johnwang wrote:oragami_itto wrote:Every movement requires "hand and foot stop at the same time"
In the following clip, it's clearly to see that his foot has landed but his hand is still moving. His hand stop when his knee stops and not when his foot stop. It's hand and knee stop at the same time and not hand and foot stop at the same time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZqELZK ... e=youtu.be
Look again. There is constant motion in both feet throughout the entire movement. Once you begin the tai chi form, every part of the body is in constant motion until it is complete, if you're doing it properly. The postures have distinct stop and end points, not spliced together, even though the motion is continuous. if you remove the posture from the sequence, starting from the previous posture motionless, everything starts together, at the end, everything stops together. No part of the body is dead and freeloading. If you aren't doing this, you aren't practicing taijiquan.
Just because a foot has been picked up and then put down does not mean that foot is done moving, even if it stays flat where it is.
Now I grant you may be discussing a slightly different manifestion of the principle, so let's look a little closer.
We can divide the form into postures, or consider the entire form a single posture, or divide individual postures into time slices. Any point in time in the movement of the posture should be able to serve as a start or stop point. You should be able to stop and be balanced and comfortable and be able to deliver power/issue force at any point. Every step is a kick.
I agree, at no time should the arm and hand both be committed in a single direction at the same time because it's double weighted and off balance. Committing the weight before the foot is placed is the biggest no-no of no-no's. We want to step like testing ice. If the surface is slick or the opponent can time a light kick just right committing the weight can cause you to fall, in addition to destroying the aforementioned ability to be able to stop and be balanced and comfortable and able to deliver power. If you're committing two limbs in a forward direction like that then there is a point where you are temporarily unable to change until the movement has completed, your foot is back on the floor, balance is regained. That might be what you're going for, it's the basic mechanic behind the Dempsey drop step, but it's not taijiquan. Taijiquan is 100% control 100% of the time, in theory.
You used the word "land" this time, I quoted you earlier using the word "stop". Those are two different words. One involves picking the foot up. The other doesn't. When we issue force, it's coming from the dantien to the hand, and also from the dantien to the foot, simultaneously. That is where the harmony is most evident, at least when issuing force. They start together and stop together or it doesn't work. The foot you're looking to as "landing" is generally speaking not the substantial leg or the one you should be looking at for the harmony.
Also, there's let's call it the "nature of force" and the "experience of force". As discussed, the wave like nature of force propagation can only really be verified with special equipment and trained scientist observers, it seems to be of limited use when it comes to training. What we've got is the subjective experience of creating and channeling the power. So it might act like a wave, like an arrow in flight, but we fire it like a bow, stretching and releasing. I really dislike the "whip crack" analogy as I think it sets the wrong idea.
I think that's all the ramble I've got in me tonight.