That is simply amazing! I remember practicing sticking as you showed at the beginning. I was told that I should be mindful, that it even helps to close eyes and concentrate on feeling/touching. Now I see, once again, the honesty of your explanation! 🙏
Thank you! I always aim for honesty in my explanations! Over time, my understanding and skill improves (hopefully ha ha) and my explanation can evolve, and I'll share that with you so that we can all improve together!
Another great video! Thank you also for the extra 1/2 seconds for the captions, it makes it so much easier to follow your demonstration and read at the same time!
I agree. The extra info in the captions is excellent, I need a little more time to read and process them as they go by. The additional time is helpful!
Right? Because our movements, our Qi flow, all of that follows our intention. Why fight every soldier if you can convince their commander to withdraw or change their plan, right? 😀
Thank you! I'm really glad I found your channel! :D It's the first Taiji-related channel that has made me go: "ok, I'm going to watch *all* his videos and see what I can incorporate into my own practice!" haha Your videos have a great combination of: - Explaining things in a way that everyone can understand, regardless of cultural background. - Giving tips, with realistic light demos, that people with the right foundations can put into practice almost immediately. - Still making Taiji really unique and interesting (instead of going "oh, it's just like wrestling" like some "demystifiers" like to.) - Having pacing & speech that is comfortable to listen to. - Having captions as well as input from the students at appropriate moments. I say this not to pressure you into always following this format, but just to tell you how much I appreciate it. 🙆♂ If you do publish a different style of video occasionally, that's great too!
Haha you are incredibly observant. And I appreciate your comments! I hope you find lots of helpful things to apply to your own practice! Regarding your breakdown, totally agree. The first part of my journey I was convinced Tai Chi must be real and I want to learn it. After being fortunate with meeting and studying with amazing teachers, the next goal is that this must be teachable and transmissible in some reliable way. So here we are! To that goal, the demos are yes light, not rehearsed, not overacting by students. More meant to educate than wow. They are simple little drills you can try and verify for yourself your understanding and progress. They are fun though! Regarding unique and interesting, that's easy because Tai Chi IS unique and interesting. 😄 To make it just like something else, is to make less of Tai Chi, no offense to anything else which are great in their own unique ways. In time I'll make a series on how Tai Chi can help your wrestling or other popular practices. Not to say anything else is inferior, but to show that Tai Chi has a practical value that we can freely benefit from. We don't script or rehearse anything, and that means the videos are just recordings from our live lessons. So the captions gives me a chance to add some detail, some clarification that did not make it into the camera. It's pretty cool that we have this opportunity in this online format. I'm grateful for my fun students and their fun, genuine reactions. Some give more insightful feedback than others on camera but I'm happy for all of their contributions! Same too for viewers and commenters like you, whose comments and questions enrich the discussion and allow the video to expand and be helpful beyond where it started. So thanks and cheers!
That's brilliant, thank you very much! I have one question: how can I perceive the Facia if the opponent is wearing thick clothing (e.g. a leather jacket)?
As long as the thick clothing eventually tugs at their body somewhere, you can still connect your awareness to their fascia! What would be a little harder is like a baggy, slippery, puffer down jacket. While a wrist touch on their slippery clothing is iffy, a good grip on the lapel and sleeve can still connect! Try it and let me know how it feels. 😃
Great explanation. I get why you call it "stick" but I believe in the Stick, Adhere, Join, Follow, framework, this actually is Adhere which is the application of Ji(Press).
Stick and adhere are synonyms in their primary context and so its redundant. Adam has great skill but not so much with his words. It seems modern western society has some weird inability to perceive synonyms any more.
@@symbolsarenotreality4595Very good point! It's nice to reference and respect the words of the past masters and it's also valuable to see beyond the words to the purpose and meaning behind them. Because the finger that points to the moon is not the moon, is it? And what will we experience when we step outside the words, that is totally aligned with their meaning, that feels unlimited by them at the same time? 🙏☯️
Outside of the word symbols representing things are the direct things themselves - whether in the minds imagination or in the physical world outside the mind. I am angry at how words are used sometimes
@@phoenixmountaintaichi A good nights sleep will help me reset and wash it away so I dont hold on to so much of it and start spilling it around everywhere like some annoying slapstick routine
I like seeing the videos and appreciate the effort put into trying to make understandable. However, what does it mean connection with others fascia? I saw your first module course is about fascia training (this became a bizz word last years) . I know when we push somebody we are able to feel other's balance being affected, is this somehow related?
