Single Hand Peng beginners weight question

[Anonymous]

Tai Chi Month 2 Session 1
Introduction to Single Hand Peng

When Bruce starts the movement he lifts his right heel and turns 45 degress to the left.
When he says “put your weight on the ball of the foot”, am I correct in thinking that it is the ball of the left foot?

Thanks.

Adam

[Anonymous]

sort of, kind of

Broadly,
at 4:01 Bruce says that he’s just going to “look at the legs”

perhaps using compass points will help

at 4:09 Bruce does say, “your weight goes on to the ball of your foot”
at 4:12 he shows that his right heel is rising.
Looking just at the legs, the weight is shifting to the Left Leg
and then he faces 45 degrees to his left

at 4:09 he’s talking about the movement of the right foot;
he’s lifting the right heel,
which starts taking the weight off the right leg
so he actually is pivoting on the ball of the right foot
(a little weight remains on the ball of the right foot)
Looking just at the legs, the weight is shifting off the Right Leg–
it’s a continuum.

but the body weight is being shifted to the left leg,
so that he can turn his body 45 degrees to the left.

Compass points:
assume that Bruce is facing North
(the black curtain is to the South behind him)

1. face North
2. turn to the NorthWest, 45 degrees, by
2a. lifting the right heel and
2b. pivoting on the ball of the right foot
The Right Leg is becoming unweighted

The most weighted leg is now the Left Leg
So you are correct in thinking that the weight is mostly on the Left leg,
and kind of, sort of, on the ball of the left foot–
but really on the whole left foot
which is not precisely what Bruce is saying

Now that most of the weight is on the Left leg
at 4:21 Bruce starts turning back/clockwise to the front, North.

at 4:23 Bruce notes that all his weight is going to stay on the Left Leg–
here he pats his left thigh
There is no weight on his right leg

Therefore he can pick up his Right Leg and move it out 45 degrees to the NorthEast.
Now shifts weight to the Right Leg and puts all of his weight on the Right Leg,
which allows him to bring the Left leg/foot forward and parallel to the right leg/foot
His whole body is now facing squarely to the NorthEast

and in this position he completes the peng with the left arm

1. North
2. NorthWest
3. North
4. NorthEast

I don’t worry too much about exact compass directions
or exact numbers of degrees
or about percent of weight on one leg or the other

Later you might get a feel for the movement of energy in the lower dan tien
and the movement of the right and left pelvis around the lower dan tien

Don’t take my word on any of this–
every explanation is a bit different–
(I do it my way, Dr. Yang Jwing Ming does it another way,
Stuart Alve Olson and T.T. Liang do it another way,
William C.C. Chen does it his way)
it’s all a work in progress–
no one ever does it perfectly
hopefully you might do it a little worse that the time before

Bob
Post Falls, Idaho

[Anonymous]

OK. Got it. I figured the weight was on the left foot. The next few videos confirm it. I should have watched a few more lessons before asking the question.

[Anonymous]

Bob,

Thank you very much for your posts. They are really helpful. My second post was written before any of your posts showed up. I prefer your posts

Thanks,

Adam

[Anonymous]

Ok
I was stupefied at how many words it took me to answer a simple question.

And it’s amazing how soon we forget such a simple move.

Afterwards I thought of another facit.
Analyze the yin and yang of one part– the right foot.
When the right heel lifts, that heel becomes yang;
The ball of the right foot gets more yin.

And the yin and yang of the legs can be analyzed.
When the left leg steps out, it can be said to be yang because it is advancing and moving forward,
And it’s yin because it’s bearing most of the weight.
Hmmm. Right heel yang, left leg yang.
Keep trucking Adam.

[Author]

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