the rum soaked fist: internal martial arts forum

If you had three months to live and wanted to capture everything you've learned about Taijiquan to preserve it for your students in a book, what would you include in the book?

Nothing - I'm not wasting my last 3 months writing a book.

Integrate "leg skill" into Taiji such as bite, scoop. sticky lift, sweep, cut, break, block, lift, spring, twist, inner hook, outer hook, sickle hook, ...



Example of integrate leg skill "bite" into Taiji Ji.

Since martial arts and especially neijia should be taught shou ba shou ([shifu's] hand guiding [student's] hand), I would simply write entertaining and inspiring anecdotes. The most inspirational taijiquan books I have read were full of these and they inspired me to seek out teachers and to practice harder.

A few that come to mind:

Martial Masters and Methods
BKF's big book
Gateway to the Miraculous
P Ralston's book on his art
Stuart Olsen's Steal this Art

Some other works that I consider to be fiction also fall into this category:

all the works by Castaneda
The Way of the Peaceful Warrior
etc...

shuaijiao group: your throws are wrong...
senior group: my balance and bp are improved...
academic group: study showed statistically significant difference between the intervention and control group...more study needed...
woo woo group: make qi ball, pass the dutchie...
can't-do-woo-woo-lost-in-translation-but-onto-something group: integrate fascia, do eccentric lifts...
btdt group: i used to train pros...
mma group: wtf? you don't pressure test, give up and come to my gym....
Super Rare Style Club: those are all wrong.
this book:

GrahamB wrote:Nothing - I'm not wasting my last 3 months writing a book.

It is a worthwhile question and that is a very worthwhile answer.

I don't have students, so anything I'd write wouldn't be for the purposes of preserving for them.

What would I write? That "serious" students should chase skills, not styles, not personalities or lineages. That is, students should go to wherever they can find those who have skills they want to learn that a teacher is effectively willing and able to teach. For those interested in general practice for various other purposes - a social outing, to be part of something, to learn about a different culture... what one writes doesn't really matter.

I have filmed my teaching and documented practice since the beginning. So, I only would need a month or so to let my heirs and students know how to continue their journey without me. Most of that time would be spent addressing questions.

everything wrote:senior group: my balance and bp are improved...

If the senior group do the following leg skill como:

- right toes kick, left heel kick.
- right roundhouse kick, left back kick.
- rught inside crescent kick, left outside crescent kick.
- right stretch front kick, left leg back lift kick.
- right front cut, left sickle hook.
- right foot sweep, left inner hook.
- right leg spring, left inner hook.
- right outer hook, left scoop kick.
- ...

They will force themselves to stand on single leg, shift weight from one leg to the other leg, and stretch their leg muscle. IMO, if the senior group can do the leg skill combo daily. they will get better balance developing.

Here is a 5 kicks combo, inside crescent kick, side kick, hook kick, roundhouse kick, foot sweep that I like. It's great workout for single leg balance.

Ah, so what shit to preserve to my students? Or maybe to the Tai Chi World?

I would write a detailed, principle based book, focusing on use of the individual body parts, body mechanics, as well as how to use angles and leverage against an opponent (effortlessly of course). I would also include and explain some concepts that my teachers used, but is very little used today.

Everyone wants to read about "qi" and how to harmonize yourself with cosmos, so I guess no one would buy it.

Title:
Taijiquan is a Rorschach Test.
Taijiquan is not a Rorschach Test.

Jacket Front Cover:

Ah! The Treachery of Images!

The Treachery of Tai Chi is something entirely different however and involves paying a master a large sum of money to learn something he got off a DVD.

So who are these MASTERS learning off DVD,s

That you're essentially strengthening the connection to the universe

And a lot of unlearning is involved

As part of your journey you feel being in different places