37 Posture Tai Chi Chuan form, slow pace, front view - 10/10/08 (Autumn)
A long time ago, when I first began learning tai chi chuan, I came across this interesting idea somewhere, and it stuck in my mind:
"When you've learned everything you can from doing the form slowly, do it quickly. When you've learned everything you can from doing the form quickly, go back to doing it slowly."
I liked this concept, and took it to heart; I made it a regular method of my own tai chi practice. I keep doing the form in different ways, sometimes slowly, sometimes quickly. What I learn from the slow form, I incorporate into the fast form. What I learn from the fast form, I incorporate into the slow form. By changing the pace of the form periodically, my understanding of the form broadens and deepens.
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This video shows a slow version of the 37 Posture Tai Chi Chuan form, which I complete in approximately 9 minutes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Edez8ESCmQU
shows a quick version of the Jailhouse Tai Chi Chuan form, which I complete in approximately 2 1/2 minutes.
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When I do the 37 Posture Tai Chi Chuan form very slowly, all sorts of balancing problems become obvious to me. Especially postures which involve standing on only one leg, like Golden Rooster, Separate Feet, Kick with Heel, and Lotus Kick.
When doing the form quickly, kicks can be "fudged" a bit, because as soon as the airborne leg comes back down to the ground, it helps stabilize the body. But when the form is done slowly, the kicking leg remains in the air for some time. Then it becomes painfully obvious that all the other parts of the body have to counterbalance the airborne leg and its motion perfectly, otherwise the body will lose its central equilibrium and will topple to one side or another.
When I do these on one leg only kicking movements with eyes closed, it becomes even more obvious how important it is to counterbalance all parts of the body during every moment of the kick, in order not to lose balance and topple over. When there are no visual cues to help orient my body in relation to the ground, the only cue I can rely on to maintain my CENTRAL EQUILIBRIUM is the gravity line which runs straight through my body, like a plumb line from the top of my head through the weighted foot's connection to the earth. If I can align all my body structures correctly in relation to this central axis, or gravity line, I can remain standing upright, and deliver an effective kick, even with eyes closed. However, if my body is misaligned even slightly in relation to gravity, I wind up tipping over to one side or another without completing the kick.
When the tai chi form is performed very slowly, acute awareness of gravity becomes the dominant concern during every movement. Am I correctly aligned with gravity? Am I balanced? Can I maintain this posture for a while? Am I truly stable during the transition movements between one posture and another? Or am I misaligned with gravity, and will tip over to one side or another before reaching the next posture?
During difficult transition movements such as between Repulse Monkey and Diagonal Flying, or during Four Corners, it becomes clear how important it is to counter-balance all parts of the body while it's in motion, especially during very slow "glacial" motion. Maintaining CENTRAL EQUILIBRIUM while the body is moving is a major challenge, especially when moving at very slow speed.
Also, when doing the form slowly, I become very aware of those parts of my body which are still stiff, not as relaxed as they might be. Which muscles still need to relax more to allow bones in that area to move more easily. To allow more fluid-like motion. Less jerky. More flowing.
At least when holding a static posture for several minutes, once I find the correct balance point for a particular posture, I don't have to keep rearranging my muscles to maintain my balance (except on a very subtle level, as I settle deeper and deeper into the posture). But when moving slowly from one posture to another, different sets of muscles have to be constantly activated and relaxed in order to keep rebalancing my body in 3-dimensional space, in order to maintain central equilibrium, so I don't tip over to one side or another.
The importance of maintaining central equilibrium becomes very obvious when doing the entire form slowly, with eyes closed, from beginning to end.
ChiGuy396
ChiGuy396@yahoo.com
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