Full disclosure: I have no Tai Chi experience but some Kung Fu experience.
I talked to him today, and he is fine with it, as long as it is done with care, and don't do any harm. These little practice sessions are gear for focus, and give them and idea of what the postures may represent when applied, and that is all.
That is kind of you to help. I am sure that other students appreciate your time and efforts. I like to see my students helping each other. My teachers did too.
Awesome, plus you get the added benefit of learning more by explaining it.
Wow! That is very true.
There is no such thing. The first and best tool in training is an open mind, the tool next to that is to be able to recognize ignorance as defined as "choosing to ignore". In looking for answers know that any answer should be continually open to the original question. Eventually you will find that you naturally accept a concept advanced when you collected answers. Train, utilize what results in a success for you as an individual. Self defense will be a large part of that gained, but still only a part of Martial Arts as a whole.
Thank you and precisely. Would you say few teachers of taiji understand it as taijiquan?
It sounds like you've been studying Tai Chi for quite some time...or perhaps other forms of martial arts as well...There is nothing wrong with a group of students eager for knowledge to get together to learn all that can be learned about anything, even Tai Chi....I studied and taught karate for years and was happy to find out my students were getting together to go over things and learn other techniques from other styles/students. This is a new era. Back in the 70's and 80's, my sensei would not allow us to learn from anyone else...and even frown us practicing on our own in our free time. But we did it anyway. Sometimes you'll find something in a technique that you didn't see before or maybe there's someone there that studied from a different instructor of a slightly different style that learned something that hasn't been shown or shown yet. Keep practicing on the side and if your instructor gets angry, there may be ulterior motives of your instructor. The more one knows the better. "A wise man can learn more from a foolish question that a fool can learn from a wise answer." "To know oneself is to study oneself in action with another person."
I don’t make the taiji/taiji chuan distinction, but yes, I would say most instructors do not understand it as a martial method.
Bill,
That is not why they traditionally go slow. And there forms with fajin and there are fajin forms that are fast, just more advanced
There are 2 reasons to do Taiji slow:
Thank you for the input, sir. I came from a Korean system that was kata/hyung and sparring based. I trained and instructed in this style for over thirty years, which took its toll on my body. The katas where a text book, as is the Tai Chi forms, no matter what the style. It all boils down to what you want to do with what you know. Once you have your postures correct, and have repeated each sequence over and over,muscle memory will, or should take over. This is why, IMHO, Forms, katas, hyungs are very in necessary. That and good instruction, for sure.
My personal thoughts on this is that I became better at Tai Chi once I understood the movements that I was making with my hands. Knowing the applications allows me to correct my structure because now my movement has context. Without the application, Tai Chi has no meaning and focus. Without that people are more likely to move incorrectly. It's not enough to copy movement.
I should have read all the post before I made my first comment. Movement with purpose is important. The purpose helps define the structures that one must use. Dancing is about expression and expression often doesn't seek healthy movement or healthy structure. Ballerinas move gracefully, but take a look at their feet and you may be shocked that their feet look that bad.
I was always taught that movement matches breathing. If my breathing is fast then my tai chi should move faster to match my breathing. Breathing controls movement.
I didn't know Darth Vader did Tai Chi.
