THE ART OF TAIJI BOXING (TAIJI QUAN SHU)

An  excellent translator of material on tai chi, bagua and xingye is the material by Brennan:

http://brennantranslation.wordpress.com/2012/03/21/the-art-of-taiji-boxing-taiji-quan-shu/

In 1909, I began to hear about Taiji Boxing, thanks to Zhang Lishi and Li Binfu. For more than eight years, Chen Weiming learned from Yang Chengfu of Guangping, and he repeatedly invited me to take part but nothing came of it. Then not longafter, Yang Chengfu travelled south, but Chen Weiming also knew Sun Lutang. I felt I was too old and it would be too difficult to learn, and Sun told me: “Don’t worry. When it comes to internal styles of boxing, if you can breathe you can learn.” My motivation was greatly roused, and I and Chen went to consult Yang Shaohou. A few months later, Shaohou’s younger brother, Chengfu, returned from the south, and we switched to learn from him.
     Now more than six years later, I have seen students come and go, some who have work at it, others who have given up, but Chen and I have promised each other that we will never interrupt our training. During the winters the training has made us too warm to wear our coats and in the summers our pores have poured, but we have never felt a sense of hardship. We have suffered injury from sparring and repeatedly succumbed to inefficient rigidity during the exercises, but we have never felt disgraced.
     The solo set is the foundation and the pushing hands is the function. In the beginning, you will follow along with the movements, precisely imitating them, and that is all. After a long time you will develop the ability to never disconnect from your opponent, then after a further time to be able to keep yourself from using resistance against him. Between operating as a whole and as many parts, gradually you will function in an organized way.
     What is especially difficult is for partners to stick to each other. Then they must work at positioning. Positioning is a matter of making distinction between smooth and coarse, moving with and moving against, and strength and weakness. With positioning grasped, they must work at direction, be it up or down, direct or at an angle. When you get it, it is like shooting a bullet. When you miss it, it is like shaking a tree. With direction grasped, they must work at timing. If I am early, my posture will not finish. If I am late, he will sense what I am doing and adjust. If you obtain all three of these things, then also your movement will achieve subtlety, your issuing will achieve suddenness, and your drawing in will achieve extending him. While I can know this in my heart and declare it with my mouth, I am still unable to be skillful with my hands. I see so many who practice it but they are all unable to be a match for Yang Chengfu, and yet he still talks of himself in comparison with his uncles, father, grandfather, and how there are certainly things he has not yet grasped, then sighs at how deep and broad the art is. When I consider what this art means to myself, it has two purposes:
     1. Everyone nowadays is aware that it is a means for nourishing the body. Mr. Xu of the Ministry of Communications is sixty this year, he had a hacking cough and was short of breath, but then he practiced this art and now he walks as if he is flying. A young man by the name of Du was an emaciate asthmatic but then he learned this art from his uncle and he is now an athletic boy. Others who have learned a mere section of it or even just one of its postures have been affected by it. I cannot say enough about it. This exercise is a case of pros without cons, and therefore it is something that would be wise to look into.
     2. What people nowadays are not yet very aware of is that it is a means for nourishing the emotions. Our problem is that we are superficial and in a hurry, and so we rely on strength and get lost in our emotions. The key to Taiji Boxing is: “energy sinking to the elixir field” and “mind calm and spirit concentrated”.
     The student first trains body, then mind, then spirit. The one with depth of skill reads the one with shallow skill, the one who is still controls the one who moves, and the one who is soft defeats the one who is hard. At its best, it can deal with a situation, and at its least, it can keep you from getting hurt. Therefore it makes no difference as to young or old, civil or martial, man or woman, all can learn, and all should learn. Each student will get from it what suits them, and even if they do not get what they expect, they are sure to get something useful out of it, and this is why I am overjoyed to talk about it. Yang Chengfu selected me as one to say something knowledgeable about the theory, to write a preface to The Art of Taiji Boxing and the mix of its ideas as I have stated above.
     – sincerely written by Xu Siyun of Wujin, summer, 1925

ARTICLE CONTINTUES........

tai chi push hands: connecting through the blind fold

It's a practice well compared between with and without free vision. With the blindfold, feetwork can get sloppy. The ball 'disappears' suddenly from beneath our fingertips. We lose our balance. Reactivity replaces responsiveness.

Tai chi Push hands: making the connection with your partner

Make a continuous connection to the fence through the ball. When you do your form, sense that you are pushing the ball against the fence in the same manner as you would sense that you were working with an opponent.

speed boxing against the fence

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ix4JwOWMz8k&feature=channel&list=UL

Reflexes, foot placement, spacing and intent all help to determine the speed of the ball returning from the fence....all this and it's a great aerobic exercise which is a necessary addition to any tai chi chuan practice.