One Technique per Week?

Last weekend, Shifu went over this move with me to ensure that I had better understanding of what I was doing. He showed me 5-6 variations of this, I remember maybe 3 of them.

The past couple of weeks have been personally challenging for me. Personal issues have caused me to have a lapse in my training again. Ugh. Well, it is time to refocus. I was thinking this morning, that we all go through periods like this when it is difficult to dedicate as much time as we would like to things that are important to us for various reasons. I believe that during these times, we can try to at least devote a few minutes a day to performing at least one week and trying to work on a review of what that move potentially may be functionally. I think that would help us to keep a 'proper mindset' when training, still work our body mechanics, and i'm a firm believer in that every small gain, over time leads to overall greater improvement in the long run.

J

Using the Appropriate Angle When Doing Practice

When I used to do Japanese and Okinawan and Korean martial arts, the pulling hand always went back to the hips and was opposite in force to the other hand going forward. All of us guys spent years working this one angle over and over and over again. In Chinese martial arts, when done properly, the pulling hand might go in different angles relative to the opposite striking hand. Chen Tai Chi has quite a few strikes done in these unusual fashions and the level of sophistication of the strikes and application is clearly higher, in addition to being different. There is greater efficiency in the transmission of force and more functional stability noted when the angles of the pulling hand are moving appropriately with the striking hand.

More Clarity...

This past weekend, I again asked Shifu to go over the 5 variations we discussed the weekend earlier. Shifu explained to me, that it was not so much to know the variations of the arm movements, rather, it was more important to understand how we would vary the lumbar motion in conjunction with the arm movements depending upon what direction the opponent was forcing upon me; in other words, if he pushes into my right and down, I might want my energy to go up and rotate into my left, or if he pushes inwards and upwards, I might want to rotate to my right and downwards to counter a given line of force. By understanding the force line and figuring out how you would want to counter the line, you actually would have MORE potential variations to how to apply the given movement from the chen form. Wow. I love it.
J

Clarity

Sometimes there are movements that just escape me as to why they are in the form. The above shown was one of those. Because I was not clear what I was trying to do, it was clear to Shifu, that I had no idea why I was doing that motion.

He provided me with a couple examples of how to use that motion in combat. Some key points were to bring elbows forward and not too spread out and to turn my body sufficiently forward to be able to direct my intention appropriately.

Shifu showed me how that motion could be used against a hand or leg attack and how it would lead into the next motion.
Great stuff!
J

5 Variations

Glad I was in class this past Sunday, Shifu once again, as always provided us with a ton of detail. In the move above, Shifu went over 5 variations or possibilities we could do in the mechanics of how we practice this particular segment. He suggested we could do one variation with each particular segment in the form, but emphasized that in demonstration or competition, obviously we only choose one methodology of that segment.

In case this motion is not clear, it is the motion that leads into the single whip.
Hope that helps!

Each variation shows us different possibilities in application. For the past year, I had only worked on two of the variations, feeling only comfortable with a couple of the meanings of that motion. Now I have more to work on.
J

My New Training Partner

This morning I completed the couch to 5K running program that took me from a couch potato to what I call a "wogger." Wogger, coz' I walk and job, but I am now going steadily 3x/a week and putting in a total of 45-60 minutes of cardio. That has helped my performance in Chen, a lot!! I am not getting as tired as quickly as I did 3 months ago, and my legs feel much stronger, too. I will continue to the wogging until I can become a jogger. Turns out that according to a bunch of fitness experts I should NOT have started the running program being far more than 40 pounds overweight. No problem, as a physical therapist, I monitored my progress and aside from a week and a half of tendonitis, I successfully completed the program.

Now it is time to jump up a notch. Pictured above is a kettlebell. That will be my new training partner and serve as another means of adjunct training to improve my overall Chen training. I've been doing a lot of perusal into an assortment of devices and programs, and have decided that kettlebell training will be useful, efficient and positive towards helping me improve my potential to reach further success in Chen Tai Chi.

Please wish me luck, and i'll update you all as to how the training is going and the changes I perceive in my training! Apologies to all for not updating the blog sooner, last week Hurricane Irene interfered with my class attendance. Hope you all understand.
J