Tai Chi for health & wellbeing
Here is a short clip showing the late master Cheng Tin Hung in 1986 demonstrating ‘Step Back and Repulse Monkey’.
I’ve been practicing this technique, left and right side, and wasn’t aware until now there are two more applications – against a reverse punch. That’s a total of four applications for ‘Step Back and Repulse Monkey’.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBxIng2L0X8[/youtube]
Regulate your breathing – slow, smooth and deep – during your Tai Chi practice.
Here’s a very good clip by Glen Hairston that shows the correct way of throwing a Tai Chi punch at various distances.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KAT2NQ9ynk[/youtube]
Getting beginners to turn their hips and waist when practicing boxing drills in Tai Chi is not easy.
What usually happens is they tend to use upper body and arm strength to power their punches instead of their waist and hips.
As this post is for beginners I’m only focusing on using the waist and hips and not on using the whole body to power a punch. That’s another post for later on.
In this drill you can work with a partner holding a hand mitt. If you haven’t got a partner, improvise – hang up a towel or a drape to use as your target.
I was working on a Tai Chi self defence application in front of a mirror the other day which involved a low kick, parry and strike at virtually the same time.
As I did this I noticed and felt off balance performing this Tai Chi application.
Why?
Well, I was too focused on the strikes and paid little attention to balance just like most beginners would do.
To correct this mistake I focused on sending the Chi down the supporting leg and deep into the ground rather than in the direction of the striking hands and kicking leg.
As soon as a I did this I felt anchored to the ground and the following repetitions felt smooth and natural.
It just goes to show that no matter how many times you practice a skill you still need to be observant and be able tap into the feel of a techinque so you don’t drift into errors.