The Forms

67
A Story

It was back in 1984 that I was demonstrating the Chen style Taichi, Cannon Fist in a state fair at Fortworth, Texas. After I finished, a mother with her little daughter approached me. She looked at my eyes with an expectation and told me: They enjoy my dance, and wanted to know if there is a beautiful story embedded?" I was perlexed and did not know how to give them an answer.

14 years later, a friend of my student visited my class. After watching our practice, he asked the same question that once tied up my tongue. However, I could answer him now. I told him, yes, the TaiChi 'dance' I performed was telling a story. A never ending one, of how the old masters used to fight their war. How they stepped, rushed, thrust between their opponents. It is the story tell us what they have learned and survived.

Today, we live in a different world, we strive to search for our optimized balance and efficiency. We also are the one who is going to tell the story. Years later, someone will read it.

Why we need to practice the Form?

1. "Form" as the way to pass on the art

Anyone who has practice Taichi for years and success know how long it take to success.

Six years for understanding and be able to demonstrate the whole theory. Twelve years to reach the complete harmony and balance stat with the surrounding. There are unlimited frontier to discover after then.

So, who can stay with his teacher forever? Who can stay with his teacher more than twelve years? In general, from the first year to your success, it will be average four to six years without the attention from one's teacher. One would not remember whatever his teacher had taught unless he practice the Form everyday.

Therefor, I see "Form" as the way to pass on the art and the way for us to get as completely transfer the art as we can.

2. "Form" as a simulation program for application

Several years after a student has finished his form learning, he is fluent with all the legs work, hands circling etc. The teacher will start to show him where is the imaginary target of each posture in a given instance. From then on, his practice are no longer just an exercise, instead, it become a 10 minutes combat simulation. He will move fast in steps, turning, jumping, hitting and kicking through the sequence. As the inventor did hundreds of years ago. The conditioning that one had done everyday gives a solid base needed in real world as well as their health.

But, there is a draw back!

The Form always too lengthy (15 Min), too many circles (64 moves x 4 circles per move at least) and very complicate. While there is a saying that a 60 times repeated movement for 14 days continuously practice is the minimum to build up muscle memory. One would never be able to accomplish that by doing the form for two hours section everyday.

Dilemma:

Should one choose to do a single move 60 times a day for fourteen days and forget about the Form? How about the transition between those moves? How about the fluctuation of speed and intensity that is supposed to demonstrate only within the Form? Not to say after several generation passing down the road, one's descendent can only do a 10 moves Taichi form, and start wondering is it really a complete technique?

Or should one just do the Form one or two times a day then wishes something to happen automatically? And do not have time to go into details to really understand each move.

My Suggestion:

1/ Have each move trained solidly and separately before the completion of each section in the Form. As what I have prepared in the Taichi Living Book.
2/ Use two person practice basic circles pushhand to understand the physics of specific circle.
3/ Check Nei Jing that applied in each movement.
4/ Accomplish this progress section by section.
5/ After the whole form is built, one start step into Internal energy operation training such as speed (fast and slow), rigid and soft, breathing etc.

One should recognize that to finish the Form is very important at all concerns. The basic circles should be taught before completing the Form, so there will be no flaw movements that waste one's time and effort.

Conclusion:

I wish the art can be completely passed with no hiding. Then through our compassion, we can bring the art further to benefit everyone who need it.