What is Tai Ji Chuan(太極拳) ...?

[ChiDragon]

There are two states in Tai Ji, yin and yang. In general, they were referred to things related with Nature as attributes. This notation is very important to be used in Tai Ji Chuan. When things that are related with human, yin is softness and yang is hardness. BTW Tai Ji Chuan was totally depended on the concept of yin-yang. The terms are often used for the description in Tai Ji. Softness and hardness are interchangeable with yin and yang respectively.

 

When the body muscles were relaxed, it was considered to be in a state of soft(yin) attribute; and at advance level, Fa Jin was considered to be in a state of hard(yang) attribute.

 

A novice of Tai Ji practitioners was mandated to start with the soft state. It is because that the body did not have the required amount of exercise in the past. All the muscles are tight and the joints are not very flexible. For example, one standing on one leg which will not sustain for a durable period of time. That is why all the Tai Ji movements start with slow motions to let the muscle to work in to take a little stress at a time. Doing practice, the movements are causing the muscles to twist slowly, and the joints are swiveling also at a slow pace.

 

At the beginning, those muscles and joints are having lot of pains. However, after few months of practice they will be gone. After years of practice, those muscles are transformed into fast twitch muscle. One will realize how fast can he/she move the whole body without any pain. The fingers tips are reaching the destination in no time with an incredible accuracy. In addition, the body strength from Fa Jin was never felt so power than before.

Edited July 3, 2012 by ChiDragon

[dwai]

There are two states in Tai Ji, yin and yang. In general, they were referred to things related with Nature as attributes. This notation is very important to be used in Tai Ji Chuan. When things that are related with human, yin is softness and yang is hardness. BTW Tai Ji Chuan was totally depended on the concept of yin-yang. The terms are often used for the description in Tai Ji. Softness and hardness are interchangeable with yin and yang respectively.

 

When the body muscles were relaxed, it was considered to be in a state of soft(yin) attribute; and at advance level, Fa Jin was considered to be in a state of hard(yang) attribute.

 

A novice of Tai Ji practitioners was mandated to start with the soft state. It is because that the body did not have the required amount of exercise in the past. All the muscles are tight and the joints are not very flexible. For example, one standing on one leg which will not sustain for a durable period of time. That is why all the Tai Ji movements start with slow motions to let the muscle to work in to take a little stress at a time. Doing practice, the movements are causing the muscles to twist slowly, and the joints are swiveling also at a slow pace.

 

At the beginning, those muscles and joints are having lot of pains. However, after few months of practice they will be gone. After years of practice, those muscles are transformed into fast twitch muscle. One will realize how fast can he/she move the whole body without any pain. The fingers tips are reaching the destination in no time with an incredible accuracy. In addition, the body strength from Fa Jin was never felt so power than before.

So in your opnion fa jin is force resultung from fast twitch muscle action?

[ChiDragon]

So in your opnion fa jin is force resultung from fast twitch muscle action?

 

Any force exerted by the muscles, of a long time Tai Ji practitioner, is Fa Jin.

Edited June 1, 2012 by ChiDragon

[dwai]

Any force exerted by the muscles, of a long time Tai Ji practitioner, is Fa Jin.

 

Okay...then we don't have anything further to discuss

[ChiDragon]

Yes, we do have a lot more to be discussed. The concept of yin-yang has not been revealed yet.

 

Anybody know why, in Tai Ji Chuan, the arms and legs were never extended fully....???

 

It was based on this Yin-Yang concept:

陽中有陰: There is Yin within Yang.

陰中有陽: There is Yang within Yin.

 

The basic concept in Tai Ji Chuan:

剛中帶柔

柔中帶剛

 

柔(rou4): slow and graceful motion; motion moves like the leaves of a willow tree.

剛(gang1): hard, strong; course; vigorous

 

剛中帶柔: There is 柔(rou4) hidden in 剛(gang1); and

柔中帶剛: There is 剛(gang1) hidden in 柔(rou4).

 

 

Is there anyone who is interested to give it a try to break this riddle by interpreting one or both of these two concepts.....??? The better one can explain them will reveal how much one understood the secret of Tai Ji Chuan.

