Why Does Tai Ji Starts with Slow Motion?

[ChiDragon]

Can anyone come up with a good reason to the best of your understanding....???

[Chang]

Tai Chi is performed slowly so that the practitioner can perfect stance, posture and correct movement whilst in a state of sung.

 

When moving slowly one can become aware of muscle changes and weight distribution and corrections can be made to perfect our form.

 

With repetition this becomes habitual so that when we move at speed we show the same perfection.

[soaring crane]

something about jing?

[Ish]

To feel the energy clearly. The slow movements with meditative focus will build energy too.

 

Also to get the mechanics of the movement correct, if you do it slowly slowly through many techniques and transitions, you will be able to weed out mistakes in your structure.

Edited July 6, 2014 by Ish

[Daeluin]

When moving the physical it may be helpful to helpful to start with the physical.

 

In the three dan tiens we have:

shen - light, mind

qi - vapor, breath

jing - fluid, body

 

They work with gravity somewhat. If you were to remove the jing, the qi would begin to condense into jing and the shen into qi.

 

So we start with the more physical, water-like, jing energy. We move slowly because it moves slowly, and if we rush ahead it's just like splashing the water around, or not moving it at all.

 

As we work with the heaviest level, we begin to refine it into lighter levels. We refine the jing into qi, the qi into shen, and the shen into an emptiness that is the unification of all three. When the body's energy has been mostly refined to shen, one may move the entire body with the speed of mind.

 

This is my modest level of understanding. There are likely leaks and I am curious to see what others share.

[nestentrie]

Because sharp/fine isn't the same as smooth. Because light isn't the same as soft.

With every fast, sharp movement there is a corresponding deficit. You could be aiming for hard, all the while only achieving coarse.

With every light movement you perform you could feel as if you're evading the requirements of diligence... that you could be above the insult of deep and heavy. It is not so.

To achieve hard (and achieve the focus), one must recognise blunt conditions. One must recognise that both soft and smooth facilitate it. Bluntness is the active force where hardness is the reciporicator. (soft and smooth are the neuter) If you're talking Yin, coarseness is still out of operation.

....This is just how to achieve hard. There are many other examples where slowness produces the desired effect.

EDIT: Just to add... Fine and smooth form a complement. As does light and soft. Altogether they from a quadruplicity. In wu xing this is fire. (Air if you're a westener.)

Bluntness is wood, and wood creates favourable conditions for fire/air. It is wood that is abrupt (further evidenced by the liver's parter: the gall bladder (which is loose)).

4
The Tao is (like) the emptiness of a vessel; and in our
employment of it we must be on our guard against all fulness. How
deep and unfathomable it is, as if it were the Honoured Ancestor of
all things!

We should blunt our sharp points, and unravel the complications of
things; we should attemper our brightness, and bring ourselves into
agreement with the obscurity of others. How pure and still the Tao
is, as if it would ever so continue!

I do not know whose son it is. It might appear to have been before
God.

Edited July 7, 2014 by nestentrie

[Andrei]

In my opinion the slower you move the better is the neuromuscular programming, it is that "hand-brain-eye coordination".

Also the slow movements allow time for the practitioner to be aware of the body and its feed-back sensations.

An untrained person have a sensory perception of her body like the cortical homunculus, this is how we perceive ourselves - (untrained in a body movement activity)

 

If you had a mechanical sciences education you would know that a chain breaks in the weaker link. This is exactly what the taichi classics taught, to find the weak links in your movement and reinforce them. So the slower you move the more you reinforce the weaker points in your kinetic chain.

[ChiDragon]

 

When moving the physical it may be helpful to helpful to start with the physical.

 

In the three dan tiens we have:

shen - light, mind

qi - vapor, breath

jing - fluid, body

 

This is my modest level of understanding. There are likely leaks and I am curious to see what others share.

 

Ok. What you have here is the TCM description of internal alchemy(內丹). However, the Tai Ji people are not too concern about that.

[GrandmasterP]

Warm up.

Start anything physical too fast or hard and you'll pull muscles.

Edited July 7, 2014 by GrandmasterP

[soaring crane]

So we start with the more physical, water-like, jing energy. We move slowly because it moves slowly, and if we rush ahead it's just like splashing the water around, or not moving it at all.

 

This is my modest level of understanding. There are likely leaks and I am curious to see what others share.

 

 

Your "modest" understanding harmonizes with mine very, well, harmoniously

 

I would add though, that stillness is where the Jing is developed most strongly, so, 'not moving at all' is an important, if not the important pearl on the necklace.

[soaring crane]

 

Ok. What you have here is the TCM description of internal alchemy(內丹). However, the Tai Ji people are not too concern about that.

 

What are they concerned about then, if not jing>qi>shen>qi>jing?

