To master the Tai Chi skills you need to practice a lot and be patience. Sometimes, you see little improvement.
Most important is that you enjoy practicing Tai Chi. While you are doing the Tai Chi movement, your entire body should be completely relaxed, but at the same time your mind is alert.
Practice Tai Chi with a self defense mind
Remember, Tai Chi is a martial art. Every movement has a purpose. It’s NOT just a slow motion meditative movement. Yes, Tai Chi has stress relief benefits, but one must never forget that Tai Chi is a Martial Art with over 500 years of history.
This self-defense, originally from China, has become very popular in America and throughout the rest of the world for its health benefits. Most people forget that Tai Chi is a self defense.
The Sword should be practiced after at least one year of Tai Chi training. Only then will the body be able to feel comfortable with the sword. Keep checking if you are adhering to the principles of Tai Chi at all times.
* Know your weapon well, understand the different attacking parts of the sword.
* Play with the sword every day, let it become part of you.
* Perceive the sword as a tool and not an decorative object for hanging on the wall.
* Move with grace and purpose.
In Sword practice, one should focus on calmness in movement. The mind is as calm as the lotus pond, a clear surface to reflect the inner feeling of the form.
“The body should float like the boat, gently among the lotus blossoms as not to damage any of the delicate petals.”
Learning the Tai Chi Sword
Tai chi students usually start learning the sword after one to three years of training. After acquiring basic Tai Chi skill, they may learn the chien, although some instructors will not teach the chien until a student has studied for 10 years, while other masters don’t teach it at all.
Today, however, many teachers allow students to begin learning the swords after they learn the basic tai chi form.
First, students learn some specific chi kung standing meditation – zhan zhuang, and basic exercises. Then they learn the old style of the Yang family form of Tchoung Ta-tchen. Next comes a short form, pushing hands, Da Lu and a san shou, i.e. a partner t’ai chi form. Students then learn the Tchoung-style Fast Form. This provides a solid foundation in the empty-hand techniques and body movements of tai chi chuan.
The weapons forms are usually introduced next. They include the tao, chien, two-person knife, two-person sword, Kunlun (Kwinlin) Shan sword, walking stick, two-person walking stick, 4-foot staff and long staff. Practitioners then drill in prearranged sword-application forms. After that comes free sparring.
Tai chi sparring with the chien can be practiced like pushing hands. Because the sword is not a clubbing weapon, small circular movements are normally used to slice, nick, cut and thrust. Large chopping movements are not used much during chien training, but such techniques can be found in tao applications. Blocking with the blade of the chien is frowned upon even though the lower section is dull and made for blocking. It is more of a get-out-of-the-way-and-slice type of weapon.
Core Concepts
Every martial art is built around certain core concepts. The art’s training methods must reflect those concepts, and each movement must be in harmony with the whole. This allows techniques and transitions to flow smoothly. Not surprisingly, tai chi sword training has specific concepts that must be followed to retain the flavor of the system. Unfortunately many practice the form in a wooden and stiff way which does not reflect the tai chi chuan energy.
Tai chi chuan teaches its basic concepts through several chien solo forms. The most common is the Yang-style form composed of 64 or 56 movements. There are several variations of this standard pattern; that will depend on the school and their emphasis.
Tai chi chuan also has the simplified 33-movement sword form developed by a committee in mainland China in the 1950s. And the Ch’en family style teaches their own versions of this important sword form that has long and short versions and several variations as well. There are many versions of every sword form.
Traditionalists vs. Performers
Some traditionalists complain that a “feminization” of tai chi sword forms has taken place. They point to the fact that most famous teachers are female wushu competitors who execute the forms in a flowing and graceful manner but no martial energy. They complain that real weapons skills are not necessarily pretty, and that fancy movements and decorated outfits degrade the martial aspects of them. Many of the modern moves are clearly not functional.
Some teachers believe that tournament judges reward the pretty movements of wushu forms by scoring them higher than traditional tai chi sword forms which often are not as pretty or flamboyant as the Modern Wushu versions. They argue that there is no place for sporting competition in tai chi chuan, as tournaments merely lower the standard of the art and turn it in to more of a dance. The more “internal” the competitor, the lower the score, they say. This is because many “Internal” masters have very subtle technique and martial movements cannot afford to be exaggerated.
Intent and spirit are important to learn the correct way to use a tai chi sword. It is one thing to wave the weapon around to get some exercise and another to perform it as a mind-body exercise or martial art, they say.
Unfortunately, whenever traditional teachers decide to boycott a competition, they allow the wushu stylists to set the tone for modern tai chi chuan. In this manner, divergent sword-using camps have formed: competitors who do wushu as a demonstration art; those who do traditional, no frills martial arts; and those who combine the two.
Mind &Body In Harmony
One of the best reasons to study any tai chi sword form is to bring the mind and body into harmony. To correctly use the sword, the student must make it an extension of his body.
