Tai Chi Notebook course

A collection of links to internal martial arts videos. Serious martial arts videos ONLY. Joke videos go to Off the Topic.

Re: Tai Chi Notebook course

Postby GrahamB on Fri Jun 01, 2018 2:47 pm

Thank you suckinlhbf, that is enormously kind.
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Re: Tai Chi Notebook course

Postby Overlord on Fri Jun 01, 2018 5:26 pm

GrahamB wrote:
Overlord wrote:
GrahamB wrote:You might enjoy this, you might not, but I'm posting one video a week showing you how to do that secret Tai Chi stuff ;)

https://taichinotebook.wordpress.com/20 ... -launched/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fV3DaNZz3hI



Graham,

Just a reminder if you don’t mind~
1, When you open or close, both hands should be synchronized with togetherness of whole body. No fidgeting after hands stopped.
2, When you turned, you head is lean forward bit, you use too much redundant power.
3, The speed of your hand should be synchronized with your waist turn.
4, I feel when you turn your left hand, energy is stagnating on your left shoulder.
5, Speed evenly.
6, Too much up and down movement.
7, There is too much rotational torsion on the knee joint, 不好~

I no Taiji guy, but I think proper teacher is advised. Cheers,

Over


How could you miss these?

8. The Octopus' tentacles were definitely misaligned.
9. The Cheetah's tail was 5 degrees off.

;)


Graham
You reply like your movement in clip is redundant.
However should u feel the need to include them, it’s personal choice.
What do I know about Taiji, guess some secret move of Octopus tentacles and Cheetah tails I don’t know.
Overlord

 

Re: Tai Chi Notebook course

Postby Overlord on Fri Jun 01, 2018 11:15 pm

Overlord

 

Re: Tai Chi Notebook course

Postby marvin8 on Sat Jun 02, 2018 12:16 am

Michael Calandra
Published on Mar 13, 2017

Master Chen Zhonghua explains in detail the importance of the elbow in the positive circle. Master Chen is a world renowned master of the Chen Style Taijiquan Practical Method:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMBgHl7_V30

Practicalmethod
Published on Nov 1, 2008

In this video Master Chen Zhonghua teaches the positive and negative circles of the Chen Style Taijiquan Practical Method system of Grandmaster Hong Junsheng:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h48hslU31f0
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Re: Tai Chi Notebook course

Postby GrahamB on Sat Jun 02, 2018 12:31 am

Thank you - I’m aware of Chen Zonghua and his ‘Chen Practical Method’. It’s different to the way the Chen village people do it and also to the way I’ve chosen to do it, for the reasons I give quite explicitly in my video.

I don't have anything else to say about it beyond that really. -shrug-
Last edited by GrahamB on Sat Jun 02, 2018 1:00 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Tai Chi Notebook course

Postby Overlord on Sat Jun 02, 2018 12:48 am

GrahamB
You miss my point. I am not impose CZH form on you.
In essence, essence of thing is what I am talking about.
But do keep working on what ever make you happy.
BTW, grinding of the foot is not grinding the knee.
Cheers,
Last edited by Overlord on Sat Jun 02, 2018 12:49 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Tai Chi Notebook course

Postby GrahamB on Sun Jun 03, 2018 1:07 am

Hi guys,

Here's part 4 of the course. This week we focus on breathing. I cover the topics of normal and reverse breathing, then show a couple of different exercises that will get you on the right track for applying the breathing methods to the movement we are working on. Finally, we integrate the breathing into the movement, preserving all the progress we have made so far. Once you get the hang of it those breathing exercises I show are not required anymore, as you should be integrating it into your main exercise.

This week is more subtle than work showed previously. An inner focus will be required. Good luck! I'm happy to answer any questions you have.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dx2q7bS ... e=youtu.be
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Re: Tai Chi Notebook course

Postby Bao on Sun Jun 03, 2018 4:30 am

IMO Reverse breathing should never be practiced in isolation, like when sitting or standing in wuji. (Yes, Yang Jwing Ming is also wrong.) Reverse breathing is a natural function of movement and will come naturally from correct body use. Imagine pushing a car. When you push and breath, you will automatically use reverse breathing. For form practice, the correct use of whole body movement will have this natural effect on breath as well. For instance, when you do a brush knee, you tuck in the hips and push down on your dantian as you reach out with the palm to strike. You just cannot do a proper "brush knee" without reverse breathing. You never focus on breath in forms practice, breath follow movement. If your breathing pattern is incorrect, you are usually just not "song" enough.
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Re: Tai Chi Notebook course

Postby Ron Panunto on Sun Jun 03, 2018 8:57 am

Bao, I thoroughly disagree. I have been practicing reverse breathing in isolation (while driving, in seated meditation, in zhang zhuan, etc.) for the past 50 years or so, and have suffered no ill effects. Positive effects are a really strong fajin, an abdomen as hard and resilient as a soccer ball, and great health. At age 74 I have no trouble doing the double jump kicks in my Chen forms, and my sex life is good. In my experience, much of this is due to reverse breathing, both in isolation and movement. Taiji without reverse breathing is like trying run an engine with no gas in the tank.
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Re: Tai Chi Notebook course

Postby Bao on Sun Jun 03, 2018 9:13 am

Ron Panunto wrote: Taiji without reverse breathing is like trying run an engine with no gas in the tank.


