For 7/12/08

My dear students,

I can't tell you how eager I am to have most of this busy-work off my plate. I will continue to be slammed senseless for July and most of August, but then look forward to being back in full, regular teaching mode in September. I will likely be travelling in October and almost definitely in November, but these will not be the half-month trips that I was taking in the springtime.

That aside, let's get back to what's on tap for this week.

Open Class: Structure, structure, & structure!!!
I'm seeing too many people emulating the form without the most essential points of Tai-Chi. This is why the ancient masters used to make students do stances, statics, and symmetricals for YEARS before they ever got to learn the sequence of the actual form. These days, students are focused on the carrot and can't see that the stick keeping the carrot away from them is actually tied to their own backs.
Spend the ENTIRE time on statics and symmetricals, including the walking drills. Why? Because most of you need more strength in your legs, hips, and spines to be able to do the form properly.
Is it drudgery? Perhaps, but if you see it that way, please find another group. The Chung-Hua group is all about finding the little details in the basics and mastering them to get the most out of the sciences and arts we practice.

Advanced Class: Sensitivity
As I looked through the rankings for the class, I noticed that sensitivity was a major factor missing from many of your understandings. There's too much muscle, too much speed, too much force. We've been through push hands practice enough that you guys should have an idea of how to do it properly. So like the form practice, let's distill it down to fundamentals.
Practice the single hand push VERY slowly, VERY softly, VERY smoothly. Be concerned more with sensing you own tension before dealing with each other's movement. Then respond to the other's movement with posture and softness.
If you're a paragon of perfection with the single hand push, add in a bit of competitiveness and try to uproot each other before you go on to the double hand push.

It's fine if you run through the sword set once before doing the push hands, but I REALLY want you guys to focus in on pushing hands this week. Please make sure to rotate around as much as possible and get some work in with everyone, ESPECIALLY the people you're least comfortable with. If you can relax with them, you can relax!

As usual, leave your questions & comments with this post.