Coordinate your breath with your movement

Discussion on the three big Chinese internals, Yiquan, Bajiquan, Piguazhang and other similar styles.

Re: Coordinate your breath with your movement

Postby Giles on Sat Mar 25, 2023 11:46 am

marvin8 wrote:
Phil Daru on Dec 4, 2019 wrote:That's the main purpose behind the Buteyko method. What Patrick [McKeown] always talks about is people breathe too frequently. You want to try to get to a point where you're only breathing about six times per minute. Anything more than that then you're actually breathing too much. Then, your body utilizing oxygen that's not really efficient to do so.



For what it's worth, I've found that over the years my breathing has tended to get slower. Definitely mostly thanks to tai chi and qigong, although possibly lots of cranio-sacral and other bodywork sessions have helped as well. In a basic standing posture and 'normally relaxed' state I cycle through about two-and-a-half comfortable breaths per minute without having to 'catch up' afterwards. If I'm in a generally good state and I'm lying down, my breathing will usually slow to about 1 breath per minute if I invite it to. That's a really nice feeling, very relaxed and pleasant.
Hope this doesn't come over as bragging, just want to share.

Of course, if I'm exerting myself, especially when running and pushing myself, my breathing is as fast as anyone else's, I guess. It would be really interesting to run and also be able to slow my breathing in a constructive way. The trainer at a Systema seminar I attended talked about that, but I've never pursued it.
Do not make the mistake of giving up the near in order to seek the far.
Giles
Wuji
 
Posts: 1352
Joined: Thu Apr 01, 2010 7:19 am
Location: Berlin, Germany

Re: Coordinate your breath with your movement

Postby Giles on Sat Mar 25, 2023 11:47 am

origami_itto wrote:Lot of chatter, time for me to come in and lay it all out in a way we can all easily understand and agree with once and for all.


What would we do without you...? ;) ;D
Do not make the mistake of giving up the near in order to seek the far.
Giles
Wuji
 
Posts: 1352
Joined: Thu Apr 01, 2010 7:19 am
Location: Berlin, Germany

Re: Coordinate your breath with your movement

Postby charlie_cambridge on Sat Mar 25, 2023 6:36 pm

I believe we call it "reverse breathing" but the labels are used differently by different people and can confuse, point is re your questions:

In raise/lift hands (ti shou) I inhale while opening arms and exhale while releasing and aligning to bring them in ("close" the arms), in general usually inhale with opening and exhale with closing but have not run through every posture in my head, so ask my about (a few) specific postures if of interest.

For raising and dropping arms it's more complex because there is a wave of movement that passes through shoulder elbow then hand and they are often going in different directions from each other in our form (the part that is not shown in Huang's public vid of either form or loosening exercises at all). so depends on specific part. For example, in rollback,
1) the left shoulder would lift slightly with inhale (coordinated with pushing back from front foot),
(long smooth one exhale continous through all of following steps 2-3-4):
2) the left shoulder blade releases back with the releasing into back leg (beginning to bend of back knee), while simultaneously the left elbow is still coming up while that shoulder is dropping,
3) the center keeps going down and forward (with lower back continuing to open and align and stretch spine down to continuously rotate pelvis forward, angle of pelvis changing very gradually but constantly and smoothly entire time, and increasing pressure in front of the back foot heel even while coming forward while upper body aligns down the spine stretching on top), the left elbow drops to bring left hand over and around (into a press position), and the left chest stretches in front of the left shoulder i.e. the left elbow and arm are left behind the torso/held back slightly while torso moves ahead. The entire upper body motion is just like when a pitcher throws a baseball pitch (elastic wave from body first, stretching the arm that's coming form behind to "whip" the ball through), this is the same path we do is slow motion for the left hand coming in to press (or brush knee right, or the right arm in brush knee left, etc..) almost exactly like a baseball pitch in slow motion as the natural wave of power through body).
4) in the press as advancing forward, around when the back thigh is vertical and front shin vertical (maybe center very roughly approx 40% of way fwd give or take), continue aligning upper body/shoulder blades down (on top of opening lower back and stretching lower body) to stretch in front of chest more, depressing shoulder blades to but strong forward activation in elbows, but hold hands back momentarily, also continues stretching nucal ligament back of neck and that entire wave of aligning up body increases pressue in back foot further to "pull the bowstring to maximum" before the arrow is just released (the arrow being the other person), then the hands expand out briefly AFTER the power has passed (as a result of the power, not as the cause, so the power goes through the other person and issues them while your hands are actually withdrawing not pushing out, and the hand moving out at end is a result (not cause) of the unspringing.
then 5) connect/settle back down into the front foot in more neutral muscle state so cycle can start again in next posture.