[Ya Mu]

Some very good answers. Gotta love the consistency of CD type question posting.

 

So you guys may or may not appreciate this story. I will do my best to paraphrase an article that appeared in one of the Tai Jee magazines several years ago:

The REAL Reason Tai Chi is Performed Slowly

Turns out that once upon a time all Tai Chi was practiced swiftly. The "grand" master injured himself. When he recouped enough to start back practicing, he could only do the forms slowly as it hurt him to do them very fast. Everyone thought that the "grand" was doing something they didn't know about so they copied him. And now it is done slowly.

In reality I have seen Tai Jee done VERY fast, but only after it was learned.

[ChiDragon]

Some very good answers. Gotta love the consistency of CD type question posting.

 

So you guys may or may not appreciate this story. I will do my best to paraphrase an article that appeared in one of the Tai Jee magazines several years ago:

The REAL Reason Tai Chi is Performed Slowly

Turns out that once upon a time all Tai Chi was practiced swiftly. The "grand" master injured himself. When he recouped enough to start back practicing, he could only do the forms slowly as it hurt him to do them very fast. Everyone thought that the "grand" was doing something they didn't know about so they copied him. And now it is done slowly.

In reality I have seen Tai Jee done VERY fast, but only after it was learned.

 

Thanks...!!!

I don't know about that but I’ll take it as a humorous story......

 

The original philosophy of Taiji is on the emphasis of slowness to begin with. Otherwise, it would be just called Kung Fu(功夫) like the rest.

 

Edited July 9, 2014 by ChiDragon

[ChiDragon]

I am sorry that the Taiji subforum has been removed. It would be very advantageous to have a standalone subforum for Taiji. Oh, well....!!!

It's sad that we cannot keep the serial questions in one place for consistency......

Edited July 7, 2014 by ChiDragon

[Andrei]

http://www.egreenway.com/taichichuan/chang1.htm#Principles

 

Chang San-Feng said:

 

1G. Move in an agile, balanced, and coordinated manner.
Once you decide to move,
The parts of the body should act together:
Feeling connected and coordinated,
As balanced as two feathers on a scale,
Strung together like pearls in a necklace,
Agile like a cat,
Lighter than moonbeams,
Mobile as a young monkey.

 

2G Energize the body and quiet the gathered spirit.
Raise up awareness to draw Chi to every nerve,
Fill up the body with the strength of the excited Force,
Stir and stimulate the Chi from head to toe,
Playing the Great Drum of Inner Powers.
Keep the spirit calm within,
Vital forces tamed and quiet,
Riding the Tigress to the Temple,
Gently leading the Great Ox past the Gate;
Condensing the Elixir of Spirit in the Inner Chamber.

 

3G. Move in a continuous, even and smooth manner.
Do not overextend the limbs or sully the forms.
Flow like the Great River
Filling all the holes and hallows,
Unbroken, gathered, full, unstoppable;
Seeking the True Level, finding the Golden Mean,
Neither excessive nor deficient in Yin or Yang;
Holding postures as perfect as the Blue Lotus,
Moving steadily between forms like the White Tiger,
Uniting body and will in the Jade Furnace,
Transcending inner and outer, starting and stopping.

[doc benway]

Tai Chi is performed slowly so that the practitioner can perfect stance, posture and correct movement whilst in a state of sung.

 

When moving slowly one can become aware of muscle changes and weight distribution and corrections can be made to perfect our form.

 

With repetition this becomes habitual so that when we move at speed we show the same perfection.

 

Similarly, we are advised to use the Yi to guide the Qi.

Using the Yi to guide the Qi throughout the form becomes an excellent mind/body meditation.

In addition, the slower movement results in an excellent exercise that combines isometric, isotonic, and isokinetic elements.

And, for Chi Dragon, it allows us to coordinate all of this with slow and deep abdominal breathing!

Yay!

[ChiDragon]

And, for Chi Dragon, it allows us to coordinate all of this with slow and deep abdominal breathing!

Yay!

 

I was hoping for that to come out.....

It is not just for me but for all Taiji practitioners.

 

Slow motion coordinates with slow and deep abdominal breathing is the golden key to attain the realm of Taiji Quan. Slow motion without the breathing part will not improve the health of the body; furthermore, it will not develop the Jin(勁) in the muscles.

 

 

[doc benway]

 

I was hoping for that to come out.....

How did I guess?

 

 

Slow motion without the breathing part will not improve the health of the body; furthermore, it will not develop the Jin(勁) in the muscles.

... and you will die!

 

[soaring crane]

... and you will die!

 

haha, you mean like within 15 minutes, right?

[ChiDragon]

How did I guess?

 

 

... and you will die!

