Technique vs Skill

It was a lesson for me today during pushing hands. I learnt what is technique and what is skill. And how they actually need to be practised hand-in-hand, so that one can really be said to master the application of taijiquan.

Technique is the technical application of the moves in taiji. That is to say, where to sweep and where to stand and how to turn the body to be able to apply a certain move such as Grasp the Sparrow Tail. One way to train technique is to have a partner for you to continue practising the moves. Well trained, you can easily apply the moves in fluid motions. You can either be leading with your movements, or your partner can be feeding you with moves for you to counter.

Skill is about the understanding of taiji. This is about being able to relax, being able to listen to your opponent's force, being able to neutralise your opponent and being able to use your opponent's force against him. To train skill, you need a partner, so that your partner can be feeding you moves for you to listen, discern, neutralise and return.

If you focus only on learning technique, you will find that you are able to apply the moves in taiji well against the unskilled and even against those skilled up to a certain degree. But the limit is that you are restricted by form (because you only train the application of the moves in the form/routines). And thus against the truly skilled, because they have no form, they are able to listen, discern, neutralise and then return your force.

If you focus only on learning skill, you will find that at first, you will not be able to handle someone good at techniques. Because you are still unable to properly listen and discern his force, thus you are unable to effectively neutralise and return his force. But if you persevere, you will find that not being restricted by form means you will eventually progress further along the road. But it will take a long time...

The compromise? Practise to gain skill when training with a partner, but think about application when practising your form. That seems to me to be the most effective and efficient way to improve in learning how to apply taijiquan.

Relax, Not Limp

My teacher's hand feels soft during pushing hands not because there is no strength (i.e. the hand is not limp) but because he is able to relax his whole body, especially his kua. So when a force is applied on the hand, because the kua is relaxed, it is able to move and thus absorb the force, which makes it seems as if the hand is soft (retreating when pushed) when actually, it is not the hand that retreats, but the body as a whole (with the joints moving in varying amounts, not to say that they are rigid).

The common misunderstanding when we talk about being relaxed is that we try to be soft like cotton (that's how my teacher's hand feels like) by not using strength. We take the strength out of our arms, and our hands become limp. And then when a force comes, our hands yield to the force, yet we are unable to do anything about the force. Instead, the force continues to come in, and we end up being pushed.

Instead, to achieve the feel of cotton, we should be relaxing our joints, such that when a force comes in, our joints, moving in varying amounts, absorbs the force, and by then turning the kua, we are able to change the direction of the force, turning it away from us. It still feels like yielding to the force, yet it is not a complete yielding because we are not opening the gates for the enemy to rush in. Instead, we are drawing the enemy (aka force) towards where we want it to go (like luring an enemy into a trap).

Practice Videos

Here are two videos of me practising. The first is an extract of Chen style old frame first routine.



The second video is Chen style sword.



Do feel free to comment, it will only make me better.

Stages of Taiji - Big Strong Fast Light

The book "Flashing Steel" talks about four stages in training, namely "big, strong, fast, light". How does this apply to taiji?

Big: This is the stage in which we are concerned only with the big (aka main, broad) movements. We have yet to start paying attention to details, and we are performing our movements big and broad. We adopt lower stances to build up our leg muscles. This is usually what people call the "big form". The aim of this stage is to know the movements, and build up a good foundation.

Strong: This stage is when we have built up a proper foundation, when we are able to properly transfer the force from our legs to our arms. We are able to apply force without brute muscular strength, with the force being generated from our legs. The aim of this stage is to be able to properly manifest the strength generated by our legs to where we need that force.

Fast: In this stage, we are now longer constrained by the slow movements of taiji, being able to adapt our rhythm to suit the opponent. While in previous stages, moving fast meant using muscular strength, in this stage, we are able to move our bodies as a whole, and can move fast without having to resort to muscular strength. The aim of this stage is to be able to properly manifest the spirit of "fast forms" without having to resort to brute strength.

Light: This is the stage in which, having mastered the fundamentals of taiji, we are able to move our bodies as a whole, to adapt ourselves to suit the rhythm of our opponents, such that we can move fast or slow. The aim of this stage is to be able to move light as a feather such that our opponent cannot figure out where our force is coming from, yet because we are so light, we can react even faster to any changes.

Taiji Classes by Mr Kwek Li Hwa

My teacher is Mr Kwek Li Hwa, and he teaches taiji at a few places in Singapore. Below are some of those places.

 

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.

Tampines Changkat CC on Mondays, 8pm to 10pm
Toa Payoh East CC on Tuesdays, 8pm to 10pm
Poh Khiu Temple on Wednesdays, 8pm to 10pm
Hong Lim Green CC on Thursdays, 6pm to 7:30pm
Kreta Ayer CC on Saturdays, 7pm to 10pm (see link)
Ang Mo Kio Ave 3 Blk 323 multi-storey carpark (top floor) on Sundays, 7:30am to 9am
Kampong Ubi CC on Sundays, 10:30am to 12noon
Tampines Changkat CC on Sundays, 7:30pm to 9pm
Most of them are at community centres, so do feel free to sign up for these courses if you are interested. For some photos and videos of his classes, you can take a look at the blog for the class at Kreta Ayer CC.

How to Improve

After learning taiji for some time, the question comes up on how to continue to improve, how to break beyond the current level. How do you move beyond technicalities, and move into the realm of being able to show the true flavour of taiji?

