Taijiquan as Profession

[BruceP]

Markers of progress is a western concept
Tai Chi is much more single than that
That is why most people don’t get it
Seated first is a strange concept
If that was true the legs would serve the hands
In reality the hands are there to be guided by the legs
The waist is the pivot
Sitting reverses this

Lots is written regarding the steps one must take towards the different stages of development, and levels of skill in training tjq, as per various founders and masters.

I've trained with quite a few seniors - retired loggers, farmers, carpenters, nurses, housewives...people recovering from stroke, chronic pain syndrome,...who wanted to continue being self-determining in maintaining and recovering overall health. Not my fault if they think tai chi is something worth trying.

In the case of almost everyone I've trained with, seated is/was often most beneficial and effective in introducing the methods of putting tai chi into the body. I got that lesson from my Yang instructor because I couldn't separate myself from the external/mechanical methods that comes from a lifetime of having and using an athlete's body. He called it "musclehead"

Seated might seem like a strange concept if one expresses the Opening/Commencement sequence with the hands. I learned it as expressing tai chi in the spine, head, shoulders and hips. The sequence makes a lot more sense to the body while standing after it's been tested while seated. It's almost redundant to test it while standing after testing it while seated because the body already gets it. YMMV

[Steve James]

Fwiw, seated (twisting) is an effective way to illustrate separating upper from lower. It teaches that the limit one can twist before needing to move the lower (hip down). Of course, just twisting the waist is good exercise on many levels. Yeah, it may primarily be for health, if someone can't stand. It doesn't do much for balance, which imo is a major worry for many elderly people.

[wayne hansen]

Nothing wrong with sitting exercises
Kneeling is also good
I like some of the Silat sitting applications
As for opening move of tai chi that is something different
The bubbling spring is such an important part as are the Gastrock neemus
The second heart in the body
Time spent standing before the opening move is vital

[Bao]

Time spent standing before the opening move is vital

Agreed. Seems like most Tai Chi practitioners don't understand this. Sun Lutang suggested to spend at least 20-25 minutes standing before starting to move through the form.

I don't know if it's important to keep the time exact, probably not when you get more advanced, but taking time to let the mind, breath and qi sink, and stay a while in that state before starting to move, will make a great difference for any form practice, the quality of the practice will be completely different.

Fwiw, seated (twisting) is an effective way to illustrate separating upper from lower.

Separating upper from lower? That is why you have something called "cord belt".

Of course, just twisting the waist is good exercise on many levels. Yeah, it may primarily be for health, if someone can't stand.

The meaning of "separating upper from lower" is to practice breathing, learning how to breath deeply.

It doesn't do much for balance, which imo is a major worry for many elderly people.

Keeping relaxed and the breathing deep and low means you sink your point of gravity which means a lot for balance.

Breathing is what I believe should be the most important when you get old, keep breathing deep and full. Robert Chuckrow is 89 years old, he understands what it is all about:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ViR_o2iTPk

[Kelley Graham]

Like it or not, the American Medical Association has only 2 approved modalities for mind-body health, Yoga and Tai Chi. Both disciplines are vaguely defined, leaving plenty of room for snake oil charlatans to prosper. As professional instructors and authorities, it is up to us to hold the standards. Be clear, I am not suggesting that we act as police, merely that we approach teaching as a profession. We all know that internal development has risks, the AMA is unconcerned. The allopathic approach sees all general health maintenance practices as outside their scope of interest. The fact that they have included yoga and Tai Chi as beneficial, while doing no harm, is significant. My point is simply that Tai Chi enjoys a favored role in Western Medicine over all practices but yoga. This puts more responsibility on us to protect our profession, while adapting to mainstream changing perceptions of our art.

[Steve James]

There are more than a few elderly tcc practitioners here, already. They can say what's worked for them. The issue of tcc as a profession comes down to being faithful to teaching the art and using the art to help people -in this case, elderly people at various levels of physical abilities. They all won't be able to learn the same thing.

There's no doubt that getting seniors to the point where they can do the Beijing 24 or some other short form would be great. It's done all the time. The "how" is the profession, and it's a big responsibility.

[origami_itto]

We like to call ourselves artists but artists create. They adapt their techniques and tools for the medium they are working in to transform it into something it couldn't become on its own.

So a taijiquan teacher as a martial ARTIST and not just a gym rat copying a routine they don't understand but that produces repeatable results, v or at least consistent choreography, or social escape, I dunno.

A martial artist is going to use the modality as a means to creating the ends. That end is cultivating taijigong.

So the specific thing each person may need to do to approach that at any particular point in time may be as unique as each person themselves according to the timing of their development and physical limitations.

A teacher that really understands what they are working with can guide any student a little closer.

A replicator can only understand the path they took and can't see the trail others might have better results with.

[wayne hansen]

First you must be able to mix the paint and hold the brush
If you don’t need a teacher don’t use their names

[BruceP]

Fwiw, seated (twisting) is an effective way to illustrate separating upper from lower. It teaches that the limit one can twist before needing to move the lower (hip down). Of course, just twisting the waist is good exercise on many levels. Yeah, it may primarily be for health, if someone can't stand. It doesn't do much for balance, which imo is a major worry for many elderly people.

There's no twisting in the seated exercise of exploring Opening sequence.

Seated = sitting in a chair, feet on the floor with the heels touching the front legs of the chair with either the insides of the heels or the backs of the heels, back straight, head suspended, shoulders and hips aligned, hands resting on the thighs and 1000 pounds hanging from the elbows. Hands raise, palms down, as the upper arms move them forward and upward until they're at shoulder height and the elbows are sunk. Hands lower as the upper arms pull them back to resting on the thighs. The focus is entirely on the upper arms moving the elbows upward and forward, and back. The hands are of no concern other than to mark the stopping points in moving the upper arms backward and forward. Now the testing begins...heavy touch...normal touch...the lightest of touch...

[Steve James]

There's no twisting in the seated exercise of exploring Opening sequence.

I don't care. I didn't have that in mind.

[origami_itto]

First you must be able to mix the paint and hold the brush
If you don’t need a teacher don’t use their names

Whoever has only themselves for a teacher has a fool for a student.

[BruceP]

I don't care. I didn't have that in mind.

Someone who might care might also think we were talking about the same thing wrt your notion of 'separating upper and lower' via twisting

[wayne hansen]

The only problem teaching the arms first is they become the point of primary focus
Energy is rooted in the feet

[BruceP]

The only problem teaching the arms first is they become the point of primary focus
Energy is rooted in the feet

Testing the stuff I've written about in this thread involves some very specific 'tasks' that address those, and a hundred other things

[origami_itto]

The only problem teaching the arms first is they become the point of primary focus
Energy is rooted in the feet

Testing the stuff I've written about in this thread involves some very specific 'tasks' that address those, and a hundred other things

How many people have you lead through this process?