These are the 5 phase muscle changes of Huang's 5th loosening exercise and what ZMQ meant by to understand the taiji fighting you need to understand the 5 elements. PK teaches (as learnt from Huang as learnt from ZMQ) the 5 elements as these 5 muscle phase changes 1) contract [from front leg in 5th loosening, but can be different other contexts], 2) release [into back 5th loosen], 3) stretching [back leg in 5th loosen], 4) unstretch [the "issue"], 5) neutral/return to central eq [connect back in front foot in 5th loosen]

Ah I see your next question is brush knee, see above, so for e.g. brush knee Left following white crane spreads wings:
inhale body up to drop right arm/right shoulder lifts with inhale with right elbow drops,
then begin exhale with releasing back down into right leg (right knee start to bend again) while right shoulder drops and right elbow continues to lift to back, and sinking continues through entire step out with left foot. Then the rest of brush knee posture etc... all of that is this same inhale continued long smooth continuous. So the actual move takes approx a second or two and everyone can exhale smoothly for that time, so if it's difficult to continue a smooth exhale that's a sign that the release/stretching/aligning is somehow not continuous/some contraction in there probably unconscious that forced the breath out prematurely and made it possible to continue smooth exhale the whole way (and then the result is inhale starts earlier than the shift back to set up next brush knee Right and so when shifting back on the next one it's impossible to do a very deep inhale because the inhale started prematurely already etc...so for very beginners the breathing highlights these things)

Needle at sea bottom:
from brush knee we shift forward and lift back (right) foot gently with inhale, continuing inhale pushing back from left foot and then exhaling as we put right foot back down/as body releases back and down into back right foot, that exhaling releasing back and down begins to lift the left knee and right hand, and continue the exhaling and releasing down through dropping the left knee and right hand to the "needle at sea bottom" position. Then inhale to lift body and pull arm up (and exhale to connect into back foot and continuously through rest of fan through back etc...)

Obviously easier to show in person but a rough text attempt at your questions

johnwang wrote:If you believe in nature breathing, will you

- raise your arms when you exhale?
- drop your arms when you inhale?
- open your arms when you exhale?
- close your arms when you inhale?

When you do "left brush knee twist step", will you

- inhale when your right hand is next to your right ear?
- exhale when your right hand is in front of your chest?

Your movement has to do with your lung open and close. Try to inhale when your lung is close, or try to exhale when your lung is open are not proper.

Will you be able to inhale at the end of "needle at the bottom of the sea"?

Image
charlie_cambridge
Mingjing
 
Posts: 78
Joined: Sat Jul 01, 2017 6:54 pm

Re: Coordinate your breath with your movement

Postby origami_itto on Sat Mar 25, 2023 10:33 pm

Giles wrote:
marvin8 wrote:
Phil Daru on Dec 4, 2019 wrote:That's the main purpose behind the Buteyko method. What Patrick [McKeown] always talks about is people breathe too frequently. You want to try to get to a point where you're only breathing about six times per minute. Anything more than that then you're actually breathing too much. Then, your body utilizing oxygen that's not really efficient to do so.



For what it's worth, I've found that over the years my breathing has tended to get slower. Definitely mostly thanks to tai chi and qigong, although possibly lots of cranio-sacral and other bodywork sessions have helped as well. In a basic standing posture and 'normally relaxed' state I cycle through about two-and-a-half comfortable breaths per minute without having to 'catch up' afterwards. If I'm in a generally good state and I'm lying down, my breathing will usually slow to about 1 breath per minute if I invite it to. That's a really nice feeling, very relaxed and pleasant.
Hope this doesn't come over as bragging, just want to share.

Of course, if I'm exerting myself, especially when running and pushing myself, my breathing is as fast as anyone else's, I guess. It would be really interesting to run and also be able to slow my breathing in a constructive way. The trainer at a Systema seminar I attended talked about that, but I've never pursued it.


I was watching a BK frantzis video where he says a breath cycle should be no shorter than 30 seconds.

When students are practicing you can tell they're getting it with the breath and blink rate slow.

The first "internal work" I taught myself in high school was slowing my heart rate using the breath. Just used to lay in bed and try to stop my heart.

It's not just breathing slow, there's also the intention to hook what you're doing into the heartbeat.

