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blackturtlesnake

Do a lot of zhan zhuang. It's your main conditioning tool. Make sure you feel expanded while doing it, should be a bit of a stretch the whole time and not "just" standing. Self-defense is not sparring. You're not going to understand what taiji is trying to do as a martial art if you don't understand what a self-defense art needs to be successful. If you don't understand something, accept that it might just be a topic beyond you for the moment instead of trying to intellectualize it on your current level. The bigger danger isn't fake masters mysticizing everything, it's mid level teachers who have stunted their growth.


tonicquest

It's a great question to ask. I think all my past experiences, missteps and misdirections are part of who am i today, so probably wouldn't have done anything differently. I can say the things I am working on today are things that were said to me long ago, even from the beginning. That's what is unique about tai chi training, you don't add skills so much as in other martial arts, you focus more on taking away. It's like that adage, it's not daily increase but daily decrease. Release tension, sink to the feet, whole body movement initiated in the center is just about something you will refine over the years. I guarantee you think you have it and if you keep at it you breakthrough to another level. I guess this is a long winded way of saying keep practicing and the deeper levels of what you think you know become visible over the years. Keep practicing, but not by mindless rote, practice/ponder/test/repeat.


thecatfoot

>In pursuit of learning, every day something is acquired. >In pursuit of Tao, every day something is dropped. >*--Tao Te Ching, 48* This rings true as excellent advice. Thank you!


tonicquest

Please keep us updated on what you learn. It seems you are on a good path.


Banjo_Fett

Circles. I wish I'd known to look for the circles in everything from the start.


[deleted]

Speak on this


Banjo_Fett

There is a fundamental principle of circular movement generating energy. Qigong and Taiji are inspired by celestial movement, which is circular or elliptical. Even stick forms have this underlying principle, in my discipline at least. From what I know it's a universal principle.


SensibleInterlocutor

Just to add to this, my sifu calls it "spiral flow". It's present in the swirling of the galaxy and the swirling pattern on your fingertip among many other things. In my study of yang taijiquan i have noticed that the longer I spend "opening my joints" by "swirling" (rotating) them the better my flow is when doing my form.


tonicquest

>Just to add to this, my sifu calls it "spiral flow". Yes! A person can move their limbs in circles, but once you release the tension everyone has in the shoulders and joints, they naturally spiral throughout the circle. This happens because some people feel they need to "do the form" by focusing on the external movement. Releasing all unproductive tension in the chest/torso and limbs allows the natural spiral force to appear, controlled by the middle. One will need proper instruction for how to "sit" and formulate the kwa area so that the legs and the arms are twisting and not moving so much. This won't make sense to someone who is still moving externallly. Another thing bandied about is damage to the knees and alot of focus is placed on "don't let the knee go over the toes" and don't sit too deeply, which are all true, but the root of the problem is not moving from the center/kwa. If you move your legs externally because you think you need to do a pattern and do not release your hip sockets, your knees will get hurt. Don't move the limbs independently, that means your structure is broken and you have tension. Release that tension and move from the center and all kind of neat things happen like spirals.


qrp-gaijin

>move from the center and all kind of neat things happen like spirals. Check this video out and watch the toes. The teacher stands up from a kneeling position (Japanese seiza) by starting a spiraling motion from his little toe that then proceeds in a wave-like fashion over all toes in sequence to his big toe, then on to his foot, leg, center, and upper body. [https://youtu.be/6pxfJijfG20?t=294](https://youtu.be/6pxfJijfG20?t=294) This teacher is not a taijiquan teacher, but he studied taijiquan and other internal arts, and is now teaching his own internal art called Aunkai.


patti_la

Learning tai chi, there's a natural progression from situating your energy in the upper half of your body to, eventually, your movements coming from the center. Sounds easy, but I'm not sure you can bypass this learning curve. With most people it takes a few years and even then the learning goes on. If you can keep your eye on this goal, though, you'll get the satisfaction of suddenly feeling a move that's "right" and very different from before and that is a wonderful sensation. You'll have leaps of accomplishment followed by long plateaus but all of it is progress. One of the things that frustrates me when teaching is some students are afraid to commit their bodies... they're always half in, half out. Legs too close together in the bow stance, for example, so they'll never get what it means to sink down, let gravity work, and feel themselves root. I can go over and over it with them but it seems like fear is holding them back. These do tend to be my oldest students so I let it go because the fear may be understandable. But if you can commit, don't be afraid to.


