Chen Style Taijiquan II

[Xue Sheng]

Chen Style broad sword - Chen Zhenglei (Who said Taiji forms weren't fast)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnZcKH4uZso&mode=related&search=

Chen Style sword - Chen Zhenglei
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdjbPBSWJm4&mode=related&search=

Chen Style - Chen Xiaowang
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0tc8IGYpfU

This is the form I am suppose to start learning in September.
Chen Style Chen Style 18 basic form - Chen Zhenglei
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTKyG47CBIw&mode=related&search=

 

[charyuop]

Man that 18 form is oustanding. Unfortunately I would never be able to do it hee hee, those low stances are way far from my possibilities (above all when he is low with weight on left leg and stretches out the right one to shift his weight on the right leg....ouch).

I have a question for you who practiced Tai Chi for so long. According to what I know about Tai Chi (well September 7th when my course starts I will learn more and better hee hee) it is very important keeping the back streight. However in every video of masters practicing Tai Chi that I have seen most of the time when there is a stence with a forward hit (like a left brush knee, carry tiger to mountain or so on) I noticed everyone in shifting the weight to the forward leg bends the back forward. How come that?

 

[Xue Sheng]

Man that 18 form is oustanding. Unfortunately I would never be able to do it hee hee, those low stances are way far from my possibilities (above all when he is low with weight on left leg and stretches out the right one to shift his weight on the right leg....ouch).

I have a question for you who practiced Tai Chi for so long. According to what I know about Tai Chi (well September 7th when my course starts I will learn more and better hee hee) it is very important keeping the back streight. However in every video of masters practicing Tai Chi that I have seen most of the time when there is a stence with a forward hit (like a left brush knee, carry tiger to mountain or so on) I noticed everyone in shifting the weight to the forward leg bends the back forward. How come that?

Actually it doesn’t bend.

Think of the shape of your spine and how it is attached to the pelvis. If you are thinking of straight as hold you head up then in reality in brush knee and carry tiger to mountain you are actually bending your back backwards. If you hold your spine straight your weight goes on your front leg and you lean forward keeping your spine straight.

But depending on the style this may vary. Tung/Dong style for instance does bend the back forward in the very beginning of brush knee and Yang does not. I have done this both ways and I see advantages to both so I am not sure which, if either, would be considered better

As for practiced so long, thanks, but I have not practiced long enough.

 

[East Winds]

Charyuop,

Xue Sheng is correct. However losts of people confuse the back being straight and the back being upright!!! They are not the same thing. A good example is to look at Cheng Man-ching in Brush and Push with an upright back i.e. head, hip and foot all in an upright line whilst Yang Cheng-fu in the same popsture has a straight back i.e. spine straight but inclined forward with no bend. Hopefully when you get started your teacher should be able to demonstrate the difference. It is to do with issuing Fa Jing.

Good luck with your studies

Very best wishes

 

[charyuop]

Thanx alot, I guess mine was a misinterpretation of "streight back". I always thought it as in a perpendicular way with the ground, while now I see that with "streight back" is meant a continuos line in the spine which doesn't bend in the end and it has a continuity with the coccyx. That makes more sense as in Tai Chi being based on natural movement of the body. In fact (for example) in a brush knee keeping a perpendicular back it creates a small arc between the spine and the coccyx which is not really natural and takes strength to keep the position thus not making possible relaxation. Moreover (LOL I am typing while in the stance to see the differences) it is harder to step for the next stence when there is the small arc at the coccyx. (and yes I was doing the same mistake in push, carry tiger to mountain, step up parry and punch and many others).