Notes for Changing Direction in Positive Circle video

http://practicalmethod.com/2014/02/changing-direction-in-positive-circle-online-video-trailer/

In this week's third episode of our Positive Circle series, Master Chen covers how we create splitting of energy in the three counts of a positive circle, and how switching we learned last week is used to change direction.

See you at 10 am ET on Saturday, April 18, 2020 at http://practicalmethod.com/2014/02/changing-direction-in-positive-circle-online-video-trailer/.

Notes:

Welcome everyone to this video! I have provided the following guided reference. Please feel free to ask any questions related to the video.

As a fresher, the three counts of the positive circles are:
1) In with elbow
2) Turn with waist
3) Out with hand

We can also say:
1) In with elbow
2) Turn with kua
3) Out with finger

1:00 For the 2nd count of the right positive circle, we stretch the right heel against the right elbow by pushing into the right heel.
For the 3rd count of the right positive circle, we stretch the left heel against the right hand by pushing into the left heel.

1:25 Transitioning from the 2nd count of the positive circle to the 3rd count requires the turning of the joint. This allows us to change direction. In the future, that switching will be very small. The smaller the better.

3:25 At the beginning, our movements will be very coarse, so much that we are tossing our body a lot. Eventually, it will be more fine and our body won't toss anymore.

3:40 We must use exaggerated movements at the beginning to understand how the energy should be flowing. At the end, even when externally it does not appear to be like that, the way the energy flows remains the same.

4:01 In Chen Taiji, no one should be able to find your direction because it is in every direction. For a rotating object, regardless of how you touch it, it feels like that it is coming at you.

4:13 Exercise 1: Train splitting without doing the entire positive circle. Later, we incorporate it into the positive circle.

6:15 Exercise 2: Train opening of the kua.

9:00 Master Chen explained the difference between dantian rotation vs dantian wiggling. Dantian rotation requires a true centre that does not move. Only by achieving dantian rotation, you can realize the true power of the dantian.

12:30 How do we rotate (or do a circle) without being poked through our dantian and getting pinned there? We need to break a circle into two halves. We need to lock one side and move the other for half of the circle, and then switch to lock the opposite side and move the other. There is no full circle visually, but the opponent would feel the complete circle. (As I understsand, it's the energy that keeps going forward without ever going backward. Here is an article I have written previously on this topic: S-curve is really the circle.

15:10 Master Chen demonstrated the idea of locking one side and moving the other with his dantian in this section of the video. Please watch repeatedly until you can actually see it.