days 64 & 65: all 24 Yang

concepts:

• root (strength & balance)
• balancing in the feet (ball v. heel, big toe v. small toe)
• kicks in tai chi
  

forms:

• Yang simplified 24 movement
• stances
  

the pace picked up a little this week, as Sifu worked to have us complete the Yang simplified 24 movement form. we had some new students add the class this week, and so Sifu took some extra time to help them catch up.

day 64

this was largely straightforward. we worked our way through to needle at the sea bottom and fan to the back.

Sifu stopped at a number of points to make the following comments:

• root--i think this may have been discussed during one of the class sessions i missed. but Sifu took a minute to expand on the concept of "root," saying that it referred to lower body strength and balance. the lower body strength is necessary to hold positions and for proper movement, and balance is necessary for stability. together, the serve to help the practitioner remain upright against an opponent seeking to produce a fall. Sifu emphasized that we have to develop both.
• balancing in the feet--Sifu noted that balancing required adjustment of weight in the feet. for some stances, balance is better if we place our bodyweight on the outside of the foot (Sifu said to imagine it going to our little toe), while in others it is better if we place our bodyweight on the ball of the foot (Sifu said to imagine it going to our big toe). placing our weight on the little toe helps to grind the heel, thereby adding power into a thrust. placing our weight on the big toe helps to fix the heel and even weight distribution throughout the foot, thereby adding balance to a single-leg stance.
• stances--Sifu said lower body strength began with stance work. holding static stances helps to build lower body strength, and so is considered one of the cornerstones of martial arts. eventually, once a sufficient level of lower body strength is developed, the next step is to practice dynamic stances, which helps increase explosive lower body strength. in sports medicine terms, i see this as static stances developing isometric (static) power, and dynamic stances developing plyometric (explosive) power.
  

we finished the day by going through all 8 stances in tai chi:

• horse
• bow-and-arrow
• unicorn
• lion
• rooster
• snake
• cat
• dragon
  

day 65

we finished the Yang simplified 24 movement form, going all the way to the conclusion. Sifu spent some extra time, however, backtracking to the heel kicks.

Sifu said that it was incorrect to have the torso lean in any direction in the form's kicks. instead, the torso is supposed to remain upright, with the arms helping to maintain balance as a cantilever against the kicking leg.

Sifu explained that unlike other martial arts, in tai chi kicks are meant to be applied at a shorter range, and so don't involve as great an extension. he compared it tae kwon do, which he said often involves kicks involving the torso leaning in the opposite direction of the kick. he said this is because the kicks are meant to be at a long range--beyond the reach of the arm--and so require the extra extension possible from leaning the torso.

in contrast, tai chi kicks operate at a shorter range, often within arm reach. the philosophy is to have short (or shorter relative to other martial arts styles like tae kwon do) kicks. as a result, they don't require extra extension.

in addition--and more importantly--Sifu said that tai chi holds to the principle of holding a "root." this places primacy on the practitioner remaining upright. long-range kicks involving leaning of the torso make the practitioner very unstable (even if balanced), and hence easily susceptible to being knocked off-balance at the critical moment when the kicking leg is upraised and all the body weight is on the standing leg. shorter kicks, on the other hand, are more stable and more difficult to upset. in essence, they mean a stronger root...which is why tai chi, which holds a "root" as a core principle, espouses shorter kicks.

we finished with that, although Sifu stayed for an extra half hour to work with the new students who had just added the class.