days 99 & 100: getting comfortable with the Yang long form

concepts:

• counting
• breathing
• ball & bowl
• smoothness
  
• grinding
• relaxation
• memory
  

forms:

• Yang long form

day 99

today (Tuesday) was focused more on prepping everyone for midterms. Master Chow appeared again, along with his son Clifford (he attended the Long Beach jian shu class for awhile), who is visiting from Hong Kong. this time, however, Master Chow insisted on just being an observer, since his family was leaving for the Chinese New Year holiday immediately after today's class.

Sifu announced that next week is midterms week on the calendar, and gave everyone the choice of having the midterm next Tuesday or Thursday--naturally, everyone voted for Thursday. Sifu also said that he was going to take some extra time today to help everyone improve the material we've covered to date, so that they're better set for the exam.

we did a brief set of the stances to get warmed up, and then did a few repetitions of the Yang long form. Sifu introduced the initial kicking sequence, which involves a series of 3 toe kicks, with a change in direction for the last one. this area is a typical problem area for most beginners, so he spent a number of minutes familiarizing everyone with the sequence, particularly in terms of setting up the kicks and the footwork involved going into and out of them.

he conceded that a few people may find them hard, but that the kicks are the kind of thing that get easier over time. he also commented that:

• for now, we should focus on balance, and hold off on trying to increase the height of the kicks.
• as stated last quarter, tai chi kicks are not necessarily high, but more frequently low (e.g., to the knees, shins, ankles, etc. of the opponent).
• in tai chi, the kicks are not extending beyond the range of the arms, but are meant to be applied when close to the enemy.
• kicks in tai chi are supposed to be done with a straight (upright) back, to maintain balance and minimize danger of being thrown by counter-moves from the opponent.
  

after a number of minutes, Sifu decided we should spend the remainder of class today improving our form. he organized everyone into groups of 3-4, and then had each group do the Yang long form in front of the class. he asked Art and me to join him in giving feedback.

holding to the materials from last quarter and this quarter, Sifu stressed the following:

• as a training tool, it's useful to break each movement in the long form into a 2-count action, with the "1" being timed with breath in and "2" being timed with breath out. in addition, "1" is also timed with an imaginary ball, and "2" should be timed with an imaginary bowl
• the transitions should be smooth, and smoothness can be improved using the 2-count with breathing and ball & bowl imagery
• the grinding action of the rear heel in the bow-and-arrow stance is important to tai chi, as it ensures the rooting of the foot and sets up the body as a conduit to use the ground as a reaction to an opponent's attack--basically, it's just Newton's 1st law (for every force, there is an equal and opposite reaction force), with the idea of setting up the body so that it sets an attacker's force to be sent into the ground, whereupon it encounters the reaction force of the earth.
• tai chi is about relaxation. muscles should not be tense, and joints should not be locked. this is important, since it allows better reading and response to opponent movements, and also enables smoother and quicker reflexes
• practice. practice. practice. we're far enough into the long form that the only real way to remember the form is to practice it regularly. Sifu noted that tai chi (just like any other martial art) is as much about training the mind as it is the body, and part of this involves improving memory as to proper biomechanics. practicing the Yang long form aids in the development of memory.
  

by this time, class time was coming to a close. Sifu finished the session, and said we'd discuss the midterms more on Thursday.

day 100

we took some time today for some administrative matters. Sifu reminded everyone that next week is midterms, with the plan being to hold the performance component of the midterm on Thursday. the format will be to have each student do a solo performance of the Yang long form, but in snippets in random sequential order--basically, this means that one student will start the Yang long form, then stop when ordered by Sifu, whereupon another student will then be asked to continue the Yang long from from the stop point. Sifu also noted that he's willing to give extra credit to students willing to do the tai chi stances.

Sifu believes he can fit in all the students within the Thursday class period, especially since he expects me, Art, and Doria (another experienced student) to not do the exam, but instead provide constructive comments to the students.

we ended up spending a few minutes clarifying questions over the exam, as well as figuring out how much of the Yang long form it is going to cover. Sifu decided that he would only hold the midterm over the materials we covered up until Tuesday, and skip anything we covered today or next week (i.e., during midterm week).

once we sorted all this out, Sifu had us go through all the stances, making sure to review the proper form for each. Art and i helped him go around and correct individual students in the class, to make sure they got up to speed in time for the midterms.

after this, we resumed the Yang long form, except this time focusing on review. we managed to get a little bit further to the planting fist, which puts us close to the halfway point of the form. Sifu demonstrated the combat applications for this, as well as the variations from it. i also asked him to show the contrast to the Chen tai chi version.

after this, upon the request of some students, we went back and reviewed the leg kick sequence from Tuesday. a large number of people are having problems with the kicks, particularly with balance, raising the legs, and straightening the legs once they are in a raised position. but this is no surprise to me--i've found that doing the kicks slowly in tai chi requires a solid core (strong and flexible upper & lower abdomen, as well as lower back) and hips to lift and control the legs, as well as a comfort level standing on one leg. i suggested to a few people that they would probably have to do some training drills to improve these areas before they could get better with the kicks...something i've had to take time to do myself.

with that, we ended the class, with a final reminder about the midterms.