What are some of the key principles that set tai chi apart from other martial arts and what is important in our practice of the art?
Our practice evolves from a core principle of body integration. Many martial arts and artists espouse this principle but few actually follow or accomplish it. By whole body integration we mean that if the little finger moves it is moved by the whole body not just the muscles in the hand or forearm. When we step the whole body is involved not just the muscles of the legs, hips, and torsoe.
How do we acheive this integration?
The core of our practice revolves around zhan zhuang standing meditation. Through this practice we learn to stand using our whole body rather than just the external muscles of the legs, etc. The muscles that stabilize us and propel us become an integrated whole, and we begin to obtain concious control. We are also learning to sink our chi and gain control over the concept that yi leads chi. Through standing we learn to exercise, develop, store, sink, raise and use our chi. Standing in stillness makes this development easier and more concious.
How do we know we are acheiving integration?
The guideposts for this are fairly recognizable. Initially standing is a chore that requires effort to hold the arms up, hold the posture, relax the body, etc. The more we stand the more we begin to recognize a feeling of ease and fullness, usually beginning with the hands and then arms. Eventually, there should be no effort in the standing, no one muscle should be tense and the standing should feel like the chi is doing everything. In other words I am no longer holding myself with effort, my muscles are completely relaxed and my chi is holding me in the posture.
How long should I stand?
As my Sifu told me, it is more important how correctly you stand. One minute of correct standing is enough. In my case it usually takes 15 minutes or so to get a good correct minute of standing. An easy way to determine your time is to stand until you are uncomfortable, then see if you can relax through that. If you can't stop, if you can then stand until you become uncomfortable again and then stop. 5 minutes at a shot a few times a day is plenty.
What about forms, after all it is a tai chi school?
We practice the yang style form. Our form is similar to the cheng man ching form, but different and that is because our lineage does not come through cheng man ching, but rather one of his senior brothers under yang cheng fu. Sifu Tam's first teacher was a senior student of Yang Cheng Fu. Standing meditaion is about learning integration, which we then proceed to utilize in our tai chi form. It is one thing to acheive integration in stillness, another to bring that into the movement.
What else is unique about tai chi as practice by Wind River Tai Chi?
Our tai chi is taught with a goal of application. Many do the form for health only, however the greatest health benefits from the form can only be found when it is learned as an applicable martial art. This is because each movement of the body requires full integration of movement. We also do other drills and practice that allows us to test our body integration and develop it further.
That's all for now. more later. Jordan
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