ɪ ᴅɪᴅ ɴᴏᴛ ᴘᴏꜱᴛ ᴛʜɪꜱ ᴛᴏ ᴛᴏᴜᴛ ᴛᴀᴇ ᴋᴡᴏɴ ᴅᴏ, ɪ ᴘᴏꜱᴛᴇᴅ ɪᴛ ᴛᴏ ᴅᴇᴍᴏɴꜱᴛʀᴀᴛᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴅɪꜰꜰᴇʀᴇɴᴄᴇ ʙᴇᴛᴡᴇᴇɴ "ᴍᴏᴍᴇɴᴛᴜᴍ ꜰᴏʀᴄᴇ" ᴀɴᴅ "ɪɴᴛᴇʀɴᴀʟ ꜰᴏʀᴄᴇ" ɪɴ ᴄʟᴀꜱꜱɪᴄᴀʟ ᴛᴀɪ ᴄʜɪ Tom Kostusiak and Jim Roach taught Classical Tai Chi to a 4th-grade class, and one of the children wrote: “They taught us Tai Chi, but Mr. Roach said it was good cause we won't fly kick out the window like 1 kid did for him” Let me explain what I said about why Tai Chi does not do "...fly kicks...": It is also a "...fly kick..." lesson on the pros and cons of Momentum Force. You might also understand how difficult it wa ..read more

 Connect arm to core The key to learning this is to learn from the outside of the body to get to the inside. Master Hwa uses the expression "Outside/In." So, how do you learn to connect your arm movement to your core? My experience with "outside/in" involved going back over the internal discipline I knew 20 years ago so that I could teach it. Master Hwa's workshops at BSU were enlightening because they gave me a better handle on "outside/in." Don't think you can narrow it down by doing/picturing an anatomical textbook or anatomical terms of the core in your mind. I frequently teac ..read more

https://youtu.be/Prtux8S7ITw?si=wQMe4UE I wonder why is there so much glibness in an advanced democracy?  I have met so many people who treat even something like this so simplistically! Is it simply your perception that turning from the hips is the way to do it? Watching the befuddled faces seems to echo that.  A simple experiment of turning above the pelvis and then below the pelvis, as shown, would test the veracity of whether one feels something or feels nothing.   Isn't it also medical evidence that the pelvis/hips are significant joints in the body? Isn't it also a mech ..read more

     IS IT INTERNAL OR NOT VIDEO LINK       My question to a Tai Chi instructor in 1977: "Can you show me an "internal" movement? He said: I'm doing it, but you can't see "internal movement." How do you know you are doing "internal"? Well, you CAN see "internal" movement on Master Hwa since he does not wear one of those Tai Chi uniforms so big it makes a tentmaker envious. So, if you can see it on Master Hwa, but some teachers say you can't catch it on them, others, or yourself, how do you know? Why not ask why you can't see it instead of "believing" a teacher ..read more

  Hello, I am a new student in tai chi, as of June of last year. I studied Karate, and then, due to an auto accident, I decided to begin the journey of tai chi. I could not do the Karate. I had back surgery, and tai chi has helped to strengthen my back. I know it is a long journey, but I would appreciate any advice you would give me. Thank you in advance for your response. I was a school teacher for 25 years, and during that time, I taught Shotokan Karate for several years. After the accident, it took me the best part of a year to gain mobility; then, I started tai chi by finding a cla ..read more

