Which short Tai Chi form for small spaces?

[Patrick Brown]

[doc benway]

If you have a basic understanding of the 24 it shouldn't be too difficult to rearrange a few of the moves to cover less space. It would take a little time working with the form to change direction and possibly eliminate a few moves but should be possible. I help people make up competition forms quite a bit.

Another option is look at qigong forms.

The Eight Pieces of Brocade take up very little room.

If I'm very limited to space I will practice standing meditation, fajin exercises, silk reeling exercises, repeatedly drill a few combinations of techniques, or practice the Shi Ba Luo Han Qigong set.

Good luck

Steve

[Wun Yuen Gong]

Yeah i was going to say Muscle tendon change, 8 piece brocade, jaam jong etc!

[dwai]

[shontonga]

If you have a basic understanding of the 24 it shouldn't be too difficult to rearrange a few of the moves to cover less space. It would take a little time working with the form to change direction and possibly eliminate a few moves but should be possible. I help people make up competition forms quite a bit.

Another option is look at qigong forms.

The Eight Pieces of Brocade take up very little room.

If I'm very limited to space I will practice standing meditation, fajin exercises, silk reeling exercises, repeatedly drill a few combinations of techniques, or practice the Shi Ba Luo Han Qigong set.

Good luck

Steve

 

 

fajin exercises ?

 

would like to know ...

 

It's fun to take a few poses and link them together.

i don't have much space inside so working with just a few poses is great !

 

another option is to play with the 13 "moves" (8 energies/5 elements) that make up tai chi,

one at a time. Not sure how much sense that makes, there are others on this forum

that can explain much better than this kid. Know i saw a post here by

Darin Hamel in the beginning of "My Tai Chi Story..." post. that explains what they are.

He may go into more detail but i haven't had a chance yet to read further at this time.

Standing and playing with foot work take very little room!

 

Good luck patrick !

 

 

 

 

Xue Sheng? Sir?

could you say a few words about fa jin exercises

that may be good for one ...

who finds worry in fa jin ?

 

Thank You

(there are no simies to show a bow?)

 

Shon

[qijack]

You could learn Tai Chi 18.It was created in 1981 by a famous Qi Gong master named Sifu Lin Hou Sheng.Basically it has all the movements from the 24 form broken down into seperate excersises

 

Little room is required since you dont do the stepping work like you do in the 24 form.Its just like a normall Qi Gong form

 

But preferably it should be done out side.

 

Cant hurt to do it in side though

[Taomeow]

My teacher has created some compact forms specifically for those who are trying to practice in a living-room, office, or even cubicle. He wrote a book on the subject, and has put some demos on youtube:

[Sahaj Nath]

If you have a basic understanding of the 24 it shouldn't be too difficult to rearrange a few of the moves to cover less space. It would take a little time working with the form to change direction and possibly eliminate a few moves but should be possible. I help people make up competition forms quite a bit.

 

 

this is good advice. i want to push it a bit further in this direction.

 

to paraphrase josh waitzkin, the weakness of any disciplined art is its dogma. play. be creative. change things up from time to time. let the movements reveal new insights to you.

 

keep in mind that tai chi chuan is a martial art. by definition, then, it needs to be adaptable. YOU need to be adaptable.

 

your limited space is a great opportunity for you to expand your understanding of your practice, i think.

[rex]

Mantak Chia's tai chi chi kung set - it's essentially Grasp the Sparrow's Tail performed in four directions and

on both sides of the body.

[Sahaj Nath]

My teacher has created some compact forms specifically for those who are trying to practice in a living-room, office, or even cubicle. He wrote a book on the subject, and has put some demos on youtube:

 

hey taomeow,

 

i purchased your teacher's 5 animal frolics as well as his tendon transforming classic. niether dvd plays well.

 

does he do replacements?

[Taomeow]

hey taomeow,

 

i purchased your teacher's 5 animal frolics as well as his tendon transforming classic. niether dvd plays well.

 

does he do replacements?

I'm pretty sure he does, shouldn't be a problem.

[Patrick Brown]

Thanx for the feedback, there's some good ideas there which have got me thinking.

[doc benway]

Xue Sheng? Sir?

could you say a few words about fa jin exercises

that may be good for one ...

who finds worry in fa jin ?

 

Thank You

(there are no simies to show a bow?)

 

Shon

Hmmm.... this can be tough to explain well in words.

How much have you studied in Taiji? I don't know if I'm already telling you things you know.

Forgive me if my explanation is too basic.

 

Fajin is basically short-range, explosive power.

