Yang Tai Chi Chuan - Grand Ultimate Fist
A Brief history of yang tai chi
The yang Style history begins with Yang Luchan who was born in Hebei province in 1799, at a young age he was sent to the Chen family, (some say he was sold by his parents others believe he was sent to practice Tai Chi.) What ever the reason Yang Luchan was able to secretly watch Chen Changxing practicing his Tai Chi and in his spare time Yang would practice and ponder what he had seen.
One day Yang was asked to practice with some of Chen's Students who he was able to defeat, Chen was so impressed that he took Yang on as a student and taught him his system of Tai Chi.
When Yang had finished his training he returned to his home and began to teach his Tai Chi which people began to call Mian Quan or soft fist. Yang was known to have had many fights and defeated many well known martial artists of the time.
Yang Luchan had three sons Yang Qi, Yang Yu and Yang Jian but only Yang Yu and Yang Jian took up Tai Chi and both became famous for their skills.
Probably the most famous Yang Tai Chi practitioner was Yang Chengfu (1883 - 1936.) As a young boy Yang Chengfu disliked the martial arts and was known to be a kind and gentle person. Yang eventually took up Tai Chi in his teens under his father but never truly appreciated it's worth until his father died, which is when he began to study in earnest to become a remarkable Tai chi Master. It is Yang Chengfu's Tai Chi that we practice today.
Master Lu Jun Hai was taught Tai Chi by his father Lu Zhenduo who in turn was taught by his teacher Yang Kunshan. On top of this due to Lu's fame as a Martial artist he had the opportunity to train with and swap techniques with other top masters including two disciples of Yang Chengfu.
One day Yang was asked to practice with some of Chen's Students who he was able to defeat, Chen was so impressed that he took Yang on as a student and taught him his system of Tai Chi.
When Yang had finished his training he returned to his home and began to teach his Tai Chi which people began to call Mian Quan or soft fist. Yang was known to have had many fights and defeated many well known martial artists of the time.
Yang Luchan had three sons Yang Qi, Yang Yu and Yang Jian but only Yang Yu and Yang Jian took up Tai Chi and both became famous for their skills.
Probably the most famous Yang Tai Chi practitioner was Yang Chengfu (1883 - 1936.) As a young boy Yang Chengfu disliked the martial arts and was known to be a kind and gentle person. Yang eventually took up Tai Chi in his teens under his father but never truly appreciated it's worth until his father died, which is when he began to study in earnest to become a remarkable Tai chi Master. It is Yang Chengfu's Tai Chi that we practice today.
Master Lu Jun Hai was taught Tai Chi by his father Lu Zhenduo who in turn was taught by his teacher Yang Kunshan. On top of this due to Lu's fame as a Martial artist he had the opportunity to train with and swap techniques with other top masters including two disciples of Yang Chengfu.
Yang Tai Chi
Yang Tai Chi is a traditional Chinese martial art popularly known for it's health benefits and slow, relaxed movements. The slow controlled movements allow the practitioner to focus on correct transference of weight and body structure, developing a body and mind connectivity, allowing the body to relax so that the feet connect to the waist and in turn to the arms with each part moving in the correct sequence. In this way the practitioner begins to to leave behind the often disjointed movements to be replaced with a body and mind that moves as they were designed, with fluidity and power.
The Tai Chi practitioner should remain relaxed and balanced (grounded) issuing power at the correct time, this timing can be developed through the practice of push hands sensitivity drills or 2 person toulu and the introduction of weapons training brings another element to the training forcing the exponent to adjust and expand their awareness to include the weapon.
The Tai Chi practitioner should remain relaxed and balanced (grounded) issuing power at the correct time, this timing can be developed through the practice of push hands sensitivity drills or 2 person toulu and the introduction of weapons training brings another element to the training forcing the exponent to adjust and expand their awareness to include the weapon.
