the rum soaked fist: internal martial arts forum

Hi littlepanda!

As I know it is not you, is it? I hope not, because I don't want to harm you any way!

I am sorry to say but it is actually totally wrong.
He is using a "backward arch" yes, but still his weight is supported by his knees, and not by the hip joints. The movement itself is also done by the knees and not by the hips.
Even his leg positions are wrong. That is why his all weightshift is wrong.
This way he will destroy his knees, just as lots of other taiji guy did.

And please don't label this video as "Weight shifting in chen taiji", because it is not the way we shift weight in chen taiji! It is the way this guy shift weight...

Sorry!

Cheers,

Örs

I was thinkin` about KB`s shifting Chen way.... ):

ors wrote:Hi littlepanda!

As I know it is not you, is it?

No

I hope not, because I don't want to harm you any way!

Thanks

I am sorry to say but it is actually totally wrong.
He is using a "backward arch" yes, but still his weight is supported by his knees, and not by the hip joints. The movement itself is also done by the knees and not by the hips.
Even his leg positions are wrong. That is why his all weightshift is wrong.
This way he will destroy his knees, just as lots of other taiji guy did.

And please don't label this video as "Weight shifting in chen taiji",(fixed) because it is not the way we shift weight in chen taiji! It is the way this guy shift weight...

Sorry!

Cheers,

Örs

Putting weight on the knees is bad but I was focusing more on the figure eight movement which he was explaining. As he says most people shift the weight on a straight line.

Thanks for the feedback

littlepanda wrote:Putting weight on the knees is bad but I was focusing more on the figure eight movement which he was explaining. As he says most people shift the weight on a straight line.

I have no idea how Chen guys are supposed to do things... But what I can see there is pressure put on the outside of the knees, the knees are pressed outwards. Even if you shift weight through moving in an arc or by a ”figure eight”, the knee itself must move in a perfectly straight line. Putting pressure on the inside or on the outside of the knees, even if it doesn't feel uncomfortable or hurt, will slowly make damage to them. Also, shifting weight on a straight is not the same as moving the knees in straight lines. If you just move your weight in a straight line without caring about the position of the knees, you will definitely damage them. I don’t know if most people do this, but hopefully not. If you care about the position of the knees to protect them, you can not move your weight in a perfectly straight line.

IMO the obsession with sloshing the weight back and forth is responsible for many a knackered joint in Tai chi practitioners. Made worse with the misinterpretation of double weighting as not ever wanting to be stood with weight 50/50. Combine this with a misinterpretation of sinking as squatting/deep stances and I can hear the sound of cartilage crumbling!

Bao wrote: But what I can see there is pressure put on the outside of the knees, the knees are pressed outwards.

Agree. But the same movement can be done using the back muscles to prevent the 'weight' from moving beyond the knees.

Even if you shift weight through moving in an arc or by a ”figure eight”, the knee itself must move in a perfectly straight line.

As I mentioned in my previous post my focus was on the path taken to move from one point to the next.

This video shows the 'straight line" movement in contrast to the above video.



.

I understand the point you tried to make. I don't agree that most people move their weight in a straight line, that's IME at least. But I saw a common mistake and made a general common comment on a general, common mistake that people do.

But the same movement can be done using the back muscles to prevent the 'weight' from moving beyond the knees.

Moving the weight forward over the toes is something everyone do and is something that cause the very least problems for the knees, mostly not at all, or only if the whole weight distribution goes to far, i.e. your posture must already be unbalanced if you are going to get a problem by moving the knees too far. The most damage, pain and problems Tai Chi people experience is caused by a completely different issue. The most problems is caused by adding weight on the knees while twisting them. The thing people do when they move the weight through an arc, is that they bring the twisting movement into their knees and put weight on it in bad positions while they transfer weight from one posture to another. I would say that most people are not taught that this is a problem. And most tai chi people treat their knees bad like this.

littlepanda wrote: I was focusing more on the figure eight movement which he was explaining. As he says most people shift the weight on a straight line.

The figure 8 is correct.