Taijiquan is for health

[Xue Sheng]

Taijiquan is for health - From my blog

 

[Buka]

Xue....or any of you other Tai-chi guys, I have some rookie questions. And as a rookie, please be patient and only use small words.

Obviously, I have no idea what I'm doing yet. I figure it will be ten years before I do. No matter, I ain't going anywhere. Class is great, I just wish it was every night. So....here's what I figure I should concentrate the most on while practicing on my own -

The flow of energy
Proper breathing
Posture
Rooting to the ground (where specified)

Does that sound right?
I don't care about how any of what I'm doing applies to fighting or self defense. I'm just trying to get used to everything and learn. But let me also ask you guys this - when you're not feeling well, does doing a little Tai-chi make you feel better? Does it relax you? It seems to relax me greatly on the one hand, and get me pumped up on the other.

I'd appreciate any advice. Thanks.

 

[mograph]

Xue....or any of you other Tai-chi guys, I have some rookie questions. And as a rookie, please be patient and only use small words.

No worries! Thanks for keeping an open mind.

So....here's what I figure I should concentrate the most on while practicing on my own -

The flow of energy
Proper breathing
Posture
Rooting to the ground (where specified)

Does that sound right?

One of my books suggests this habit:
- relax
- breathe
- feel the ground
- do nothing extra (extraneous, unnecessary)
I would add: "try to feel the air on your skin."
To my mind, these are the means toward your four goals.

As for your goals, I'd probably start with breathing and posture. Be upright and balanced.

But let me also ask you guys this - when you're not feeling well, does doing a little Tai-chi make you feel better? Does it relax you? It seems to relax me greatly on the one hand, and get me pumped up on the other.

Yes. (to all) IMO, the same form can relax you or energize you, depending on your attention: is it directed towards activating your senses (skin & proprioception) to get you pumped (yang), or is it directed downward, letting your skin hang to get you relaxed (yin)?

If I want to get pumped, sometimes I need help, and doing some movements to a recording of Astor Piazzola's Libertango (with Yo-Yo Ma) works. I do slow movements at two bars per motion, but the music really pumps me up.

Note: all of this works for me, and might not work for everyone. You have to do what works for you.

Whaddaya think, Buka?

 

[oaktree]

My suggestion is not focus on breathing, when the mind is calm and relax the breathe will also be the same. Focus on the form, feel in each posture where is there tension, how is the structure is my knee over my toes which means unbalance and strain on knee, where is my root and center, is my kua or inner thigh area collapsed or open. Examine your posture, examine the energy express on the form are you loose like a wet noodle, peng, tense.

 

[oaktree]

My opinion on Taijiquan for health to me is there are better methods found in qigong, and Baguazhang hence why Baguazhang guys live longer.

 

[mograph]

My suggestion is not focus on breathing, when the mind is calm and relax the breathe will also be the same.

Yeah. By "proper breathing" I meant relaxed, somewhat deep and gentle; not forcing breaths to sync with specific movements, and definitely not trying any reversed breathing ... at least until you reach a really high level.

 

[Xue Sheng]

My opinion on Taijiquan for health to me is there are better methods found in qigong, and Baguazhang hence why Baguazhang guys live longer.

Statistically speaking, My research says your right...my research also tells me Xingyi guys live longer that Bagua and Taiji guys

 

[Xue Sheng]

Xue....or any of you other Tai-chi guys, I have some rookie questions. And as a rookie, please be patient and only use small words.

Obviously, I have no idea what I'm doing yet. I figure it will be ten years before I do. No matter, I ain't going anywhere. Class is great, I just wish it was every night. So....here's what I figure I should concentrate the most on while practicing on my own -

The flow of energy
Proper breathing
Posture
Rooting to the ground (where specified)

Does that sound right?
I don't care about how any of what I'm doing applies to fighting or self defense. I'm just trying to get used to everything and learn. But let me also ask you guys this - when you're not feeling well, does doing a little Tai-chi make you feel better? Does it relax you? It seems to relax me greatly on the one hand, and get me pumped up on the other.

I'd appreciate any advice. Thanks.

My teachers teacher was one of those taiji guys that when asked about breathing, as it applies to taiji, generally responded with "Yes you should"

Work on postures, get comfortable with them, breath naturally, don't over think it, and all the rest will come. Rooting comes with whole body unity, which comes with proper posture.

Take a look at this

Yang Chengfu Taijiquan Theory 10 Essentials

Yang Cheng Fu's 10 Essential Principles

As for the not feeling well bits, I shall have to send something with a bit more detail than I have time to type at the moment

 

[Zeny]

The best advice i've received in taijiquan is: 'jian dan, chong fu' (easy, repeat). It means, do the form over and over until it becomes easy to you. At that point in time, imagine as if you're a new student learning the form, then do it carefully as if you're doing it for the first time. Then repeat, and repeat.

