by Andy_S on Tue May 13, 2008 7:00 pm
We all know the old story of the Taoist hermit inventing Taijiquan after watching a snake and crane fighting. Now I don't personally have much faith in the veracity of this tale, but it is a nice little parable, and very Chinese. I assume that this tale is told as it holds some important lessons for us grasshoppers. So what are these lessons?
Questions:
FIGHTING:
Why a snake and a crane? What do the fighting methods of these two creatures, and the interaction between their two styles, tell us about Taiji fighting techniques?
MOVEMENT:
In Taiji form (I practice the Chen style, which has a lot of coiling-uncoiling type movements) where does the Crane come in? Obviously, there is "White Crane Spreads Wings" and several one-legged stances, but the overall movement of the art seems much more snake-like than crane-like. Comments?
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