I still have mistakes here and there with details, yet when I try to correct my details when practising my routines, I end up focusing too much on getting the details correct that I am unable to relax, and thus lose the true meaning of taiji. So how do you move on from here?

Instead of remaining in my current stage, where I practise routines, I need to change my training style. To change the mistakes in the little details, I need to practise each move by itself. Repeating each move over and over again, each time paying attention to the details, is the way to make sure that it is correct.

Then, when practising my routines, I should just relax, and let the movements flow into each other, without paying attention to the details. I need to trust that in my practice of each move, I have already gotten each move correct, so when I string them up into the routine, all I need to tell my body is what is the next move, and trust that it will perform the next move correctly. That way, my focus is on the overall rather than the minute details, allowing me to relax.

Learning From Books

Two book reviews in my other blog:

The Inner Game of Tennis, which is about tennis and not just about tennis. I especially like the portion that talks about the mentality that we should adopt towards competition.

Flashing Steel, which is about iaido. I especially like the first part of the book that talks about the philosophy behind martial arts and the stages of progression in training.

Being Nervous

I was told to perform Chen style taiji in front of the class today. Somehow, I right after a few moves, my legs felt very tired, ending up that I was struggling to finish the form. When I talked to my teacher about this, he said that it could be because I was nervous, and also it may be due to putting in too much effort during the beginning, and thus not having enough left for the later part of the form. Usually, I don't feel nervous, having performed in front crowds and taken part in competitions before. Thus I guess it might have been the latter reason, in which I was trying to show my best, resulting in me tiring myself out from the start and not having enough energy to properly continue till the end. This is again a shortfall... I was trying to prove myself in front of others, when I should be adopting a more relaxed mentality, and I should have been adopting the mentality that I will just perform what I have always been doing without a need to try and prove that I am good.

Relax Your Expressions

While demonstrating Chen style taiji today, my teacher pointed out that I am closing my mouth too tightly. It is something that I haven't realised on my own, but which I think needs to be looked into. Because taiji is about relaxing, and if I cannot relax my expression, then it means that I have yet to be able to fully relax while practising my forms.

Meditative Taiji

Taiji is meditation, without having to meditate. It is a form of stress release, a therapy against life's pressures. Because when you concentrate on practising taiji, your mind thinks of nothing else during that short period of time, be it 5 minutes or 2 hours. In taiji, you can find a short break from your problems, so that you can take a rest from them, and face them once again refreshed.

Constant Review

I had thought I had understood what my teacher meant when he said that the weight should be on the left leg when turning from 拦雀尾 to 单鞭, but it seems that I was wrong all along. While my weight was on my left leg, I was still not turning my kua properly, resulting in my backside turning when I was trying to turn my right leg. The correct way is to have the weight on the left leg, and then turn my right leg inwards without turning my backside (which means I have to use my right kua to turn).

This is why even though I have been practising for some time, I still need to let my teacher take a look once in a while on how I do my routines, so that he can point out the mistakes here and there that I have been getting wrong. While it is usually hard to kick an old habit, I am certain that with determination, I will be able to right the wrongs of my past practices (the old bad habits).

Thoughts On Teaching Taiji

This is in response to a post on Formosa Neijia, on "Separating what you know from what you teach".

One thing I realised is that not all students come to learn taiji with the same mentality as me. People learn taiji for their own reasons, and thus even though we are all gathered as a class, they all want to learn different things. Some are fine just learning the broad movements, some are fine just following what the rest are doing, some want to go on to win competitions, some prefer to learn more about applications, etc. As a teacher, one needs to be able to discern what it is that each student wants to learn, and then teach accordingly. Don't overwhelm the poor guy who just wants to move his limbs with how to apply each movement.

Also, another thing that my teacher does is that he lets the more senior students teach the newcomers. Not because they are good, but because the newcomers must first remember the broad movements. Once they are familiar with the movements, he then gets down to teaching them the details. The important thing when first starting out is for them to remember the steps.

Teach something new each session, but not so much that you overwhelm them. Usually 2 to 5 new movements each session, the important thing being that the students must remember them. It gives them a sense that things are moving, without seeming to be hurrying them along. Then, once you have finished teaching the whole routine, you should go back and fine tune their movements. That is the time to touch on some (not all) details. A few months later, go back and fine tune some more. And so on.

The Style of Chen Style

I was practising my Chen style old frame first routine today, when my teacher pointed out the same mistake that I have been making. I have been practising my Chen style as though it is Yang style. My movements are too slow, without much change in rhythm. It is like Yang style with Chen movements.

In the past, I had been practising my Chen style very slowly because I was trying to pay attention to the details, as well as to build up a good foundation (aka leg muscles). But now, it seems that my old training habit is actually hindering my progress. I am so used to the slow rhythm, that I find it hard to change the rhythm to be in line with Chen style.

I guess it is time to change my training routine, such that I use the different styles to help myself improve. First, to use Yang style to build up my foundation, to continue to practise it slowly so that I can work up those leg muscles, at the same time work on relaxing and turning my kua. Next is to practise Chen style as it should be, with a proper rhythm that changes over the whole routine, and at the same time visualising the application of the movements. Finally, once I get Chen style sorted out, I may embark on learning Sun style to add that spring to my movements.

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.