Tai Chi

Showing posts with label Schools and Instruction. Show all posts

Tai Chi Master - www.taichic.com

Sphere: Related Content

These arts are performed by a Tai Chi Master.Learn how to do Taichi.

Tai Chi 24-form

Sphere: Related Content

Tai Chi 24-form...
It's a great martial art style. You should try it.

Tai Chi - Yang Simplified 24 Gracefully Performed

Sphere: Related Content

This video, courtesy of http://taiji.de/, is an exceedingly graceful demonstration of the Yang Simplified 24, the most popular form of Tai Chi after its adoption by the Chinese State Committee of Sports in 1956.

Tai-chi

Sphere: Related Content

Tai chi

Tai Chi Push Hands: A Two-man Battle

Sphere: Related Content

When you came to know Tai Chi, somehow, you didn’t think of the other things and methods that it has to offer. Most often, people who are familiar to Tai Chi get to be introduced to Push Hands further in the program. Some Tai Chi schools will start on the very basic one-man show then advance to Push Hands the moment they are already familiar and adept to all techniques in Tai Chi

There is a need to discover and feel another’s energy through exercise. That is why Tai Chi Push Hands were taught. It is somewhat similar to sparring but without the hurting-each-other sort of bit. No punching, no kicking. It is a sport made so gentle wherein your only goal as a team player is to upset your opponent’s balance in the smoothest possible way.

First, participants will find a partner of their own whom they can share their talents with. The one beside you would be perfect. Bow at each other before you begin, just to show respect. Once the exercise begins, every participant’s outside hand must be placed on his or her opponent’s elbow while the inside hand is placed on the wrist. On cue, the match begins as the pair uses both their hands to push each other.

As one is pushing the other, they will have to concentrate deeply for them to be able to control each other’s energy. Shoving, in any manner, is prohibited and is not advised during exercises. The one who will win the match is the one who had been able to overcome his or her opponent’s energy and make the opponent stumble to the ground or loose his balance. Remember, this is not an exercise to of brute but an exercise of skill.

Students recognize the importance of Tai Chi in Push Hands because it complements the forms and meditations. If the task is performed in a correct way, every detail of Tai Chi can be reflected by means of the principles of yin and yang. Once Tai Chi is applied against an opponent, it instructs a different kind of balance, one that can’t be learned in any way. Push Hands participants are taught that using such minimum energy is more advisable because if excessive energy is used, it will be exploited by the opponent.

An attack is always aimed at the center of the human’s body. Diverting the attack is possible through circular movements. The body must always remain relaxed because if the body is stiff or tense, it will influence the center at any point. But if the person kept his or her body relaxed, the energy can be diverted or dissipated. At this point, reaction and awareness triumphs over aggression and force.

Push Hands aren’t used only for exercise purposes but also as a sort of competitive agreement. Chinese Martial Art now asserted Push Hands in competitions and is featured in tournaments. Match formats are always available. It is often accompanied by strict rules regarding the flow of the game and how every combat must proceed.

Practically, a person aiming out to join in such a competition will have a different emphasis on the moves and styles. Unlike a student who is just practicing Push Hands because it is part of their Tai Chi program.

Someone who is in the competition must have a certain level of strength and speed and must also be equipped with the knowledge of every movement to assert the format of the opponent.

Chen Style Tai Chi: An Overview of Skill and Mastery

Sphere: Related Content

The Chen style of Tai Chi is considered as the purest martial art. It is performed with dignity and is designed to be the art of skills and techniques. Through mastery, one can use the Chen style not only to disable and hurt an opponent but also to cripple and kill.

History

Chen style was developed more than 350 years ago. This was during the time of the Ching Dynasty. Chen Wang Ting, who lived in Chen Village, was the one who introduced and taught the martial art. He was an experienced commander in the military who is an expert in medical skills. He based his art and teachings through his family’s fighting skills and combined it with his external resources. His knowledge was passed from generation to generation but was exclusively meant for the men of Chen Village.

Hundreds of years have passed. It was not so long ago since the art was disclosed to the people. And as time has wandered, so is the Chen style. It reached parts outside the village and it resulted in the people accepting and making other styles of Tai Chi.

