Beginner Hurdles with Tai Chi

[Kung Fu Wang]

Learning the concept and physical sensation of "song," pronounced "soong," is hard. (or feng song, pronounced "fung soong.")It's usually translated as "relaxed,"

When you sit on leg stretching machine and lift your dumbbells at the same time, will that benefit or contradict to your Taiji "relaxed" training?

I just don't understand why Taiji people are against the weight training so much.

 

[Xue Sheng]

When you sit on leg stretching machine and lift your dumbbells at the same time, will that benefit or contradict to your Taiji "relaxed" training?

I just don't understand why Taiji people are against the weight training so much.

I'm not, my shifu is not and neither is the Chen family. What Chen family is against is isolation exercises like curls, at least in the beginning. They would prefer muscle group weight training to better train body unity. Things like squats, deadlift, bench press,etc. My shifu and I (Yang style) tend to agree with the Chen family on this. However my shifu was very big into body weight exercises, but that had more to do with what was available to him when he was young in China.

However there are those that are against it and I think it is because they have been mislead or have bought into the mythology of it

Before the arthritis kicked in I was big on what weight lifters call the trinity; Deadlift, Bench press, standing military press. But I did the military press, with a barbell and using one arm in order to work on stabilizers as well as other muscle groups

 

[Flying Crane]

Ive heard that strength training, heavy bag/striking training and conditioning, and interactive application drills are staple practices at Chen Village. This is very consistent with what you would find in any martial school that is serious about developing useful fighting skills. It’s just that these parts of the training are being done by the family members and the initiate students out of view of visitors, and foreign visitors are seldom brought into this aspect of it.

Foreigners are generally assumed to be tourists and hobbyists in Taiji. They are shown a form and their money is collected and they are sent on their way with the belief that they got to train at Chen Village so their Taiji must be amazing. This perpetuates the myth that Taiji only needs forms practice and nothing else. Foreigners are not made to understand the level of hard work they need to put in, just like any other fight school.

It’s a disservice that they do, but foreigners are assumed to not be serious about their training, so they are not given much and what they are given is done as a source of revenue. You can become a good fighter with Taiji, if you have a knowledgeable teacher which are few and far between. But you need to train like any fight school.

I have known people who believe that their occasional practice of the form makes them a formidable fighter. Similar beliefs are found in the other internal schools like bagua, that circle-walking and a rudimentary understanding of the eight Palm changes makes you a fighter. It’s almost like a belief in magic. But this stuff is all just a piece of what is needed in the training, and it needs to be developed to a high level which it usually is not. It’s sad really, to see these people in self delusion.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

They would prefer muscle group weight training to better train body unity.

Agree that body unity training is much better than the muscle group isolation training.

But when you sit on the leg stretching machine, your upper body is not doing anything. If you lift your dumbbell on both arms at the same time, you can utilize your training time more efficiency. Of course you can read book or watch TV.

 

[Xue Sheng]

Agree that body unity training is much better than the muscle group isolation training.

But when you sit on the leg stretching machine, your upper body is not doing anything. If you lift your dumbbell on both arms at the same time, you can utilize your training time more efficiency. Of course you can read book or watch TV.

agreed.

But generally on a leg stretch machine, I meditate