Bajiquan Before and After

A bajiquan 八极拳 routine (the usual competition one that you usually see) being done by the same person, in 1996 and 2006.

Using Others to Learn About Yourself

One of the main principles of taiji is not to use brute force, so we always need to watch ourselves to make sure that we don't fall into the trap of using brute force. During pushing hands, how do we know who is the one using brute force? Besides what I have written about here, I think another way to check if you are the one using brute force is by pushing hands with different people, especially with people who are better than yourself.

If everyone you push hands with seems to be using brute force, it may well be that you are the one using brute force, and they are just returning your force to you. If you are able to feel the difference in how different people use their force, maybe you are on the right track. Because only when you are relaxed and not using brute force will you be able to tell the difference between the force that your opponent is using.

Baguazhang Gold Medalist

Take a look at the video here (the first one) to see a Singaporean baguazhang gold medalist. Do let me know what you think.

Update: I managed to embed the video from the source page.


Source post at Wu Xuan

Be Like Water, Keep Flowing In

Today, one of my fellow students commented that I was more aggressive than usual during our pushing hands session. But reflecting on my own actions, I don't think I was any more aggressive than before. So what was the difference today?

I adopted the mentality of being like water, to keep trying to flow in, to seep myself into every opening. Every time there was an opening, I would move in to take it. When my opponent's force came, I withdrew and avoided meeting it head on. But once that force is gone, I moved in to take its place. I told myself that I must be like the rising tide, flowing back each time, but to come rushing back each time just a bit more. Maybe this unrelenting spirit was what made me seem more aggressive today.

Underestimating Your Opponent

You should never underestimate your opponent, because even the greenest of greenhorns can still defeat you if you ever grow complacent.

Singapore Wushu and Taiji Activities

I have added links to the "Activities" page of the Singapore National Wushu Federation to my "Links" section, for those interested in knowing what are the planned wushu/taiji activities taking place in Singapore for the year.

"Activities" page in Chinese

Public Display

A fellow student was talking to my teacher, and suggested that my teacher should actually find some opportunities to publicly show others his skill at pushing hands, so that people will become interested in learning pushing hands and join our class.

For me, I don't really like the idea of a public display of pushing hands. It is an open invitation to challengers and troublemakers. And while I am confident that my teacher is able to handle them, people will end up losing face and may bear a grudge against him. We should instead be like the Ip Man in the show, who faces challengers in his own living room behind closed doors, so that no one outside will know who won and who lost, thus saving everyone's face. And in doing so, ensure that challengers have no reason to bear grudges against him. And it also saves a lot of unwanted attention and additional challengers, because when you are good, there is always someone out there who wants to prove that he is better.

So far, my teacher hasn't really taken up the suggestion yet. However, he welcomes people to pop by and observe our classes, and maybe have a bit of hands-on.

Learn to Stick

In a previous post, I talked about how my teacher is able to stick like glue. Today, he was telling me that unlike him, I am unable to stick to his hand, because I cannot peng properly. In order to stick to his hand, I must first peng, then slowly turn my forearm to change the direction of his force, and at the same time, lead him away. He told me that at first, it may feel like I am resisting, but as long as I continue to tell myself to relax when I peng, I will slowly be able to do it. I guess this is another lesson that I will have to spend some time to figure out.

Becoming Complacent

Complacency is something to watch out for, and to guard against, because it is something that comes about easily with practice. The more you are used to doing something, the more likely you are to grow complacent while doing it. For example, if you are used to pushing hands with someone, and all the while you have been able to deflect away his force, you may end up being complacent when pushing hands with him, and end up being surprised when he manages to push you (because you are complacent). Or, you are so used to doing a form (after lots of practice) that you don't need to pay much attention to it and still can complete the set. It is easy to become complacent and miss out all the details when you are practising the familiar set.

The Japanese have a saying: 初心を忘れず, which means not to forget the basics. In order not to be complacent, you must treat each practice like the first one, paying attention to all the details just as if you were learning something for the first time.

Practising and Thinking

Practising often means you are able to know what works and what doesn't.

Thinking often means you know why what works and what doesn't.

Learning Martial Arts

In my other blog, I have written an article on learning an art form, which I feel is just as applicable to learning martial arts as it is to learning the arts.

When we first start out, we learn the basic techniques, such as punching, hand forms, stances, leg movements, etc. Then we move on to the basic moves in a routine. We learn a basic routine, which is a string of moves. Once this is done, we then start to learn the tips and tricks to better perform these moves, as well as how to apply them in actual situations. Then, we learn about style by imitating our teacher's style, or the style of great masters. But over time, as we gain understanding of the martial art that we are learning, we are able to apply our understanding into practice, bringing our own unique style into play. This unique style is based on our own understanding of the martial art.

