i have been re-reading tao of tai chi by Jou,Tsung Hwa, and am interested in the chan-ssu chin exercise that traces the outline of the yin/yang diagram. i never learned this exercise, and though it sounds simple i cannot grasp the hand changes desribed in the book. does anyone know of a website that has a visual of a person performing this exercise?
flem,
Simply doing the exercise as described in that book will not lead you to the goal it is designed for. Rather I would suggest you buy a copy of Chen Xiaowang’s Silk Reeling video. I believe Chen Zhenglei might have one as well.
flem,
no problem. Here’s a clue as well. The hips lead the whole body, most martial arts get this (i.e. bow stance to bow stance). IMA the waist leads the hips for total body connection. Take any basic hand exercise and make the hips initiate movement. Later isolate the hips (don’t move them) and move only with the waist. Then make the waist move the hips to move the body. Make sense?
The trick to silk reeling is to not double weight.
when drawing the hand back, when the elbow reaches the centre (dan tien) begin to shift the weight across to the other leg. thats what i’ve been taught anyway. we’ve begun to visualize the qi in the chan su gin, which is really interesting.
Uh if by double weight you mean weight 50/50 then at some point the weight will be 50/50 even in transition. If you mean the classic admonition to not be “double-weighted” it has nothing to do with weight distribution.
flem , chan su jing is al about dan tian rotation and the path of root . there is a dynamic tention in the legs to produce pung jin and the top and botom are split in motion. come to shang wu farms and we can expolre and refine this essetial movement. shangwufarms.com
Originally posted by Buddy IMA the waist leads the hips for total body connection. Take any basic hand exercise and make the hips initiate movement. Later isolate the hips (don’t move them) and move only with the waist. Then make the waist move the hips to move the body. Make sense?