Master Chen Zhonghua Online Lesson on May 28, 2021

 
Today, Master Chen Zhonghua talked about 别过去 (bie guo qu). The diagram above shows how fiber optics work. The light bounces off the walls on each side, and keeps going forward. Every reflection is 别 (bie) because there is a restriction (the wall) that prevents the light from going straight. If the tube was straight, and the light shines straight through the tube, there is no 别 (bie) . Our taiji action is that we need to 别 (bie). For example, in six sealing four closing, the two elbows go into the line formed by the two hands, and the two hands keep staying on that line.

There are other real-life examples:

1. Dribbling in basketball, we must adjust the angle we bounce the ball as we walk or run, so that the ball can travel forward with us.
2. How we hit a golf ball off the ground in order for it to fly high and forward requires the club to hit the ball towards the ground at a specific angle, it is not to scoop the ball (which is what a beginner typically does). The correct swing makes the ball compressed and bounce off the ground.

We need to have both a shield and a spear, they go equally against each other, and that is 掤 (peng). We need to find the specific spot to break the stalemate situation. We aim the spear at 45 degree angle at the shield.  I actually had an experience of this in the first year of studying Practical Method. I was shovelling dirt in the yard. I found that it was easier to get the shovel into the ground at 45 degree angle.  At the time, I remembered the lesson from Master Chen was about double negative circles. We need to establish two walls coming up from the thighs to provide restrictions. The 3rd count of the negative circle makes the hands look like going up at the end, but the hands do not go up by themselves, they need to press against the two walls, and somehow they go up.

When a ball rotates, every part of the ball behave the same way. We use intention to create a function, such as using a specific part of the ball with its rotation to hit something, but every part of the ball still behaves the same way.

If there are two men, one is rich and one is poor.  When the poor one becomes richer, it does not make the rich man any poorer from an absolute perspective.

Wuji is that one big thing. Taiji is to have polarities. While we have taiji, there is still wuji.

The taiji illusion of being soft is the rubber pencil illusion:

折叠 (zhe die) - Folding

• Training with arms going from left to right.
• Right shoulder going down, right kua coming up.
• Right fist lines up with the left foot on the ground.
• If we are sitting on a chair. the right fist lines up with the left buttock.
• The forearm does not move, we use the right elbow to drive the right fist.
• We need to create a snap at the shoulder, like snapping the fingers. The torso goes down, the arm goes out.

Master Chen Zhonghua Online Lesson on May 21, 2021

憋  Twist

• 杠杆的动作。
• 扭。
• 搓。
• 外头两点动作相对，中间一点不动。

憋住  Twist to a threshold and get stuck

• 用憋的方法给对方卡住的意思。
• 两个齿轮交合后，卡住不能动。
• 力量相等。

憋开 Twist to a point that breaks the threshold

• 在憋住后，力量加大或是加上另外一个东西让对方抵抗不住。

练习

• 左手在对方右上臂前面。
• 右手在对方左上臂后面。
• 对方反抗。这就憋住了。
• 用力憋住，双方都不能动。
• 保持上身不动，要卡住对方。用右胯往下、往外走，把对方往外抛。
• 自己变成木板，木板转起来。在木板上面的东西就会往外给抛出去。

马步  Horse Stance

We use the knees squeeze into the belly of the horse, to create an empty space under the crutch. The empty space acts as a shock absorber for the ride. We can train by squeezing a ball between the knees, and walk around.

Conversion of linear action to rotation

Keep a cylinder around our torse, and a larger one outside of the knees. We rub the knees back and forth to create a rotation on the central axis to allow the energy to travel up and down.

Master Chen Zhonghua Online Lesson on May 20, 2021

Levels of the Form

Level 1

1. Rigid
2. A bunch of sticks
3. Machine-like movement
4. With structure

Level 2

1. Soft
2. Rubber band
3. Like kneeding dough
4. There is something in it

Level 3

1. Fajin
2. It can be to break a line quickly. Hold the two ends, break the middle.
3. It can be to expand from the middle quickly. Hold the two ends, expand from the middle.
4. It requires us to have rubber band (level 2), otherwise, if we only have sticks, the sticks will be broken.
5. We want to break the opponent, and not ourselves.

Level 4

• Not discussed

Level 5

• Not discussed

Master Chen Zhonghua Online Lesson on May 19, 2021

Ground Dragon

How to pull up the right leg?

• Lock the left kua, and rotate the right kua around and underneath the left kua.

Twist

Need to break a seal, e.g. how to open a stuck jar lid.

1. Lock the two hands, use the front elbow to break the line between the two hands.
2. Lock the two hands, use the front kua to break the line between the two hands.

Break using an action on the outside going in.

Break using an action on the inside going out.

We need to twist ourselves in the setup, we unwind ourselves in the action.

Imagine that you separate our body into top half and bottom half. At the beginning, they are not twisted such that the front of the top lines up with the front of the bottom.  You use your top to match the opponent. You change the bottom to face the other way (180 degrees opposite) while the top continues the same.  Now that the top half and bottom half are twisted.  There is potential energy built up, as you unwind, power is released, and there will be rotational power.

Master Chen Zhonghua Online Lesson on May 11, 2021

Lean with Back (背折靠)

1. Right fist and rear kua line up.
2. Elbow as a handle goes around that line.
3. Shoulder goes down to the kua.
4. Kua comes up to the shoulder.

The two lines must be maintained, and they must interact with each other.

The freer the rest of the body with those two lines maintained, the more power there is.

Master Chen Zhonghua Online Lesson on May 7, 2021

Pattern of practice

We focus on training one part (X). When we get that X right, Y may become wrong. We fix Y, X may become wrong again. We go and back forth until both X and Y are correct. Then we add Z on top of them.

3 parts: Fix two parts, move one part.

In the exercise of rotating horizontal, we must fix the middle (dantian). How to fix the dantian?

1. Use two parts (head and rear foot) to fix the dantian, move the front foot which is free to a new position.
2. Use head and front foot to fix the dantian, move the rear foot to a new position.
3. Switch between the two feet repeatedly.
4. The rotation is made of a series of little increments.

If we make the two side of a chest like two touching gears, we are using the central axis as the gap/space between them. it is the one of the 3 major choices for the gap. The other 2 choices will be the two shoulder-kua axes.  The chest/torso can be one piece or two pieces.

Master Chen Zhonghua Online Lesson on May 4, 2021

Lock the right elbow-shoulder-kua triangle, but place it horizontally.

Rotate to the right horizontally using the kuas.

First make the line between the right elbow and left foot. The left foot is supported by the floor.

Later make the line between the right elbow and left knee, but we need to keep the knee up (i.e. the left knee cannot point to the floor).

As we rotate to the right, the right elbow and left knee must continue to expand/stretch.