back to: Yang Part 3 study notes
Cross Hands, Wrestle Tiger
| Part Three of the Long Yang Form at Taichido: Study
notes Module 2 |
Revision/Refinement:
Cross Hands Wrestle Tiger Return to Mountain.
At the commencement of Part Two and Part Three the later as
above "wrestle and return" of the Tiger is performed
in place of the initial 'connecting' left and right part of
GST [see Block One].
'Symbiotically' the left hand going up and the right going
down 'connects Heaven and Earth through that diagonal of your
body (l.hand/r.foot). Right going up, left going down ...
the other side. This should be done properly at the commencement
of the whole Form, there is no point in preparing later!.
'Symbiotically' 'turning' or 'returning' represents a similar
requirement to be 'connected' at all times if possible - through
rough and smooth; whether the Tiger is near or the Tiger is
far - when risk is apparent and when it is not.
One of the greatest gift that may be taken from the practice
of Tai Chi into everyday-life is the accruement of sufficient
self-discipline to excretes patience. This 'calm' is achieved
through the repetitive practice of the most basic and fundamental
Tai Chi and Chi Kung moves and postures [detail and whole]
and should not be viewed as a chore, on the contrary - it's
nothing at all! That is the point! You practice over and over,
at first paying meticulous attention to every detail of your
body's responses to those movements ... and you just keep
on doing that till you do it without thinking.
Our meeting on 15th. was the first to follow our two-week
summer break. Prior to this recess every member of the group
had in one way or another (see "How We Do It Here")
received similar instruction and all were/are metaphorically
at the same point in the Form - at the end of Part Two. N.B.
The 'junior' of the group had been with us for eighteen months,
so, that is how long it takes the average person to 'learn'
Parts One and Two.
Last week I 'sowed the seed' of "Part Wild Horses
Mane"
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During Form instruction of I do like
to "sow the seed" of an up-and-coming posture.
In this way I give students a glimpse of what is to
come and begin to 'tinker' with that posture together
for a while so as to initiate acquaintance with the
move and those that link to and from it.
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Taking the 'physical'/those that 'come here'
group as the model and guide I choose now to leave that 'new'
posture where it is for now to germinate with you a little
longer and suggest (nee insist!) that we pause here and concentrate
upon the first three (and vitally important) sequences of
postures at the commencement of Part Three:
(a) Cross Hands
(b) Wrestle Tiger
(c) Return to Mountain
(d) GST Short sequence - minus the fist two movements of that
sequence (i.e. GST Left and then Right)
Refinement of Cross Hands /Wrestle Tiger/Return to Mountain
/GST Short sequence
Taking the 'physical'/those that 'come here'
group as the model and guide I choose now to leave that 'new'
posture where it is for now to germinate with you a little
longer and suggest (nee insist!) that we pause here and concentrate
upon the first three (and vitally important) sequences of
postures at the commencement of Part Three:
(a) Cross Hands
(b) Wrestle Tiger
(c) Return to Mountain
(d) GST Short sequence - minus the fist two movements of that
sequence (i.e. GST Left and then Right)
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(a) Cross Hands
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(b) Wrestle Tiger
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(c) Return to Mountain
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(d) GST 3 (of
5 - minus 1 and 2)
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GST4
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Single Whip (GST
Short/GST5)
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It is crucial that the practitioner of Tai Chi understand
that to simply 'remember' (in the correct order) the sequence
of postures of the Long Form is not the same as 'knowing'
that form. Mimicking and mindless mechanical aping as in "this
goes here, that goes there" does by necessity come first;
but that is not enough, To 'know' the form is to 'become'
the form. Before we are able to 'become the form' we must
acquire the ability to 'become' any one of the hundred or
more individual postures with that form. If I were - right
now - instructing Absolute Beginners in Tai Chi I would urge
them to do no more than practice and pay meticulous attention
to the details of the postures Attention, Preparation and
Beginning.
However, this group is not at the beginning it's study is
it ? We claim to be more 'advanced' , don't we ! ?
So why is it that my advice to you 'advanced' students right
now is exactly the same as that to "AB's" ? For
"Beginning" you visualise 'the sun rising above
the horizon' and you 'set a higher goal'. We've done that
haven't we! Us who have 'advanced' to "Cross Hands"
(at the commencement of Part Two and Three) are advised to
visualise 'the moon between our thumbs'. Is that all the difference
that all of this time invested in practice has achieved; the
moon where there was the sun? Answer - Yes. What else do you
expect from time, is the sun and the moon not enough?
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