The 10 essentials of Tai Chi
1. Empty, lively, pushing up and energetic
'Pushing up and energetic' means the posture of the head is upright and straight. You should not use strength because this will cause stiffness in the back and neck. You must have an intention which is empty, lively and natural. Without an intention which is empty, lively, pushing up and energetic, you won't be able to raise your spirit.
2. Hold in the chest and pull up the back
The phrase 'hold in the chest' means the chest is slightly reserved inward. The chest must not be puffed out. If you do so then the upper body becomes heavy and lower body light, and it will become easy for the heels to lift. If you are able to hold in the chest then you will naturally be able to pull up the back. If you can pull up the back, then you will be able to emit a strength from the spine which others cannot oppose.
3. Relax the waist
The waist is the commander of the whole body. Only after you are able to relax the waist will the two legs have strength and the lower body be stable. The alternation of empty and full all derive from the turning of the waist.
4. Separate empty and full
In the art of Tai Chi Chuan, separating full and empty is the number one rule. If the whole body sits on the right leg, then the right leg is deemed 'full' and the left leg 'empty'. If the whole body sits on the left leg, then the left leg is deemed 'full' and the right leg 'empty'. Only after you are able to distinguish full and empty will turning movements be light, nimble and almost without effort; if you can't distinguish them then your steps will be heavy and sluggish, you won't be able to stand stably, and it will be easy for an opponent to control you.
5. Sink the shoulders and droop the elbows
Sinking the shoulders means the shoulders relax open and hang downward. If you can't relax them downward, the shoulders pop up causing the whole body to lack strength. Drooping the elbows means the elbows are relaxed downward. If the elbows are elevated then the shoulders are unable to sink.
6. Use Intent Rather than Force
The classics say, "this is completely a matter of using intent rather than force'. When you practice taijiquan, let the entire body relax and extend. Don't employ even the tiniest amount of coarse strength which would cause musculo-skeletal or circulatory blockage with the result that you restrain or inhibit yourself. Only then will you be able to lightly and nimbly change and transform, circling naturally.
7. Synchronize Upper and Lower Body
In the tai chi classics 'Synchronize Upper and Lower Body is expressed as: "With its root in the foot, emitting from the leg, governed by the waist, manifesting in the hands and fingers - from feet to legs to waist - complete everything in one impulse." When hands move, the waist moves and legs move, and the gaze moves along with them. Only then can we say upper and lower body are synchronized. If one part doesn't move then it is not coordinated with the rest.
8. Match Up Inner and Outer
What we are practicing in tai chi depends on the spirit, hence the saying: "The spirit is the general, the body his troops". If you can raise your spirit, your movements will naturally be light and nimble, the form nothing more than empty and full, open and closed. When we say 'open', we don't just mean open the arms or legs; the mental intent must open along with the limbs. When we say 'close', we don't just mean close the arms or legs; the mental intent must close along with the limbs. If you can combine inner and outer into a single impulse, then they become a seamless whole.
9. (Practice) Continuously and Without Interruption
Strength in external martial arts is a kind of acquired, brute force, so it has a beginning and an end, times when it continues and times when it is cut off, such that when the old force is used up and new force hasn't yet arisen, there is a moment when it is extremely easy for the person to be constrained by an opponent. In tai chi, we use intent rather than force, and from beginning to end, smoothly and ceaselessly, complete a cycle and return to the beginning, circulating endlessly. That is what the taiji classics mean by "Like the Yangtze or Yellow River, endlessly flowing." And again: "Moving strength is like unreeling silk threads". These both refer to unifying into a single impulse*.
10. Seek Quiescence within Movement
External martial artists prize leaping and stopping as skill, and they do this till breath (chi) and strength are exhausted, so that after practicing they are all out of breath. In taiji we use quiescence to overcome movement, and even in movement, still have quiescence. So when you practice the form, the slower the better! When you do it slowly your breath becomes deep and long, the chi sinks to the cinnabar field (dan1 tian2) and naturally there is no deleterious constriction or enlargement of the blood vessels. If the student tries carefully he may be able to comprehend the meaning behind these words.
