Variant speed Taiji

[johnwang]

People may also forget that training solo Taiji form is "polishing" your combat skill. When I train Taiji "cloud hands", I'm "polishing" the combat skill that I tuck my opponent's arm under his other arm. If I move my opponent's arms too slow, my opponent will have more time to counter it.

Cloud hands application at 2.20.

[Trick]

Doing the slow form for an hour, without having to think about the movement or the choreography, because you have already memorized it, allows you to be in a state of Wuwei, ..

Ok, there probably are people that do the form like this, probably a lot of people.
But this is not TaijiQUAN, because it has absolutely no direct connection to the “quan”thing.
Slow taijiquan is not meditation, however it’s a good mindful(ness) practice because the mind must be at work all the time. When one has gotten the choreography right, then it’s time to step up to the important mind work, the ones that are relevant for taijiquan to be taijiQUAN, an hour of not doing this is an hour of nothing, not even wuwei
Wuwei does not come around from forced nothingness, but from action under some form of“pressure”.

I do an hour of Circle Walking but it’s not just a meditation. I’m also strengthening my legs, the posture is strengthening my upper, I’m using my Transverse Abdominis, interior and exterior Oblique muscles to strengthen my waist while turning it to face the center, training my footwork, I’m strengthening my equilibrium, I’m cultivating energy because my tailbone is tucked under, all the while my Intent is being trained. But after that I still practice Dan Shi. Single striking drills and short combos, while following the Internal art rules to develop Chansijin and what not.

So in a Taiji form, with all of its low postures and changing the height of one’s stance it is strengthening the legs, can also develop Chansijin because that’s how the form is designed to work. But after that you should still practice single movements, back to back, as a striking drill. You can do it slow or fast. Do the form for one hour, then do your striking drills or whatever fight training you do for another hour. Minimum.

Taijiquan form trains it all but most important the important stuff that is the essence of the whole.
There’s no point taijiquan wise in single out techniques in a way such this or that punch cause the whole body is a “fist”, a single technique is not a single technique it contain the teaching and essence of the whole, there are no detached singular fragments in Taiji.

[yeniseri]

Yet the winner of the marathon is the fastest

Outwardly, this is true. Speed, being a variable, is not the only thing but its importance is grounded in ability and pacing that has to match
between the slowest and fastest 'pacers' in the specific encounter whether 10k (example) or 26 miles and 385 yards!
One does not just, at the sound of the gun, immediately commence speeding but there exists 'variability' along with a natural instinct
to feel (sense ) the calibre of runners and adapt to the changes within that domain of competitors.

Each body has to build to the state where 'speed' can be gauged and from that levels of speed assessed, then the individual (based on previous practice
over time) per his body's ability to burn 'energy'.