Progressing from large movements to smaller.

[Bao]

I was about to hi-jack the Zhai Weichuan wu/hao promotion thread but thought there could be more discussion if I started a new thread.

A couple of short clips

Teacher Fang, Wu/Hao tai chi. I like Fang's movement, very compact. His wu style:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ULNK2x0E-xs

But he also carry the principles from his wu style into his Yang style, also very compact.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Apt2YH-Pn38

If you watch more of the clips from the same series, you can see understand more clearly the roundness of the movements and how his hands seem to move together, or communicate which each other.

IMO, this resembles how Yang style should progress, from the large movements designed to open up the body and the limbs, to the small and compact. Many yang stylists never progress to the round and compact, so they only keep releasing the energy all of the time. But if the art progresses in this manner, you still keep YCF's "song-kai" or "relax-release", while continuing the movement's circulation, which means that you keep building up the energy instead of just releasing it. This way you can also feel and focus more on the internal movements, which again, builds up your energy better.

I am reluctant to use terms/words as energy or qi, the use of them in these arts release too much associations... But it's something you learn to feel. If you study the large frame and smaller frames, you should be able to feel the difference.

From a martial perspective, you build up a more compact power using the whole body, a power that preserves your movement/energy. A good illustration, putting "compactness" into context, though from a Xingyi POV in the following clip. You should really watch the whole rest of the clip starting from this point: https://youtu.be/qXdH2r8dZHs?si=laX7OTjL0sZC8A95&t=246

In traditional Wu/Hao style Tai Chi you also often start with larger movements and have exercises for opening up the body. In Xingyi, you often start with large and strong movements, but progress to small and soft. Nowadays in most of TJQ and XYQ schools people seem to only learn and focus on the large frames and never really progress to the more advances levels. I wouldn't even call it "advanced", but what many older teachers would consider the "real" and most important practice.

[everything]

really like that first video a lot. i wouldn't have thought the movements seem "compact". for whatever reason they look "better" to me than the second (which don't really look less compact).

[origami_itto]

Large enough to fill the universe, small enough to hide in your sleeve.

From large circles to small circles to invisible circles should be a big part of the focus of the practice IMHO.

Like my first exposure to single whip had me convinced it was some kind of a joke, but then when you get to creating that hook with the whole body and start touching on the power latent there it's pretty heady.

[wayne hansen]

I don’t think either of his forms a very compact
My teacher once told me large movement contains many small movements
However small movements don’t contain the large
First large then small when you understand both when they can be alternated then tai chi is achieved

[Bao]

i wouldn't have thought the movements seem "compact".

I don’t think either of his forms a very compact

I sort of agree. I would rather call what he does medium frame, not small frame. Yes, it could be even more compact and smaller.