Tai Chi as a Solo Practice

[Anonymous]

For years I hated Tai Chi. I thought Bagua made so much more sense. It seemed more systematic and better organized. So, I hated Tai Chi until I finally understood what song was and how it worked. After that, the form work of Tai Chi makes sense and the training method has serious merit.

What I realized is that Tai Chi sucks as a solo art until you know exactly how it is organized and how it works. But it is a catch-22: you can’t learn song easily without a partner. If you incorporate push hands into your Tai Chi practice, Tai Chi can be a really good art to learn the internal arts. Push hands can accelerate the learning process.

[Anonymous]

Ponderosa Push Hands: Where I live Ponderosa pine are common; push hand partners are not.
On youtube Adam Mizner says,
“song is the engine.”
But I had to learn this the hard way—solo
and with my Ponderosa partners.
No chain saws please.
It does take decades of practice.
But the Ponderosa have great patience.

Find a tree with low limbs of varying heights
(hip, chest, head levels)
Green branches never try to shunt you away,
they’re very song.
They only resist if pushed to extremes.
Each branch has its natural vector of force.
If they’re laden with snow,
try not to knock off the snow,
let new powder float off.
Ward off and redirect it’s natural resistence,
release but stick with it as it rebounds.
White Crane spreads high and low branches.
Push forward and Roll Back as it rocks to equilibrium.
This is not “Bull Fighting.”
Take its Needles to the forest floor.
Wear gloves to stick without getting stuck.

[Anonymous]

There is a YouTube video with a Tai Chi practitioner pushing a bar that is suspended by bungee cords. Same idea. Both are brilliant solutions.

[Author]

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