So a few years later I was a two pack a day alcoholic in the Air Force. They gave us a bike test. You pedal a stationary bike as they adjust the tension and record your heart rate.

I was watching my graph as I tested and I REALLY didn't want to fail and have to do the fitness program, so I called upon the skill, started working my breath, heart rate plummeted under the same load. Confused the hell out of the tester. She said she'd never seen anything like it.

The speed of respiration and circulation is just about getting oxygen to tissues. Deep slow breathing is just as good if not better for keeping the blood oxygenated. If the blood is highly oxygenated you don't need to pump as much of it.

It's not rocket appliances

But like so much of it, it's psychological. We associate that breathing and pounding with exertion at we create it even when we don't need it. Like neo in the matrix "you think that's air you're breathing"
The form is the notes, the quan is the music
Atomic Taijiquan|FB|YT|IG|X|
User avatar
origami_itto
Wuji
 
Posts: 5031
Joined: Wed Oct 05, 2016 10:11 pm
Location: Palm Bay, FL

Re: Coordinate your breath with your movement

Postby origami_itto on Sat Mar 25, 2023 10:34 pm

charlie_cambridge wrote:I believe we call it "reverse breathing" but the labels are used differently by different people and can confuse, point is re your questions:

In raise/lift hands (ti shou) I inhale while opening arms and exhale while releasing and aligning to bring them in ("close" the arms), in general usually inhale with opening and exhale with closing but have not run through every posture in my head, so ask my about (a few) specific postures if of interest.

For raising and dropping arms it's more complex because there is a wave of movement that passes through shoulder elbow then hand and they are often going in different directions from each other in our form (the part that is not shown in Huang's public vid of either form or loosening exercises at all). so depends on specific part. For example, in rollback,
1) the left shoulder would lift slightly with inhale (coordinated with pushing back from front foot),
(long smooth one exhale continous through all of following steps 2-3-4):
2) the left shoulder blade releases back with the releasing into back leg (beginning to bend of back knee), while simultaneously the left elbow is still coming up while that shoulder is dropping,
3) the center keeps going down and forward (with lower back continuing to open and align and stretch spine down to continuously rotate pelvis forward, angle of pelvis changing very gradually but constantly and smoothly entire time, and increasing pressure in front of the back foot heel even while coming forward while upper body aligns down the spine stretching on top), the left elbow drops to bring left hand over and around (into a press position), and the left chest stretches in front of the left shoulder i.e. the left elbow and arm are left behind the torso/held back slightly while torso moves ahead. The entire upper body motion is just like when a pitcher throws a baseball pitch (elastic wave from body first, stretching the arm that's coming form behind to "whip" the ball through), this is the same path we do is slow motion for the left hand coming in to press (or brush knee right, or the right arm in brush knee left, etc..) almost exactly like a baseball pitch in slow motion as the natural wave of power through body).
4) in the press as advancing forward, around when the back thigh is vertical and front shin vertical (maybe center very roughly approx 40% of way fwd give or take), continue aligning upper body/shoulder blades down (on top of opening lower back and stretching lower body) to stretch in front of chest more, depressing shoulder blades to but strong forward activation in elbows, but hold hands back momentarily, also continues stretching nucal ligament back of neck and that entire wave of aligning up body increases pressue in back foot further to "pull the bowstring to maximum" before the arrow is just released (the arrow being the other person), then the hands expand out briefly AFTER the power has passed (as a result of the power, not as the cause, so the power goes through the other person and issues them while your hands are actually withdrawing not pushing out, and the hand moving out at end is a result (not cause) of the unspringing.
then 5) connect/settle back down into the front foot in more neutral muscle state so cycle can start again in next posture.

These are the 5 phase muscle changes of Huang's 5th loosening exercise and what ZMQ meant by to understand the taiji fighting you need to understand the 5 elements. PK teaches (as learnt from Huang as learnt from ZMQ) the 5 elements as these 5 muscle phase changes 1) contract [from front leg in 5th loosening, but can be different other contexts], 2) release [into back 5th loosen], 3) stretching [back leg in 5th loosen], 4) unstretch [the "issue"], 5) neutral/return to central eq [connect back in front foot in 5th loosen]

