How to teach your Taiji

[johnwang]

I don't know this clip has been posted in RSF or not. If you teach your Taiji like this, people will believe that Taiji is good for combat.

What's your opinion on this?

[Steve James]

All very nice, and conventional, but the question is what was the training Mr. Blue received and used. It'd be easy for someone who didn't study "tcc" to do what he does, no?

[wayne hansen]

Pretty basic

[Bao]

Is the question How to teach your Taiji? a) general or b) did you ask about the video only?

If b), then what in the video do you mean show actual methods of teaching?

[johnwang]

All very nice, and conventional, but the question is what was the training Mr. Blue received and used. It'd be easy for someone who didn't study "tcc" to do what he does, no?

If you can do all these then why does it matter? IMO, the goal is more important than the path. You can reach to your goal from a different path other than the Taiji system.

Is the question How to teach your Taiji? a) general or b) did you ask about the video only?

If b), then what in the video do you mean show actual methods of teaching?

The question is a). Why can you teach your Taiji in the following order?

partner drills -> solo drills (include basic) -> solo form

If I'll ever teach Taiji again (I don't think that will ever happen), I'll start from the partner drills first.

[bruce]

if they taught to do the attack at a realistic (closer) distance then using the content of that video as a type of 2 man set to remember and refine the movements is fine.

you also have to test the movements with varying levels of cooperation starting with simply allowing the application to work by giving small resistance and helping guide the contact as it it more understood then some "sand bagging" should be added just just "let" it happen. while this process is happening in "controlled" sparring or push hands you should use the movements taught as the opportunities come up with "full" resistance.

as the video is shown it gives some good "ideas" for basic methods. but the distance between people for the attack and defense in my eye is all wrong and trains bad habits.

[johnwang]

do the attack at a realistic (closer) distance.

You can always change "your opponent attacks first" to "you attack first". This way, the distance will be all under your control.

[yeniseri]

It's substandard but it looks good for public consumption! No 'na', shuai, ti,etc. One cannot break a sweat and its simplistic at best.
There is no doubt that it is nice to watch!

[Steve James]

If you can do all these then why does it matter? IMO, the goal is more important than the path. You can reach to your goal from a different path other than the Taiji system.

You asked about teaching tcc. The video didn't show anything about how it was taught. Sure, if the goal is doing what's in the video, then why do tcc? Just copy the video.

[johnwang]

You asked about teaching tcc. The video didn't show anything about how it was taught. Sure, if the goal is doing what's in the video, then why do tcc? Just copy the video.

That's exactly my point. If you are a Taiji instructor but you want to teach "combat", you can prove that you can teach "combat" as good as any other MA instructors can.

Why do tcc? Because you believe that "combat" is much more important than "style". You can help them to reach to their goal by using the Taiji path, or they can reach to their goal from a different path. After your students have faith in your Taiji, you can teach them anything that you want after that.

[Bao]

can you teach your Taiji in the following order?
partner drills -> solo drills (include basic) -> solo form

That would be one way. When I teach, I usually start with some partner work so they can get the feeling before they do solo work. Then they have something to put in the otherwise empty bag. I also like to first explore one single movement, like "cloud hands" before moving forward with another one. One teacher I had only learned five basic movements/simple drills for two years. He needed to use only those movements to defend himself from every possible kind of attack.

[Steve James]

Yeah, but like I said, imitating standard techniques from a video doesn't tell anyone how to teach those techniques. The same is would be true for any martial arts video. Why can't shuai jiao do ground game? There are plenty of videos.

But, really, afa the techniques demonstrated on the video, they're not special at all. If you're asking what all tcc teachers don't teach them specifically, that's another question. For me, it's clear that tcc is just another form of cma.

[johnwang]

If you are a Taiji instructor and teach

- left hand downward parry,
- right hand comb hair,

you can say that the left hand downward parry came from Taiji "brush knee" and the right hand comb hair came from Taiji "cloud hands". You can always show the application first. You then show how to reach to that goal from the style that you are trying to teach (such as Taiji).

[Steve James]

Well, fwiw, I think it's silly to think in terms of what can be taught the quickest. If someone told me that a serious attacker was coming in a day, I wouldn't think of trying to teach him or her one or two moves. If we're talking about a week, I'd still say "Get a weapon." So, in terms of a practical order of teaching, I like the idea of starting out with weapons and working backward to empty hands. There's really no need at all to study a martial art in any depth in order to defend oneself. If you're young and strong, that is even more true.

So, if someone was in real danger, the last thing I'd do is recommend studying a cma, let alone tcc. Anyway, if the question was really "how to teach" what the guy in the silks did, the answer is obvious. Any decent pro dancer could imitate anything seen on that video. And he or she would only have had a dance background. But, I think the underlying question is why tcc teachers don't teach those things. Imo, anyone who is familiar with basic cma knows all those applications. Now, I think that there are more than a few who'd argue with the method of application. That's the way it is with tcc people.

Anyway, tada, with that video, now everybody knows. So, we'll see if more tcc teachers teach that. Then again, honestly, who couldn't teach it? A decent high school wrestler could master most of them in a week, no? Would he be doing tcc? I dunno. If it's not important, then it's not a useful question. Who cares? It's not like tcc people everywhere will start crying in their ginseng tea.

[johnwang]

Would he be doing tcc?

When I train "comb hair", I truly don't know whether I'm training

- praying mantis "Gua",
- Baji "elbow strike",
- Taiji "cloud hand",
- XingYi "Pao Chuan",
- Zimen "Tong San Guan",
- ...

Does it matter? Can you teach/train your system without even mentioned the name of your system? The word "style" may be important when you were in your 20. Is the term "style" important when you are 70? I think not.

Is "combat" more important than "style"?