day 28: side B palm change 1 & tai chi

concepts:

• timing
• spacing

forms:

• side B, palm change 1
• drill: 1st palm change, side A v. side B

there was a traffic jam on the 5 freeway today that held up a good portion of the jian shu class. as a result, we started late, with Sifu choosing to wait until everyone could get to the park.

this was perfectly fine with me, as i'm still recovering from Ironman (it was last week), and my body feels curiously empty (as in empty of energy, empty of motivation, and empty of consciousness). Ching-Tzsieh and Laura, both of whom had arrived early, ended up chatting for awhile. they were joined by the baji students (Tommy, Charles, Simon).

when Phunsak when he finally arrived (he was one of the people caught in the traffic jam), i asked him what i'd missed from last week. he said last week's Saturday class had been mostly side B, palm change 1, with its combat applications. Sunday's lei tai class had apparently been more intensive, with Sifu teaching 4 types of punches, 4 types of kicks, and 4 types of parries--although, to be clear, i don't know if Phunsak was alluding to baji techniques (since he's helping Sifu with lei tai training by handling both bagua and baji students).

this gave me somewhat mixed feelings. i was a little relieved with the thought of not having missed too much from last Saturday (although, i always feel like i'm missing something not attending class in person...there are just nuances that Sifu points out that other students seem to gloss over). i was more alarmed by missing the material from Sunday. while not necessarily part of the main bagua class, it still is material i consider valuable. Phunsak said he would help me catch up, which i intend to do.

side B, palm change 1

Sifu started with a review of side A, palm change 1. he then immediately did a review of side B, palm change 1. this was helpful, since i hadn't really gotten a good grasp of side B when he had introduced it before. this time i was able to follow along much more easily, and could coordinate the techniques together once i could see the class repeat it a few times.

in terms of quantity of techniques, the 1st palm change for side B is relatively short, with just (following the bagua curriculum handouts) 4 techniques. this compares to the 1st palm change for side A, which also has 4 techniques. for both side A and B, the initial technique is lean against the horse and ask for directions, and the ending technique is single goose leaves the flock. however, while side A goes into a push against an imaginary opponent, side B goes into forward motion that is apparently supposed to be a hand strike over an assailant's projecting arm. from there, side B calls for a turning, twisting descent with the legs moving into dragon stance, so that the practitioner finishes in a position reminiscent of the 4th palm change (side A) pushing down into the assailant's hip and tripping them onto their back. i think while similar, the side B version of this is different, since it has a different title (for side B this is called golden serpent wraps the willow tree, while the 4th palm change side A cousin is called serpent coils the body).

drill: 1st palm change, side A versus side B

Sifu explained that side B is supposed to counteract side A, so that 2 opponents can engage and effectively counter each other by having one use the 1st palm change of side A and the other use the 1st palm change of side B. this allows for the creation of a 2-person drill, either in line or circle, with partners adopting the role of using side A or side B.

this is exactly what we did. Sifu ordered us to pair up and practice this, preferably with a senior student working with a junior one. since there were more junior students then beginners, i ended up with Laura, who i figured had at least gotten all this last week.

this drill ended up being more difficult to perform than it looked. the techniques themselves weren't hard. the main problem was timing and spacing. working with another person requires a certain amount of fluidity for the drill to be conducted with skill. fluidity, however, means that both partners are interacting seamlessly between attack and defense. this requires corresponding timing of movement between one partner's attack and the other's defense, as well as the subsequent shift in roles. it also requires proper spacing so that the techniques actually engage and make contact the way they were meant to.

here's what i think was making things difficult:

• part of the problem, i am sure, was my lack of familiarity with the side B 1st palm change. i was still having to think through the movements, and so had to divert attention to them away from time and space issues. this, of course, meant slowing the drill down dramatically.
• another problem that i suspect is that the footwork is not entirely clear to me in the drill. i could see how the feet are supposed to move when Sifu demonstrated it with Phunsak. but it's difficult to translate foot placement and direction to different bodies and body types. this further serves to disrupt the coordination between upper body and lower body movements. it didn't help that Laura and i were both substantially leaner and longer than the models we were trying to follow.
• one other issue--and this pretty much goes without saying--is the lack of practice. timing and spacing are physical factors driven by mental intent, and so are variables that can be adjusted if the mind is given time to adapt and acclimate. obviously, just 1 class session isn't enough. the drill, no doubt, will become easier to perform if given time.

which leads me back to a point in the post for the last class i made: it takes 2 people to tango; it takes 2 people to do a 2-person drill. in order for us to practice 2-person drills, we're going to have to find time to practice in pairs. luckily, John Eagles is recovering from his surgery (he was back in class today), so i'll see about giving him and Kieun a call, since they both live near me.

tai chi

Sifu came back after some time with the baji students. he stopped class and gathered us together to talk about next week.

next Saturday is World Tai Chi Day. i guess it's a pretty big event in the Southern California area, and is being conducted in conjunction with other locations around the world. for the Los Angeles area, it will be held at the Rose Bowl. Sifu will be acting as an official translator for the news reporters. we, like all the other attendees, will be participating and performing tai chi forms with the other attendees.

Sifu taught us the initial steps of a tai chi form, with Phunsak providing assistance. he only showed us the first half; he said we would learn the other half next Saturday before the official ceremonies began. from what i could tell, we were learning a Chen tai chi form.

while this was just a smattering introduction, i was pretty intrigued by this. tai chi is definitely one of the styles i'd like to learn, preferably Chen and Sun, if possible. i can't really explain why--i just like the way it looks, and am curious as to just how it is applied in combat. obviously, what we got and what we're going to do on Saturday isn't really going to be representative of the real nature of the style, but i figure it's meant more for demonstration purposes, and so something Sifu consideres sufficient for 1 day.

with that, class wound down and Sifu dismissed us.