day 176: memory is a tricky thing

concepts:

• nuances
• looseness
• balance
• extension
• memory
• explosiveness
  

forms:

• 64 palms, side B
• chang quan
  

things seemed to start pretty late today, which was ironic considering that i thought i was struggling to get myself to class. i've started having private lessons with Sifu on Fridays in chang quan, with the 1st session yesterday. i'll post summaries of these sessions with these Saturday posts, since i don't think they warrant independent write-ups, particularly since Sifu wants to concentrate on refinement of my chang quan and also cover combat applications.

people straggled in slowly. for a good portion of time, the only people present were Siwannda, John Eagles, and me. while we waited, we ended up spending most of our mutual time talking to a prospective new student, Gloria, who initially visited back in June but then went away. she seems intent on giving an extended try to class, and had a fair number of questions, most of which i deferred to John and Siwannda. John took it upon himself to show Gloria the bagua stances, taking her on a brief lesson through each one.

Sifu and Phunsak arrived later, but Phunsak was having some stomache issues (i still think it was a case of food poisoning from some bad sushi he had the previous day--Simon even noted that Phunsak made the mistake of eating a spicy tuna roll, which was invented to allow use of old tuna...i'd trust Simon on this one, since he's a sushi chef). as a result, Sifu asked that the bagua students take it upon ourselves to continue refining side B while he went to work with the baji students, and said he'd return to evaluate us.

64 palms, side B

we went through each of the palm changes for side B, following the same pattern as last week. this time, however, since everyone was feeling more adventurous, we also experimented on doing it in a circle. Eric bowed out of this, and dedicated his attention to helping Gloria with some bagua basics.

when Sifu returned, he watched us again for evaluation. i did a little better this week, but largely because i could remember the individual palm changes a little better.

we finished class with this and went to lunch.

chang quan

the private lesson yesterday was a bit involved. the plan is basically to work through chang quan, since Sifu believes that 1) it will help rectify a lot of issues i'm having in bagua (and elsewhere), 2) help me get a better sense of the origins of a lot of northern chinese martial arts (and thereby put a lot of what we're learning in historical perspective), and 3) provide a more simplified aspect of northern chinese martial arts combat applications (compared to the changes in approach introduced by later styles like tai chi, bagua, etc.). since the class curriculum is pretty set, and i appear to be the only one of the newer students interested in this, we agreed to make it a separate teaching session.

it turns out i'm not the only one getting private lessons--Tommy is getting additional instruction in spear and fight training (i.e., drills and bag work). he was finishing his lesson when i arrived, and stuck around to see what i was doing.

i asked Sifu if we could start from tantui, particularly the combat applications, since i've never gotten them. but he said this is something that will come out in the process of learning pao quan, and so it would be more efficient to just refine my pao quan for now.

he began by noting that the pao quan in chang quan is NOT the same as the pao quan in chen tai chi quan. the pao quan in chang quan is actually a different ideograph (i.e., character), and the pronounciation involves a slightly different tonal variation. unfortunately, because so many chinese students were illiterate and so many of them became sloppy with the pronounciation, the 2 forms became confused with each other. it didn't help when the styles were introduced to Western cultures, wherein the 2 forms both received the label "pao quan" even though they are very different.

Sifu wrote the characters for each down for me (although i didn't save them...at some point i'm going to have to ask him to write down the Chinese characters with accompanying English translation for EVERYTHING--it would clear up a lot of confusion and i suspect resolve a lot of ongoing debates floating in the Western world). he showed that the pao quan in chang quan is actually translated into "running fist," and thus reflects the training purpose of the form, which is:

• help students develop dynamic power
• indoctrinate students in the need to constantly move while fighting
• teach students how techniques are supposed to work in a state of constant motion
• develop overall fitness levels

in contrast, the pao quan in chen tai chi quan is translated into "cannon fist," and is more indicative of the form's focus on introducing students to a way of generating greater power in tai chi techniques.

Sifu then said that the version of chang quan he's been teaching is jia men chang quan (Islamic long fist). he knows others (emei, or plum flower, and taizu being among them), but he teaches jia men since 1) it's the standard introductory style taught in the Wutan curriculum, and 2) it contains a very clearly defined progression in the curriculum, with the basic-level tantui fulfilling a very specific set of objectives, the intermediate pao quan aimed at a different and distinct set of goals, and the advanced chao quan directed at its own unique purposes.

from there, he started me directly with pao quan, first asking me to perform as much as i could remember. he stopped me about a quarter of the way through and said this was a good portion to work on for the day. we went back and started from the beginning, with him showing me the refinements for each movement. he also demonstrated the combat applications, and pointed out why the details were so important.

my notes on this are as follows:

• nuances. there are a LOT of nuances. as much as chang quan is often perceived as "simple" or direct relative to other styles (like bagua), i'm seeing a lot of subtleties--and they're all important, since Sifu showed me just how much a difference they made in terms of the effectiveness of the techniques.
• looseness. chang quan requires a lot of suppleness, but not of a kind that means absolute relaxation. it calls for a constant transition in and out of states of relaxation and tension.
• balance. more so than tai chi, i'm seeing that it really tests balance. of course, this may be that pao quan is a dynamic form, and so involves being balanced while going from states of movement to stillness. but it's a new experience.
• extension. i have a bad habit of not extending my legs in certain movements. it's very apparent in pao quan, and i'm having to really think consciously about this. Sifu said this was one of the reasons he wanted me to learn pao quan, since he figures it will help me eliminate this habit.
• memory. my memory of pao quan is a little spotty. i had to struggle to recall some of the movements at certain points. but i figure this will be resolved through practice.
• explosiveness. pao quan calls for a lot more explosive movements than i'm used to. i'm having to adjust to this, particularly in terms of how the explosive movements are generated (some of it is plyometric, which i'm very familiar with, but some of it involves explosiveness generated from the feet, which i'm not so familiar with). but this too, i think i can pick up pretty easily with enough practice.
  

this consumed the entire session. we stopped about 1/4 of the way through the form. which was just as well, since my mind was getting saturated. there's a lot to remember--particularly in terms of the nuances. of course, the solution to all the above is pretty straightforward: practice, and lots of it. the issue is actually doing it.

Tommy actually stayed all the way through. we wrapped things up, and set the time as a regular slot in the calendar, meaning i'll be doing this every Friday. i'm looking forward to it--it feels like i'm learning history, and history is actually kind of fun.