Common Tai Chi Mistakes: Confusing Structure with Alignment

[@cyberwyz]

Brilliant demo and explanation, thanks so much guys! Fortunately I have a couple of partners to work with otherwise there's no feedback, no way to develop & test ting, song, etc. So grateful for quality videos such as yours.

[@DarsanaMartialArts]

Hello, @cyberwyz. Thank you for your kind words and appreciation of my work. I'm glad you got something out of it. As far as the necessity for partners, I just posted a response to @houseson on the same subject. While training partners are the best way to get good feedback for this work (if they are good partners), there are alternative ways to get physical feedback for your alignment. You can check out that reply for some examples. Here is an anecdote from my own experience: During Covid conditions, we went through a long period in which we couldn't have physical contact with partners. I was concerned that my push-hands and martial application skills would diminish. All I could do was double down on my solo work. I went deeper and sought alternative ways to get physical feedback. When we could finally return to partner work, I found that not only did my skill not diminish, but I had improved significantly. I realized that was because the same principles that govern our partner practice govern our solo practice, and if you understand what you're working on internally, the difference between partner and solo practice becomes negligible. Furthermore, partners don't always have the patience to allow you to listen inward and be truly meticulous in correcting your internal alignment errors. In solo practice, however, you can give yourself that opportunity. Of course, good training partners are an extremely valuable resource and should be treasured. Enjoy your practice. Regards, Grant

[@houseson]

24 form here for about five years study. My question: does proper structure lead to alignment as you described? What I mean by structure is strong legs, for 68 yrs, good form and calm mind. Trying to connect the form practice with your teaching here. I have never done any partner work, is that needed to get the point? Thank you.

[@KelGhu]

Good structure of conducive to proper alignment. It helps you understand alignment but it is not alignment itself. At the highest level, you don't need structure for proper alignment. You can't understand alignment without doing partner work. It's part of the martial art. You can't learn to punch without punching.

[@houseson]

Thank you.

[@DarsanaMartialArts]

Hello, @houseson. Thank you for your question. I agree with @KelGhu that good structure is conducive to alignment - even helps to develop it - and they are not the same thing. And yes, at higher levels, alignment transcends structure and essentially makes it unnecessary. As for the necessity of partner work... I believe you can gain an understanding of alignment without needing partner work - though partner work can help tremendously. What you need is pressure. Alignment, as I use the term in this video, is the lining up of inner pathways for force to travel through the body. That force doesn't need to come from a person. In our system, the first place we learn to discover alignment is in the standing wuji posture. Gravity provides the pressure, and we learn to align and sink it to the ground (and allow ground-force to rise, creating internal equilibrium). Then, we do that in every posture of the form. That's one of the main goals of the solo practice (forms, etc). You can further develop alignment through weapon forms practice, especially the heavier weapons such as guandao (halberd) and da gan (long pole). They can add some weight and leverage (pressure/force) to form work, which can help you to discover leaks and blockages in your alignment and to strengthen those internal lines. Pushing on a wall, tree, pole, or some other stable object can help you learn to redirect horizontal force to vertical force through your body ("rooting" it). If you have a heavy bag or something else heavy but mobile, you can push that around and let it swing back at you and practice receiving and issuing force through your alignment in a somewhat more dynamic way. What you DO need a partner for is to understand the function of alignment when applying it to push-hands and martial applications. To use @KelGhu's punching analogy - you CAN learn to punch without punching a person (using shadowboxing, heavy bag training, etc), but you can't learn how to fight without sparring a person. If your goal for your Tai chi practice is health and not fighting, you don't need a partner, but learning alignment is still a key component and will still serve you. Just as someone might practice boxing for health and fitness, but not fighting. Even so, the better you do it, the better it is for you. The biggest hurddle to learning alignment is recognizing the right internal feelings and the way to achieve them. A good teacher will be needed to guide you through the process. It takes time and practice. Hope this helps. Let me know ow if you have any more questions. You might also consider checking out my Online Tai Chi Academy. I will go over the development of internal alignment in a lot of detail. Regards, Grant

[@houseson]

Many thanks for your response. Without going into detail, I will say that standing post has also been my practice. I am still refining my goals, but push hands has always appealed to me. I will look at your website. Thanks!