Ah I see your next question is brush knee, see above, so for e.g. brush knee Left following white crane spreads wings:
inhale body up to drop right arm/right shoulder lifts with inhale with right elbow drops,
then begin exhale with releasing back down into right leg (right knee start to bend again) while right shoulder drops and right elbow continues to lift to back, and sinking continues through entire step out with left foot. Then the rest of brush knee posture etc... all of that is this same inhale continued long smooth continuous. So the actual move takes approx a second or two and everyone can exhale smoothly for that time, so if it's difficult to continue a smooth exhale that's a sign that the release/stretching/aligning is somehow not continuous/some contraction in there probably unconscious that forced the breath out prematurely and made it possible to continue smooth exhale the whole way (and then the result is inhale starts earlier than the shift back to set up next brush knee Right and so when shifting back on the next one it's impossible to do a very deep inhale because the inhale started prematurely already etc...so for very beginners the breathing highlights these things)

Needle at sea bottom:
from brush knee we shift forward and lift back (right) foot gently with inhale, continuing inhale pushing back from left foot and then exhaling as we put right foot back down/as body releases back and down into back right foot, that exhaling releasing back and down begins to lift the left knee and right hand, and continue the exhaling and releasing down through dropping the left knee and right hand to the "needle at sea bottom" position. Then inhale to lift body and pull arm up (and exhale to connect into back foot and continuously through rest of fan through back etc...)

Obviously easier to show in person but a rough text attempt at your questions

johnwang wrote:If you believe in nature breathing, will you

- raise your arms when you exhale?
- drop your arms when you inhale?
- open your arms when you exhale?
- close your arms when you inhale?

When you do "left brush knee twist step", will you

- inhale when your right hand is next to your right ear?
- exhale when your right hand is in front of your chest?

Your movement has to do with your lung open and close. Try to inhale when your lung is close, or try to exhale when your lung is open are not proper.

Will you be able to inhale at the end of "needle at the bottom of the sea"?

Image


People sometimes call me a bit of a troll but wang sifi is the GOAT
The form is the notes, the quan is the music
Atomic Taijiquan|FB|YT|IG|X|
User avatar
origami_itto
Wuji
 
Posts: 5031
Joined: Wed Oct 05, 2016 10:11 pm
Location: Palm Bay, FL

Re: Coordinate your breath with your movement

Postby johnwang on Sun Mar 26, 2023 10:59 am

origami_itto wrote:People sometimes call me a bit of a troll but wang sifi is the GOAT

Simple realistic check. When you

- open your chest, you inhale.
- close your chest, you exhale.

You can't assume that your breathing has nothing to do with your body movement.
Crow weep in the dark. Tide bellow in the north wind. How lonesome the world.
User avatar
johnwang
Great Old One
 
Posts: 10240
Joined: Tue May 13, 2008 5:26 pm

Re: Coordinate your breath with your movement

Postby charlie_cambridge on Sun Mar 26, 2023 11:14 am

of course, no one that I know of assumes breathing unrelated to body movement.

yes the chest cavity expands on inhale but the diaphragm and intercostal muscles are more involved than say the pecs/muscles that connect the chest to the shoulders.

But yes that is certainly related, but a lot of subtle dynamics with other muscle groups including chest muscles in the area.

johnwang wrote:
origami_itto wrote:People sometimes call me a bit of a troll but wang sifi is the GOAT

Simple realistic check. When you

- open your chest, you inhale.
- close your chest, you exhale.

You can't assume that your breathing has nothing to do with your body movement.
charlie_cambridge
Mingjing
 
Posts: 78
Joined: Sat Jul 01, 2017 6:54 pm

Re: Coordinate your breath with your movement

Postby origami_itto on Sun Mar 26, 2023 11:29 am

johnwang wrote:
origami_itto wrote:People sometimes call me a bit of a troll but wang sifi is the GOAT

Simple realistic check. When you

- open your chest, you inhale.
- close your chest, you exhale.

You can also breathe without moving your chest at all.

I watched an acrobat standing on one hand with another acrobat standing on one hand on his foot. He was exerting himself tremendously and burning through oxygen and the only thing moving on his entire body was his lower abdomen.

Contrarywise, in Taijiquan I've learned to practice (among other things) turtle breathing, which is breathing with no external motion at all. It's kind of like natural breathing (abdomen expands on inhlale, contracts on exhale) and reverse breathing (abdomen contracts on inhale, expands on exhale) mixed together at the same time. It makes use of the muscles inside the torso to create space to draw air into the lungs, which is far more efficient than opening and closing your chest.

However...
You can't assume that your breathing has nothing to do with your body movement.


With that space created and conditioned in, the waist softened, we don't always need to actually USE the muscles to move the air in and out... directly. The motion of the torso cause the cavity to deform which will cause air to circulate.

