Defend and Attack in One Movement

In taiji, it is important for movements to flow into each other, for the top and bottom to be in sync, left and right to be moving together, all connected through the waist. This is important because the moves in taiji combine attack and defence; when one hand is used to ward off an opponent, the other hand is hitting the opponent in the same movement. The key is to turn at the waist, which acts as an axle.

 

For example, in the opening move, there is a movement where the right hand is warding off an attack as you shift your weight to the left with a left-hand strike to the opponent's groin. The power is generated by shifting your weight from the right to left; that power is transmitted to both the left and right arms by the turning of the waist, pulling the right arm out to ward off, while bringing the left arm inward and upward to strike.

 

Cloud Hands is another example, where the upper hand is warding off while the lower hand is pushing. There are many other examples; in fact, taiji is all about this attack and defence in the same movement. When practising routines, it is important to think about application, and how each move is an attack and defence in tandem. This will then allow you to properly link the power generated by the leg movements to the turning of the waist and to its application at the arms (or shoulders or wherever the contact point is).

 

In summary, when practising routine, do not just think about getting the movements right. Once that is done, think about the application, and how the power is transmitted from the legs to the contact point. This will help your body to move as one, with the top and bottom in sync and the left and right moving together. 

Tracking My Training for 2026

Continuing the practice in 2015, carried on till 2025, I have been tracking my training, and will also do so for 2026.

 

For 2025, I practised:

74 sets of Chen style Old Frame First Routine
74 sets of Yang style 108

102 sets of Sun style taijiquan
(total 250 sets of taijiquan in a year)

 

78 sets of Chen style taijijian

78 sets of Yang style taijijian
(total 156 sets of taijijian in a year)

130 sets of Yang style taijidao

And also many hours of basic exercises and single moves.

Total number of practice hours in 2025: 338 hours

Again, for 2025, I have not been keeping my training log... 😅
The amount of practice has gone slightly down from 2024.
Hopefully, I can increase the amount of practice in 2026!

Tracking My Training for 2025

Continuing the practice in 2015, carried on till 2024, I have been tracking my training, and will also do so for 2025.

 

For 2024, I practised:

77 sets of Chen style Old Frame First Routine
77 sets of Yang style 108

102 sets of Sun style taijiquan
(total 256 sets of taijiquan in a year)

 

87 sets of Chen style taijijian

87 sets of Yang style taijijian
(total 174 sets of taijijian in a year)

145 sets of Yang style taijidao

And also many hours of basic exercises and single moves.

Total number of practice hours in 2024: 337.5 hours

Again, for 2024, I have not been keeping my training log... 😅
However, the amount of practice has gone up from 2023.
Still, I want to practise more in 2025!

人去楼空 Nostalgic Times

人去楼空

I guess this is the best way to describe this photo.

This is the area behind my teacher, Master Kwek Lee Hwa's apartment. It is also the place where he taught private lessons.

Shocking News

I just found out that my teacher, Master Kwek Lee Hwa, passed away back in August 2024. I will probably write a more thought-out post after I sorted out my thoughts and feelings.

Update: Master Kwek passed away on 11 August 2024. Some of his students still gather every Sunday morning at Blk 98A Lorong 1 Toa Payoh to practise.

External Motivation

We all need motivation to train. Of course, it would be best if we have intrinsic motivation, the desire to want to become better that spurs us to keep practising and practising every day, for hours each day. However, it takes a lot of self-discipline to do so, and that is where external motivation comes in.

To me, external motivation comes in three main forms:

1. One's teacher

2. One's peers

3. One's students (if one is teaching)

For around 10 years, I had been under the tutelage of Master Kwek before I moved to Japan and ended up on my own. During that period, my motivation was to meet the expectations of my teacher. I kept practising so that I became better, which would prompt my teacher to teach me more. The more I practised, the better I became, and the more I was taught.