1. Empty, lively, pushing up and energetic
'Pushing up and energetic' means the posture of the head is upright and straight. You should not use strength because this will cause stiffness in the back and neck. You must have an intention which is empty, lively and natural. Without an intention which is empty, lively, pushing up and energetic, you won't be able to raise your spirit.
2. Hold in the chest and pull up the back
The phrase 'hold in the chest' means the chest is slightly reserved inward. The chest must not be puffed out. If you do so then the upper body becomes heavy and lower body light, and it will become easy for the heels to lift. If you are able to hold in the chest then you will naturally be able to pull up the back. If you can pull up the back, then you will be able to emit a strength from the spine which others cannot oppose.
3. Relax the waist
The waist is the commander of the whole body. Only after you are able to relax the waist will the two legs have strength and the lower body be stable. The alternation of empty and full all derive from the turning of the waist.
4. Separate empty and full
In the art of Tai Chi Chuan, separating full and empty is the number one rule. If the whole body sits on the right leg, then the right leg is deemed 'full' and the left leg 'empty'. If the whole body sits on the left leg, then the left leg is deemed 'full' and the right leg 'empty'. Only after you are able to distinguish full and empty will turning movements be light, nimble and almost without effort; if you can't distinguish them then your steps will be heavy and sluggish, you won't be able to stand stably, and it will be easy for an opponent to control you.
5. Sink the shoulders and droop the elbows
Sinking the shoulders means the shoulders relax open and hang downward. If you can't relax them downward, the shoulders pop up causing the whole body to lack strength. Drooping the elbows means the elbows are relaxed downward. If the elbows are elevated then the shoulders are unable to sink.
6. Use Intent Rather than Force
The classics say, "this is completely a matter of using intent rather than force'. When you practice taijiquan, let the entire body relax and extend. Don't employ even the tiniest amount of coarse strength which would cause musculo-skeletal or circulatory blockage with the result that you restrain or inhibit yourself. Only then will you be able to lightly and nimbly change and transform, circling naturally.
7. Synchronize Upper and Lower Body
In the tai chi classics 'Synchronize Upper and Lower Body is expressed as: "With its root in the foot, emitting from the leg, governed by the waist, manifesting in the hands and fingers - from feet to legs to waist - complete everything in one impulse." When hands move, the waist moves and legs move, and the gaze moves along with them. Only then can we say upper and lower body are synchronized. If one part doesn't move then it is not coordinated with the rest.
8. Match Up Inner and Outer
What we are practicing in tai chi depends on the spirit, hence the saying: "The spirit is the general, the body his troops". If you can raise your spirit, your movements will naturally be light and nimble, the form nothing more than empty and full, open and closed. When we say 'open', we don't just mean open the arms or legs; the mental intent must open along with the limbs. When we say 'close', we don't just mean close the arms or legs; the mental intent must close along with the limbs. If you can combine inner and outer into a single impulse, then they become a seamless whole.
9. (Practice) Continuously and Without Interruption
Strength in external martial arts is a kind of acquired, brute force, so it has a beginning and an end, times when it continues and times when it is cut off, such that when the old force is used up and new force hasn't yet arisen, there is a moment when it is extremely easy for the person to be constrained by an opponent. In tai chi, we use intent rather than force, and from beginning to end, smoothly and ceaselessly, complete a cycle and return to the beginning, circulating endlessly. That is what the taiji classics mean by "Like the Yangtze or Yellow River, endlessly flowing." And again: "Moving strength is like unreeling silk threads". These both refer to unifying into a single impulse*.
10. Seek Quiescence within Movement
External martial artists prize leaping and stopping as skill, and they do this till breath (chi) and strength are exhausted, so that after practicing they are all out of breath. In taiji we use quiescence to overcome movement, and even in movement, still have quiescence. So when you practice the form, the slower the better! When you do it slowly your breath becomes deep and long, the chi sinks to the cinnabar field (dan1 tian2) and naturally there is no deleterious constriction or enlargement of the blood vessels. If the student tries carefully he may be able to comprehend the meaning behind these words.