Taichi Class Progression

"What am I expecting in Taichi classes? Where am I heading to?"

These are some of the common questions raised by most beginner Taichi practitioners. Based the course designed by me, Michael Tang, as well as the trainings that I have received in the past, I am going to list some of the expectations and goals that one should aim for as they practice Taichi.

Short term:

1. Getting the stance, which is the core to changing your body posture, as well as the key to advance into different movements. 
2. Getting the circles. There are 3 different dimensional circles, with 6 directions in total. These are the fundamentals that you will need to master before moving forward. 

Mid-term:

1. Starting to get the hang of core muscles using Taichi movements. This can be considered as the advanced version of the stance that you have mastered. 
2. Being able to combine circles from different directions. These could be linking the circles, or creatint circles that are semi- or quasi- directions. 
3. Increased focus and stability. 

Long-term:

1. Being able to do the form (set). The form should be considered as the combination of techiniques and movements, as a way of practice, not the main body of Taichi itself. 
2. Being able to reflect Taichi concepts in movements, including push-hands and the forms. 

This is just a real quick explanation of expectations and goals in the journey of Taichi. Of course, there are different pathways that people seek as they practice Taichi, and these expectations and goals may not fit everyone or coincide with their aims of Taichi. 

2018 New Class Schedule

NEW CLASS SCHEDULE for 2018!

We will now be running our regular classes on Sundays.

Date: Sundays starting on 11 Feb 2018.
Hours: Advanced Class: 8.30am - 10am
             Fundamental Class: 10am-12pm
Location: Courtyard/Dance Studio of Ross Milbourne Sports Hall, UTS, Broadway, NSW.
Parking: Street parking available on Thomas St. and Mary Ann St.

Movement Names, Traditional Form One

Here is the list of movement names that we practice at M Cube Taichi. 

Full Movement Name Lists, Form 1

The name list is based on Grandmaster Chen Qingzhou's (CQZ) list of names and a common version of names used in recent days. I have also listed the non-listed movements in the list. Also, there are common translations used in Taichi community (English), but I cannot agree with some of the translations used. Hence, I have listed the common names, and my preferred translations. The ones that I shorten personally are placed in brackets. 

At the same time, this can be extended to explain the confusion between how many movements are you doing in your form. Please refer to the next blog. 

Chen Style 19 Posture Routine (Whole form)

This post is regarding Chen Style 19 Posture Form by Grandmaster Chen Xiaowang.

Here is the complete video of this form filmed in probably late 90's.


Here are the original Chinese names and my translations of them. I have adapted the translations from various sources to best reflect the meanings behind the names of the movements.

1. 預備勢 Beginning Posture
2. 金剛出廟 Budda’s Warrior Attendant Leaving the Temple
3. 懶扎衣 Lazy to Tuck the Coat in
4. 上步斜行 Walk Diagonally
5. 上三步 Walk Three Steps
6. 左掩手肱拳 Left Cover Hands and Fist Strike
   
7. 雙推手 Double Push Palm
8. 倒卷肱 Curl Arm Push and Step Back
9. 閃通背 Flash the back
10. 右掩手肱拳 Right Cover Hands and Fist Strike
11. 六封四閉 Six Seal and Four Close
    
12. 運手 Cloud hands
13. 高探馬 Patting the horse high
14. 右蹬一跟 Right Heel Kick
15. 左蹬一跟 Left Heel Kick
16. 野馬分鬃 Part the Horse’s Mane
    
17. 玉女穿梭 Girl working on the Shuttles
18. 金剛搗碓 Budda’s Warrior Attendant Pounds the Mortar
19. 收勢 Closing Posture

Details and break down of the form will be explained later posts. 

Movement 8 and application 斜行

This post is merely sharing the application of movement 8, 斜行, or the diagonal walk.

The demonstration is done by my master, and me as the dummy.

There is a shoulder charge, as well as a few joint lock in this move. There are other variations, this is merely a demo that would help us to understand the superficial use of this move, hence reinforce your memory on this move.

About the Instructor

Instructor Michael Tang is a member of Australian Kung Fu Wushu Association, co-coach at UTS Kung Fu Club and the head instructor of M Cube Tai Chi Academy (formerly Sydney Tai Chi Academy). With 10+ years of coaching experience and 20 years of martial arts, he may appear rather young and distant from a typical “Tai Chi Master” image, but his background in material art training, specifically in Tai Chi, is undoubtedly beyond his outlook. 

Michael officially started training in Chen Style Tai Chi since 1997 under Grandmaster Chen Qingzhou’s (陳慶洲) disciple, Dr. George Cui (崔鵬德), in Auckland, New Zealand. When he moved to Los Angeles, U.S.A., for his bachelor’s degree, Michael also trained with contemporary Wushu and won the grand champion titles in two consecutive years at the San Diego Grand Championship. During the years working overseas, besides the various and numerous Kung Fu styles that he trained under Master Simon Shih, he had the honour to become a disciple of Grandmaster Chen Xiaowang (陳小旺), the Headmaster of Chen Style Tai Chi, and trained under his guidance. Michael is currently the only “indoor” disciple of Master Dr. George Cui, and has been officially granted the permission to open classes in the names of Chen Style Tai Chi.  

Michael is also on his path in obtaining his Ph.D. in Educational Psychology, specialised in gesturing and embodied cognition. Incorporating the theories into practices, all of his classes have been carefully designed to meet both the learners’ learning efficiency as well as their bodily performances. In addition to teaching, his integrated and blended perspectives on western and eastern medicine and body mechanics are also incorporated into his resourceful coaching style.  

The Ending Move of Tai Chi.

During the practice of Taichi, ending move is an especially important move in the routine and in basic practices. Taichiquan focuses on the practice of thoughts, mind, and qi. As we practice the routine and the single exercise, the qi is activated and transferred around the body. In order to return the activated Qi back to dantian when we finish our training sessions, the ending move plays crucial role in this practice.

The ending move we practice at the end of sessions composes of 3 sets of inhales and exhales:

First set: inhale with focus on our thumbs, raise arms from the sides of our body till over head; exhale with focus on the index fingers, and lower the hands down to the position of dantian.
Second set: inhale with focus on the middle fingers, raise arms forward, up to the level of your collar bone; exhale focusing on the ring fingers and lower the hands back to dantian.
Third set: inhale with focus on the inner side of the little fingers, raise arms from sides till over head, while shifting the weight to the right leg and raise the left leg; exhale with focus on the outside of the little fingers, lower the hand back to dantian, while slowly put the legs together and stand up straight as you finish exhaling.

Here is a short and condensed explanation from the perspectives of Chinese medicine. The layers of the meridian (channel) in our body, from the outer most to the inner most layer are as follows: LU (thumb),  LI (index finger), PC (middle finger), SJ (ring finger), HT (inner little finger) and then SI (outer little finger). Also, LU and LI are directly connected, so do PC and SJ, and HT and SI. Therefore, in the designed ending move, with each inhale and exhale, we are able to direct the activated Qi back to dantian in an organised fashion, closing from the outer layer towards the inner layer, and store the Qi generated/harvested/activated during the training session in our body.

I am no experts in Chinese medicine nor specialist in Qigong. If you are interested in further reading, please refer to other source, such as Wikipedia.

Happy training.

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