But it's all connected up, so the motion of the legs affects the torso that affects the cavity that affects the breath, and the motion of the arms, and the motion of the hands, and the fingers....

Everything is connected back to the center, the dantien, the diaphgram, the abdominal muscles, every movement affects the breath.

So what is the point? IN training, let the breath do what it wants to do. You will have plenty of oxygen and you won't be fighting yourself by using those breath muscles which then impair your movement. You use your movement muscles to move and they make the breath happen.

Now if you do that, what you'll find is that the taijiquan postures tend to cause about 50/50 inhale and exhale.

If you try going the other way, thinking "the breath should be IN when I move this way and OUT when I move this way" then you're going to be getting in your own way, IMHO. The movement is training the breath.

But then you've got the heng and ha which DOES use the breath for uprooting and issuing, but that's a different aspect of movement. Mobilizing is not releasing.
The form is the notes, the quan is the music
Atomic Taijiquan|FB|YT|IG|X|
User avatar
origami_itto
Wuji
 
Posts: 5031
Joined: Wed Oct 05, 2016 10:11 pm
Location: Palm Bay, FL

Re: Coordinate your breath with your movement

Postby Mrwawa on Sun Mar 26, 2023 1:49 pm

johnwang wrote:
origami_itto wrote:People sometimes call me a bit of a troll but wang sifi is the GOAT

Simple realistic check. When you

- open your chest, you inhale.
- close your chest, you exhale.

You can't assume that your breathing has nothing to do with your body movement.


This isn't always true. There are many times in taijiquan forms where you exhale on a chest opening and inhale when closing the chest. You close your chest, inhale, and then release with a elbow strike back, for example.
Mrwawa
Santi
 
Posts: 30
Joined: Fri Oct 04, 2019 9:03 am

Re: Coordinate your breath with your movement

Postby wayne hansen on Sun Mar 26, 2023 11:14 pm

What style of tai chi are you talking about
Don't put power into the form let it naturally arise from the form
wayne hansen
Wuji
 
Posts: 5660
Joined: Mon Mar 16, 2009 1:52 pm

Re: Coordinate your breath with your movement

Postby Mrwawa on Mon Mar 27, 2023 1:29 am

I am only familiar with Yang and Chen style. But in white crane spreads wings, the energy is stored across the back and the chest opens as you breath out and raise up your right arm. Also, in Chen style, fold with back finishes with an exaltation and the chest opening. Also, separate right foot and separate left foot in Yang style (forget the name in Chen), with both a kick and a strike with the energy stored across the back and released by opening the chest and exhaling.

My point is that, in tjq as I understand it, energy is stored and released in different places, and is not as simple as close chest and exhale, open chest and inhale. Yes, that works for a cross, but there are variable ways to do a jab that open the chest on exhale. Please correct me if I am wrong, because I am still learning.
Mrwawa
Santi
 
Posts: 30
Joined: Fri Oct 04, 2019 9:03 am

Re: Coordinate your breath with your movement

Postby wayne hansen on Mon Mar 27, 2023 2:26 am

I thought you must be talking about Chen because in Yang you don’t expand the chest because is goes against YCF 10 guiding rules
Especially in White Stork
Don't put power into the form let it naturally arise from the form
wayne hansen
Wuji
 
Posts: 5660
Joined: Mon Mar 16, 2009 1:52 pm

Re: Coordinate your breath with your movement

Postby Mrwawa on Mon Mar 27, 2023 6:37 am

Ha, I'm busted for sure. I first learned the CMC 37 when I was young. It has stuck with me, and I can still do it, but I didn't really get as deep as I should have. I switched to Chen style, and now when I do the CMC 37, I'm told I look like I am doing Chen style, which I likely am.
Mrwawa
Santi
 
Posts: 30
Joined: Fri Oct 04, 2019 9:03 am

Re: Coordinate your breath with your movement

Postby windwalker on Mon Mar 27, 2023 8:34 am

Mrwawa wrote:Ha, I'm busted for sure. I first learned the CMC 37 when I was young. It has stuck with me, and I can still do it, but I didn't really get as deep as I should have. I switched to Chen style, and now when I do the CMC 37, I'm told I look like I am doing Chen style, which I likely am.


Very good example of how different lines developed differently focusing on different aspects of the practices.
Not all roads lead to Rome... :)

Of course that is if one is intending to go to Rome ;D
windwalker
Wuji
 
Posts: 10545
Joined: Sun Mar 25, 2012 4:08 am

Re: Coordinate your breath with your movement

Postby Trip on Mon Mar 27, 2023 7:17 pm

Giles wrote:
Trip wrote:I only talked about combining your breath with your movements.
Not that the breath leads your movements.