It is essential to extend the mind through the tip of the weapon. Energy travels from the ground to the feet, after which it’s guided by the waist to the sword. There should be a smooth flow of power from the feet to the tip of the blade. The body—not the arm—moves the blade. Moving only the arm shows a lack of connection and understanding of tai chi principles.
The hand that holds the sword should remain relaxed. There should not be a death grip on the handle, but at the same time, firm contact should be maintained. Traditional martial artists frown at the many new “experts” who hold the sword gingerly with two or three fingers, thus allowing it to spin more easily in elaborate patterns. They say such practitioners look more like they are getting ready for a tea party than a sword fight. In sword sparring, merely tapping such a loosely held weapon would knock it out of their hand.
The swordless hand should be held with the first two fingers extended but relaxed. The ring and little fingers are flexed, with the thumb over the ring finger’s second knuckle. This is called the secret sword, sword amulet, sword hand, sword fingers or sword-charm position. Some instructors teach that it can be used to poke specific pressure points or balance the energy of the sword.
Some tai chi teachers caution their students never to circle a sword over their head. They believe some swords have magical powers that can injure the spirit or soul of the holder. In the old school, there exists a belief that there are magical swords, which must be used correctly or they will injure the user.
The modern student has many reasons to learn the swords of’ tai chi chuan. It is a developmental exercise teaching relaxation and extension of energy. The sword practice can be a tool for developing harmony in one’s mind and body. It is a method for exercising the upper body. The form can be a way to improve empty-hand tai chi skills. And, perhaps most importantly, they can add a new dimension to one’s tai chi training by linking the student with the history and culture of the art.
One of the biggest difficulties for newcomers to Tai Chi is, there seems to be a lot of different Tai Chi styles and forms. You may ask, which Tai Chi style is the best and which should I start with?
There is no best Tai Chi style
The main differences between the different Taiji styles are in the speed and pace of performance and the way the body holds the poses in terms of posture and intent.
The oldest Tai Chi Chuan styles are Chen style with coiling moves and fast transitions in speed between slow and very fast together with stamping moves and explosive releases of power and Yang style with evenly paced flowing moves.
Yang style is the most popular style in the western countries followed by Chen style. This is due that fact that Yang Tai Chi is easier to learn for all ages and the various health benefits. Yang Tai Chi is considered as the most relaxing style with meditative purposes.
Different Tai Chi Styles
Nowadays when people refer to the family style they tend to mean the original or classic style as practiced by the first families.
There are five major styles of Taijiquan, :
* Chen style
* Yang style
* Sun style
* Wu Hao style of Wu Yu-hsiang
* Wu style of Wu Ch’uan-yü and Wu Chien-ch’uan
Even today you can find lots of variations of the main Tai Chi styles that are not so common – where individual masters have changed the form to save, time or space or even to emphasize particular healing or martial outcomes.
Modern Tai Chi styles:
As well as the traditional Tai Chi styles modern styles are being created all the time. Often they are created from a single traditional style or sometimes elements from several styles are blended together.
Again there are a variety of reasons for creating the form compact Tai Chi was created for people with access to a limited amount of floor space.
Tai Chi for Arthritis was created from Sun and Yang styles to ease the pressure on joints and encourage mobility.
We’ve only tried a few ‘modern’ forms and we have no hesitation in recommending both of them.
Tai Chi Styles for World Competition
The first competition style was created by Chinese Sports Committee Wushu teachers in 1956 by simplifying and modifying the traditional yang form. The new form was called the simplified 24 form .
This standardize version enabled competition and judging rules to be created.
In 1976 the Combined 48 Forms that were created by simplifying and combining some features of the classical forms from Chen, Yang, Wu, and Sun styles.
The Chinese Sports Committee went on to develop sets to represent the four major Tai Chi styles as well as combined forms.
They slightly differiatite each other by the stand, body weights and movenents.
However all Tai chi styles are based on the same principle: “when the opponent is attacking you should yield. When the opponent retreats you should follow”
Tai Chi is practiced in slow, graceful movements.
Tai Chi is sometimes called the ‘meditation in movement’ due the slow and soft movements. Tai Chi can be used to relax and calm your body and mind. It is important to know that Tai Chi is a soft martial art. Unlike karate, or kick boxing which rely on force and speed, Tai Chi is soft and use the force of the component. The power of Tai Chi is to divert the force back to the opponent.
Feeling the connection between the movements.
When practicing one must feel the openings and closings, the contractions and expansions, the separations and joinings of each movement. The whole body is connected as it moves through the form.
When you reach a high level, you should feel the connection between the hands stretch as they move apart, and condense again as they circle back together. The movement begins in the belly, and propagates outward. If you feel the form in the abdomen, you’re on the right track.
If not, keep practicing. Practice, Practice and Practice.
Tai Chi movements are gentle and non-violent. After many years of practice it is an extremely effective form of self defence.