Like any art form, if we stick only to learning the techniques and tips and tricks, we will never get far. We will never be truly able to apply what we have learnt, as we are only sticking to doing what we have been taught, rather than making it a part of ourselves. If we only seek to imitate the styles of the great masters, we are copying rather than learning. Only when we have made our learning a part of ourselves, can we truly apply what we have learnt.

And to do that requires lots and lots of practice, as well as lots and lots of thinking.

Sticking Like Glue

Just to share with everyone what I felt today during pushing hands with my teacher. One of the principles of taiji is to stick to an opponent. Well, I think my teacher does that very well... and has probably reached a new level with sticking. Why? Because the other day, when my arm came into contact with his arm, I tried to change the direction of his force (which was coming at me) by drawing it downwards. What I felt instead was that his arm was stuck to mine, and it was like trying to rip my skin away from superglue... PAINFUL!!! I wonder if anyone out there has similar experiences when pushing hands...

Watching Ip Man (the movie)

I caught Ip Man before I took my break, and here are some thoughts that I had after watching the movie.

A Short Break

I took a short break (about 10 days) to visit my in-laws in Japan, during which I didn't practise at all. A short break is good in that it gives you time to reflect and absorb what you have learnt so far. But at the same time... I actually forgot my moves in the midst of doing Yang style 108 routine today! I guess it means that I still haven't been able to assimilate the moves such that they become second nature.

Challenging Yourself and Your Teacher

One way to learn is to challenge yourself and your teacher, by asking him to teach your the most difficult things. Challenge yourself to learn the most difficult, and at the same time, challenge your teacher to be able to teach you the most difficult. If you succeed, you have managed to learn something that others have yet to learn, and your teacher has also shown that he can not just teach the easy stuff but also the difficult ones. And being able to teach something means you are able to truly understand something.

Open Up Your Knees

Recently, when I was checking my movements using a mirror, I realised that my body was slanted to one side. Yet no matter how I tried to straighten my body, I wasn't able to find a comfortable position that allowed me to straighten my body and yet maintain a firm stance.

During one of my practice sessions, my teacher was looking at my movements, and he pointed out that my forward knee was collapsing inwards, and thus my butt was protruding out to the opposite side. I realised that this was what was causing my body to slant to one side. A very simple problem with a very simple solution. My knee was collapsing inwards. I needed to open up my knee. That was all. Once I was able to do this, I felt so much better.

And my teacher also pointed out that the knees must always be opening outwards. Even when the toes are pointing inwards, the knees must open outwards. Otherwise, you will not have a stable stance. And in order for your knees to open outwards with toes pointing inwards, your kua must be relaxed and you must be able to turn your kua. This is yet another important lesson in a long taiji journey.

Pushing Hands Training Mentality

What is pushing hands training about? Why do we train with a partner? And how should we train with a partner?

In pushing hands, the objective is to make your opponent lose his balance. You can either push him, or let him fall off balance from over-exertion of his own force. The aim of the training is to correctly apply the principles of taiji so as to be able to sense your opponent's force and his centre of gravity, such that you can then ward of his attacks and use his force against him.

Thus, when training with a partner, we should as much as possible try to push him, so that he can learn to ward off our attacks. And we should as much as possible let our partner push us, so that we can learn of our own weaknesses and improve from there. When we push our opponent and he loses his balance, we are not trying to prove who is the better practitioner. Rather, we are just trying to help our partner learn about his own weaknesses. Similarly, when our partner manages to push us away, we should thank him for showing us our weaknesses, and work on the problems exposed. When we start to push at each other with the sole purpose of making the other fall, we have lost sight of our aim. It is something that we all need to remember and continue to ask ourselves as we practise pushing hands.

Pushing Hands Classes

For those in Singapore, my teacher Mr Kwek Li Hwa (郭礼华老师) teaches pushing hands at Kreta Ayer CC (level 2 activity room 4) on Thursdays from 8:30pm to 10:00pm, and at Changkat CC (level 1 dance studio) on Sundays from 6:00pm to 7:30pm.

 

Update: Mr 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.

Here are some photos that I managed to snap during classes today.

Lineage

I won't talk about taiji proper today. Rather, I want to bring up the issue (or rather, to highlight the non-issue) of lineage.

There are many practitioners out there who are concerned about lineage. Before they learn from someone, they want to know who is the teacher's teacher. And there are also those who teach, that like to stress who their teachers are. And of course, those who seek out renowned teachers to learn from them. Ultimately, they are all after the same thing - lineage. They want to be associated with certain people, either directly or indirectly.

