Postures of Taijiquan

Discuss Taijiquan or other soft styles. Theory, practice and applications. Please stay on topic.

Moderators: nyang, Dvivid, Inga, taiqiman

Re: Postures of Taijiquan

Postby Silkreeler37 » Sat Jan 11, 2014 12:02 pm

I have a question regarding Twist the Body Brush Knee and Step forward in Yang Style taiji barehand sequence. In Dr. Yang's version, he bypasses the the "twist the body" part of the movement. He also bypasses the Yin/Yang hands in said posture in which one palm face up and the other down. Instead, he circles the hand beside the ear and then steps forward with a push that settles the wrist at the end, whereas most other versions of Yang style simply has you follow the pushing hand with the eyes with the palm pretty much facing forward for the entire push. I cut my teeth on Dr. Yang's version, and have only recently been made aware of this discrepancy in the movement when it was pointed out that Yang's version tends to tense the shoulder and raises the elbow. The same thing happens in his version of Press (ji) in which he has the right arm horizontal with the elbow facing out rather than down. Dr. Yang has a very penetrating mind, and there always seems to be a valid reason for everything he does, so any help here would be very much appreciated. Thanks!
You cannot cut the man to fit the coat.
Silkreeler37
Forum User
 
Posts: 11
Joined: Thu Mar 28, 2013 3:56 pm

Re: Postures of Taijiquan

Postby Josh Young » Sat Jan 11, 2014 1:23 pm

Perhaps he was taught that way or it corresponds to a specific application?

Given the huge variation of the postures in regards to forms of different schools it seems trivial, superficial and unimportant as far as variations go.

I enjoy this resource:
http://brennantranslation.wordpress.com/
Maybe you can find more information among the older works?
Josh Young
Forum DemiGod
 
Posts: 720
Joined: Fri Mar 06, 2009 12:03 pm

Re: Postures of Taijiquan

Postby Silkreeler37 » Sat Jan 11, 2014 5:14 pm

Thanks so much. It's been very difficult finding a qualified teacher to make genuine corrections to my form practice.
You cannot cut the man to fit the coat.
Silkreeler37
Forum User
 
Posts: 11
Joined: Thu Mar 28, 2013 3:56 pm

Re: Postures of Taijiquan

Postby chh » Tue Jan 14, 2014 7:09 pm

Hi Silkreeler37,

Are you saying that you trained at a YMAA school and learned brush knee that way?

I might be misinterpreting what you're calling 'twist the body' and what you're saying about yin-yang hand posture, but in the YMAA version of brush knee, the body absolutely does twist from an angle to a squared-forward position as the weight shifts forward, and the palms also do turn to face each other before the step as part of a coiling motion (as the body is twisting).

I don't have time to search around too much- here's the first video of a YMAA student doing the form that I could find. Sorry it's quick! At around 25 seconds he does brush knee, pretty much the way all YMAA folks I've known do it. Is it missing the things you're talking about? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynU6pazhgzU

I think the palm forward/down thing you're noticing has to do with Dr. Yang's interpretation of An energy, 按, which emphasizes settling (in this case of the wrist) as I understand it. The finger tips lead out, and the wrist settles at the end. In my experience, this also means that your hand is less tense during the move, but that's totally subjective for me.

I hope that is helpful or at least relevant!
chh
Forum Addict
 
Posts: 71
Joined: Tue Dec 13, 2011 10:09 pm

Previous

Return to Taijiquan / Tai Chi Chuan

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 3 guests

cron