You didn't read?

I didn't say that you should throw it out. That's something you made up. Instead I said that, yes reverse breathing is good, important. No, it's a must. But it comes NATURALLY through correct movements. I've never said that it was dangerous to practice t in isolation. But it's unnecessary for developing reverse breathing. The problem is that breathing can (can, it doesn't mean that it always does) become forced and unnatural, which affects the whole body coordination in a negative way. If you find good use for it in meditations practice, good for you. I prefer not to.
Last edited by Bao on Sun Jun 03, 2018 9:17 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Tai Chi Notebook course

Postby middleway on Mon Jun 04, 2018 2:11 am

hi Graham,

ok i have a question. It looks like your Upper Traps are quite tense in the video around the (1.47 - the thumbnail posture), and your shoulders are raised, chest puffed out, head slung forward, especially as you open the arms backwards. If you contrast it with the position at (2.34) there is a dramatic difference in aparant tension in the upper body and upper back/neck. It appears to me that this would make you breath more from the chest and disconnect you from the abdominal breathing you are talking about in that section of the video.

So the question is, even if you are not doing what you appear to be doing, do you think this could be a trap for someone new to the concept you are trying to teach here? Should this type of posture be a concern or are you not worried about it for beginners?

thanks.
Last edited by middleway on Mon Jun 04, 2018 2:11 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Tai Chi Notebook course

Postby GrahamB on Mon Jun 04, 2018 2:41 am

Hi Chris,

So here are the time stamps you are talking about:

1.47
Image


2.34
Image

So the idea with 1.47 is to really overemphasise the stretch of the connective tissue (fascia if you like!) across the yin channels. This is achieved by moving the body beyond the range that would be considered optimal (say for a martial function). So I'm leaning back a bit and losing alignment of the body, just to get that feeling of a stretch.

I just tried it again, and I don't find that this posture has any effect on my abdominal region, or prohibits me from using it for reverse breathing. (In fact, I might even conjecture that because you can't access the lungs in the upper chest as easily (they are being squashed/stretched) it should make it a bit easier to use abdominal breathing?)

Once you get that feeling you find using the reverse breathing has a notable effect on the pull on the yin channels (your arms should move a bit just because of the breathing - which you should be able to see in my video).

There's a separate exercise for the yang channels, then later I say that once you get the hang of this, you can forget that posture and move on to doing it in the standard hug the tree posture at 2.34.

Again, the extreme posture of 1.47 is just for beginners to get the feeling. It's a progression.

As to whether it's a "trap" for beginners... I guess that would depend on the person? Hard to generalise about everybody like that. I find some people just get everything right straight away, and others tend to somehow manage to find a way to do everything wrong immediately! The only way to see if it works for somebody would be for them to provide some feedback either in person, or via a video.

---
Incidentally, once you get the idea of breathing affecting movement that I'm outlining in this video it starts to reveal what exactly should be going on in ba duan jin exercises. But that can be further complicated by other factors, and I don't think there is only 1 way of doing the ba duan jin - for example, you can stretch your arm - hold the stretch, then use breathing to increase the pull down a channel as a qi conditioning exercise, but don't move the arm. That's a different method that I'm showing here of allowing the pull on the channel from reverse breathing to lead the movement. So the situation is complex, and probably only solved by asking your teacher what the exact purpose of each ba duan jin exercise is in their system.

(That's a discussion/method that is beyond the scope of my course).
----

Image
Last edited by GrahamB on Mon Jun 04, 2018 3:08 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Tai Chi Notebook course

Postby middleway on Mon Jun 04, 2018 4:12 am

Thanks for the reply.

Again, the extreme posture of 1.47 is just for beginners to get the feeling. It's a progression.


thanks for the clarification. I agree with your comments on Ba Duan Jin, It is the same in my own training, the breathing cycle is used throughout the first three sections for the same purposes you describe.

So a secondary question related to the breathing cycle

I talk about normal and reverse breathing in my material, part of that is to use the breathing cycle to add a 'stretch' into the tissues during extension. For beginners i use this posture:

Image

Can you explain how the abdominal extension in reverse breathing would differ from the same extension in natural belly breathing physiologically? Especially if we are focused on the "stretch of the connective tissue"

Here is a diagram from my material where i show the similarity.

Image

For me reverse breathing is for something other than connection training as the desired effects can, IMO, also be achieved by normal belly breathing, but of course not all methodologies are the same.

thanks for the information.

Bao,

Reverse breathing is a natural function of movement and will come naturally from correct body use.


One of my teachers would say 'The Postures Breath for you, so dont think too much!'

