Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Practising the Movements

Practising the full set of a routine is important. No one can deny that. After all, practice makes perfect. But how many times a day should we practise? For me, practising a set of Chen Style Old Frame First Routine usually takes between 20 to 25 minutes. I heard from my teacher that he takes about 40 minutes to complete a set of Yang Style 108. With limited time for practice each day (yes, I do have to work), I just can't be practising 6 to 8 sets each day.

The solution? A friend of my teacher (he teaches taijiquan as well, the Zhengzi Style) told me the importance of practising one or two movements each time. Besides practising a full set, I should take one or two movements, and concentrate on improving them.

My view on this is that practising the whole set improves the flow of my movements, as well as train the strength of my legs. Practising individual movements improve my understanding and grasp of each movement, allowing me to better apply them during pushing hands and also when practising the full set. The two types of practice complement each other, and ultimate improve my techniques and understanding of taijiquan.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I'm a big fan of practicing isolated movements over and over. I try to do a full set if I have time, but otherwise I will repeatedly do the first 6 postures of chen laojia yilu.