day 70: chen tai chi & kun wu jian shu

concepts:

• scapula & back
• hips
• pelvis
• legs
• static position
• dynamic motion
• power generation
• structure
  

forms:

• Chen tai chi long form
• kun wu jian form
  

we had a solid Sunday today.

Chen tai chi long form

we spent a good chunk of time today with the Chen tai chi long form. a lot of it focused on working on the details of what we did from the previous Sunday session. in particular, Sifu emphasized the following:

• scapula & back--similar to the lessons from the Yang tai chi class at UCLA (and also from the recent bagua classes), it is important to constantly move the scapula & back during the course of movements. the point, as it was in the classes, is the same: the rounding and straightening of the scapula & back functions in a way analogous to a bow, with the bending (rounding) serving to store potential energy and the release (straightening) serving to release kinetic energy. the trick, however, is to do so in timing with other movements in an explosive way that maximizes the transmission of energy into a desired movement.
• hips--the hips have to move. and they have to move in ways different from, but complementary to, motions of the waist and legs. more than this, they have to perform both static and dynamic movement. this means that the muscles, bones, connective tissue, and joints of the hips have to develop strength and flexibility, combined with coordination relative to the rest of the body.
• pelvis--the pelvis has to roll, in multiple degrees and ranges of motion. at times, the pelvis has to move in a horizontal circle, other times a vertical circle about a front-to-rear axis, and other times a vertical circle about a side-to-side axis. often, these motions occur in combination, so that there is rolling in more than one degree, often with varying ranges. moreover, these actions have to be coordinated with the hips and legs. this is necessary for generating and manipulating power.
• legs--the legs, particularly for Chen, have to be strong, since there are a lot of low positions of varying static and dynamic motion. to be able to maintain proper form, the body has to hold to a stable, directed, and controlled structure...and to do this, the legs must be strong enough to provide a solid platform from which the body can initiate and hold proper form.
  

as you might see, the underlying concepts here (and pretty much the rest of martial arts) is:

• static position--good form (i.e., form that maximizes effectiveness of techniques) requires the ability to hold static positions, meaning strength, posture, and coordination to build potential energy.
• dynamic motion--dynamic motion converts potential energy into kinetic energy, but also requires good form (again, that maximizes effectiveness of techniques), which likewise calls for strength, posture, and coordination to transmit the energy in desired ways
• power generation--power generation, at least in kung fu, is not just about muscular strength. so much of it actually seems to call upon the power produced from bones, joints, and connective tissue. apparently, similar to muscles, these components of the body also have the capacity to manipulate energy between potential and kinetic states. but to develop these aspects requires mind-body awareness and the coordination necessary to control them...which is something that a lot of people don't have, and so must learn through training.
• structure--structure is crucial in allowing the mind and body to operate together to maximize static positions, dynamic motion, and power generation. good structure requires strength (again, not just muscle, but also bone, joint, and connective tissue), balance, symmetry (in strength, proportions, and coordination), and coordination.
  

after working on the details from the previous Sunday, Sifu then led us a little further into the long form, and then demonstrated some of the combat applications.

kun wu jian

after our time with Chen tai chi, Sifu had us start with the kun wu jian form. this time, everyone had a jian, so we were able to work on this in detail.

Sifu explained that most everyone (everyone except me, as far as i know) had learned the kun wu techniques from the Long Beach jian shu class. this time, he wanted to teach the form.

we spent some time learning the initial elements of the form. it didn't seem too bad (so far). i ended up experimenting with the form, to see if i could do it left-handed as well as right-handed...my big concern with jian (as with any weapon) is that it will be dominated by my right-hand. seeing that i've had to spend the past year of my life have to correct physical imbalances produced by asymmetries in my body--as well as treating via very painful ways the injuries produced by such asymmetries--the last thing i want to do is to engage in something that results in more asymmetry. i'm of the opinion that i'll have to make sure to practice my left hand on my own to balance out the right hand form learned in class.

we finished the day with that.