Applied Tai Chi Harrogate

To learn how to apply the skills we have been practicing we need to lean into the rest of the syllabus.

Tai Chi Pushing Hands is a fundamental practice within the discipline of Tai Chi Chuan.  It is a two-person exercise designed to develop sensitivity, balance, and martial awareness of both your partner, but more importantly to beginners, of yourself.  Push hands is a excellent tool for identifying and testing any problems with your tai chi form!  Participants engage in soft but structured, patterns of movement, maintaining contact with their partner while maintaining Tai Chi principles taught through the form such as relaxation, structure and rootedness. Through Pushing Hands, practitioners learn to perceive and redirect the force of their partner.  Difficulties dealing with a partners force usually point to something wrong in the practitioners form practice, and provides an excellent learning opportunity!

There are a number of patterns that we practice in Cheng Man Ching's Tai Chi Chuan.

Si Zheng Tui, or the four fixed methods, trains the critical grasp sparrows tail sequence, from the form, of ward off, roll back, press and push and can be done with both fixed steps and movement. It emphasises the more horizontal movement of Cheng Man Ching's art and teaches much about the use of the core skills of Tai Chi. Can you maintain your relaxation and root, while trying to find your partners?

Da Lu, or great rollback adds in the next four forces from the form pluck, split, elbow, and shoulder and a very useful footwork pattern. This is more obviously related to fighting skills and contains techniques and footwork to extricate you from problem situations.

The final stage is free pushing hands which does not follow fixed patterns and where many different contexts can be explored. In most Malaysian Cheng Man Ching schools there are patterns of movement designed to help students prepare for the types of movement found in pushing hands.  We also teach these and find them valuable for exploring many of the lessons of the form! 

Standing post is also a very effective method of meditation.  The ability to keep the mind quiet and focused on the body, the breath or some visualisation as the discomfort of the practice sets in trains the stillness of the mind!

Diligently practiced these exercises can shorten the time it takes to develop many of the physical properties Tai Chi promises and provide a valuable toolkit to explore, refine and maintain the skills and properties throughout your Tai Chi journey.  Find out more about Master Lee at the Zhong Ding association website.