the rum soaked fist: internal martial arts forum

TaoJoannes wrote:
Actually, no, drawing them in is the meat and potatoes of Taijiquan, in my opinion. Here's a writeup of it that seems eerily similar to senior wang's ideas expressed earlier.

On a side note, i think if John Wang spoke english as his first language, we would never find cause to disagree. Or perhaps if I spoke Chinese as eloquently as his english.

http://ofinterest.net/tifang/

"In the Ti Fang exercise, your initial contact with your partner is at 4oz of pressure. You should have a good feel for this amount of pressure from the preliminary learning of the Push Hands choreography. Suffice to say that it's just about 4oz. Once this contact is established you then start to gently push. When the pressure builds to just more than 4oz [say 5oz] they will reflexively raise slightly, you then withdraw to just under 4oz of pressure [say 3oz, but don't disconnect], and then you accelerate them [pushing through their center]. The withdraw "severs the root" of your opponent so that when you accelerate them away you meet little/no resistance. If you get it right both his feet will leave the ground as he hops away.

As you push into your partner the pressure increase above 4oz should be your mark to withdraw -- but never disconnect. Withdraw and push, "Attract to emptiness, and discharge - without resistance and without letting go". The withdraw is very subtle, but without it you do not sever their root and you would have to use brute force to move them. This is not an exercise of "mechanics" so much as an exercise of tapping into their reflexes.

In addition, there is a moment, a feeling, just after you withdraw and just before you accelerate them, where you must 'harmonize' with their body. Since their body is falling towards you, they deliver their "center" into your hands. Yet at the same time their muscles are reflexively pulling away from you, your acceleration meets no resistance. I refer to this moment, this feeling, as "catching" them. The push has been described as being "like pushing a child in a swing." - L.Jenkins. "

AllanF wrote:Just discovered i can actually use my taiji for fighting, got into a 3 V 1 not only did i come out of it ok but i sent the 3 vagabonds packing! Sounds like i am having a laugh bit it is actually true, 3 guys started to get a bit wide with me when i got off the bus one squared up to me 3 times each time i sent him back 6ft or so. He still came back so it was fisticuffs! Took the first guy down the other 2 jumped in, did a nice 'lu' on one then hit the other the 'lu-ed' guy comes back i hit him. All 3 step back and go away! yeah for taiji! Ok so the amount of actually taiji was probablly think on the ground. I actually had the thought during the fight that my teacher would be shaking his head and saying "This is not taiji Allan!" Ah well i won who cares!