Newsletter #95 - July 2009

There are many styles of tai chi. Each style has its individual characteristics and features; some styles are more difficult to learn than others. Even within the one style there are many variations, with significant differences taught by different schools. Most tai chi styles share a similar set of principles although the health benefits which generate from each style may vary. So do different styles complicate learning, making it challenging to choose? Or does it make learning more interesting? I am very excited to have several articles written by my esteemed colleagues presenting their views on the styles they practice.

There will be a similar one week workshop in Sydney in January 2010. This will be the 12th annual workshop in Australia. We are working on a similar program which will be available online shortly. To continue with tradition, it will be held at St Vincent’s College, Potts Point, from 4th to 9th January, 2010. Following the one week workshop, there will be a one-day multiple update workshop on 10th January, and a Master Trainers’ workshop from 11th to 14th January, 2010. I look forward to seeing you, meanwhile keep practising and enjoy your practice.

• Sybil Wong gives a comprehensive introduction to the four styles
• It is most refreshing to hear Pat Lawson’s analogy that our bodies are like musical instruments allowing us to explore different styles and deliver our individual expression
• Pat Webber shares how a deep understanding of the Sun style formed a basis for her to move on to Chen
• Caroline Demoise’s expression of her affinity to Chen style is most revelationary   
• Troyce Thome explains no matter which style of tai chi there are always underlying principles, and the style one chooses depends on his purpose of learning tai chi    

• The Combined 42 Forms (Vol 1 & II) -– Instructional DVD
• 42 Sword Forms – Instructional DVD

August 22 - August 23, 2009. Sydney, Australia
Exploring the Depth of Tai Chi for Arthritis

The ancient Chinese created tai chi based on their knowledge of traditional medicine, qigong and martial. There are 5 major tai chi styles and some lesser known styles practiced today. The 5 major styles are Chen, Yang, Hao, Wu and Sun. All these styles have different characteristics and may look different. Some styles maybe more suitable for some people to practice but they all share the same principles and give similar health benefits. As with the popular saying, there are many roads to the top of the mountain but once there, the view is just as magnificent.

Make Your Own Music……. Add Chen Style to Your Repertoire
Patricia Lawson, Master Trainer, Stuart, FL, USA

I often hear the voice of my first tai ji teacher, Sifu Kutsenkow, saying “Tai Ji is the expression of energy. How many ways can you express energy?” This was one of those unanswerable questions meant to make us ponder deeper levels of our practice.    Yet I was like a fairy tale character, happily lost in my gingerbread house practicing my Yang style over and over again. Time passed. We all know that in real life there is no “happily ever after.” Motion never stops. Things change. Storms come. The sun shines.  How many ways can you express energy?  As artists, we are bound to explore different styles.

Tai Ji is an expression of energy requiring the practitioner to explore different methods with flexibility and an open attitude. The embrace of change is in fact a pre-requisite for growth in tai chi chuan. We can consider this a basic tenet that we accept for our practice. We have to find the way to best express what is deep within us. Kurtz and Ketcham in The Spirituality of Imperfection , quote a story from the Jewish tradition:
 
Once, when Rabbi Mordecai was in the great town of Minsk expounding the Torah to a number of men hostile to his way, they laughed at him. “What you say does not explain the verse in the least,” they cried. 
“Do you really think,” he explained, “that I was trying to explain the verse in the book?  That doesn’t need any explanation!  I want to explain the verse that is within me.”  
 
In my own journey, the desire to express that verse within me required first a confidence developed over years of practicing the standard. My yang style experience of the graceful, even elegant, expression through my arms and legs led me to the pursuit of something deeper to the core. I wanted to follow the cord that stretched outward back to its source, to the centre. The first time I tried some Chen movements, I knew I was onto something. But here is the second basic tenet:  what is best for one person may not be best for another.  We are each seeking balance in our own individual ways. 

For me, the tracing back of the thread led me to find a whole new avenue of expression from deep in the inner core. I was like a child playing with a yo-yo, tracing back the string to see what it was that made the yo-yo work. Chen style gave me a whole new sandbox of toys to play with. As I followed the thread to its source, I discovered twists, turns, twining. Coiling and spiralling became more apparent to me. Best of all, once I started to discover new aspects of the expression of energy through Chen style, I was able to explore these aspects in my Yang and Sun style practice. The basic flavor in each style can be maintained, yet we can feel deeper expression because of the variety of styles. The likelihood of finding the style that best suits us at a given time is only possible if we have explored a variety of styles. If we consider our bodies to be instruments, then we need to explore styles in order to get the best expression. A musician in pursuit of expression will pick up many instruments to achieve the desired sound.

In conclusion, tai chi chuan as a unique individual expression of energy requires that we explore various styles. Chen style offers the exuberance of spiral force and the explosive energy from deep in our cores. There are many sounds in a symphony. The deep throbbing drumbeat of Chen is as vital as the rhythmic cello strings of Yang style and the light tripping violin of Sun style. Make your own music. Find your best expression for the day. A parallel to the rabbinical story cited earlier might be,

Sun Style Tai Chi
Pat Webber, Master Trainer, Sydney, NSW, Australia

I had seen Sun 73 forms demonstrated and was taken by the beauty of the moves. Performing it, however, was initially very frustrating for me. Sun style tai chi differs from the older styles, because Sun Lutang who created this style, had a background of other martial arts – Xing Yi Quan and Ba Gua Quan – and he used elements of these in creating his own tai chi form.  In his forward to “A Study of Taijiquan by Sun Lutang”, Tim Cartmell refers to “… the feet advancing and retreating with the shuffling rhythm common to all combat forms, including fencing, boxing and wrestling.”  Then we had the frequent opening and closing qi gong movements which seemed to bring me to a stop.  How could these characteristics of Sun style be equated with the tai chi principle that movements should be “continuous, with unbroken force”? 

In an article on essential principles, Dr Paul Lam has written in regard to the following step; “ …when the back foot touches the ground, the ball of the foot pushes downward to generate force.”  When I read Sun Lu Tang’s advice to “place the foot, and then the weight”, I realized that the same meaning was inherent in the words of both men.  When the following step has been performed correctly, the force travels up the body, through the knee, hip, trunk to the pushing hand.  This gentle pushing movement can then prepare the body to move immediately on to the following open/close movement. 

For example:  After completing “Leisurely Tying Coat” to the left (Sun 73, Form 18), allow the pushing movement to  push body weight back on to the right foot as you turn to the front and open hands (in breath-Form 19), then a subtle weight shift back to the left foot as you close hands (out breath-Form20).  This leaves the right foot free to step to the right for the Single Whip (Form 21).  This weight shift also gives a good indication of which direction to go next and keeps the flow going.

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