Song of Form Play
3.1 Maintain roundness,
3.2 Body center our hub,
3.3 The limbs our spokes
3.4 Rotate around a shaft
Continuing from the previous post On Learning : Sub-Topic 1.2b.
When we practice the Tai Chi form we need to develop the overall feel of a sphere in motion in line with Song of Form Play 3.1 to 3.4. The video below is an example of this flavor.
I am demonstrating a short sequence from the 22 Yang style form arranged by Grandmaster Wei Shuren. This is a small frame form and the techniques shown here are :-
a) Repulse Monkey - right, left
b) Grasp Sparrow’s Tail - left, right
c) Cloud Hands 1 X open / close
d) Cloud Hands 2 X open / close
e) Single Whip
The practice of this form develops Shen, Yi, Qi by using the intent to guide the body to move in an effortless, light-heavy, stable, minimalist efficient manner.
This form also provides training for a number of unique characteristics of our Yang style - the ancient bell body, the 2-4 points, the 3 passes, character ten, the open-close, the simultaneous 5 bows, tri-spirals, the elongated write, the small qi sphere, 8 solo energies and combinations, energy modes (large sphere, horizontal fan, vertical fan, roller, etc) and many more.
In a subsequent series of posts I will demonstrate a shorter arrangement extracted from the 22 form. The advantage of a shorter sequence is that you just need a small area to do the training.
You can also get through the sequence faster. So if you are starved for time this would be ideal. By working on the same few movements it should be easier to improve on the quality of your movements.
For now I will go through the Song of Form Play principles below :-
SFP 3.1 - we can do this by implementing the ancient bell body
SFP 3.2 - it is common to regard the dantian as the center; however, in our chest the mouth of the chest is our body center
SFP 3.3 - this is self-explanatory
SFP 3.4 - this is the use of an analogy to give you an idea of what rotation means; in the context of the 22 form it is referring to the 2-4 points