I began my study of tai chi with a book, Lee Ying Arng Modified Tai Chi for Health. I spent hours a night memorizing the form, trying to figure out the applications, trying to figure out what it all meant. And, it didn't mean much.
So I found books by Chen Man Ching, and I went over the tai chi of Chen and Yang and Wu and Sun, but they all spoke this gobbledegook that didn't make sense. Then, a stroke smarts and frustration, I began doing my Karate, I had near ten years experience in Kang Duk Won karate, and this tai chi thing started to resolve. I was using good, old karate power to feed the form, and it worked, and then I was able to translate karate power into Tai Chi power.
More important, I was throwing out all the mysticism and bushwah philosophy I read in the books and using something called physics. The martial arts, you see, as transmitted with eastern methodology, are taught through the memorization of random strings of data. In physics you look for a reason, and you find a logic, and you look for a concept.
Now, ancient stories claim tai chi was created in a dream by san feng after he watched a bird and a snake fight. Or, it was started by a general in a village, who was retired from war and wanted to make up games for the children. Neither of these concepts have much verifiable validity, but we can't just discount them out of hand.
Maybe the general in Chen village was old, couldn't do the martial arts the way they should be done, careful not to hurt himself, and actually came up with something. And the vision of the snake and the crane, though I espouse physics I would not disclaim the value of visions, which are the dreams and inspiration of the human race. Still, whether rehabilitation of the aged and injured, or big dreams, tai chi does not make sense without the application of physics.
So I want you to get a book on physics. Make it a simple book, with big, simple illustrations. It would really help if you found a simple one describing a motor.
Now, read that book, and start asking yourself what terms are the same as in tai chi. Rooting is grounding, where is the generator, and so on. Do that, and when the face and guts of your tai chi chuan start to alter, do not come whining to me. - 30300
About the Author:
Al Case has studied martial arts forty+ years. He began Tai Chi Chuan in 1974, became a writer for the mags in 1981, and originated Matrixing Technolgy, which is the study of physics in the martial arts. You can get a free ebook on Matrixing at Monster Martial Arts.