I also had other students of Master Kwek around me, and I kept practising because I wanted to catch up with those students who had started learning earlier than me, so that I can join in their class and not hold it back. When new students started appearing, I kept practising so that I remain ahead of them and served as an example for them. In this way, having peers (fellow students) served as motivation to keep practising too.

Eventually, I reached a stage where Master Kwek would let me lead his classes. This provided me with a pseudo experience of having my own students. It also made me practise more, because when you are leading a class and teaching others, they expect you to be "correct". Meeting the expectations of the "students" became another motivation for me to keep practising.

Today, I am on my own, without Master Kwek to look at my progress, no peers to compare my progress with, and no students for whom I need to meet their expectations. In a way, I no longer have external motivation to practise, and I seriously feel the impact of this. I no longer practise 2 to 5 hours each day, every day. Instead of practising to become better, my practice has lapsed into a state of repeating the movements so that I don't forget them. I don't feel myself getting better; I fear I have gotten worse. I only hope that I will find something that would trigger greater intrinsic motivation within me to practise more.

Sigh.

陈氏太极散手42式发劲 by 朱天才

I bought this video CD (VCD) a long while ago... it is a set of single practical taiji moves being passed down by master Zhu Tiancai. I thought I would just list down the names of the moves here for archival purposes.

 

 

 

起势

1. 腰拦肘
2. 上挑肘
3. 摘星掌
4. 穿心肘
5. 左背靠
6. 左挒
7. 右背靠
8. 右挒
9. 上掼拳右
10. 外摆拳右
11. 里合拳右
12. 前肩靠右
13. 锁喉
14. 背摔
15. 迎门掌
16. 左採
17. 索摔
18. 撩阴掌
19. 前肩靠左
20. 拦腰掌
21. 连环肘
22. 上掼拳左
23. 外摆拳左
24. 里合拳左
25. 右採
26. 索摔
27. 外摆里摔右
28. 挂肘摔
29. 右臀靠
30. 左棚
31. 左捛摔
32. 外摆里摔左
33. 挂肘摔
34. 左臀靠
35. 右棚
36. 右捛摔
37. 双摆拳
38. 双崩拳
39. 双拳迎门
40. 双按掌
41. 迎门靠
42. 双推掌
收势
 

Hope this list helps people who are looking for such information.

Tracking My Training for 2024

Continuing the practice in 2015, carried on till 2023, I have been tracking my training, and will also do so for 2024.

 

For 2023, I practised:
66 sets of Chen style Old Frame First Routine
66 sets of Yang style 108

108 sets of Sun style taijiquan
(total 240 sets of taijiquan in a year)

 

87 sets of Chen style taijijian

87 sets of Yang style taijijian
(total 174 sets of taijijian in a year)

145 sets of Yang style taijidao

And also many hours of basic exercises and single moves.

Total number of practice hours in 2023: 313.5 hours

Again, for 2023, I have not been keeping my training log... 😅
However, the amount of practice has gone up from 2022.
Still, I want to practise more in 2024!

Parallels in Learning

It is almost the end of 2023, yet I have not posted anything. So this is the first post of 2023, and it will be about the parallels in learning that I picked up from my experience in learning taiji and calligraphy.

Recently, I have been putting a lot of time into calligraphy practice, which all started because I needed to undergo grading, followed by preparing for an exhibition. After submitting my piece for the exhibition, I was actually not very satisfied and decided to put a lot more time into practice, and have been practising calligraphy for one to two hours almost every day.

I found a parallel with my taiji journey. When I first started, it was practice once a week, but I soon started to join my teacher's other classes when I could. About a year after learning from Master Kwek, I entered a local taiji competition, and working towards this competition became the reason for intensifying my taiji training back then. Although I came away with a silver medal, I was not satisfied and it spurred me on to spend even more time on taiji training. Similarly, when I had to take part in a performance in front of Queen Elizabeth II, that became the reason for me to learn Yang style from my teacher and work toward become good enough to perform.

