charles wrote: There is a difference between not being obstructive to someone who is attempting to learn a technique versus being overly cooperative to the point that little technique is being applied. An effective technique is one that compels the partner/opponent to do something.
Yes. What we see here is fine as a training method, as work in progress for developing and gradually refining some good, fairly basic abilities. It shouldn't really be presented or understood as a demonstration of great skill, because... see further comments below
charles wrote:In the video posted by the OP, it appears that most of what is being displayed by the partner is self-inflicted/self-motivated. He isn't being compelled to respond as he is.
I would agree to some extent, but not fully. The training partner guy is giving her some reasonable input for her to practice with. It looks as if he is not so skilled/refined in the sense that he has little root, not much sense of his own centre and he clearly has excess tension that he can't release. This latter can be seen clearly in his wrists, elbows and shoulders, which almost certainly reflects similar states throughout his body. This combined with his basic build and weight gives him a classic 'jumpy body' (thanks for that term Ömer H.!) which will lead him to repeatedly react the way he does. Currently, the latent elasticity in his body has the effect of uprooting himself instead of him being able to take force down into the ground and direct it back into the other person, thereby uprooting them instead. (I know, I used to have that tendency in the past).
At the same time, the lady has a pretty good basic alignment: a torso quite close to vertical in the sense of plumb line instead of leaning back 'out of plumb' as many do. And she is nicely sunk and 'folded' in the kua area. What's also good is that she has done enough correct work so that mostly her trained response to incoming force is to sink a little (yes, 'sinking', not crouching lower) without losing her alignment and often also to turn at the hips as a second-stage response, creating a classic 'revolving door' effect for incoming force, causing the partner to fly off at a tangent when he leans into her. Her sense of timing is also reasonably good. This is all just some of the basic physics (i.e. Newton) of tai chi as realized in a reasonably trained body.
So in this sense I quite like what I see in basic terms. Moreover, with enough training and testing, constantly raising the bar in terms of input and refining one's own body mechanics, it increasingly becomes possible to do similar stuff with partners who are more determined/unforgiving and who present more of a challenge in terms of their own mass, groundedness and skill. (Up to a certain point of course). And also to apply the same basic skills a little further out, meeting/intercepting attacks outside the pushing hands envelope.
Do I think this lady, on the basis of what I see here, would (consistently) be able to do the same with a partner who is more resolute and/or more grounded/centred and/or significantly heavier and/or less 'jumpy' in his own body and/or attacks using grabs, strikes etc.? No, probably not at the moment. But potentially, if she continues to train and incrementally exposes herself to increasingly difficult input, then she will be on a good path.
charles wrote:It is not at all difficult to do much of what she is attempting to demonstrate. They are techniques that a good teacher can show you in a half hour or so that you will be able to apply effectively with a cooperative partner.
Once again, in my view both yes and no. If you don't engage in any mystification or ambiguity about the processes involved, it's true you need only half an hour to show and to make people understand what these skills involve.
BUT being able to put them into practice with any consistency, even at the level shown here and with a fairly cooperative and less grounded partner, usually requires much more than half an hour. That's because the act of 'being attacked', even at the friendly level shown here and even far below this level, will mostly trigger a stiffening, bracing response throughout the body. Then it immediately becomes strength against strength, it is no longer 'tai chi' in any useful sense and it will all come back down again to who is heavier, stronger, has more momentum. Then a smaller lighter person will be helpless against the larger heavier person. Which is not the case in the video under discussion - even though, as said, the partner makes things much easier for her due to his own behaviour, lack of root and latent jumpiness of his body at the moment.
This mode of training is similar to one approach (just one!!) I use with my own students. Although it's less about making a partner fly or jump away, because we tend to be more grounded and relaxed, and more about just transforming incoming force enough so that after the first contact you are still in a good state of organization and the other person is structure-compromised, in a less good state and no longer an immediate 'threat'. (Although the occasional jumping, falling or stumbling away can still happen).
So to sum up: I think it's fine as a record of training good skills, albeit with a partner who presents as fairly 'easy meat'. Maybe the partner is also being too cooperative, besides his existing body issues. Nevertheless, as a training session for particular skills at a particular level it's fine. But no more than that.