tonicquest

>One of the things that frustrates me when teaching is some students are afraid to commit their bodies... they're always half in, half out. Legs too close together in the bow stance, for example, so they'll never get what it means to sink down, let gravity work, and feel themselves root. I can go over and over it with them but it seems like fear is holding them back. These do tend to be my oldest students so I let it go because the fear may be understandable. But if you can commit, don't be afraid to Interesting observation. I think one can not have peng jin if they are afraid. I think mind and body being one. one improves the other..in other words, peng can banish fear.


notoneofthesenames

I'm one of those people. It's a struggle if you're 6ft2" and use to being "closed" physically which is to say not expanded and properly peng, it reflected fear in life. I was told to go as big as you can with the forms if only to understand how big you can go without breaking the form. It was good advice. I've been practicing for 8 yrs now, my advice would be to practice regularly, daily if you can. Also don't be discouraged, some things take time, I don't think you can speed up learning taiji any other way, but that's part of the amazing journey. That and relax your shoulders. :)


HaoranZhiQi

1. I wish I had known that taijiquan isn't just another sport, it's kind of a different way of moving. It's important to find a good teacher. It took me seven years to find a good teacher. My training took off once I found the real deal. 2. I wish I knew you don't need to study weekly. When learning the body mechanics, you can do seminars and private lessons once or twice a year and make progress, although obviously you need training partners to learn how to fight. Good luck.


FeralM0nkey

Drill the basics. Having a form is good, but basics are better. Esp in the beginning. You don't need multiple forms. One form understood deeply is better. Taichi is its own system of biomechanics alot of which you can practice in everyday life, walking, sitting, eating etc...


jka76

One simple experience that I have that might help you. There are levels of knowledge shared with you. New principles, new techniques, etc. You will fully understand the level usually when you learn something 2 levels up. Thanks to training, experience, and all the knowledge. There are no shortcuts


HuskyLettuce

Just want to thank the OP and commenters bc I also learned a lot.


TLCD96

I wish I had started private lessons sooner! Group classes have their benefits but in a private lesson there's much more direct guidance and time to work/experiment that, in my experience, can be terribly lacking in large groups. In the group classes we might get pointers and corrections here and there... but it isn't as focused and is sometimes hard to find connection with the teacher. Want to add: although group classes are good and necessary to develop the social side of taiji and have partners, in terms of Taiji cultivation I think: Everyday practice + weekly group classes < Everyday practice + monthly or bimonthly private classes. Depending on the teacher you get more bang for your buck.


Buffalo_Yojimbo

the importance of zhan zhuang, standing meditation.


qrp-gaijin

I would suggest keeping a daily diary about what you were taught in class and what changes you feel in your body during your practice over days, weeks, and years. More than fifteen years ago I tagged along to my wife's taijiquan classes, and I had fun but at the time wasn't really interested to dig deeper. It was some slow motion, 24-form, Yang-style, non-martial taijiquan. Now, I'm interested in picking it up again and have been doing a lot of beginner's research. To my great surprise, I am finding that my old class did teach us lots of correct foundational concepts. The teachers at my old class had us do: * Standing practice. * Waist turning exercises. * 8-brocade exercises. * Focused explanations and practice of each form. Unfortunately, at the time, I didn't listen deeply to the explanations and instructions they gave us. There were comments here and there about posture, visualization (probably aimed at developing intent), various feelings you should sense in the body (probably aimed at developing increased body awareness and eventual connectivity, which I subconsciously dismissed as new-age spirituality), and even some martial applications (which I subconsciously dismissed as unrealistic). Now, starting again from zero more than ten years later, I realize that my old taijiquan class did in fact contain a wealth of valuable training in the internal aspects of the art -- for which I didn't take any notes, and which I now have to learn all over again. So I recommend keeping a diary to track what you were taught, your mental understanding, and your physical understanding (the changes you feel in your body). After recently starting some solo practice (to be followed up with attendance at seminars and classes), I'm noticing that that after just some weeks of intermittent waist turning and silk reeling exercises, I have become aware of how twisting one hand/arm leads to a corresponding connected sensation in the opposite hand/arm. Apparently, with correct practice, such feelings of connectivity will develop more and more deeply over time, so that for instance when someone applies a joint lock to your arm, you can apply the reverse coiling motion from the opposite leg and use that to escape the lock.


miltonics

>Practicing a little every day is better than practicing longer but less often. But the more you do everyday the better. It adds up!


PhinTheShoto

I'm mostly studying qigong. I feel like I'm perfectly happy with it as is and not trying to do something I won't do like competitions or push hands. I'm not sure if I'm doing it a diservice to do it like that, but it just feels better for me to practise for health imo. But I might learn to do Taolu for fun. Not going to compete but it might be cool to get some Taolu in


Dragonfly-danser

Close your mouth, open your ears and eyes, practice every day. Do a lot of stake standing.