You are just now realizing that Tai Chi is a martial art? It is the highest level of martial arts that ever came out of china. The health set or slow set as you call it is moving meditation simply for health the fighting set is performed at full speed but i cant believe that you dont know this and its probably just a joke so i will stop on that note.
I’m just a karate guy and even I know TCC is used for self-defense. And self-defense should be performed at moderate to high-speeds to be effective. --At least most of the time.
When we trained Tai Chi, we train slow. But when when we sparr, we always spar fast. We never hurt each other of course, but I can’t really imagine sparring with Tai Chi which is slow…
Then again, I never sparred against another art. I don’t major in Tai Chi. Just learn it for an accessory
I am glad you came to this realization…whether late, early, or right on time. Taijiquan practiced as a martial art can be every bit as blindingly fast as anything else that’s out there. Same with Baguazhang and Xing Yi Quan as well. In fact, the optimal biomechanics, looseness, and fine degree of motor control that slow practice yields give one the perfect formula for maximum speed.
I think I would be a little careful about the interpretations of the classics.
What you quoted to me means the idea of change. changing the solid and empty aspects of the body. The speed that every one talks about is not the speed of the body but the speed of the mind to compreand the changes needed.
Working the set fast will tell you if your movements are really aligned with your vertical center. A more productive way of practice would be to see the movement in your mind first, and allow this to manifest it self-using the body.
you mind leads the body.
I think until you got ride of all the hard force in the body it would not be to productive to practice it fast. In a sense doing it slow is fast, compared to learning single postures and then linking them together not many people practice this way anymore.
leaf, I agree. On one level, it’s a mental process, but on another, it’s the body’s job to do the work in response to what the opponent’s doing. What the passage suggests to me is that the mind doesn’t get ahead of the body, and vice-versa.
Originally posted by bamboo_ leaf
[B]A more productive way of practice would be to see the movement in your mind first, and allow this to manifest it self-using the body.
you mind leads the body.[/B]
There is no need for the body to carry on with a movement once the mind has finished that movement. If you do Push, and your mind finishes the movement while your hands are only halfway out, then the movement is finished and the body should finish the movement there. If you keep moving your body after the mind has finished that movement, then your movements are empty. As a consequence of this, some movements become very small, almost imperceptible. This is also the reason the form flows more and more smoothly over time. As long as you are not doing a movement after your mind has finished it, you are fine.