To really make tai ji part of life, you’ll have to infuse not just the teachings of Tai Ji, but also the training of Tai Ji, into your daily life. I’ve heard of farmers in Chen Village weeding out their plantation in a low stance, only to change to the right leg if it’s too taxing on the left. I’ve heard of people standing in trains to test out the stance while the train is moving. I’ve heard of a fellow Tai Ji enthusiast moving the postal boxes at work from one table to another by stepping through the bow stance. The following is something new I’ve heard.
My current teacher use to work in a paper factory. He had to shift a stack of papers into the cutting machine almost everyday. He said he used to train moving a stack of 500 pieces of punch card papers 5 ft wide by 3 ft deep (before they’re cut of course), lift it and push it into the cutting machine. It’s the way he does it that is strange.
Standing in a horse stance, he only moved the corners of the paper (the corners closest to him), flick the whole stack such that the whole stack of paper is rigid enough to be moved at one go. This trains the listening part, because you’re moving something that’ll sink in the middle. By listening to when the paper is rigid, and then pushing it at that point, you also train the sensitivity of your strength – sounds very much like push hands to me!
Do you have any unusual training tips that you’ve infused in your life?
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When I have the occasion to just stand around, say at a gas pump, or in line somewhere, I stand with good alignment like I would in zhan zhuang.
My wife thinks a house is like the Golden Gate Bridge and constantly needs to be painted. That’s fine with me. I don’t mind painting. I usually use a roller on a pole for the walls … and try to paint with whole body motion.
If I’m not in any special hurry to go up or down stairs, I’ll put my weight fully on one leg, move the other one up a step, then transfer my weight.
Things like that …