Internal Arts Workshops with Master Huang (Part 2)

By Walther Chen

Walther is an advanced student and an assistant instructor at Wu Dao

In June, Wu Dao was fortunate to have Master Wei-Lun Wang visit for a series of weekend seminars. He is accomplished in all the internal styles (tai chi, xing yi, and bagua zhang), as well as the art of Liuhebafa which brings all the internal styles into one elegant practice. 

In the first part of the story, I recounted how Master Huang was teaching the Yang 108 form. This time, I will continue with the second part of the weekend’s workshop. In this part, we were treated to an overview of qigong and all three internal arts. Master Huang began with some basic Qigong, including sections of Golden Lotus Qigong. It was quite difficult for most, as it required the strength and structure to be able to hold positions for many minutes at a time. We were once again treated to some excellent imagery, as Master Huang encouraged us to imagine putting our thumbs up our nostrils during one exercise.

Master Huang introduced Tai Chi as “like water.” While its force can come out like a whip, the essential character of Tai Chi is of flowing through, penetrating through the opponent’s defenses through whatever weaknesses are detected. To illustrate his point, students paired up to practice a drill: the boat in water. One partner crossed arms over the chest (forming a “boat”), and then the other partner would try to tip the boat over. To do so in a tai chi manner was to be extremely sensitive to the weaknesses in the boat’s balance. When Master Huang demonstrated, he followed so well it was as if he didn’t use force at all. After the drill was over, he asked “What does the boat need to do in order to fight back?” Of course, the answer was to become water.

In the Xingyi and Bagua sections, we were introduced to one basic movement for each style. Through his explanations, we were able to grasp the essential feel of each style. Xingyi strikes like lightning. In Xingyi, all attacks move straight forward in a straight line, and attacks are generated from the centerline of the body. The idea is to crush through the opponent, whether there is a weakness at the point of contact or not. Bagua twists and turns around the opponent like a tornado. Much of the footwork is a circular step first to evade, and then a linear step to close on the opponent and deliver an attack.

It was interesting that in the two hours of xingyi and bagua, we learned very few movements, but practiced each movement multiple times to get the feel of the style. The focus was clearly on depth and not breadth. And even while teaching choreography, Master Huang didn’t miss a chance to remind us about the very basic connections and structure that must be felt within the body.

Internal Arts Workshops with Master Huang (Part 1)

By Walther Chen
Walther is an advanced student and an assistant instructor at Wu Dao

In June, Wu Dao was fortunate to have Master Wei-Lun Wang visit for a series of weekend seminars. He is accomplished in all the internal styles (Tai Ji Quan, Xing Yi, and Bagua Zhang), as well as the art of Liu He Ba Fa which brings all the internal styles into one elegant practice.

The weekend was divided into two parts. In the first, attendees had the opportunity to learn in-depth the choreography of the first two sections of the Yang 108 form. Master Huang had great emphasis on finding connection within the body and understanding the structure, intent, and feel of each movement. Some interesting connections he mentioned were elbows-kidney and palms-feet. Connecting the elbows and kidneys together helps to engage the elbow, allowing it to hang correctly. And connecting the palms to the feet can help to feel a connection and line of energy running all the way through the body. Not all of the theory was quite as esoteric. Master Huang reminded us that many Tai Ji Quan movements (like Wave Hands Like Clouds) are powered from inside to outside, and that the action of one hand may power the following action of other hand like in the movement “Turn and Chop.”

Master Huang was very expressive and very interested in trying to transmit the depth of Tai Ji. If you are interested in learning more about the deep connections of the body, and how those connections can improve your Tai Ji or Kung Fu, please join us next year when Master Huang returns for another set of workshops. (More on the second part of the workshop in next month’s newsletter).  

Martial Root

Saturday, September 18th, 2010
Walther Chen is a Level 3 (Orange) Student at Wu Dao Kung Fu and Tai Chi

Martial arts practitioners often talk about root. In particular, root is one of the foundations of internal martial arts like tai chi. At Wu Dao, I practice both tai chi and kung fu. During tai chi, we often participate in partner exercises in order to find our root while being pushed. (Imagine a less intense version of a dozen men trying to topple a single rooted tai chi master). So, I thought that I had a decent idea of what root was, and how to use it. For example, in push hands practice, I tried to make sure that my opponent's push would be redirected back into my root.

However, recently I had an experience which caused me to revise my theory/practice of root. During the tai chi movement "part the wild horse's mane," Shifu pushed against my shoulder right as I was beginning the movement. I was somewhat perplexed as I was unable to move forward at all, even though I had started out balanced and fairly structured. Shifu showed me that with more intent forward, and something of an expansion during the movement, he was able to defeat the resistance. When I tried to imitate Shifu, I realized that what I was trying to do was root from my shoulder to my back foot. Even though I had been balanced during tai chi, I was not rooted, and I would not have been able to execute a technique against resistance. During the rest of my tai chi practice, I tried to stay rooted during every moment, and as a result, I felt more connected and smoother. This was a lot more difficult than maintaining the static root that I try to keep during push hands.

I was pretty happy with the improvement in my tai chi, but I forgot about rooting until my next class, kung fu, when Shifu did the same resistance to me during my short xiao hong quan form. Somehow, I had never applied the concept of root to my kung fu, but it made complete sense. Any technique that transmits force through the body to the ground would be much more effective when completely rooted, whether receiving a push or giving a punch.

And, it's not just an issue of being rooted at the completion of technique so the impact can be routed to the earth. The root is used to generate force from the very beginning of the technique. Starting and maintaining a root is also much more efficient, since otherwise the body wastes energy and force bringing its structure from unrooted to rooted. While trying to keep always rooted, I could feel much more clearly the power being transmitted from my feet all the way up my body and into my fists. I think that before, I was only partially rooted, and so I couldn't put full force from my body into the ground.

Anyways, I feel like I made some small breakthrough in my tai chi and kung fu, and hopefully some of my ideas may be interesting to you too.