But why is lineage important (or not important)? I think it is important only if you are unsure of yourself, or of what your teacher is teaching. "This is what I learnt from the great master so-and-so, therefore, it must be right." But if we go by this thinking, then there is only one correct form of taiji, which is Chen style old frame. Because all the other taiji masters of old trace their lineage back to Chen style.

So why then do we have so many other styles now? It is because while the masters of old traced their lineage back to Chen style, they have gone beyond being mere copycats, and instead of replicating the form of taiji, they have replicated the spirit and principles of taiji in their own routines. The actions may be different, but the spirit and principles are the same.

Thus, as we continue down our taiji journey, let's not be too obsessed about lineage. Rather, look at your teacher, and see if he is able to embody the spirit and principles of taiji in the way he performs his routines, the way he teaches his students, and the way he lives his life. That will benefit you more than being the disciple of Master So-and-So, who may have studied no more than a week under more renowned masters.

What Is Relax 松?

What does relax 松 mean? It may sound like not using strength 力, but that is only half the story. A common misconception is to take the strength out of the arms, thinking that is what relax is about. But when you do that, your arms have gone soft 軟, which is wrong. When your arms are soft and limp, they allow your opponent to push in and you have no way to avoid it.

Relax is not just about the arms, it is about the whole body. And importantly, it is about relaxing the kua as well. When your kua is relaxed, when your opponent's force comes towards you, you are able to move your kua to first absorb the force, then turn the force away. In order to know that his force is coming, your arms need to be as light as possible. Once you know the direction of the force, because your kua is relaxed, it automatically moves in the direction of the force, thereby absorbing it. Then, by turning your kua, you are able to deflect the force away.

A reason why people keep reverting to using brute force is because they are not able to relax their kua. Thus, when their opponent's force comes in, their arms, if soft and limp, is unable to deflect away the force. Eventually, their arms will be pressed against their body, and then they will be pushed away. Thus, to avoid being pushed, they start to resist their opponent's force using the strength of their arms, which is brute force. The important thing is to keep reminding yourself to relax your kua when your opponent's force comes in.

Whose Force Is It? Part 2

Sometimes, we think it is our opponent who is using brute force, rather than ourselves. After all, we think we know the principles of taiji, we think we are applying them correctly, we think we are relaxing, we think we are correct. We think too highly of ourselves. So how do we know whose force is it that we are feeling? Who is the one using brute force?

Recently, I haven't been practising as much, and thus when I go for pushing hands lessons, and feel that my opponent is using brute force, I sometimes ask myself if it could be that I am the one using brute force, and my opponent is only returning my force to me. But I managed to observe something the other day. My opponent's arm was quivering. Yes, quivering. From using brute force. And thus I got my answer.

When your opponent uses brute force, sometimes, things will get out of hand and pushing hands become very rough. For myself, I am still unable to counter brute force such that I can protect myself yet control the amount of force being used against my opponent. Thus, the more force he uses, the more likely I will use it against him, thus increasing the danger to both of us. It may end up that my opponent uses brute force, I use it against him, and he uses more brute force to counter, and thus I use that against him, until things get out of hand with too much force being used and chances of someone getting hurt. Usually, when that happens, I would let go and let my opponent have his way, so as not to end up getting either one of us hurt. I guess I have a long way to go before I can be like my teacher, and control the amount of force being returned to my opponent.

Are We Practising Correctly?

A question came up today. How do we know if what we are practising is actually correct?

At first, I didn't know the answer, or rather, didn't bother to think much about the question. But now that I have some time, thinking about it, I guess it has to do with pushing hands.

We will know if we are practising correctly (both forms and pushing hands) if, during pushing hands, we are able to feel the direction of our opponent's force, neutralise it, and then return it back to him, without feeling that we are using brute force (ie. the muscular strength of our arms). Because in order to do all that, we need to be able to apply all the principles of taiji, both in terms of physical requirements (sinking/relaxing kua, body straight, etc.) as well as mental/emotional requirements (not being afraid to lose, keeping calm, etc.)

So if you are curious as to whether you have been practising correctly, during the next pushing hands session, ask yourself if you are able to sense your opponent's force, deflect it away and back at him, all the while without tensing the muscles on your arms.

Turning My Kua

Just when I thought I had it figured out, I found out that I was wrong.

I had thought that turning my kua meant that when I my weight is on my right leg, and I want to shift over to my left leg, I should sink my left kua and then use my right leg to push myself to the left. Turns out that this is only half the story, and thus, the wrong way to do things.

