Correcting Common Tai Chi Mistakes in Push-Hands and Partner Work

[@huzhuiwei]

Excellent demonstration - covers everything you need to know with clear explanation. Thanks for posting.

[@DarsanaMartialArts]

Hello, @huzhuiwei. Thank you for appreciating my work and for your praise. Regards, Grant

[@sineatermaster]

Thank you for sharing this principle. Finding another Taiji sifu who uses real skill and technique that demonstrates real push hands and use of force has been difficult. Your explanations are spot on very practical, and show that you have a sifu level of understanding. I have been trying to teach these concepts to my jujitsu students, and they get frustrated when we practice movement in stillness...and, basically, any of the transferring of force you demonstrated here in your video. I wish more people teachers were aware of these concepts. I didn't have a sifu who taught these concepts to me, they come as you know intuitively from stance and qigong work. I learned so much about how to explain it with words from your video and I would like you to know that I appreciate your explanations and teaching so much. Xie Xie ni!

[@DarsanaMartialArts]

Hello @sineatermaster. Thank you! These are difficult concepts to convey in words. I'm very pleased to hear that this has helped you. Let me know if you have questions, thoughts, or just want to compare notes. Regards.

[@RobertAgarHutton]

16:11 "all kinds of things that have just come from life" - one of the most important concepts and one that is rarely spoken about - well said.

[@DarsanaMartialArts]

Thank you. And thanks for taking note of that. I agree. Once, my Sifu, Monk Yun Rou, was giving me a lesson on levels in push hands. For the final one, he lightly touched my arms with his fingers and floated me a few feet to one side, then gently let me down. It felt like he levitated me. I asked him what he had done. He said, "all the things you can't accept, I touched those and moved them." It was a turning point in my practice I will never forget.

[@RobertAgarHutton]

@@DarsanaMartialArts Oh, Monk Yun Rou - I may be getting him confused with someone else but I remember on one of my visits to the USA training and then having lunch at I think it was the class's favourite restaurant... with a gentleman who was a Monk. The training, as I recall, was in a room that was on the first floor of a building... But having travelled over a LOT of the USA, I'm not sure where or when it was. If it was him that I trained with, you have (or have had) an excellent teacher.

[@DarsanaMartialArts]

I do. Whether or not he is who you met, here is a link to his website: www.monkyunrou.com/

[@arnaudh4789]

very clear explanation, and real-time example. Thanks Sifu 🙏

[@DarsanaMartialArts]

Hello, @arnaudh4789. Thank you for appreciating my work. I'm glad you got something out of it.

[@kingofaikido]

You are right. This softening of the joints to the ground is called 'sung'...pronounced 'soong' (like 'soon' with an 'ng' at the end). You explain it well. Well done. ;)

[@mhm2908]

That is not really how it is pronounced in Mandarin Chinese - much more like the English word 'song', indeed as the teacher pronounces it in the video. In fact mainland pinyin spells it 'song'. Other dialects like Cantonese might spell it sung, and pronounce it differently

[@arunachalampalani4321]

Thank you for your time and effort to explain and demonstrate "not so easy" concept. I am sure I will follow your videos as they sound so authentic to me. Please keep it up.

[@DarsanaMartialArts]

Thank you. Your support and encouragement help me to do so.

[@nickSensei888]

Thank you , explanations are really clear.

[@DarsanaMartialArts]

Thank you.

[@JoelEZ1]

I'm not sure how the algorithm found this for me, but I'm thankful for the internal balance lesson. I'm just breaking through to this concept in my Wing Chun practice. I'll keep watching your vids for more info. This does remind me to tap on my good Tai Chi Master's shoulder for further development, as we are all finding this balance. Tai Chi can greatly improve this side of the martial arts.

[@DarsanaMartialArts]

I'm glad you got something from it. I practiced Wing Chun for a number of years. Siu Nim Tao is an excellent place to develop this with the proper focus. I appreciate your suppor. Best of luck in your Wing Chun training. Regards.

[@utrscmd]

Really excellent. Thanks!

[@DarsanaMartialArts]

Thank you.

[@sanchidao]

Very nice and clear explainations - Thank you for sharing.

[@DarsanaMartialArts]

Thank you, and you are welcome

[@joezane]

Excellent explanations. 👍

[@DarsanaMartialArts]

Thank you. Glad you got something from it.

[@cal.5081]

Excellent! Near the end of the video, when you said, "Sorry, are you okay?That was too much. I could feel it, it was too short." Did you mean short Jin?

[@DarsanaMartialArts]

Hello @cal.5081. Thank you for your praise. Yes, if memory serves correct.

[@clementray1410]

Good stuff

[@brentpieczynski]

That also explains historic Aikido videos, involving non-detectable Ki throwing people.

[@illiJomusic]

Would you say that the larger and lower stances are handed through the forms and inherited from the multifaceted dynamics of war? Id hate to be in a battlefield with weapons on uneven terrain without those stances and leg work. "They've ramming the southern gate, brace the doors" Taiji Stu walks over gently touches the thousand kg door, "Sung and release, yong yi bu yong li" 😅 All jokes aside, great share and explanation. Im much better at doing this if im just playing around. Terrible at doing it in this setting.

[@DarsanaMartialArts]

Hello, @illiJomusic. Thank you for the comment and your kind words. That's funny, but in all seriousness, you make a reasonable point. One can certainly imagine battlefield circumstances in which a lower or wider stance may be appropriate, beneficial, or even necessary. There is certainly a relationship between posture/structure and stability. That said, reliance upon it diminishes as one's ability to "sink" force internally improves. I personally still do a fair bit of low, wide stance work in my training, but more as a means to open my joints and have the freedom to move wherever I need to. That said, if I had to hold a door closed against strong force, I would certainly use a lower, wider stance. To be clear, the main point of the video isn't to discourage people from developing mobility and strength in their legs - it's actually an important phase of training - but to help them understand that a low, wide posture isn't rooting. I have found that Tai Chi students often conflate the two, which may mean they're not developing sinking/rooting in their training. Happy Holidays, Grant

[@benquinneyiii7941]

You have to practice like a…

[@albertroundtree8546]

Thanks for the explanation.

[@DarsanaMartialArts]

My pleasure.