I’ve tried some of the fascia stuff he teaches. The effect in my experience is very specific. The fascia mastery that this instructor teaches gives you an ability to feel your partners “balance system”. And when you do it right, their balance system seizes up. At which point you can move them however you like. It’s weird. It’s like they end up stiff like a board. I don’t think what I’m talking about is sticking. But I’m thinking it’s necessary for sticking.
@@ChristianoSts Yes, the Fascia Mastery course. I’m not sure what you mean by module 1. It’s just called Fascia Mastery. If you mean the first lesson, I don’t think the first lesson in the Fascia mastery course teaches what I described. That stuff is more in the last half of the course.
@@ChristianoSts I looked at my earlier reply and it’s not very clear. When I do the fascia stuff on my partner, it feels like they stiffen up and become easy to move. When my partner does it to me, it feels like I get stiff and I can’t control where I’m going well.
"An intent to attack him that is genuine, yet completely fluid." This is the same as your reply to my comment in another vid about placing my attention anywhere, when I'm attacking, as long as I'm mentally free. So we do this partly to free ourselves from being "read" because we have no intention for them to read and also to free ourselves to read them, is this right? But how do we practise this? In a training drill both parties know they need to practise a certain form already so they both have an intent and also can anticipate the opponent's intent. In such a space, how can we practise this technique?
Great thoughts! You are right to realize that beyond physical angles and any talk of Qi, the essence of this is our intention and how they respond to our intention. An intent to attack that is genuine, yet completely fluid, means that you do not intend your attack to be a feint. Your mind visualizes the strike teaching its target. And your awareness feels the flow of momentum through your body to that target. Fluid means that when you encounter an obstacle, your Intent and momentum flows around that seeking a new path to the destination. And if that is impossible, then it adapts and seeks a new suitable destination. In this case, the awareness follows their fascia to seek a connection to the ground. This is when they begin to stick to you. Steps: 1. Visualize striking target and flow your momentum to it. 2. They block it effectively. 3. Feel the momentum and awareness follow their surface fascia all the way down to their foot. 4. Maintain this awareness as you now perform your redirection with your arms. Does that make sense? Let me know if you have additional questions.
Another point I'll mention is that there's a difference between visualizing something you know you can do, like a proper strike, versus fantasizing. So practice gives you the familiarity of proper visualization. Also meditation quiets the mind so that our intent can be focused and real rather than distracted and fantasizing. You want your intent to be intense, but free. It's like wanting to win very much at a game you're playing, yet you totally know it's just a game. So you're serious, but you're also free and okay. If you don't succeed you won't cry or flip the table. But you will do your best and fullest to succeed. This is the mentality. In Zen practice there's a saying, that to be enlightened you must at the same time hold the awareness that all things are sacred, and at the same time the awareness that all things are pointless. This is a form of that dual awareness. And as you discover to hold this dual awareness you can begin to experience a growing sense non duality, that makes all of this clear, because a certain fog will lift from your perspective. And that will be a wonderful thing to benefit you beyond any combat, wouldn't it? Cheers!
You are a smart thinker! Did you try it? You may have discovered that yes, you can. In the Fascia Mastery course, we practice engaging our own fascia from one hand to the other and and directing our own bodies through that connection. It's a great way to develop this type of awareness when no one is around to practice with. Good thinking on your part! 🙌
So you use your Intent to attack him through the contact causes him to want to attack you back on an unconscious level that he is unaware of his attacking you back. Thanks for sharing, I will try this.
Yes as you physically strike or push him, send your intention and awareness along a line of force on the SURFACE of his body, down to his foot. It's like rolling a big heavy barrel where instead of pushing right in its center, you roll it along the outside surface. Feel like you want to feel the ground beneath his feet through using this rolling pressure. While maintaining that pressure and the striking intent, reposition your arm and you will see him align, stick, and be redirected! Does that make sense? Let me know how it goes!
