David Gaffney and Davidine Sim ,authors of several of the best taiji books in San Diego,Dec.4-7 a taste…… The three stages of progression that all Taijiquan practitioners must go through are as follows: opening the joints, understanding internal energy, and executing continuous movements in one breath. The first phase involves training the body externally and learning the positions. This takes repetitive practice. While opening the joints, movements are usually unrestrained and forceful. The aim of this process is to train the hand techniques and learn to carefully examine how to let jin (trained energy) reach the extremities. This first stage can take about five years of daily rigorous training under the guidance of a knowledgeable teacher. For this stage to be successful, movements must become pliant, fluid, and lively. The second stage involves understanding neijin (internal energy). Chen Zhaopi suggests that thirteen entities are needed to study in order to unify the internal energy. These qualities include zhan (stick), you (flow), lian (connect), sui (follow), teng (leap), shan (dodge), zhe (fold/turn over), kong (empty), peng (ward off), lu (divert), ji (squeeze), an (press), and huo (lively). This process focuses mostly on the middle section of the body and should combine the external shape and internal qi. At this stage, the practitioner understands the principles of Taijiquan and should be able to train without a teacher present. The third phase is executing continuous movements in one breath and concerns being “perfectly rounded”. This includes the perfect blend of alternating hard and soft movements and combination and coordination of large and small circles. Chen Zhaopi used sixteen Chinese words to describe this phase. Huan (relaxed), Man (slow), Rou (soft), Huo (pliant), Ping (balanced), Wen (steady), Shu (smooth), Zhan (unrestricted), Lian (linked), Mian (unbroken), Guan Chuan (running through), and Hu Xi Zi Ran (natural breathing). After completely this level, skills become more internalized so they become less obvious to the observer. The outer shape of the body offers no clue as to the changes taking place inside the body and the small circle becomes “no circle”.
Posted on: Mon, 10 Nov 2014 17:00:58 +0000
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