During a short discussion on Chen style silk reeling exercise (a basic taiji exercise that is often used as a warm-up), my teacher pointed out to me that my kua movement is wrong, resulting in me turning my backside rather than my kua. The right way to turn my kua is actually as follows.

When my weight is on my right leg, in order to shift to my left leg, I need to sink my left kua and at the same time, as I am sinking my left kua, I need to be pushing to the left with my right leg. Thus, both my left and right kua are moving at the same time.

The difference? The previous/wrong method has me moving my left and right kua sequentially, while the correct method is to move them together.

You Have The Answer

I was driving back from a pushing hands lesson, and in my mind were some questions. I was going through them so that I can organise what I want to ask my teacher the next time I see him.

But as I was going through the questions, I started thinking more about them, and in the end, I realised that I actually had the answers to the questions. I realised that I had the answer to what I should do when my opponent pushes me till I have no more room to retreat, or what to do should he stiffen his hands to prevent anyone from moving it. And the answers are all so simple, because taiji is very simple. The principles are always the same, it is just a matter of realising when to apply what.

So if you have a question, think about it. Go back to basics, and who knows, the answer may be within yourself!

Practise Seriously

We need to be serious in our practise. And that includes not just when we are practising our forms, but also when we are doing one or two moves to clarify our doubts, or when we are running through a newly learnt move trying to remember the move. Especially when we are still learning a new move, it is all the more important to practise it correctly. So everytime you learn a new move, there is no "I am just trying to remember the broad actions". Every effort should be made to try to get the move right. If everytime you do a move correctly, it is practise as well. Whether you are trying to remember it, or demonstrating to someone else, or actually putting time into practising it.

Low Stance Pushing Hands

My teacher mentioned that in the past, when he was learning pushing hands, they used to adopt very very low stances. He always likes to tell us that we are standing up too tall, that we need to "sit lower".

But adopting a low stance is not necessarily correct. The important thing about taiji is being able to relax and turn your kua. So even when adopting a low stance, you must not do so at the expense of not being able to relax and turn your kua. So while you may need to open your legs a little further apart to adopt a low stance, you must not open your legs so wide that you cannot move your kua at all. In fact, to correctly adopt a low stance, you space your legs just wide enough, and it is through relaxing your kua and thus sinking it down, are you able to adopt a low stance. And in doing so, you will find that you can turn your kua as well, instead of having a low stance but being unable to move much.

Mongolian Bowl Dance and Taiji

Today, we went to watch a concert featuring drums and dance. I have talked about how drums and taiji are alike in the past. Looking at the Mongolian bowl dance (see the Youtube example I found below), I was impressed with how the dancer could actually keep the bowl on top of her head, balance it so well and yet still move so freely. In fact, she was able to walk straight and level, not the bobbing up and down that we usually walk. And it brings us back to taiji, in which when we shift our weight from leg to leg, we need to avoid bobbing up and down. We need to move like the Mongolian bowl dancer, keeping our head at the same level all the time.

Relax Your Arms

Besides relaxing your kua, which is very important, one more mistake that I commonly make is to use my arms' muscular strength to move my arms when I am practising my forms. Strength should come from the legs, and through turning your kua, the strength gets transferred to the arms to move them. And in order for that to happen, you need to relax your arms (shoulder, elbow, wrist) as well.

So while you concentrate on relaxing you kua and turning your kua using your legs (see pushing with your legs), you must also remember to relax your whole upper body, so that the strength generated from your legs can actually get through to your hands.

Relaxing Your Kua

This is a lesson relearnt. Obviously, I have yet to realise how wrong I have been practising my moves. Even though my teacher has pointed out that I need to relax my kua, and not just sink it, I still have not been able to grasp what it means. Last night, after another practice session, I am beginning to grasp a little of what my teacher meant.

I had thought that using my kua means sinking it, and then turning it. Well, I was half right, and thus half wrong. Sinking my kua and being able to turn it should not be the focus of my training. Instead, I should focus on relaxing my kua, such that it is not tense, such that I don't focus solely on sinking my kua and trying to turn it, and end up tensing my whole body. If I am able to relax my kua, I will find that it will sink down naturally, and it becomes possible to turn it. It is the key to both form practice, as well as pushing hands.

Laughing At Myself

Sometimes, when I managed to push someone, I smile at myself. Not because I am happy. Not because I am conceited. But because I am laughing at myself. I am laughing at myself for being so eager to win, even though I know that I should not be so, even though I know that I should be ready to lose. It means I have a long way to go, before I can clear my desire to win, and truly master the spirit of taiji.