While it is always best that we are motivated to put a lot of time into practice, for most people, it is hard to find that motivation or discipline. That is why there are competitions and performances in taiji, which I find to be similar to grading and exhibitions in calligraphy. They serve as a goal or reason to improve, providing a motivation that fuels the discipline for training.

Today, I continue to practise taiji daily, but not as intense anymore. I guess I need to find some motivation again. I also didn't managed to go back to Singapore this year, which is a pity. I hope Master Kwek is well. If I do go back next year, I guess my motivation would be to show Master Kwek that I had improved and not dropped in standard.

Tracking My Training for 2023

Continuing the practice in 2015, carried on till 2022, I have been tracking my training, and will also do so for 2023.

For 2022, I practised:
57 sets of Chen style Old Frame First Routine
57 sets of Yang style 108

88 sets of Sun style taijiquan
(total 202 sets of taijiquan in a year)

 

66 sets of Chen style taijijian

66 sets of Yang style taijijian
(total 132 sets of taijijian in a year)

110 sets of Yang style taijidao

And also many hours of basic exercises and single moves.

Total number of practice hours in 2022: 288 hours

Again, for 2022, I have not been keeping my training log... 😅
And again, the amount of practice has gone down from 2021.
I really need to practise more in 2023!

Short Trip Home

 

Finally, after 3 years, I managed to take a short trip home. As part of this trip, I visited my teacher, Master Kwek. A few months ago, he was hospitalised for COVID-19, and although he is fine now, his memory is starting to fail. Still, while sitting down, his ting jing was still as good and he could point out my problem areas easily.

As his health wasn't really good, I couldn't really get him to see me practising at the void deck. Instead, I practised a few moves in his living room while he gave some pointers.

The most important pointer I got from him is that it is more important to practise each move correctly than to try and complete an entire routine. If I am short of time, I should just practise a few moves, slowly and correctly. For example, my kua still sticks out sometimes. I had not really noticed it on my own, but Master Kwek pointed it out right away. The important thing is to practise each move correctly, and if I had been doing so, I probably would have paid more attention to my kua and worked harder on it.

 

Bottom line: Practice only counts if it is done correctly. Otherwise, it is just a waste of time.

Anyway, after visiting him at night, I drop by to the nearby coffee shop and bought hor fun for supper, something that I used to do.

My Collection of Matsuda Ryuchi Books

This is my collection of books by Matsuda Ryuchi (松田隆智) sensei.

The entire journey started with the 拳児 manga series. This is the original 21-volume set.

And this is the republished 11-volume set.

He has also written books about his quest to find the strongest punch.

His later works also include two books about the results of his years of pursuing martial arts. I actually summarized the contents of one of them previously.

His earlier works are instructional books on Chinese martial arts at a time when they were still not well known in Japan.

Of course, talk about Matsuda-sensei and you cannot avoid talking about bajiquan, and he has instructional books on that too.

Plus an overview of Chinese martial arts, more like a research compilation.

And he was also featured in Japanese magazines that focused on Chinese martial arts. Here are some of those issues that I have which featured Matsuda-sensei.

As you can see from his Wikipedia entry, he has written many other books, some of which I do not own. Maybe someday...

About Being On My Own

In August 2015, I left Singapore and moved to Japan, and basically came to be on my own when it comes to my taiji journey. Of course, I do try to return to Singapore when I can and let my teacher, Mr Kwek, take a look at my progress on this journey. COVID-19 kind of threw this into limbo and it has been a while since I was able to return to Singapore.

So I am kind of really on my own for a while now. And it is not just in taiji. Last year, my calligraphy teacher moved to another prefecture at one end of Honshu, which also means I no longer have the chance to directly learn from her. Under her, I have reached the stage when I am ready to go for grading to become a calligraphy teacher.

