Form without function | ||
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Words
Picture yourself at school for 12 years.
Imagine being asked to repeat a long, complicated sentences
of words that you did not understand...
No one ever explains what the words mean, in what context they are used, how and
why you should use them. You can repeat the words to the best of your ability,
but that is all.
Could you truly claim to understand those words? Of course not. That
would be ridiculous. Yet, this is precisely how most people learn tai chi...
Not being able to apply a form in combat is the tai chi equivalent of not being
able to read (or even remotely understand what
the words mean).
Meaning
If you study qigong exercises, tai chi form and partner work without
understanding any of the material... what do you really know? Nothing.
You have nothing but an empty shell. You have not been learning. You have just
been copying.
Function
Tai chi is a martial art. Martial arts are
functional. They were designed to employ alignment, body mechanics, centre,
balance, strategy, tactics, lines of force, angle of attack and physics.
Studying the art - whether for fitness or martially - must entail a high
degree of deeper study.
Finding meaning
Every tai chi student in the world should understand:
• The Tai Chi Classics (comprehended and
implemented into your practice)
• Combat applications for every single form movement
• The biomechanical concerns of every movement
• The tactics and strategies being applied
• How each movement corresponds to the Taoist insights
Anything less than this is merely form without function; which by definition
is meaningless and most likely misguided and incorrect.
8 stages
There are 8 stages to studying any form:
Whole-body strength (neigong)
Whole-body movement (form)
Whole-body power (jing)
Natural-feeling body use
With the advent of tai chi
sport forms emanating from modern China, many modern practitioners never proceed
past stage 1.
Indeed, few people even realise that there is more to form than the outward
show. The sad part about this is that the pattern is essentially incorrect
unless augmented by the other 7 stages.
Forms
are templates that teach the principles and characteristics of continuous
movement, power generation and technique. They are not the only component for
daily practice, nor are they definitive expressions of the art; rather, they
provide practitioners with tradition-derived insight into the possibilities and
potential of the art.
(Darius Edler)
What works for you
Traditionally, a student had to discover their own
applications
for form movements.
These would be assessed by their teacher and accepted or rejected relative to
effectiveness and adhesion to the 'internal'
application principles.
Every application would be pressure tested rigorously to ensure that it actually
worked. Why teach this way?
Copying
An instructor is capable of applying every form movement in countless ways,
but can the student do the same? You cannot walk in another person's shoes.
A student is unlikely to be capable of applying the form in precisely the same
way as the teacher. The gulf in experience, sensitivity and skill is just too
great.
Find your own way
Instead, the student must find their own way. This ensures that the applications
are understood, familiar and valued.
An understanding of Taoism, The Tai Chi Classics, The Art of War
and The Book of Five Rings is advisable.
Form movements
Imagine that you develop a working, functional application for a given form
movement. When you practice the form, you do so with a better feeling for the
movement because of your application.
But is this correct? Not necessarily... Form movements are not techniques.
Many excessively bounce
around learning the next 'new' form or movement set without ever extracting the
real internal value from any of them.
(Bruce Frantzis)
Multiple applications
1 application per form movement is not enough.
You need 7 or more.
That way, you can ensure that the form movement can be used effectively (and
differently) in a variety of scenarios.
Actual combat
There is a world of difference between recognising the tai chi movements within
a form and actually being able to perform them skilfully in combat.
Spontaneous, appropriate and effective application against an earnest assailant
requires another level of training altogether.
Purpose
Your form should look and feel like
tai chi combat. Your combat should look and feel like tai chi form. If
this is not the case, what exactly are you training and why?
Everyday life
Although a tai chi for health student cannot possibly hope to apply their art in
combat, a thorough understanding of the form is required. Correct perception
will lead to accurate practice.
When the student sees how, why and when to use the skills of tai chi, they will
find that these principles easily transfer into everyday life. Improved body
usage results in improved fitness.
Yang style has something of the
feeling of 'killer energy' about it; it is more martial in appearance.
A
spectator can see the applications of the movements when they watch the
form.
(Master Xu Shu
Song)
Page created
6 July 1998
Last updated
16 June 2023
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