the rum soaked fist: internal martial arts forum

This standardized choreography was designed for competition purposes in China as well as to be a good beginner's form and is based mostly on Yang-style theory and structure. Though there are no kicks, important postures are done on both sides and several key movements are done mirror-image which means that practising this form regularly can help you understand those postures from a different perspective than usually done in the longer sets. It also takes less physical space than the traditional long forms and less time to perform one repetition. Anyone can find the 3-5 minutes a couple of times a day to loosen their body and reinforce good postural habits.

I am demonstrating the older 16 posture [Beijing] choreography which should not to be confused with the more recent 16 Posture Traditional Yang Form released around 2010. I have done both in the Yang style and actually prefer this older version, perhaps because I think the traditional sets shouldn't be "tinkered with" or "dumbing-down" in any way. As with the 16 Form Sword Set , the 16 Form Empty Hands Set is sometimes said to have 18 parts but that's just because some instructors identify the first and last postures numerically instead of calling them the Opening and Closing Movements.

The solo sword form takes less space and athletic ability compared to the longer, more traditional sword sets. It remains a very good introduction to the study of the beauty and sophistication of the solo usage of the Chinese double-edge sword.

If I still taught group or private classes, these are the two sequences that I would use for the average beginner.

origami_itto wrote:What is it with these heavy steps?

Formosa Neijia wrote:

origami_itto wrote:What is it with these heavy steps?

Not everyone wants to be lite in the loafers. More people should try it

Michael Babin wrote:Origami.ito

Re: "What is it with those heavy steps?"

Not sure what you mean and I suppose I could also say that Yang taiji solo form should be a "weighty issue" in the sense of not being too light and fluffy.

More likely you can detect the effect of my being 70 and having had a total hip-replacement on one side more than a decade ago as well as a damaged knee on the other leg. Funny how decades of a variety of martial arts practise can play havoc with an aging carcass. Well, not funny as in "ha-ha".

Those short forms on my channel are ok for the average middle class "taiji for health" beginners. I'm not trying to sell my services anymore and I won't be posting videos of the solo forms I do practise regularly as my own daily training is divided up into a variety of bagua forms as well as one long and two medium-length Yang-style forms with their accompanying sword forms. Nor will I be posting Yang taiji martial or push-hands stuff as most of what is shown on youtube and elsewhere -- including the stuff I do -- is sad from a fighting perspective when taken out of context. No one can learn anything martially relevant from those kind of instructional videos in any case unless they are already skillful in a related style/discipline.

Where online can we see your solo form work?

wayne hansen wrote:I see the ghost of erle montague pushing him on every step

origami_itto wrote:The way I was taught to step, in Taijiquan specifically, was "like a cat" or as walking on a frozen lake.

wayne hansen wrote:The Tung Dong family has my greatest respect

GrahamB wrote:How do you step on ice without breaking it then? ( Apart from wearing tennis rackets as shoes).