 Long better than Short & Vice Versa? This is also known as Rationalizations vs. Reasoning for doing Internal ᴛᴏ: ꜱᴛᴇᴘʜᴇɴ ʜᴡᴀ, ꜱᴜʙᴊᴇᴄᴛ: ʀᴇᴀꜱᴏɴɪɴɢ ᴠꜱ. ʀᴀᴛɪᴏɴᴀʟɪᴢᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ɪɴ ᴄʟᴀꜱꜱɪᴄᴀʟ ᴛᴀɪ ᴄʜɪ Hi Master Hwa: ɪɴ your book, "ᴜɴᴄᴏᴠᴇʀɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛʀᴇᴀꜱᴜʀᴇ", ᴘ. 121 ʏᴏᴜ ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ᴜꜱᴇ ᴏꜰ ᴛᴇʀᴍꜱ ʟɪᴋᴇ "ᴍᴀᴊᴏʀ ꜰᴏᴜɴᴅᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ʙʟᴏᴄᴋꜱ", ᴀɴᴅ "ʙᴀꜱɪᴄ ʙᴜɪʟᴅɪɴɢ ʙʟᴏᴄᴋꜱ" ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ ʙᴜɪʟᴅɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇ ʟᴏɢɪᴄᴀʟ ꜱᴛʀᴜᴄᴛᴜʀᴇ ᴏꜰ ᴛᴀɪ ᴄʜɪ. ɪ ᴛʜɪɴᴋ ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ ᴛʜɪꜱ ᴀ ʟᴏᴛ ᴀɴᴅ ꜰᴇᴇʟ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴛʜɪꜱ ɪꜱ ᴛʜᴇ "ʙᴀᴄᴋʙᴏɴᴇ" ᴏꜰ ʀᴇᴀꜱᴏɴɪɴɢ ᴀꜱ ᴀ ᴍᴇᴛʜᴏᴅ ᴏꜰ ᴄᴏᴍᴘɪʟɪɴɢ ꜰᴀᴄᴛᴜᴀʟ ᴇᴠɪᴅᴇɴᴄᴇ ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ ᴛᴀɪ ᴄʜɪ ᴠꜱ. ʀᴀᴛɪᴏɴᴀʟɪᴢɪɴɢ ᴀꜱ ᴀ ᴍᴇᴛʜᴏᴅ ᴏꜰ ᴄᴏᴍᴘɪʟɪɴɢ ᴍᴇʀᴇ ᴇx ..read more

 Ting Jin during sparring    Instead of pushing back at the opponent's attack, the best known defensive strategy of Tai Chi is to follow and stick to the opponents' move, neutralize or drain off its power and then counterattack. In order to be able to follow and stick to the opponent, one has to be relaxed, sensitive and quick on the feet, matching the opponents move with ease and anticipation. That is one reason that the Compact Form optimizes body posture to achieve lightness and nimbleness through parallel feet, compact movements, and avoidance of "double heavy".   T ..read more

 Neuromuscular control, placing the Yin/Yang junction correctly a more in-depth look. Place Yin/Yang Junction correctly   Real neuromuscular control, understanding junction”, “disjunction” and the “hinge” analogy. “One thing that even some long-time students don't get is how and where to place the "junction of Yin and Yang". One needs to see their own "dis-junction”.  Diving "deeper" into understanding, a Yin/Yang Junction is more than "...at the waist...".  As he raises either arm, Master Hwa places the "junction" of the arm (which is the elbow) at the same hei ..read more

LINK TO AID "Lift Legs training using lower Quarter Body movement this way is very good. Jim, it should really help beginners on the footwork", Classical Tai Chi Master Stephen Hwa. Jim Roach said: My Youtube Studio link of a video. This is my student, now a teacher, Sifu Jason Bulger doing a variation. I "discovered" it in my experimentation with lower body movement. Also "discovered" one needs to do this to 8 angles, N, NE, NW, S, SE, SW, E, W, not just front. That type of practice coincides with Classical Tai Chi Form instruction, wherein the first piece of business is teaching s ..read more

Let's not continue to conflate "Fajin" (a delivery of power) only with the "one-inch punch" that Tom Kostusiak is so gracefully partaking of. That Fajin "punch" which time-wise is of SHORT DURATION! As you see in the photos which also show Tom being Fajin yanked aka "longer duration" and Punch "short duration" of force.  How do we do either or both? If there is a "secret" to success it is to be found by us in our discernment or in failure a non-discernment of small differences in sensation that we feel.  This also involves our subsequent ability or inability to both note and ch ..read more