New to ranking

[lunghushan]

I have a friend who took classes from the Yang family in Redmond, and he said it was form and push-hands, and they talked about applications but never practiced any.

He said he talked to a senior student and the senior student met with another student sometimes for applications practice, and he said that Yang Jun trained with an Eagle Claw guy somewhere in Seattle sometimes, but that there was no applications practice or sparring during class.

So I've been looking for a combat taiji place (not just necessarily Yang Jun, but anywhere around Seattle), and I can't find one. There is supposed to be a good place in Boston, but that's kindof far.

As for the applications thing, well if you are trying to defend yourself, if you are doing a martial art, you at least need to be able to strike the person or break romething to get them to stop attacking you, right? Otherwise if you just throw them, they can get back up.

[lunghushan]

I've called Redmond but only get an answering machine. I'm not going to show up without talking to somebody, that's rude.

Anyways I'm sorry for posting this on here. It just seemed interesting reading through the ranking requirements that there were was nothing about applications or combat practice, so that's why I asked.

[This message has been edited by lunghushan (edited 08-15-2006).]

[JerryKarin]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by lunghushan:
<B>Thanks. It seems the de-martial arts of the Communists truly has spread to Yang Family taiji here in the U.S., and around much of the world.

It's too bad everything's trending to wushu, but guess that's just the way of it.</B></font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


You sound very much like a heckler. As a matter of fact you sound remarkably like Neil Hytholt, who posted here a couple years back as wushunut with the exact same message, and who also purported to have a friend who went to class in Redmond, etc etc. If you want to find out about Yang Jun, why don't you just go to Redmond and talk to him, instead of making ignorant accusations like the above?

[This message has been edited by JerryKarin (edited 08-15-2006).]

[Kalamondin]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by JohnLamb:
I have found that sometimes when I am angry and start the form with "calm down", there seems to be much energy inside when I do the form. I wonder if this might be a tool I can use or if it is an undesireable approach. </font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Hi John,

It's generally not recommended to practice the form when angry, precisely on account of this extra energy. Also, when people are angry, they tend to carry more tension in their body. The combination of moving energy through the meridians through greater muscular tension can lead to some unpleasant results--one might feel ill or exhausted after practicing the form when angry.

If one can remain sung while practicing when angry (and that's a big if for most of us) then the energy of the anger can be released without harm. However, my feeling is that it's better to expend that energy through other physical exercise that does NOT involved consciously mobilizing the chi. On the other hand, standing and grounding that extra energy out first is a technique that works for some. It's best not to practice tai chi until you've calmed the mind.

Also, congratulations on passing your ranking exam! I'm glad my advice was helpful, though I've never thought of myself as "fatherly."

Regards,
Kal

[Kalamondin]

Congratulations to all on passing your ranking exams!

This isn't the first time I've taken the exam. Last time, I popped into some weird happy place and actually really enjoyed the doing the form in front of the judges, so, not bad at all except for the usual form glitches.

At my most recent exam, however, I was so nervous and my chi was all roiled up to the degree that without consciously focusing on controlling the chi in my limbs, I would have been trembling there was so much adrenaline going through me. I got through the form with relatively little difficulty externally and was really relieved afterwards. But later I was told I looked asleep.

I had created a disjointure so as not to be trembly, but the result was a "dead" and soporific form. I realize now that if I'd been able to really feel my root and sink my chi during the exam I could have grounded all that excess energy. As it was, I held onto it, clamped down, and the "spirit" aspect of my exam suffered for it.

Ah well, maybe next time.

Kal

[This message has been edited by Kalamondin (edited 08-23-2006).]

[JohnLamb]

Kalamondin said:
"If you get confused, don't panic, just slow down, sink your chi, ground, and you may remember the next move before you get to the end of the posture!"

Kalamondin also said:
"I'm glad my advice was helpful, though I've never thought of myself as "fatherly." "

Kalamondin,

Your advice along with Pamela's was very astute and during my exam your exact words came to mind. First quote, not second one LOL.

In regards to practicing while angry (or perhaps even highly emotional), yours is a very helpful observation. My teacher explained that if the energy or strength comes from the root, it is ok. If it comes from elsewhere (mind, muscles, body) it is not ok and the center will be/has been lost. Indeed, having the need to explicitly control the effects of adrenaline and the mental effort to do so is also not conducive to remaining focused and centered during form practice, which is tough enough as it is.

Thanks again,
John Lamb

[Kalamondin]

Hi John,
You're very welcome.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2"><B>
My teacher explained that if the energy or strength comes from the root, it is ok. If it comes from elsewhere (mind, muscles, body) it is not ok and the center will be/has been lost. </B></font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

That's interesting. I think that one can have a center without a root, but it's definitely hard to maintain center when beset by pressure if there's no root to channel it down into or draw strength from. I like the way your teacher put it.

Thanks,
Kal

[Bob Ashmore]

Kal,
Sounds like you had almost the opposite reaction I had. I sped up, WAY up, and have been told I was very expressive in my response to the adreneline.
I don't recommend my response to anyone, though. Any more than you would yours.
Funny how stress will manifest itself in so many different ways.
If I had taken the time to truly go wuji at the beginning of my form, I might have managed a slightly less robust performance. However, I thought I was calm and centered, still, so I didn't really look for it. I had fooled myself into thinking I was going to do just fine, when in reality I was so keyed up I didn't even realize the extent of my internal stress.
Live and learn.

Bob

[mckwu]

Bob,
Funny. That's exactly what I did during my test: the form at warp speed.

When I was ending the first section, all the excitement and anticipation and adrenaline that I had supressed in the hour before testing surfaced and I took off.

Literally.

Respectfully,
Michael

[Bob Ashmore]

I will never forget finishing up that form. I looked to Andy Lee, she signaled for me to leave, I turned to go and the person next to me was only just starting section 2!
I was at first confused, I remember thinking, "Man, he went really slow". But then I looked at the other five participants and they too were all right about in the same spot.
I knew then that I was the one with the problem.
When my training partner came out of the testing the first thing he said was, "I was behind you and could see you the whole time. Why were you going so fast?"
I learned something from it, at least, and have slowed down even in regular practice. So at least I got that much out of it.
Hopefully next time I rank I won't be so darned nervous.
I lived through it this time, after all, so I think I can relax at least a tad more the next time.

Bob

[Kalamondin]

Yeah, adrenaline really does mess with your sense of time--I think that's part of the design aspect, so you can do more in a short space of time if you really need to. In one instance, time seemed to move very slowly...so that there was plenty of time for everything that had to happen. And the strength aspect is weird too: I remember I once tried to crack a roll of quarters at work after a huge adrenalin rush. I thought I was tapping them gently, but they flew in all directions, I'd bashed open the roll so hard. Oops.

I think that if I'd let go of the damper I had on it during the ranking I would have been going at light speed too. Certainly it would have felt more comfortable! Oh well, live and learn.

Kal

[Anderzander]

Its been really nice to read these posts.