ParadoxTeapot wrote:
I think videos of Kyuzo Mifune (Judo) is a good example of an upright posture - https://youtu.be/hgR7FVE2TZo?si=6Efuyk-0yaTzQAzA .
I'm not saying that Taijiquan should look like Judo, but Taijiquan has standup grappling. Mifune looks natural to me, but he's also generally upright.
I'm really unconvinced that this clip is resistive sparring. I think there's a lot of compliance and respect being given, despite any claims to the contrary. I just doesn't look 'real' to me.
Compare it to the clip of the famous Aikido guy (Kochi Tohei) going against the American who was having none of it...annoyingly it appears to have been removed from YouTube - there are little bits of it in this clip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HA1E1e36atA that breaks it down:
Edit: Ah, here it is: