Life in Motion
My first private tai ji lesson
On replying wujimon’s comment in my previous article, it became longer than expected. I thought I write it in a post on its own.
To say it’s my first private tai ji lesson might not be entirely true, as I have come across several teachers over the years. None of those extended beyond anything more permanent. This is the first time I am able to commit to a teacher, or to be more accurate, this is the first time that an opportunity presented itself in the form of a teacher just for me!
The class started off with some of the standard questions - how long you’ve been doing tai ji, what style, what teacher etc. Then, it’s “show me your tai ji”. I was a bit nervous as I haven’t had ONE pair of eyes staring only at me. It was 6 in the morning. There weren’t many other people to distract him.
I did Chen Lao Jia Yi Lu. I was trying hard to show my best, but because of that, my mind just couldn’t relax to let it flow. Nothing was connecting. And then the leg got wobbly because of lack of concentration. And then I forgot a move. Imagine that…
I eventually stopped half-way and just asked him “how was it”.
“You look a bit nervous…”
*feeble smile* (You’re damn right…)
Because of the many corrections required, he suggested that I start afresh with a new style and stick to it. This does have the advantage of not requiring me to unlearn all my previous bad habits, plus it’s something new to learn, which is always nice in itself. And there it goes, my first lesson in Sun style tai ji.
I picked up the general form quite easily due to the similarities with the other styles. One thing which required a bit of adjustment is the leg movement. It features quite a mobile base. I’m sure I will write more about this in time.
After all the “hard work”, we started chatting. I asked him about his training previously. It was 3 hours in the morning, 3 hours at night. Mental note - I’m not doing enough, not even close! I asked him about standing poles vs form training. He trained mostly in forms. He said standing poles are good, but don’t do too long. It gives a good root, but may lead you to having “dead weight”, i.e. the feet may become accustom to one posture and will not be as nimble. He told me to focus on doing the form, and making sure each movement is well rooted. That’s as much as I can remember from the lesson.
It feels good to be part of a class again. Gets me focused on training and won’t stray too far off from getting the basics correct rather than cultivating another set of bad habits.
Tags: Discussion
5 comments for “My first private tai ji lesson”
Post a comment
Wow.. that’s quite an early time to have a taiji lesson! I think it’s interesting that he recommended starting afresh instead of working on the corrections. However, I’ve often heard the phrase that “taiji is easy to learn but very difficult to correct”. Is it safe to assume the teacher’s primary style is Sun rather than Chen?
I’ve only dabbled a bit in Sun style and that’s with the competition Sun 73 set. One of the things I’ve often wondered about Sun is whether or not the idea of “double weighted” is different in Sun as I often see equal weighting on both feet during the “open/close qigong type posture”. Maybe it’s like chen in buddha warrior’s attendant in which the weight appears to be on both feet yet it’s really on the left in the “stomp”.
I do like the mobility of Sun, which is something I’ve often questioned in the chen due to the low/rooted stances. To me, chen is more a “hold my own and try to deflect” kinda style versus the “come at me and I move” kinda style.
Interesting quote regarding the standing pole exercises. I generally do around 25 min with a max of 40 mins, which I don’t feel is too long. Is it?
Thanks for taking the time to write-up your thoughts on the private! Good stuff!!
It is as you have said wujimon, the Sun style is open and close move is really only on one foot. And Shanglee, who is your new Sun style teacher? Taking taiji lessons early in the morning at 6 is really quite incredible!
wujimon - i’m not sure about his primary style, as he does it all. i did question him why teach me Sun style and not the others. Apart from the “starting afresh” answer above, he also said that because it’s rare. Learning something rare is always good for the future…
i’m not sure if 25-40 minutes of standing pole is considered long. his old school method was half an hour i think.
Eman Rohe - i think he might be the only Sun style teacher in Singapore…
[...] Seems like training leg strength, relaxed kua, relaxed limbs etc must all come at the same time! I think that’s probably one reason why form training is preferred over standing pole exercises (zhan zhuang). My current teacher made this point when i first started training with him. I’m pleasantly surprised when chessman made the same point in his post. [...]
[...] It’s been a while since i’ve last written about my private tai chi lesson. I’ve finished the Sun style form some weeks ago, and now i suppose it’s fine tuning. The usual suspects are still there - relax, relax, relax! Such a simple word and yet the permutations of body parts that can be relaxed is just too many! So i’m just going to highlight the one that I’m finding most difficult - the kua! [...]