I didn’t imply that coordinated breathing with movements means you cannot vary your speed.
Or, that you should always do Taiji at the same speed.


Okay, I can imagine we are more or less on the same page here (although it would also be fine if we weren't...), but
what you write is still a little abstract for my maybe slow mind.


100 % Understandable

First off, you’re not slow.
It’s me. Totally me!
I have a difficult time explaining it in person. So, there’s that…

And yet, I’m just stupid enough to try again.
Maybe it’d be simpler if I leave the subtle things out; Unsaid?

The funny thing is you’ll laugh at how ridiculously simple it is.

--1. Punch a heavy bag, and hold your breath
--2. Then punch heavy bag at the same time inhale.
--3. Punch a heavy bag, and at the same time say “Ha!”

Did you feel a difference?

The first two, you released the punch.
But, you inhaled or held your breath

You could say, the punch was releasing; the breath was storing
So, the punch and the breath were going in different directions

If Taiji is storing release, open close
The punch is releasing; the breath is storing or being held.

In the third example,
The breath and the punch are releasing together in the same direction.
If your punch and your breath release together at the same time,
they are unified in one action.

Breathing with the punch has some obvious benefits
It adds explosive power to what you do
Helps with endurance in a fight & Helps keep you calm relaxed

Question 2: Is the sentence, "Completely relax the abdomen and the ch’i (breath) rises up" the same as the statement in Treatise Eleven, Earth Level, third degree, "The tan t’ien mobilizes the ch’i"?

Answer: No. The latter is the function of the exhalation when you fa chin. When you fa chin you cannot hold your breath. If you do you will be internally injured. Therefore you must give a loud shout; then the ch’i follows the chin rising up.

Cheng Man Ching
Cheng Tzu's Thirteen Treatises on T'ai Chi Ch'uan


Movement, from the bottom up,
From the feet, to the legs & directed by the waist to go out thru the hands.

At the exact same time, release your Breath (Qi)—to go-along-with the energy
that is moving up from your feet, leaving thru your hands.

A combined breath-(Qi) (an internal energy), with the energy that moves from the feet into the hands.
After a bit of time, while the breath that goes-along-with movement, becomes imperceptible, but yet there. When the breath becomes “imperceptible—but yet there”, that indicates a seamless fit.

Next…Hand that combination over to their boss: The Mind.

The movement up + the Breath combine with whatever their leader (the mind) wants to do.
When the “Mind-Breath (Qi) & Body” combine, they become whole: a Unified One.

The braided 3 move in one motion at the same time.
Within that one motion are 2 waves: Storing and Releasing.

Just like Stretching a rubber band and releasing it.
Or, Pulling a bow & releasing an arrow.

“Mind Qi Body” releasing together in one direction
As one, unbroken, never-ending, whole.

Giles wrote:When you vary the speed of your basic tai chi form, then - assuming you are still "combining breath and movements" - what does that actually mean for the relationship between the two?


It’s just “Mind-Qi-Body”

Giles wrote:Do you still consciously 'steer' your breathing in some way?


"Steering?"
No, not even a little bit.
But it is led & directed by what my mind is trying to do at the moment.
Which is mostly, doing its best to listen & understand what's going on in the moment,
i.e., understanding what my opponent is trying to do

And if so, is it still specifically linked to specific movements, or groups of movements?


No, it’s linked to what I’m trying to do at that specific moment: break an arm, Kick, Punch someone in the face, etc.

Or, for want of a better description, do you allow yourself to be 'surprised' by specific interlockings of movements and breaths?


“allow myself to be 'surprised'?”
Hmm…I don’t really know how to answer that.
Generally, I just listen, adjust, follow stick,
allowing those actions to take me to whatever opportunity presents itself.

I try to polish that small part of the principles
in my form and everything else that I do


Lastly, I am not in any way suggesting for “you” to do anything like this.
Because, from what I read of your post, your Taiji seems perfectly fine to me.

You asked me some questions;
I just humbly tried to answer
And pray I wasn't too careless in the attempt



Hope all is well :)
☮☮☮
Last edited by Trip on Thu Mar 30, 2023 10:37 pm, edited 6 times in total.
Trip
Wuji
 
Posts: 771
Joined: Thu Dec 30, 2010 3:40 pm

PreviousNext

Return to Xingyiquan - Baguazhang - Taijiquan

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 24 guests