grasp the sparrow's tail

Here is a motion who is an old friend: grasp the sparrow's tail, or 揽雀尾, lan que wei. But it can also be four component motions: our old friends peng - lu - ji - an.

I was going through the tai ji quan 24 motion form. My instructor's comment was that I was doing the motion in the style of Yang tai ji (from which 24 is largely derived, though there are differences). In particular, the precursor to the ji motion was much too small for the 24 form; the hand which will be reinforcing should be drawn much further back to the rear on the side before folding in to make contact with the other hand and pushing forward.

It was quite unconscious on my part - it has been years since I had contact with any "pure" Yang style forms, and even that was tai ji dao or broadsword. So where could this interference have come from ? Probably not cross-over or interference in this case, just getting loose, forgetting details.

Or discovering details for the first time. I asked him about the 42 form - the motion appears twice in the form and should be smaller (like Yang) the first time and larger (like 24) the second. Still later, I thought about the 48 form. In my books it looks large (like 24), but my homework list continues to lengthen.

Over 20 years with some of these forms and still not doing everything with full consciousness....

ping pong goes xing yi quan

Everyone in Japan loves Ai-Chan, or Fukuhara Ai. Groomed to be a world ping pong champion since childhood, everyone was moved by TV footage of the hard-driving ping-pong practices that drove a 6-year-old girl to tears....and how she kept swinging that paddle, never giving up, shining example of Japanese perseverance.

Not much of a ping-pong fan myself, I know her better for her part in an NHK Chinese language learning program. Many Chinese say she has the dreaded northeastern accent to her Chinese (she was living and training pingpong there), but I love her voice.

In this poster, we see that she has apparently taken up a new discipline. What a fine example of zuan quan, the drilling fist rising up the center line, about to come out in front of the chin or mouth. Yes, it seems she is now practicing xing yi quan.

(no relation, of course, to the anti-drug stance being promoted on the poster)

essential training equipment (6)

Yes, the mandatory healthy sports drink and nutritious dietary supplement to nourish and repair the body after a hard workout.

Chen style tai ji jian notes

Here is a well-used page from my future text in the making: notes on the Chen style tai ji jian form, with extra notes and illustrations from my daughter.

I am feeling much more comfortable with the form these days, but I also find it daunting how much work lies ahead – I can stumble through the motions of the form, yes, but there is neither beauty nor power yet.

worst technique (2)

Yes, the sai again. A little strange, since I am usually at my best with pairs of short / small weapons (sai, yuan yang yue, nito ryu in kendo)…My chosen bed-side (futon-side, actually) weapon is a pair of short sticks.

I am working on the bo vs. sai set lately, 10 simple and elegant techniques which will feature in my upcoming testing. Two of these ten techniques have a technique which I have had much trouble with – the opponent swings the bo staff across at my left side.

I rotate my body to the right and block with the sai in the left hand (hand down, tip up). The key is to keep the left arm braced against the body (against the rear in one technique, against the left hip in the other) and the sai in contact with the forearm, not letting the tip flare out.

Failure to do this technique properly results in pain. I don’t seem to be learning from pain as quickly as I used to.

excuses

I really wanted to go to kobudo practice last night. but but but but but but but but

The Trees are Getting Shorter

I have felt this several times lately – the forms which seemed so long when starting to learn them, seeming to become shorter as you get to know them better. And then when you get fairly familiar with the form, you look back and wonder how it could have ever seemed so daunting.

The Chen style tai ji jian form seemed endless, like I would never reach the end. Now I can stumble through it and it seems so much shorter. I finish the form fearing that I might have left out a sequence of motions. It couldn’t have been that short! Then I go back, check every motion, and they are all there.

Same with the Sha Style tai ji sword routines – seeming endless at the beginning, then not so terribly long after all. Especially the paired / partner form we have been working on and demonstrating lately.

It is not getting any easier – just the opposite, if anything. The stage of rapid progress is finished and all further progress will come in smaller advances and will require increasing amounts of effort and practice for each gain in understanding.