Bob wrote:Bao wrote:twocircles13 wrote:The taiji stamp is actually a drop-step, so when it is performed correctly, is makes a certain resonant sound. If the sound is off, the practitioner did something wrong.
I know several Chen style teachers who say that it should be light and soundless. Compare with Baji. In Baji making sound and forceful stomps is the "external" beginners stage only. Later, as the student progress from the external phase to make the practice internal, there are no heavy stomps and it is soundless. So from this POV, you could say that making sounds and letting your leg drop in Chen Tai Chi is external practice. But Tai Chi should be internal practice, and not external, right?
Actually the proper baji stomping should not be forced but rather driven by gravity and the weight of the body. Most beginning students try to get the loudest sound by forcibly slapping their foot to the ground - a proper baji stomp will qualitatively produce more of a cupping sound of a stomp - e.g. slapping your thigh with a flattened hand versus slapping it with a cupped hand.
In the line of baji I practice the very, very first moving exercise we do was called the bear walk - step at 45 degree angle where front foot is off the ground and slowly arcs out while the rear leg carries all the weight - almost like stepping over a hole (but not leaping in any sense of the word) - arms will swing loose like a rag doll because the are relaxed and driven by the relaxed waist and dropping of the body shifting the weight to the front dropped leg - tongue on roof of mouth - if loose enough, without force, your hands/arms will gently tap the kidneys
This teaches you to drop weight in relaxed mode with full body expression - One of the "secrets" although Adam Hsu demonstrates something like this in one of his videos (can't to find it on Youtube) Also should never play baji on cement grounding - clay ground is best.
Many baji players pride themselves on loud and vicious stomps but that is not how I learned it - also I think someone said Cheng Man-ch'ing or Zheng Manqing ( had a similar exercise but don't quote me please
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And Bao is correct - at higher levels of baji the stomping is no longer employed - other than xiao baji, a half horse half bow stance is the characterizing body structure in applications.
“Resonant” is a quality of the sound regardless of volume. There is a quality to the sound when the action is performed correctly that is not there when it is incorrect. If one knows how to perform the action correctly, one may perform the action correctly without making a sound.
So, I agree with your comments that the action can be done softly and silently, whether in taijiquan or bajiquan.
My Chinese teachers corrected me when I said, “stomp”. They said in English that this gives the wrong idea to the action. They suggested “stamp” was a more accurate term, or they just used a Chinese term.
With or without the “stamp”, Jīngāng dǎo duì (金刚捣碓) Jingang pounds the pestle (on the mortar) describe the arm action.
If one wanted to disassociate taijiquan from Buddhism, one might describe this action as playing, strumming, or striking a Pipa.