 

 

Come on you guys, please don't take it literally. The breathing part was meant to be the part on the abdominal breathing. As a Taiji practitioner, one should know better. It was granted and understood.

[soaring crane]

 

Come on you guys, please don't take it literally. The breathing part was meant to be the part on the abdominal breathing. As a Taiji practitioner, one should know better. It was granted and understood.

 

I'm sure it was only a little humor, no worries

[Daeluin]

So you guys may or may not appreciate this story. I will do my best to paraphrase an article that appeared in one of the Tai Jee magazines several years ago:

The REAL Reason Tai Chi is Performed Slowly

Turns out that once upon a time all Tai Chi was practiced swiftly. The "grand" master injured himself. When he recouped enough to start back practicing, he could only do the forms slowly as it hurt him to do them very fast. Everyone thought that the "grand" was doing something they didn't know about so they copied him. And now it is done slowly.

In reality I have seen Tai Jee done VERY fast, but only after it was learned.

 

That's amusing, and maybe accurate too! When I made my first post I was pondering this a bit.... well.... sure one can start with shen and slowly dissolve the qi and jing... why not? But these days we're already so mental and "in our heads".

 

We need to slow down so we can feel the slow way the jing moves and learn to embrace it. But we also need to slow down so we can dissolve the blockages enough to even allow the qi to flow.... and actually get the qi back into our lower body. The slowness is a very effective way to cultivate the feeling of whole body power.

 

I'm told back in the day you'd hold stances for your first three years to develop whole body power. You really need some way to get the energy flowing effectively through the leg, even when you're standing on that one leg, and the energy needs to root powerfully enough to keep you balanced and connect with a strike you might make with a different part of your body.

 

How many of you can stand up on one leg right now, on the spot, and be completely balanced and not "top heavy" with your energy? Many I see even in class struggle to stand on one leg without wobbling. Energy too high! Slowness helps to sink.

 

Maybe masters decided slowness would be easier to teach than horse stance. Hah!

[PLB]

It is not that slow.

 

From the perspective of a martial art form designed to train skills in real time as a fighting routine, it is super slow and laughably inapplicable.

 

From the perspective of a standing practice, the opening and closing is very fast in the "slow" form and challenges the practioner to keep up by changing quickly enough inside to complete the form. Fa Jin is the suddeness of the change coming about. That quickness is not just about how fast you change position in space but something else.

 

If you have had the oppurtunity to push with someone who is really fast, their changes and how fast they are is something you feel as the slower person. They aren't simply doing the same things you are doing at a faster pace. They are doing less than you are and finish sooner.

[Daeluin]

I would add though, that stillness is where the Jing is developed most strongly, so, 'not moving at all' is an important, if not the important pearl on the necklace.

 

It makes sense when there isn't movement water is able to gather, settle and clarify.

 

But even in stillness I think it can be important to cultivate the higher vibrations. We are taught we should be "pushing emptiness" in our meditations. I suppose it depends on the goal.

[doc benway]

The breathing part was meant to be the part on the abdominal breathing.

 

Of course it was.

 

I was somewhat joking but not completely.

It is necessary to breath in Taiji form practice and at all other times or we will die.

The body knows how to breath. It is not necessary to make breathing into an obsession.

We can try to intentionally stop breathing but if we lose consciousness the breathing will resume.

At no time do we breath better than when in deep sleep (I'm not talking about sinus problems and sleep apnea here, that is related to the nasopharynx and pharynx).

 

It is not necessary to breath in any one particular way to benefit from Taiji form practice.

Different benefits arise from different breathing patterns.

Abdominal is good for oxygenation and circulation.

Reverse-abdominal is good for martial expression of Jin.

It's also not necessary to concentrate on the breathing during Taiji form practice.

It has certain benefits but can also be a distraction.

If beginners focus too much on their breathing it can be a hindrance to learning due to too much time and effort being wasted on trying to figure out how the breath should coordinate with the movement.

At more advanced levels there are other things to concentrate on that offer deep benefits.

 

If you teach someone the body movements in Taiji, Bagua, or Qigong and don't say a word about the breath other than to recommend that they simply breath naturally, they will naturally adopt a slow and deep abdominal breathing pattern which will naturally integrate itself into the body movements.

This is because it is our nature to breath in this way.

I don't believe that we can really improve on this nature.

Thought thinks it knows better, I think it is mistaken.

 

While emphasizing the benefits of abdominal breathing is a good thing, it is not always a good thing in Taiji form practice for people to be too focused on the breath.

The Daoist way is simply to practice Wu Wei when it comes to breathing - don't interfere.

The breath knows how to breath and the body movements, whether Taiji, Bagua, or Qigong, will allow the breath to become as it should once the distractions of our stress, anxiety, and habitual dysfunctional patterns fall away.