In both taiji and calligraphy, it is when I am on my own that I actually become a lot more motivated to practise. Of course, I had been practising a lot of taiji when I was in Singapore under Mr Kwek, but there were stretches when work prevented me from going for classes, and during those stretches, I didn't really practise on my own too. But now, without a teacher or regular classes to attend, I end up trying to practise every day on my own, whether it is routines or just basic exercises. While the total amount of time spent on practices may have dropped from my peak while in Singapore, I would say I am more consistent in the amount of practice.

Similarly, ever since my calligraphy teacher moved away, I have been practising more often on my own. In the past, I wasn't really a good student, practising calligraphy like only for the minimum required. But now, I will take my own initiative to practise, to write things and such. I guess it is when I am truly on my own that I feel motivated (or anxiety, for that matter) to keep practising so that I can at least maintain my standard, if not get better.

Still, to be able to do this requires a certain level of skill before becoming "independent". If I had not reached my level when I left Singapore, I would not know what is good or bad, and no amount of practising on my own would help; instead, it would just mean I keep repeating my mistakes until they become helplessly ingrained into me. For calligraphy, because I have reached this certain level, I am able to independently assess my own pieces and know how to make each practice piece better.

In conclusion, I think it is okay to be on your own. But only after you have reached a certain level that allows you to be able to point out your own mistakes, to know what is good and bad. Before reaching that stage, trying to practise on your own actually becomes a hindrance for reaching greater heights.

Manga "Kenji" (拳児)

I am a "fan" of Matsuda Ryuchi sensei, and have written previously about one of his books as well as his passing. I actually got to know about Matsuda-sensei because of his manga series, Kenji (拳兒). Back when I was still in junior college, I had read the series (translated into Chinese), and when I was studying in Japan, luck had it that the publisher was doing a rerun of the series, publishing them in 11 volumes (instead of the original 21). So I dutifully went to the bookstore regularly to buy new volumes as they were released.

Well, recently, I finally managed to get myself a set of the original 21-volume set on Yahoo! Auctions.

This is really just a "I want to collect them all" mission rather than my desire to read the manga, since I have already read it before. Still, I am really happy because this set of manga is really a bit of martial arts history. Or rather, a part of my taiji journey, since I first read it in junior college, which was also when I first started learning taiji.

(It has been a while since I wrote on this blog, and this post is really unrelated to taiji. But I do have something I want to write about and will try to do that soon.)

Tracking My Training for 2022

Continuing the practice in 2015, carried on till 2021, I have been tracking my training, and will also do so for 2022.

For 2021, I practised:
58 sets of Chen style Old Frame First Routine
58 sets of Yang style 108
102 sets of Sun style taijiquan
(total 218 sets of taijiquan in a year)

105 sets of Chen style taijijian
105 sets of Yang style taijijian
(total 210 sets of taijijian in a year)

175 sets of Yang style taijidao

And also many hours of basic exercises and single moves.

Total number of practice hours in 2021: 312 hours

Again, for 2021, I have not been keeping my training log... 😅
And the amount of practice has gone down from 2020.
So I am looking forward to increasing the amount of practice in 2022!

The Misconception About "Not Using Force"

In taiji, we keep talking about not using force. But "not using force" should not be taken literally. After all, taiji is a martial art, and there is no martial art that does not use force. The term "not using force" is actually a technical term that is used to set taiji apart from other forms of martial arts.

Instead of a more or less continuous application of force, taiji is about the selective and minimum use of force. The least amount of force is used to achieve the desired effect. This is the minimum part. In order to allow this small force to have the maximum effect, it needs to be applied at the right time. This is the selective part.

It is this selective and minimum use of force that allows an old taiji practitioner to still be able to neutralise attacks. An old person is definitely not as strong as a young one, but by using whatever little force that old person has at the right time, he or she is able to change the trajectory of any incoming attack to render it harmless.