A master once said 'i have been doing the form for thirty years and i still don't consider myself as proficient in the form'.

With repeated practice comes familiarity, with familiarity comes naturalness, with naturalness comes subtlety and effortless power.

 

[oaktree]

Statistically speaking, My research says your right...my research also tells me Xingyi guys live longer that Bagua and Taiji guys

What about that one guy who lived to be 117 years old, and the 256 year old man which the li family claims also did Baguazhang

 

[Zeny]

I think that's more from genetics, good habits and good fortune rather than martial art. Lots of people lived to a hundred without learning any martial art.

But i think my brand of taijiquan makes me live longer than baguazhang

 

[Xue Sheng]

What about that one guy who lived to be 117 years old, and the 256 year old man which the li family claims also did Baguazhang

On average, the 256 yr older excluded (I don't believe it) Xingyiquan guys live longer. Wang Ji Wu was 100 and there are a lot of 90 somethings in the list. However if you are looking for the single oldest IMA guy, it appears to be a bagua guy, but that is not enough to bring up the average age to beat the xingyiquan guys

 

[Zeny]

On an interesting note i once joined my wife's 80 plus year old grandma in her class of taichi 'shi ba shi' (18 form). There was chinese music and postures were taken out from the forms and performed individually with 'quick stepping' speed.

I sweat more in this class than i ever did in my own class. Much more health benefit doing this simple form than my own complete forms.

 

[oaktree]

On average, the 256 yr older excluded (I don't believe it) Xingyiquan guys live longer. Wang Ji Wu was 100 and there are a lot of 90 somethings in the list. However if you are looking for the single oldest IMA guy, it appears to be a bagua guy, but that is not enough to bring up the average age to beat the xingyiquan guys

So we're they more shanxi or hebei guys that lived in the 90's.
Now you got me curious which Baguazhang style lives the longest, how about in Taijiquan you think yang style lives longer then Chen stylist this is actually an interesting topic

 

[Buka]

I have a zillion questions for you guys. But, I gotta' wait until tomorrow. Came home from class (way cool class) ate, goosed, I'm toast. G'night, fellas.

 

[Buka]

My teachers teacher was one of those taiji guys that when asked about breathing, as it applies to taiji, generally responded with "Yes you should"

Work on postures, get comfortable with them, breath naturally, don't over think it, and all the rest will come. Rooting comes with whole body unity, which comes with proper posture.

Take a look at this

Yang Chengfu Taijiquan Theory 10 Essentials

Yang Cheng Fu's 10 Essential Principles

As for the not feeling well bits, I shall have to send something with a bit more detail than I have time to type at the moment

That's a lot of information. (Thanks) We went over some of those things last night. So much to learn, so much to feel. Good thing I'm a young old guy.

Although I'm a newbie I'm feeling pretty good about lifting the head up, sinking the shoulders and elbows, having my waist direct my movement and having my yi lead my chi. The best part for me - it all feels right.

 

[Buka]

What about that one guy who lived to be 117 years old, and the 256 year old man which the li family claims also did Baguazhang

I didn't know what "Baguazhang" meant. I googled it. Thank God for google.

 

[Xue Sheng]

So we're they more shanxi or hebei guys that lived in the 90's.
Now you got me curious which Baguazhang style lives the longest, how about in Taijiquan you think yang style lives longer then Chen stylist this is actually an interesting topic

Look at it again and I do not have it broken down by specific style. I also noticed that I did not have Lu Zi Jian in the list, since when I did it, he was still alive

Without him; Bagua average age was 78 years old.
With him it jumps past Xingyiquan by 0.4 to 80.6 years
Xingyiquan is at 80.2, However this does not include those who trained both Xingyi and Bagua
Taiji comes out on average at 73.5,
but I only have Chen and Yang and it is broken out by styles
Yang Taiji > 71.7
Chen Taiji > 77.75

Xingyiquan and Bagua Combined comes out to 68.75

But you have to take into account total this is only a small sampling of 42 guys. 2 of which I know died because of external forces. One committed suicide (Yang Shaohou) and one was shot during the boxer rebellion (Cheng Tinghua)

 

[oaktree]

Quite a big difference from the Taijiquan guys. I am curious what the factor could be.
When I read interviews with Baguazhang and Xingyiquan masters a lot of more neigong talk even to the point it is getting to the daoist alchemy side. I don't see much talk about that in Taijiquan interviews except for some dan tian rotation and jwing ming yangs approach.

 

[ChenAn]

There is neigong in Chen, and it's an important part of it. For some reason I when I practiced the village method no one mentioned it, but later when I switched to CZK I've been told to practice it dally


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