Image Training イメージトレーニング

Image training, or イメージトレーニング as the Japanese calls it, is very important in learning how to apply taijiquan. So what exactly is image training? It is imagining yourself going through the motion, without actually being in that situation. A classic example is shadow boxing, in which you imagine your opponent punching at you, and you train your body to react by ducking, feinting, counter-attacking, etc. Another example would be to dribble a soccer ball, imagining yourself changing directions as your imaginary opponents try to tackle you or block your way.

In taijiquan, it means that when you are practising your forms, not only do you think about how to apply each move, but you try to imagine how each move should actually feel. For example, as you shift your weight to your back leg, you imagine your opponent pushing, and yourself absorbing his force. As you shift your weight forward, you imagine yourself listening to your opponent's force, and returning his force to him. Beginners are unable to do this, since they don't know how an opponent's force will feel like, how it feels to absorb or return your opponent's force. But someone who practises both pushing hands and the forms will gain the most benefit, since it allows him to, in a way, "push hands on his own". And when he actually crosses hands with an opponent, because his mind has been conditioned to react to certain "feelings", his responses are much faster.