A very similar concept.

thanks both.
Last edited by middleway on Mon Jun 04, 2018 4:13 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Tai Chi Notebook course

Postby GrahamB on Mon Jun 04, 2018 4:51 am

“Can you explain how the abdominal extension in reverse breathing would differ from the same extension in natural belly breathing physiologically? Especially if we are focused on the "stretch of the connective tissue"

Here is a diagram from my material where i show the similarity. “



For me reverse breathing is for something other than connection training as the desired effects can, IMO, also be achieved by normal belly breathing, but of course not all methodologies are the same.



Hi,


So from what you’ve written, (and I may be misunderstanding this), you seem to treat ‘normal’ and ‘reverse’ breathing as essentially physiologically being the same thing in terms of the amount of stretch on the body they can generate, just in polar opposite sages of the breathing process?

You say: “the desired effects can, IMO, also be achieved by normal belly breathing”..

I would disagree with you here (but let’s not get into a fight about it), they are quantifiably different in terms of the amount, and power, of stretch that can be generated. (I agree that there is also something else going on with reverse breathing - particularly an increase in pressure that can be used in ways to increase the power of the human body - like Bao and his car - but here we’re just talking about the physiological effects on the body-stretch. I briefly touch on this area later in the course).

So ‘normal’ belly breathing can have some effect on the body-stretch, but ‘reverse’ breathing is much more powerful because physiologically it produces a much stronger pull inwards as you breathe in, which can be felt in the rest of the body if it is pre-stretched/conditioned. You simply can’t generate the same inwards pull in ‘normal’ breathing without making it artificial - by adding a level of tension to the process. I’ve just been experimenting with it and it feels to me like to do it in normal breathing you’d have to contract your abdomen severely as you breathe out - which is just not possible without adding an extra crunch to the movement (after the diaphragm has already returned because air has been expelled). And then there’s no “pull” on the rest of the body, because you’ve tensed he abdomen in isolation (cut the connection).

So, to return to my point my answer would be that: It’s the inhale and the pull in on the abdomen happening *together* that really gives you something to work with. You can do a similar thing with normal breathing but it is weaker on a physiological level.

At least, that’s what if feels like to me.

best,
Graham
Last edited by GrahamB on Mon Jun 04, 2018 5:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Tai Chi Notebook course

Postby middleway on Mon Jun 04, 2018 5:21 am

Hi,


So from what you’ve written, (and I may be misunderstanding this), you seem to treat ‘normal’ and ‘reverse’ breathing as essentially physiologically being the same thing in terms of the amount of stretch on the body they can generate, just in polar opposite sages of the breathing process?


If we are looking at them for creating stretch when extended, then yes.If we are comparing both methods for other goals/aims then no they are not the same thing for me.

You say: “the desired effects can, IMO, also be achieved by normal belly breathing”..

I would disagree with you here (but let’s not get into a fight about it), they are quantifiably different in terms of the amount, and power, of stretch that can be generated. (I agree that there is also something else going on with reverse breathing - particularly an increase in pressure that can be used in ways to increase the power of the human body - like Bao and his car - but here we’re just talking about the physiological effects on the body-stretch).

So ‘normal’ belly breathing can have some effect on the body-stretch, but ‘reverse’ breathing is much more powerful because physiologically it produces a much stronger pull inwards as you breathe in, which can be felt in the rest of the body if it is pre-stretched/conditioned. You simply can’t generate the same inwards pull in ‘normal’ breathing without making it artificial - by adding a level of tension to the process. I’ve just been experimenting with it and it feels to me like to do it in normal breathing you’d have to contract your abdomen severely as you breathe out - which is just not possible without adding an extra crunch to the movement (after the diaphragm has already returned because air has been expelled). And then there’s no “pull” on the rest of the body, because you’ve tensed he abdomen in isolation (cut the connection).


No fight :) I completely agree that Reverse breathing can create more interesting power dynamics related to internal pressure, Abdominal activation and compression. Reverse Breathing does have an effect on the connective tissue as it forms higher internal pressure, forcing the tissues to pull tighter inward to contain this. This is actually one of the ideas i mean when i say I think it is for different work to the stretching of Connective Tissue. However, Here we are talking about feeling the 'stretch' in the tissue of the front channels, which is different from buiding internal compression / pressure IMO.

The 'normal' belly breathing (I should have probably called it diaphramatic breathing to be clearer) i mean here would not be to distend the belly on the in breath uncontrollably and then dramatically pull it in on the out breath, a natural method of belly breathing still requires some training to achieve, to get out of the chest, to not perform a crunch etc. It is the action of the diaphram rather than the abdominal muscles that create the effect.



So, to return to my point my answer would be that: It’s the inhale and the pull in on the abdomen happening *together* that really gives you something to work with. You can do a similar thing with normal breathing but it is weaker on a physiological level.

At least, that’s what if feels like to me.

best,
Graham


Thanks for the reply. I think perhaps the difference is not a dissagreement so much as it is you have included two concepts in one method (internal pressure + Stretch) where i have seperated them in my diagram ( Just stretch)

regards
Chris.
Last edited by middleway on Mon Jun 04, 2018 7:05 am, edited 6 times in total.
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