Tai Chi Fundamentals 2 - Twisting & Reeling Silk

Looking at authentic, functional chansijin - rotational (twisting silk) power.
http://www.martialtaichi.co.uk

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Tai Chi
• taiji
• chuan
• quan
• xingyi
• hsing i
• chansijin
• chan ssu chin
• tongbei
• tong bei
• wushu
• kung fu
• gongfu
• bagua
• pa kua
• joanna zorya
• martial
• fighting
• combat

[nicerperson]

Excellent points.

Without twisting or rotation, then techniques can become merely force against force; eg. like some karate blocks (not knocking karate btw)

With twisting you can blend your energy with your opponents and use it to redirect the direction of the force.

A bit like if you fell flat, your kinetic energy impacts the floor in opposition and you get hurt, if you land in a roll or a break fall, you can redirect that energy in a new motion and prevent injury.

Great videos!

[martialtaichi]

Nice analogies and thank you for your comment! I normally try avoid using the word "energy" because of how it can be misinterpreted as something ethereal, but the way you explain it is very clear.

[martialtaichi]

Oh - the only other thing I would say is that we don't break fall because we see that as more akin to hard blocking - instead we always try to roll with a throw as closely to the throwing angle as possible.

[engineering07]

Excellent. As another Sifu always says, "always roll your arms" :-)

[watchreality]

good point, some words like chi within the Chinese martial arts can mean multiple things.

[watchreality]

True too many compulsory set being made for competition, which is one thing. So much misinformation about tai chi. So much so people make into some new age babble. Its one thing to have form, but those interested in combat or a deeper essence are going to have to search harder.

[martialtaichi]

Even then, I'd probably start with a good purely martial Xingyi school first and only think about doing Taijiquan if I or my teachers thought I needed something specific that it could offer that other styles could not. Speaking for myself, Taijiquan taught me how to relax my muscles and transition rapidly from slow to fast which increased my striking power. It also taught me how to yield which is something I'd never really picked up effectively in either Xingyi or Bagua with the teachers I had.

[martialtaichi]

Linked form practice is a tiny part of traditional Taijiquan training. Students should learn individual movements first and get to apply them, with a variety of stepping variations and awareness of different martial strategies. They should also learn developmental drills such as push hands and solo power development exercises. All can and should be learned from the beginning. If I was starting out, I would not start with Taijiquan, but I might try it after learning something I could fight with.

[martialtaichi]

I think to a large extent it already has been. Even in China, outside of a few obscure branches there has been a radical re-writing of wushu history consigning arts like Tai Chi to the realm of "health". This has really taken off since the recent qigong fads have gained momentum. So Tai Chi was not a martial discipline at the Beijing olympics, being relegated to pure form demonstration.

[drklight2000]

I guess then the real intent of tai chi will be soon forgotten