajing. After playing push hands for a while I decided to tape the last part of the training as my student couldn’t see clearly what was happening on my side.

To summarize :-

i) Practicing the form properly is the key to mastering the principles of fajing. Example of how to do form with the required nuances at 6:23-6:50.

ii) To do fajing one must be connected to the ground. The stronger the connection the better one is able to issue force like shooting an arrow from a bow.

iii) In combat one must have a reasonable amount of balance and mobility. If we sacrifice mobility in our quest to root strongly to the ground by using a wide base and bending the knees a lot then we will have a problem dealing with opponents who are good at striking. The question to ask is how to optimize balance and mobility.

iv) One needs to acquire small circle movements in the form in order to be able to adapt quickly to an opponent who will keep moving to take away your ability to connect correctly to him in order to issue your power to bounce him.

v) To use Taiji as an internal art we must conceal how we move our body to issue power. Even if our training partner were to touch our dantian they cannot feel any rotation; in fact they cannot feel anything yet they can feel our force acting on them. This is our definition of what internal is.

 

 

Linking, Flowing & Striking

A short clip for my student to study his own movement. In case you noticed and wonder, yes, I was doing the striking and defending with eyes closed. Despite looking intense it still came off as fun training as you can see from the laughter.

Youtube Playlists

Have created a few playlists for my Youtube channel so that its easier to see related videos.

No Beer, No Zen (Episode 3) – Mirror

Oh hello! How time flies. Another day, another drink and its time for No Beer, No Zen. Welcome!

You know what, Zen is like a mirror.

The mirror reflects the now, not a second ago and not a second later.

Because of this sometimes the learning of techniques in Tai Chi can be likened to one trying to be a mirror that reflects the before and the after rather than the present.

I am not saying that learning techniques are useless just that it should be a tool that cultivates the no mind state so that our reflexes becomes like a mirror that reflects the present reality.

Just like me here now, slightly tipsy. No matter how I wish otherwise a mirror would reflect my inebriated state instantly. So in Tai Chi push hands the technique is only as useful as the attack that the opponent is dishing out at that moment, not before, not after.

Before I start uttering more nonsense I better sign off. So cheerio and remember No Beer, No Zen. Goodbye.

No Beer, No Zen (Episode 2) – Clinging

Hello and welcome to another episode of No Beer, No Zen. I am Mu Shin.

Today let’s talk about clinging.

Yes, you heard correctly. Clinging.

To cling is to be attached. To be attached is to be enslaved. We cannot be free to express the art if we are enslaved.

In Tai Chi training if you cling to the notion of style, lineage and techniques then you can never be free. Yet, this does not mean that style, lineage and techniques are not important.

If you stare at the trees you cannot see the forest. But if you keep looking for the forest you may miss the trees. Confusing isn’t it?

Yet, strangely so it should not be confusing. If you are clinging then you will fail to understand the nature of Tai Chi. If so, invoking your style, lineage and techniques will mean little because you will still not be able to express the true principles of the art in your techniques.

You need to understand that the most powerful tool you have to master Tai Chi is your mind. If you are not mindful then your body will have no awareness.

When you think closely you will understand that the mind is like the body’s operating system, the software. The hardware on its own has no nature. Without the mind we might as well be the living dead. So no mind, no Tai Chi.

How the body moves, our perception of what Tai Chi is, how our ancestors conceive the art of Tai Chi, they are all but functions of the moving mind. The body’s motion is the mind’s motion. Motion by itself is mindless. And mind without a body is motionless.So both have a part to play. For us to master Tai Chi knowing which comes first is the key.

We need to heed the fact that emptiness is a requirement for the mind to manifest the essence of its function. Hence, the motion is the mind, yet the mind is motionless.

This is why in Tai Chi we must seek stillness in motion and motion in stillness. This principle is how the founders of Tai Chi saw the function of the mind in mastering Tai Chi. If we don’t even understand this much less manifest the principles in our movements how can we say that we are doing Tai Chi?

So stop clinging to that which does not help your mastery of Tai Chi. Remember No Beer, No Zen.

Goodbye.