And that is why we train. Only through training can we learn to recognise what this "right moment" is, and what the "minimum force" required is. The use of the term "not using force" during training is a reminder to ourselves that we are here to find that right moment and minimum force. It is "not using force" that sets us apart from other forms of martial arts. "Not using force" is not literal; it is the name given to a concept, the concept of selective and minimum use of force. It is only through understanding the concept behind the label that we can practise correctly toward the desired ideal state.

Power Comes from Speed and Being Relaxed

Taiji is a martial art. Like all martial arts, it is about the manifestation and application of power. And like all martial arts, power comes from the speed generated when one is relaxed.

 

Force = mass x acceleration

 

At any point in time, our mass is fixed, so that only thing that we can change is acceleration. This is the point of being relaxed. Being relaxed helps us to go from zero to a high speed in less time. This gives a higher value of acceleration compared to being rigid.

The goal is the same: to be relaxed so that you can achieve the maximum acceleration.

The way to get there is usually split into two: external martial arts (外家) and

internal martial arts (内家). In simple terms, external martial arts focus first on speed, then work toward being relaxed while maintaining speed. Internal martial arts focus first on learning to relax, then moving toward using that relaxed mode to achieve speed.

Which means that, at the end of the day, there is no "better" method. Instead, it is about understanding the training system and concept behind the martial art you practise, then keep practising it.

Side note:

While the goal is the same, the journey is not. The application of martial arts always requires speed because no one is going to attack you in slow motion. So if you are able to achieve speed, even if you are not relaxed, you will still be able to somehow apply the martial art you practise, even though not to maximum effect. But no matter how relaxed you can be, if you cannot turn that into speed, you are going to get beaten up when attacked.

Inkling: Linking to the Ground

In taiji, an important concept is to be rooted. However, I don't think this means being firmly stuck to one place. Rather, it is about being able to translate all actions such that they begin and end from the ground. At the same time, this "ground" is anywhere that the body contacts the natural surrounding.

The key is not to become a rigid object that is in contact with the ground. The concept of being rooted is to derive strength from the ground, but the translation of that strength to the application point requires the movement of the various joints in as a complex series of linked levers. Taiji theory helps explain this using the major joints like the knees, kua, waist, shoulders, elbows, and wrists. When practising taiji routines, it is thus important to have a mental image of how the movement of each joint is in series, how they work as a single move in total, and how this entire move is linked to the ground.

In a more simple way, it is about visualising in the mind the entire path taken by the force, originating from the ground (which is where the person, usually the feet, is in contact with the ground) and traveling through the rest of the body until it reaches its final place of application. And I think it is also important to realise that force can be applied anywhere along that path. This thus adds flexibility to the application of taiji moves.

Health Benefit of Taiji (Cholesterol)

I practise taiji as a martial art, but after so many years of practice, I have seen for myself the health benefits of taiji too. Not just in how I feel, but actual medical numbers.

 

This time, I shall talk about cholesterol levels.

Every time I do a blood test, my doctor will tell me my total cholesterol level is a bit high, but still within the acceptable range. But my doctor will then add to say that my good cholesterol is very high, much higher than the usual range, which is why the total level is high.

After years of hearing the same thing, I came to the conclusion that it was due to my constant practice of taiji. It may not be a lot, but this is one way I know taiji is good for me.

Tracking My Training for 2021

Continuing the practice in 2015, carried on till 2020, I have been tracking my training, and will also do so for 2021.

For 2020, I practised:
64 sets of Chen style Old Frame First Routine
64 sets of Yang style 108
120 sets of Sun style taijiquan
(total 248 sets of taijiquan in a year)

138 sets of Chen style taijijian
138 sets of Yang style taijijian
(total 276 sets of taijijian in a year)

230 sets of Yang style taijidao

And also many hours of basic exercises and single moves.

Total number of practice hours in 2020: 327.5 hours

Again, for 2020, I have not been keeping my training log... 😅
Guess it is really a goner.
But the amount of practice (in terms of hours) has increased a bit from 2019.
And I am looking forward to increasing the amount of practice in 2021!