It's shown explicitly in Chen forms, hidden in other styles' forms yet all forms of Taiji teach how to develop it.

Similar energy is used in Xingyiquan and Baguazhang.

 

We first learn to generate fajin using ji as this is very simple to feel in the beginning (that's how I teach it anyway based on how I was taught).

We then learn to generate this sort of force using any body part at any time.

It basically involves sinking qi to dan tian and using the mind of intent to guide the qi to the striking part while at the same time tensing the muscles for an instant to achieve the effect. It is completely dependent on proper posture, stance, breathing, song, and timing. The muscle contraction basically involves just about the entire body so that, at the instant of impact, everything is contracting together, generating a force that is rooted in the ground and expressed through the entire body.

 

It's really hard to put into words - hopefully this makes some sense...

I could show you in person very easily. Video generally does not do it justice - you've got to feel it to understand and it takes a long time to really get the hang of it.

Best,

Steve

 

PS - I'm not sure what you mean by "who finds worry in fa jin"... sorry

[林愛偉]

Zheng Man Qing 37 Form done in a small frame is great for small spaces.

 

Peace,

Lin

[shontonga]

Hmmm.... this can be tough to explain well in words.

How much have you studied in Taiji? I don't know if I'm already telling you things you know.

Forgive me if my explanation is too basic.

 

Fajin is basically short-range, explosive power.

It's shown explicitly in Chen forms, hidden in other styles' forms yet all forms of Taiji teach how to develop it.

Similar energy is used in Xingyiquan and Baguazhang.

 

We first learn to generate fajin using ji as this is very simple to feel in the beginning (that's how I teach it anyway based on how I was taught).

We then learn to generate this sort of force using any body part at any time.

It basically involves sinking qi to dan tian and using the mind of intent to guide the qi to the striking part while at the same time tensing the muscles for an instant to achieve the effect. It is completely dependent on proper posture, stance, breathing, song, and timing. The muscle contraction basically involves just about the entire body so that, at the instant of impact, everything is contracting together, generating a force that is rooted in the ground and expressed through the entire body.

 

It's really hard to put into words - hopefully this makes some sense...

I could show you in person very easily. Video generally does not do it justice - you've got to feel it to understand and it takes a long time to really get the hang of it.

Best,

Steve

 

PS - I'm not sure what you mean by "who finds worry in fa jin"... sorry

 

 

Thank you Steve,

your words do help and make sense.

i practice a Yang Lu Chaun style (SP.?)

an old Yang style that is close to some chen style, i'm told.

No explanation is too ever basic, seeds grow trees!

Have been a student for quite awhile

but not so long in the scheme of things!

Still think am Very much a beginner.

 

"who finds worry in fa jin" is this child.

 

Don't like to hit people, tend to pull punches,

When i hit folks Feel every part of their body, head to toe.

Some things i don't want to feel/know.

Makes me want to throw up or go crawl into a corner and ball my eyes out.

(I am a wimp, yes!) So, can't handle it!

Much better at receiving in that respect!

(although i am still a wimp, LOL!)

 

this last time i totally slacked off on form work was playin' with the long form,

about to learn a new move for me that is a fajin.

 

Worry it's that much "more" energy do you feel the derection/other person that much more.

the thought of it makes me want to puke , can't keep slacking off like this though!

Just Gotta get over my Bad sellf !

 

Thanks again,

 

Shon

[yatzhong]

Depending on what your reason for practicing Patrick .....

 

The eight brocades are great for health.

 

The yijinching exercises are great for health and strengthening the body.

 

If you are just practicing for health and fitness then the two above should be fine.

 

If you are into the martial aspect then yiquan is good for small spaces as is very small

frame taijiquan.

 

Unfortunately the harsh reality is that it is extremely difficult to learn correctly from dvds and

videos. Your best bet is to find someone who is qualified to teach any of the above

practices and then adjust the size of the postures to fit your practice area.

 

John

[Spectrum]

If your going to study from a dvd learn something that can be easily practiced with a live person in your area. Yang Style 108 is easy to learn in sections. Start w/ the first section. Once you learn it you will know others such as the 24, 37, etc as they are the long form abbreviated. The basic vocabulary learned in the first section is a good primer. It is about 17 moves, teaches wuji, yin yang, and the basic interchanging energies (taiji) that make up tai chi chuan.

 

It is true that you could simply work on the 8 energies and 5 directions, but you'll need the basic vocab for the 8 energies, (ie wardoff, rollback, press, push, etc) and it will be confusing to "link" them without having first learned the flow of the "form". After you know the form then you can freely form it, even shrink it down or expand it to "fit" the splace in which you are practicing.

