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
☮☮☮