concepts:- power (chan si jin versus piao ja-sp?)
- palm change 1 (sides A & B)
- palm change 2 (sides A & B)
- palm change 3 (sides A & B)
- drills (palm changes 1 & 2, A & B)
Sifu started things off with a brief commentary about power. this must have been a continuation of a conversation he'd been having with the jian shu students, since he referred to a prior question about tai chi, which from what i could surmise must have dealt with the difference between the Chen style taught in our school versus the Chen style taught in other schools.
Sifu noted that our Chen style did not exactly match that of other Chen styles in the US. he attributed this to the fact that most US Chen practitioners are learning from the lineage of Chen Fake, while we followed from the lineage going to Chen Fake's father, Chen Yanxi.
this would seem to be the same lineage, but according to Sifu there is a distinction produced by a generation gap induced by the Communist takeover of China. according to Jason, following the Communist Revolution in China, Chen Yanxi's lineage continued through instructors in Taiwan, but was suppressed by the new regime in Beijing. Chen Fake, even though Chen Yanxi's son, was forced to alter the Chen style to placate the new regime.
Sifu noted one change that Chen Fake made was to use much more horizontal circular movement, instead of the more vertical circular movement seen in Chen Yanxi's tai chi.
much greater, however, was the alteration in power generation. Chen Fake's tai chi is known for its open jerking motions, while Chen Yanxi's was more subtle. Sifu said that this is because unlike Chen Fake, Chen Yanxi's tai chi had a greater expression of chan si jin (sp? twisting force) to balance piao ja (sp? explosive force). chan si jin is the power generation commonly associated with tai chi and bagua. piao ja is the kind of power seen in baji, piqua, and hsing-i (i'm guessing this means it's a form of fa jing, which is the term for the explosive power associated with these styles). in contrast to Chen Yanxi, Chen Fake's tai chi (particularly with many current practitioners) has less chan si jin and much heavier piao ja. in Sifu's opinion, a lot of the modern Chen practitioners are overdoing the piao ja, and getting away from the more traditional nature of tai chi.
palm change 1 (sides A & B) - on a line & circle walking
Sifu instructed us to go through palm change 1 of both sides A & B. we began with a review of both sides in a line, doing repetitions for each one until everyone became comfortable. after this, we proceeded to do both sides circle walking, with 2 circles composed of 5 students each.
palm change 2 (sides A & B) - on a line & circle walking
after finishing the review of palm change 1, Sifu left to go work with the baji students and ordered Phunsak to continue with the same progression for palm change 2. keeping with the progression we followed for palm change 1, we reviewed palm change 2 in a line for both side A and side B. after doing multiple repetitions of both sides, we then continued on to do both sides walking in 2 circles.
drills (palm changes 1 & 2, A & B) - 2-person
during a break, Cheng-Chieh (i should note i've been mis-spelling her name in prior posts as Ching-Tszieh) suggested to Phunsak that we should do the 2-person drills, since that was still a source of difficulty. Phunsak agreed, and had us line up, with 2 lines of 5 students each facing each other, so that 1 line was side A to match the other side's line B.
Phunsak called out numbers for each technique in each palm change, to which each partner was supposed to follow with their respective side. we did this for palm change 1, and then repeated it for palm change 2.
it appears that we're not progressing that quickly with these palm changes, at least in terms of the 2-person drills. from what i could tell, we (me individually and us as a whole) are still struggling to perform the 2-person drill--not so much in terms of remembering the palm changes and each side, but terms of remembering them in context of a 2-person pair interacting with 2 people in what should be a smooth synchronized continuous dance of attack, parry, and counter-attack. we're not smooth, we're synchronized, and we're definitely not continuous.
admittedly, we are marginally better. but not by much.
we're going to need a lot more practice.
at some point during another break, Kieun, Phunsak, and Cheng-Chieh got on a conversation about the nature of the interaction between partners in the 2-person drills. Kieun said that in the drills, the partners are actually trying to help each other get through the palm changes. as a result, the actions in the drill are not entirely the same as in actual combat, since in the drill the partners are doing more to signal to each other their techniques.
Cheng-Chieh said it seemed a lot like dancing. Phunsak said that it was, and then went on to note that the bagua footwork is actually a lot like ballroom dancing, particularly tango. he then got into a ballroom dance position with Cheng-Chieh, and proceeded to demonstrate the tango with her. he made efforts to show how the tango used footsteps that were very similar to ko bu and bai bu, and even had turns that were similar to the initial entry moves into bagua throws (with the exception that in tango the partners prevent each other from falling).
Sifu returned just in time to see Phunsak's tango lesson. i think Sifu was equal parts perplexed and amused.
palm change 3 (sides A & B) - on a line
Sifu finished the day with an introduction to palm change 3 for side B. we did a brief review of the palm change for side A in a line, and then went directly to side B.
Sifu began by saying side B is reminiscent of the opening movements of the Chen tai chi short form. like side A, side B begins from hawk pierces through the sky. but side B then enters with a turn that goes into yellow bird swoops down for food, which ends with a stance that has the upper arm positioning of the 60-40 stance but the leg positioning of the bow-and-arrow stance. at this point, the practitioner goes into a pulling motion that goes down and backwards while the body weight shifts to the rear leg. this technique has the very evocative title of divert and grab by the cloth. from here, the movement flows back into bow-and-arrow with the legs while into a snake position with the lead arm having palm up towards the opponent and the rear hand guarding the juncture between the abdomen and rear hip. again, the technique has a very evocative title of white snake spits its tongue. Sifu is right, this entire sequence, while not exactly the same, has a very similar feeling to the opening of the Chen tai chi short form.
the palm change continues with white snake coils in its den. here, the legs fall into dragon, while the rear arm rises up before the front arm. at this point, side B starts to become like side B, with the practitioner stepping forward with the rear leg to then perform green dragon turns its body. side B ends the same as side A, with single goose leaves the flock.
i had a little trouble with this, but managed to get a feel for it with some practice. Sifu gave us some time to become familiarized with it. i mentioned to Phunsak that this was going to be interesting to do in a 2-person drill with side A, especially with the amount of spinning and foot movement involved. he said that if we thought the 2-person drills were hard with palm changes 1 and 2, it was nothing compared to palm change 3. he said the 3rd palm change was about 2-3 orders of magnitude more difficult.
oh joy. i can't wait.
after awhile, Sifu called class to an end and dismissed us. he said we were going to skip the customary post-class lunch, since today was John Eagle's wedding and he and Phunsak had been invited to attend.