@@phoenixmountaintaichi，This is great information. Thank you very much! Besides practicing with a partner, any suggestions on ways to practice by oneself?
@@chaoyen7199You can punch with one hand and block yourself with the other hand and experience and experiment a little. And you can refine your attacking intent by clearly visualizing where you want your attack to go, and being keenly aware of the flow of momentum through your body to that destination. You can also refine that sense of fascia connection subtly rolling along their body to their root as you practice things like spear parrying and silk reeling, by being completely mindful of the rolling transfer of momentum from you through the staff or spear. Beyond these methods though partner practice is invaluable and essential for letting you experience how an opponent resists you and adapts to you. It'll help you test your skill in reality and their unique tendencies will help you fill gaps that you may not realize you have. As these internal technologies are revealed, they go from being a surprise, a trick, to a known and familiar technique that we can practice, drill, improve and elevate. I look forward to seeing how high you and everyone can bring these skills in a new and open world of Tai Chi!
He can't understand it because his teacher is always a step ahead of him, because his mind is reacting to what happened in the past and not in real time. If he relaxes and allows his body to yield slightly he can have some time to react to closer to real time
Very good advice! What you're saying goes beyond technique to the essence of being present and free. And those would be amazing qualities to have throughout all aspects of our life, are they not? Thank you very much for sharing!
That is simply amazing! I remember practicing sticking as you showed at the beginning. I was told that I should be mindful, that it even helps to close eyes and concentrate on feeling/touching. Now I see, once again, the honesty of your explanation! 🙏
Thank you! I always aim for honesty in my explanations! Over time, my understanding and skill improves (hopefully ha ha) and my explanation can evolve, and I'll share that with you so that we can all improve together!
Another great video! Thank you also for the extra 1/2 seconds for the captions, it makes it so much easier to follow your demonstration and read at the same time!
Haha thank you for the helpful feedback!
I agree. The extra info in the captions is excellent, I need a little more time to read and process them as they go by. The additional time is helpful!
We often forget that we can be controlled by our intentions in combat. Very interesting instruction.
Right? Because our movements, our Qi flow, all of that follows our intention. Why fight every soldier if you can convince their commander to withdraw or change their plan, right? 😀
Thank you! I'm really glad I found your channel! :D
It's the first Taiji-related channel that has made me go:
"ok, I'm going to watch *all* his videos and see what I can incorporate into my own practice!" haha
Your videos have a great combination of:
- Explaining things in a way that everyone can understand, regardless of cultural background.
- Giving tips, with realistic light demos, that people with the right foundations can put into practice almost immediately.
- Still making Taiji really unique and interesting (instead of going "oh, it's just like wrestling" like some "demystifiers" like to.)
- Having pacing & speech that is comfortable to listen to.
- Having captions as well as input from the students at appropriate moments.
I say this not to pressure you into always following this format,
but just to tell you how much I appreciate it. 🙆♂
If you do publish a different style of video occasionally, that's great too!
Haha you are incredibly observant. And I appreciate your comments! I hope you find lots of helpful things to apply to your own practice!
Regarding your breakdown, totally agree. The first part of my journey I was convinced Tai Chi must be real and I want to learn it. After being fortunate with meeting and studying with amazing teachers, the next goal is that this must be teachable and transmissible in some reliable way. So here we are!
To that goal, the demos are yes light, not rehearsed, not overacting by students. More meant to educate than wow. They are simple little drills you can try and verify for yourself your understanding and progress. They are fun though!
Regarding unique and interesting, that's easy because Tai Chi IS unique and interesting. 😄 To make it just like something else, is to make less of Tai Chi, no offense to anything else which are great in their own unique ways. In time I'll make a series on how Tai Chi can help your wrestling or other popular practices. Not to say anything else is inferior, but to show that Tai Chi has a practical value that we can freely benefit from.
We don't script or rehearse anything, and that means the videos are just recordings from our live lessons. So the captions gives me a chance to add some detail, some clarification that did not make it into the camera. It's pretty cool that we have this opportunity in this online format.
