Bao wrote:Dan Bixler wrote:I remember Master Chen Zhonghua said on one of his videos that he teaches a mechanical or structure-based Taiji vs. sensitivity based Taiji. He said most Taiji being taught is sensitivity based. I think Master Hwa's Taiji is more structure based, but still very different from Practical Method.
I don't really remember him saying that, though it seems plausible he did. IMHO, both are needed. Tai Chi is very subtle. Balance keeps affecting your structure all of the time. You can't really learn to understand how to keep structure and balance in a purely intellectual manner. Learning "correct postures" is also not enough. You need to learn how to feel it from the inside. So understanding balance and structure in Tai Chi is based on your own awareness and sensitivity. No teacher can teach you what is absolutely correct by adjusting your posture. If you are not constantly aware of and feel your alignment, you will lose it. IMO, awareness and sensitivity comes first and is always most important, because if you don't know how to feel what is correct from inside, you will never get "alignment", "posture" and "mechanics". I appreciate CZH's enthusiasm and generosity as a teacher, sometimes though I have a feeling that it could easily become a bit shallow and external, with the main focus on external shapes. But then again, I have only seen clips from what he does and I don't know anything about his position when it comes to things as internal awareness.
Bao, I agree with you and CZH probably does too, but I'm bad at explaining it. So here is his explanation of what I was trying to say. If you don't want to watch the whole video, fast forward to about 7:17.
This whole series is awesome in my opinion. For anyone interested in a great overview of what CZH teaches in Practical Method, this is a good place to start. Chen Zhonghua explains it far better than I can. Keep in mind though, that this series is 9 years old, so he may explain some things a little differently now. I don't want to put any words in his mouth or cause misunderstanding.