Edited June 1, 2012 by ChiDragon

[mYTHmAKER]

Yes, we do have a lot more to be discussed. The concept of yin-yang has not been revealed yet.

 

Anybody know why, in Tai Ji Chuan, the arms and legs were never extended fully....???

 

It was based on this Yin-Yang concept:

陽中有陰: There is Yin within Yang.

陰中有陽: There is Yang within Yin.

 

The basic concept in Tai Ji Chuan:

剛中帶柔

柔中帶剛

 

柔(rou4): slow and graceful motion; motion moves like the leaves of a willow tree.

剛(gang1): hard, strong; course; vigorous

 

剛中帶柔: There is 柔(rou4) hidden in 剛(gang1); and

柔中帶剛: There is 剛(gang1) hidden in 柔(rou4).

 

 

Is there anyone who is interested to give it a try to break this riddle by interpreting one or both of these two concepts.....??? The better one can explain them will reveal how much one understood the secret of Tai Ji Chuan.

 

What do we win if we get the right answer

[dwai]

Yes, we do have a lot more to be discussed. The concept of yin-yang has not been revealed yet.

 

Anybody know why, in Tai Ji Chuan, the arms and legs were never extended fully....???

 

It was based on this Yin-Yang concept:

陽中有陰: There is Yin within Yang.

陰中有陽: There is Yang within Yin.

 

The basic concept in Tai Ji Chuan:

剛中帶柔

柔中帶剛

 

柔(rou4): slow and graceful motion; motion moves like the leaves of a willow tree.

剛(gang1): hard, strong; course; vigorous

 

剛中帶柔: There is 柔(rou4) hidden in 剛(gang1); and

柔中帶剛: There is 剛(gang1) hidden in 柔(rou4).

 

 

Is there anyone who is interested to give it a try to break this riddle by interpreting one or both of these two concepts.....??? The better one can explain them will reveal how much one understood the secret of Tai Ji Chuan.

 

Its got to do with opening and closing. Fully extended arms and legs (joints) are closed. Opening and closing have to be slightly mixed with each other, so one can transform into another...that's why arms and legs are not fully extended, imho.

 

(implication is that open and close are associated with yin and yang respectively)...

 

I need 2 gold stars a chi dragon T-shirt now

Edited June 1, 2012 by dwai

[Taomeow]

What do we win if we get the right answer

 

I would want a T-shirt with a yin-yang symbol upside down, an embroidered Western dragon inside it, and an inscription:

 

"I survived ChiDragon Style Taiji and all I got is this lousy T-shirt."

[dwai]

I would want a T-shirt with a yin-yang symbol upside down, an embroidered Western dragon inside it, and an inscription:

 

"I survived ChiDragon Style Taiji and all I got is this lousy T-shirt."

 

Hey that Chi Dragon's avatar!! I want one too

[Taomeow]

Its got to do with opening and closing. Fully extended arms and legs (joints) are closed. Opening and closing have to be slightly mixed with each other, so one can transform into another...that's why arms and legs are not fully extended, imho.

 

(implication is that open and close are associated with yin and yang respectively)...

 

I need 2 gold stars now

 

 

My teacher (who is Chinese) explains it very simply:

 

"Nothing Chinese is ever straightforward."

[mYTHmAKER]

BTW Tai Ji Chuan was totally depended on the concept of yin-yang. T

 

As everything else is.

Now give me my t shirt - with one sleeve yin the other yang

[Green Tiger]

My tai ji instructor has often said he thinks that tai ji chuan should be called 'yin yang boxing.' I've only been practicing about five years now, so I don't know if I have the requisite experience to tell you, definitively, what tai ji is.

[Protector]

8 is greater then 2, does that mean Baguazhang is better?

[dwai]

As everything else is.

Now give me my t shirt - with one sleeve yin the other yang

 

That is such a cool design idea

 

Chi Dragon T shirt design?

 

 

This one's better -

 

Edited June 1, 2012 by dwai

[ChiDragon]

WOW.......

I am glad that everyone has an interest in Tai Ji....

 

Why Tai Ji does not extend the arms and legs fully...???

 

This something has to do with the understanding of the Yin-Yang concept.

 

That was based on the Yin-Yang concept:

陽中有陰: There is Yin within Yang.

陰中有陽: There is Yang within Yin.

 

Yin and Yang are two extreme opposite states. Let's use the situations in Tai Ji. When an arm was fully extended, it was said to be it is in the extreme Yang state. When the arm was fully retracted, it was said to be in the extreme Yin state. However, that is not a desirable condition in sync the philosophy in Tai Ji.

 

In the practice, it was recommended to have the arms and legs only bend at some point but not fully extended. There are two reasons for that is to enhance the flexibility for the body movements. One reason is to allow the arm to contract or retract in either direction. In the worse case, if the arm was fully extended, then there was only one limited condition to allow the arm to be retracted. Thus no more room for extension. The same reversal principle applies to the Yin concept.

 

The second reason was not to exert the Jin at full throttle. It a better to reserve some of the Jin for back up usage. When an arm was at rest or in the

sung(鬆) condition, there is always some potential Jin in ever-ready for exertion.

 

鬆(sung): loose

放鬆(fang4 sung): is to be loosen the muscles for relaxation.

 

That was the reason behind this pithy:

There is Yin within Yang.

There is Yang within Yin.

 

Analogous to:

There is contraction within extension.

There is extension within contraction.

 

The arms and legs were never fully extended; and

The arms and legs were never fully contracted.

 

 

The concept below was for the second reason above. It has to do with Fa Jin which is a matter of controlling the amount of Jin to be exerted by the muscles.

剛中帶柔: There is 柔(rou4) hidden in 剛(gang1); and

柔中帶剛: There is 剛(gang1) hidden in 柔(rou4).

Edited June 1, 2012 by ChiDragon

[Protector]

Are you talking about this?

[ChiDragon]

Are you talking about this?

 

No, I am not talking about that. Tai Ji practitioners only punch with the arm at 45 degrees and never kick above the waist neither.

Edited June 1, 2012 by ChiDragon

[Taomeow]

No, I am not talking about that. Tai Ji practitioners only punch with the arm at 45 degrees and never kick above the waist neither.

 

And yet here's my teacher showing the Whirlwind Kick of Chen Laojia administered anywhere you like -- e.g., to the back of the neck or the head:

 

[ChiDragon]

Listen to what he says at 1:04 and 1:15.

Edited June 2, 2012 by ChiDragon

[Taomeow]

You mean you didn't get the whole message? that it's best to kick low when you don't want to hurt the partner?

[ChiDragon]

The opponent can lift up your leg and get you off balance.

[Taomeow]

The opponent can lift up your leg and get you off balance.

 

With WHAT in the demoed example?

 

High kicks in taiji are rarely applied (as opposed to your "never"), but when they are applied, it's never in the situations where the opponent can get under your leg or has any other opportunities to throw you off balance. In the Whirlwind Kick example, you qinna first (擒拿) (or redirect loosely if you prefer it this way, either way you have total control), kick later -- anywhere you like and as high as you choose, just as I said. In the demoed situation, there's no danger to the kicking party to be intercepted if he chooses to kick high, there's only danger to the kicked party from a kick in the head, which is what is being pointed out. It's not a fight, it's a sparring and a lesson at that, you are taught that you win this situation with a low kick easily, so there's no need to go high. However, if it was a real fight where one is defending his or her life, I'd kick in the head and highly (pun inadvertent) recommend you do likewise. The low kick in this scenario puts an end to this one particular attack on you; while the high kick puts an end to the opponent's ability to attack any further -- either temporarily or permanently, your choice.

[ChiDragon]

Sorry, I left out this phrase:

传统太极拳要求腿不过腰

Traditional Tai Ji Chuan has a requirement that the leg should not kick above the waist.

 

My link: Kicking in Tai Ji below the waist

[Taomeow]

Sorry, I left out this phrase:

传统太极拳要求腿不过腰

Traditional Tai Ji Chuan has a requirement that the leg should not kick above the waist.

 

My link: Kicking in Tai Ji below the waist

 

All right, next time I see Chen Zhenglei, Chen Xiaowang, Chen Zhonghua or Chen Bing, I'll tell them that ChiDragon says their taiji is not traditional. They will in all likelihood immediately correct their wayward ways.

[tccii]

Taomeow, you are unbelievably patient. There is something to be learned from that.