I'm grateful for my fun students and their fun, genuine reactions. Some give more insightful feedback than others on camera but I'm happy for all of their contributions! Same too for viewers and commenters like you, whose comments and questions enrich the discussion and allow the video to expand and be helpful beyond where it started. So thanks and cheers!
Thanks for sharing this 🙏
Great videos about Tai Chi and explaining the concepts.
Thank you! This is a fun concept and I hope people have fun with this technique!
Great job. Thanks sifu 🙏
Glad it's helpful for you! Thank you for commenting. 🙌🙏
Another very helpfull video. Thank you!
Thank you for watching and commenting!
Excellent! Thank you
🙏🙌
Another great video!
Thank you!
Very nice. Thanks for sharing. 🙂🙏🏼👊🏼
Thank you for your comment! 😄👊
That's brilliant, thank you very much!
I have one question: how can I perceive the Facia if the opponent is wearing thick clothing (e.g. a leather jacket)?
As long as the thick clothing eventually tugs at their body somewhere, you can still connect your awareness to their fascia! What would be a little harder is like a baggy, slippery, puffer down jacket. While a wrist touch on their slippery clothing is iffy, a good grip on the lapel and sleeve can still connect! Try it and let me know how it feels. 😃
Great explanation. I get why you call it "stick" but I believe in the Stick, Adhere, Join, Follow, framework, this actually is Adhere which is the application of Ji(Press).
Very good point! Yes it is more properly nian - adhere, rather than zhan - to stick or touch lightly or to dip lightly. 🙏
Stick and adhere are synonyms in their primary context and so its redundant. Adam has great skill but not so much with his words. It seems modern western society has some weird inability to perceive synonyms any more.
@@symbolsarenotreality4595Very good point! It's nice to reference and respect the words of the past masters and it's also valuable to see beyond the words to the purpose and meaning behind them. Because the finger that points to the moon is not the moon, is it? And what will we experience when we step outside the words, that is totally aligned with their meaning, that feels unlimited by them at the same time? 🙏☯️
Outside of the word symbols representing things are the direct things themselves - whether in the minds imagination or in the physical world outside the mind.
I am angry at how words are used sometimes
@@phoenixmountaintaichi A good nights sleep will help me reset and wash it away so I dont hold on to so much of it and start spilling it around everywhere like some annoying slapstick routine
I like seeing the videos and appreciate the effort put into trying to make understandable. However, what does it mean connection with others fascia? I saw your first module course is about fascia training (this became a bizz word last years) . I know when we push somebody we are able to feel other's balance being affected, is this somehow related?
I’ve tried some of the fascia stuff he teaches. The effect in my experience is very specific. The fascia mastery that this instructor teaches gives you an ability to feel your partners “balance system”. And when you do it right, their balance system seizes up. At which point you can move them however you like. It’s weird. It’s like they end up stiff like a board. I don’t think what I’m talking about is sticking. But I’m thinking it’s necessary for sticking.
@@rtuain thank you for your answer. by 'fascia stuff' do you mean the fascia mastery course, module 1?
@@ChristianoSts Yes, the Fascia Mastery course. I’m not sure what you mean by module 1. It’s just called Fascia Mastery. If you mean the first lesson, I don’t think the first lesson in the Fascia mastery course teaches what I described. That stuff is more in the last half of the course.
@@ChristianoSts I looked at my earlier reply and it’s not very clear. When I do the fascia stuff on my partner, it feels like they stiffen up and become easy to move. When my partner does it to me, it feels like I get stiff and I can’t control where I’m going well.
@@rtuain ok, I got the idea. I might be confused about 'module 1 term' I think I read it somewhere, but it's the course you mentioned.
"An intent to attack him that is genuine, yet completely fluid." This is the same as your reply to my comment in another vid about placing my attention anywhere, when I'm attacking, as long as I'm mentally free. So we do this partly to free ourselves from being "read" because we have no intention for them to read and also to free ourselves to read them, is this right? But how do we practise this?
In a training drill both parties know they need to practise a certain form already so they both have an intent and also can anticipate the opponent's intent. In such a space, how can we practise this technique?
Great thoughts! You are right to realize that beyond physical angles and any talk of Qi, the essence of this is our intention and how they respond to our intention.
