Twist and Turn

Recently, I watched some video clips of Grandmaster Zhu Tiancai performing Chen style taiji, as well as some of the next generation masters, also performing Chen style taiji.

One of the characteristics of Grandmaster Zhu's set is the little twists and turns that he likes to add into his movements, small and fine little moves that show his skill at "reeling silk". When you watch those from the next generation trying to imitate his "twists and turns", it is almost as if they are trying to imitate without knowing the meaning behind those little moves. What I see is someone trying to add in twists and turns into their movements because that is the way Grandmaster Zhu does it. The end result is that those twists and turns are big and rough movements, not born of "reeling silk" but rather more from static force. In other words, the source of those movements are not from the legs, but rather are derived from the arm muscles.

Look at Grandmaster Zhu and you will see "reeling silk" at work, from those small yet fine little moves, that derive their source from the legs. The moves are not big and rough, they are not very obvious, they are not exaggerated. They are a natural extension of him moving his body as a whole. And because they are in line with the natural movements of his body, they can actually be applied. These are not additional movements added in to try and imitate a style.

So unless you are able to understand why those small little twists and turns come about, and have reached a level in taiji when you are able to actually achieve that, adding in twists and turns only make it a laudable attempt to imitate something that you are not. It may be more worthwhile to put that effort into improving your basic taiji moves (like relaxing the kua, keeping the back straight, etc.)