The history of Chen Tai Chi brought about different characteristics to the styles used in Kung Fu. The core always comes down to two important principles: external and internal. It’s all the same principle. Externally, every physical movement is made visible while in the internal aspect, energy is used to move the body. Without thought there is no chi and therefore, no motion.

Principles and Beliefs

Before engaging in Tai Chi, whatever style it might be, people must first understand the components of Yin and Yang. Opposing properties’ balance is created in a strong aura to unify the moves in Kung Fu.

In due time, Chen style Tai Chi brings coordination and balance internally to the entire aspect of the body. In return, the body will become more aware of its surroundings and will use it for its advantage as a sort of self-defense.

Tai Chi, in general, looks timid empty and timid but if identified more clearly, one will realize that it is the internal balance that one must achieve. Spiraling circular movements are used to transfer the internal chi inside the body.

The mind is also an important part of the entire martial art. It is focused on the applications of Tai Chi for combat and emanate proper health that will circulate through the entire nervous system. The most important aspect about Tai Chi is that it has the capacity to energize the blood that will be most beneficial to the systems inside the body.

Chen Style Explained

Chen style Tai Chi is one of the hardest and the most difficult type of Tai Chi to learn. It requires a high level of art that is needed in the demands of life. Primarily, Chen style is concerned on self-defense but as it progresses, it offers more namely wisdom about kinetics, physiology, psychology, aesthetics, and body mechanics.

Chen is characterized by a deep stance, twists and circles, and a pace that is varied. The hand is formed as the index fingers of both hands are extended in an angle that forms a plane. The pace varies from a standing position and explosive powerful moves.

Brief Context of Tai Chi

Sphere: Related Content

Origin

From the Land of the Sleeping Giant, China. One of the legendary and respected founders who created the idea of imitating the flow and motion of the different martial art techniques is Chang San Feng. He is said to live during the year 1391 until 1459. Back then, he was living in a monastery named Wu Tang as a monk. By combining the different principles of Taoism, kung fu, and the theory of Yi Jing, he created the ever popular form of meditation, Tai Chi.

Some researches indicated that traces of a wide acceptance of Tai Chi were found in the village of Chen. This was the time of Chen Wang Ting during the early 1600s. Documents have it that this is the place where Tai Chi was born.

Characteristic

Tai Chi, in a word, literary means One. In another sense, it means “Supreme Ultimate Fist”. So, with the words combined, Tai Chi is done as one, with or without a partner, with the use of hand gestures and different slow motions. Tai Chi stresses to its practitioners that they must observe proper breathing, and correct posture so as to facilitate the pattern of the flowing Chi. However, Tai Chi can also be used as a form of self-defense but as time moves forward, it is less stressed.

Schools

Today, there are four popular schools of Tai Chi – Yang, Wu, Sun and Chen. These four are all unique in appearance and method of instruction but all follows the fundamentals of the basic principles applied in ancient Tai Chi that consists of cultivation of chi, correct posture and principles of breathing.

Yang Style

This is the most famous and popular form of Tai Chi. In this kind of style, the body emphasizes a consistency regarding its movement speed, smoothness and slow but refined motion with continuity through the entire session. There are no moves that will isolate one part of your body, thus, enhancing every part and move at the same time. Relative to stances, they are wide and high. You back foot must maintain a 45 degree form in a front stance.

Chen Style

May be quite similar to the traditional style of kung fu wherein stances are opposite to that of the Yang and Wu styles. All stances are often done in a low state and have a bit of an external feeling.

When the Chen style of Tai Chi is performed, it features a motion that is in slow portions but then builds a stronger inner chi. it also exhibits a more explosive form with a fast turning when attacking. The back foot remains the same with the Yang style but as to being straight, it maintains a bent back knee.

Sun Style

This type of Tai Chi was created in the year 1914 by Sun Lu Tang. He was already renowned in the world of martial arts at that time. He trained extensively in Hsing I, Bagua, and Shaolin Kung Fu. By combining the three together with the theory supported by Yi Jing, principles of Taoism, and Qigong, he created a new and unique style of Tai Chi.

Wu Style

Considered as the youngest, it represents high stances and much more slower movements. The front stances are parallel. This type of Tai Chi introduces a lot of reaching and leaning movements that are more controlled and slower than the rest.