 

I shrunk the long form down to fit inside my front pocket.

[Mal]

You'll need the basic vocab for the 8 energies, (ie wardoff, rollback, press, push, etc) and it will be confusing to "link" them without having first learned the flow of the "form". After you know the form then you can freely form it, even shrink it down or expand it to "fit" the place in which you are practicing.

 

Don't know if it is a "good" long term practice as such but I read once that someone had to do a Tai Chi display standing on a table top. So I played with my long form until I could do all the moves basically in one place. A great learning experience.

 

Any one else used Mantak Chia's Grasp the Sparrow's Tail performed in four directions? It is certainly an extremely compact Tai Chi form. If you have already been taught Tai Chi correctly you could easily learn that form from his book, but again I don't know if it is a good long term practice.

 

I use to be embarrassed doing Tai Chi in public, but strange enough nobody ever laughed of made fun of me so now I no longer care who is looking and Kung Fu practice just scares people away If you have "trouble makers" for neighbors just practice early in the morning as they will be sleeping off the night before

[Spectrum]

Don't know if it is a "good" long term practice as such but I read once that someone had to do a Tai Chi display standing on a table top. So I played with my long form until I could do all the moves basically in one place. A great learning experience.

 

Same here. Have experimented w/ practicing the whole 108 from various stances. Recently formed a pocket version.

Any one else used Mantak Chia's Grasp the Sparrow's Tail performed in four directions? It is certainly an extremely compact Tai Chi form. If you have already been taught Tai Chi correctly you could easily learn that form from his book, but again I don't know if it is a good long term practice.

 

Sounds like applying Fair Maidens four corners sequence to Grasp Peacocks Tail?

 

Da Liu speaks in similar practical terms in his book "Tai Chi Chuan & Meditation", where he writes how the basic vocabulary of Tai Chi Chuan, the interchanging opposites of empty and full can be used to link, abbreviate and/or lengthen individual movements and whole movement sequences. If you already have a basic understanding you can get ideas from books like this. Also when observing other forms variations come into perspective more easily when considering all the directions movement can potentially be linked together with through the most basic vocabulary of empty and full.

 

I use to be embarrassed doing Tai Chi in public, but strange enough nobody ever laughed of made fun of me so now I no longer care who is looking and Kung Fu practice just scares people away If you have "trouble makers" for neighbors just practice early in the morning as they will be sleeping off the night before

 

endless opportunities for learning by practicing in public settings. it's always a bit of a challenge to "position" yourself for a private practice, or choosing to take the space or compliment it. Intent is easier to see the further away you are.

[Pero]

M. Winn's Primordial Qigong AKA Tai Chi For Enlightenment is good for small spaces. But depends what you want out of it. It's a nice relaxing form.

[Patrick Brown]

M. Winn's Primordial Qigong AKA Tai Chi For Enlightenment is good for small spaces. But depends what you want out of it. It's a nice relaxing form.

Sounds good, I'll look into it.

 

I used to do a series of Qigong exercise years ago and in some ways it's better than Tai Chi because it takes just a few mins to learn. Having said that I suppose there's something to be said for the patience of learning a Tai Chi form.

 

Someone above asked what I wanted from my Tai Chi practice, health, self-defence or relaxation/meditation. I actually want all three which I always thought was the whole Idea of Tai Chi i.e. The Supreme Ultimate?

[yatzhong]

 

Someone above asked what I wanted from my Tai Chi practice, health, self-defence or relaxation/meditation. I actually want all three which I always thought was the whole Idea of Tai Chi i.e. The Supreme Ultimate?

 

That was me Patrick. I asked because the training to get the proper power to use taijiquan as a martial art is a lot more than just doing a form that one can get from a dvd or book. There's also a lot of little details that can only be taught and corrected face to face. Please understand that I don't mean to discourage you. Rather I'm just trying to give you a realistic idea of what you need to accomplish your goals.

 

 

John

[minkus]

In the livingroom i like to practice the Chen 19 form created by Chen Xiaowang.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HALQ7T-wFJ0

 

There was some talking about fajing so here are 2 movies

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSLPDovllXM

 

[Patrick Brown]

Found this demonstration of the 24 Forms:

[Pero]

Someone above asked what I wanted from my Tai Chi practice, health, self-defence or relaxation/meditation. I actually want all three which I always thought was the whole Idea of Tai Chi i.e. The Supreme Ultimate?

 

Then Primordial Qigong may not be a good choice.