An intent to attack that is genuine, yet completely fluid, means that you do not intend your attack to be a feint. Your mind visualizes the strike teaching its target. And your awareness feels the flow of momentum through your body to that target.
Fluid means that when you encounter an obstacle, your Intent and momentum flows around that seeking a new path to the destination. And if that is impossible, then it adapts and seeks a new suitable destination. In this case, the awareness follows their fascia to seek a connection to the ground. This is when they begin to stick to you.
Steps:
1. Visualize striking target and flow your momentum to it.
2. They block it effectively.
3. Feel the momentum and awareness follow their surface fascia all the way down to their foot.
4. Maintain this awareness as you now perform your redirection with your arms.
Does that make sense? Let me know if you have additional questions.
Another point I'll mention is that there's a difference between visualizing something you know you can do, like a proper strike, versus fantasizing. So practice gives you the familiarity of proper visualization. Also meditation quiets the mind so that our intent can be focused and real rather than distracted and fantasizing.
You want your intent to be intense, but free. It's like wanting to win very much at a game you're playing, yet you totally know it's just a game. So you're serious, but you're also free and okay. If you don't succeed you won't cry or flip the table. But you will do your best and fullest to succeed. This is the mentality.
In Zen practice there's a saying, that to be enlightened you must at the same time hold the awareness that all things are sacred, and at the same time the awareness that all things are pointless.
This is a form of that dual awareness. And as you discover to hold this dual awareness you can begin to experience a growing sense non duality, that makes all of this clear, because a certain fog will lift from your perspective. And that will be a wonderful thing to benefit you beyond any combat, wouldn't it?
Cheers!
@@phoenixmountaintaichi Quite awesome! Thank you. Will meditate and practise on these points!
Can we stick on our own hands? And redirect it through fascia connection
You are a smart thinker! Did you try it? You may have discovered that yes, you can. In the Fascia Mastery course, we practice engaging our own fascia from one hand to the other and and directing our own bodies through that connection. It's a great way to develop this type of awareness when no one is around to practice with. Good thinking on your part! 🙌
@@phoenixmountaintaichi I'll find a time to reach ur online teaching
@@LinanjayaYes and go ahead and explore on yourself and see what you experience! Let me know what new questions come up! 😃
So you use your Intent to attack him through the contact causes him to want to attack you back on an unconscious level that he is unaware of his attacking you back. Thanks for sharing, I will try this.
Yes as you physically strike or push him, send your intention and awareness along a line of force on the SURFACE of his body, down to his foot. It's like rolling a big heavy barrel where instead of pushing right in its center, you roll it along the outside surface. Feel like you want to feel the ground beneath his feet through using this rolling pressure. While maintaining that pressure and the striking intent, reposition your arm and you will see him align, stick, and be redirected! Does that make sense? Let me know how it goes!
@@phoenixmountaintaichi Thanks will let you know
@@phoenixmountaintaichi，This is great information. Thank you very much! Besides practicing with a partner, any suggestions on ways to practice by oneself?
@@chaoyen7199You can punch with one hand and block yourself with the other hand and experience and experiment a little. And you can refine your attacking intent by clearly visualizing where you want your attack to go, and being keenly aware of the flow of momentum through your body to that destination.
You can also refine that sense of fascia connection subtly rolling along their body to their root as you practice things like spear parrying and silk reeling, by being completely mindful of the rolling transfer of momentum from you through the staff or spear.
Beyond these methods though partner practice is invaluable and essential for letting you experience how an opponent resists you and adapts to you. It'll help you test your skill in reality and their unique tendencies will help you fill gaps that you may not realize you have.
As these internal technologies are revealed, they go from being a surprise, a trick, to a known and familiar technique that we can practice, drill, improve and elevate. I look forward to seeing how high you and everyone can bring these skills in a new and open world of Tai Chi!
He can't understand it because his teacher is always a step ahead of him, because his mind is reacting to what happened in the past and not in real time. If he relaxes and allows his body to yield slightly he can have some time to react to closer to real time
Very good advice! What you're saying goes beyond technique to the essence of being present and free. And those would be amazing qualities to have throughout all aspects of our life, are they not? Thank you very much for sharing!