AN INTRODUCTION TO TAI CHI CHUAN

by: Mr. Marlon Pilossoph

Tai Chi Chuan is a complete system of Chinese Kung Fu. It has a long documented history of over 350 years and is now the most widely practiced martial art in the world. The theory it is based upon is thousands of years old. The Praying Mantis-Tai Chi Center teaches the Traditional Yang style long form, Toi Sao (two-person sensitivity exercises), Sahn Sao (two-person self-defense fighting applications), Chi-Yute Gung (Chinese Medical Acupoint Techniques) which are meditative breathing exercises combined with Chinese Acupuncture Medical Theory for health and internal development, as well as the Tai Chi Gim (double edged sword), Tai Chi Do (Single Saber), Fan Form and other weapons.

Tai Chi utilizes Yin/Yang theory and relies on sensitivity. This enables the borrowing of your opponents force. The more force an opponent uses against a Tai Chi practitioner, the more force will be returned back upon them. Its self-defense strategy is to allow your opponent to come in and make contact with you so you can “sense” or “listen” (called “Ting Ging” in Chinese) and thus control, deflect and lead their power/body into a disadvantageous position (empty them). Then the Tai Chi practitioner will add some of their own power and return all that focused power as a counter attack to defeat their opponent. The counter attack is perfectly timed to be executed precisely as the opponent has been lead into a weak, off-balanced and overextended position, or, at the precise instant when the opponent begins to retreat. Toi Sao (Push Hands) is a two-person sensitivity exercise that is specifically designed to develop “Ting Ging”, to hone the practitioner’s level of sensitivity. To be able to instantly modify your self defense strategy based on the actions and reactions of your opponent.

The Tai Chi Sahn Sao exercises the ability to keep the mind calm, the body relaxed and develops the practitioners reflexes or “reaction”.  These are two-person exercises which utilize self-defense techniques extracted directly from the Tai Chi Form. By building good reflex ability the practitioner is able to react instantly without thinking and be able to employ the most effective counter attack technique to any particular attack.

Learning the Tai Chi form and performing it correctly takes time, patience and years of sincere consistent practice and concentration. Initially the long form is practiced as slowly as possible to develop the ability to be aware of all the parts of your body which is referred to as “conscious movement”. You should be fully aware of the position and movement of your entire body at all times. This practice is likened to a “moving meditation”. Its slow and gentle practice greatly reduces stress which is the number one cause of disease in the world. The body is moved by the entire mind, or Spirit and this movement is combined with deep rhythmic breathing. This process promotes further relaxing and calming of the body and the intellectual mind which builds up Spirit and internal power and health. At first the form is practiced slow, thereby developing strong legs, body coordination, agility, balance, control and flexibility.

But when self-defense becomes necessary, the Tai Chi fighting techniques are delivered with extreme lightening speed, and devastating power.

After the form or a posture is learned the student should know how to apply the technique effectively. If the form is incorrect the application will not work.

The Tai Chi posture requires through relaxation that the lower spine of the body be dropped becoming rounded or in a “tucked forward” position. The head is held as if it is suspended from above, the chest concave, back lifted, the shoulders open and elbows dropped; which, together allows for the proper ability to deflect or to redirect any oncoming attacks and to be able to properly apply Tai Chi’s self-defense applications without the use of “force against force”. Once your body is familiar with moving correctly, maintaining the Tai Chi posture throughout the form, and you become familiar enough with the form sequence, you can further enjoy the health benefits of the Tai Chi Form. By allowing the bottom of the spine to hang down and the head to be suspended the vertebrae of the spine are elongated and gently stretched allowing for more blood and Chi energy to flow through the spine and to the body. The waist and buttock muscles should never be tensed or the flow of Chi and blood will become restricted.

What a novice observer sees while viewing the Tai Chi Form does not necessarily reveal the true nature or application of the movements. All the Tai Chi postures or techniques in the form are very subtle, and each may have many variations of their self-defense applications as well. This is unlike some other external styles of martial arts where you might be able to easily guess the application of the moves in the forms simply by watching what the practitioner is doing.

Tai Chi uses the entire body to generate power from the ground (Earth) and from above (Heaven).

The Earthly sphere of power generation is accomplished by exhaling while sinking and rooting. You first absorb, yield, close, and gather your opponents force and power, emptying them out. Then you inhale and use the up rooting energy from the ground first through the soles of the feet by turning on the heel of the back heavy foot, then straightening the back leg to enable the use of the turn of the hips and the torque of the waist to thus channel the Earths power through the body up the back and out through open shoulders to the arms, to the hands, creating Ging, a “snap or focus”, a short penetrating power at the end of each technique (no inch strike).

The Heavenly sphere of power generation is accomplished by first rising up being light, inhaling and intercepting, yielding, redirecting, then while exhaling sinking and closing, still creating the Ging focus/snap/penetration at the end of the strike.

Eventually the Entire Mind (Jing, Hey, Shen) harmoniously moves the body without thinking. The hands and the legs, automatically respond together always as if the entire body is one coherent single and connected unit.  At this level the form can be practiciced “Yao Ging” style. With no details left out the long form is practiced fast, as if in actual combat.

THE HISTORY OF YANG STYLE TAI CHI CHUAN

by: Mr. Marlon Pilossoph

The Yang style Tai Chi long form that we practice today is derived from the teachings passed down by Yang Luchan (1799 - 1872) who learned from Chen Chang-Hsing who was of the Chen family of Chen Village, Hunan province. Scholars generally agree that the Tai Chi teachings were somehow delivered to the Chens and developed by the Chen family. Historical records reveal that Tai Chi Chuan was created during the late Ming/early Ching dynasties, or approximately 350 years ago, however, the Taoist principles it embraces are thousands of years old (many assert Tai Chi Chuan originated thousands of years ago from a Taoist Immortal named Chang San-Feng). It combined and developed the various boxing styles that were most effective and popular among the people and the army during the Ming period. Added to this was the ancient Chi Gung meditation and breathing techniques, Taoist Yin/Yang theory, and Chinese medical knowledge concerning circulation of the blood and Chi (energy) to form a martial art that trains both the external and the internal.

Yang Luchan had two sons whose names were Yu Pan-Hou (1837  - 1892), and Chien Chien-Hou (1839 - 1917). Yang Luchan’s son Chien-Chien-Hou taught two successors, Chao-Hsiung (1862 - 1930), and his son Yang Cheng-Fu (1883-1936) who both taught the Traditional “Old and Expansive” style which was described as “open and soft.... like a needle concealed within cotton”. Yang Cheng-Fu was a powerfully built imposing figure of 300 pounds in his later years. He was known to be kind, good natured and very popular with all his students. Even generals humbled themselves before him. Yang Cheng-Fu had few disciples that passed on his art, some of which were Fu Zhongwen, Chen Wei-Ming, Chen-To and Tung Ying-Chieh.

The teachings were passed by Yang Luchan to his son Chien Chien-Hou and then to his grandson Yang Cheng-Fu who in an interview in 1930 said that Yang Luchan began studying with Chen Chang-Hsing as a boy at the age of ten and that he did not return home until sometime in his forties. His story is basically that of a poor boy who became a renowned Martial Arts Master to the Manchurian princes. He was the foremost boxer throughout the entire empire. Yang Luchan is the recognized founder of a martial art lineage that has now become a worldwide movement. However, it is his grandson Yang Cheng-Fu that the world can thank for promoting Tai Chi to its current level of recognition. Yang Cheng-Fu dictated many valuable oral transmissions (such as the Yang Style Forty Chapters) passed down to him directly by Yang Luchan, through Chien Chien Hou, which today fortunately for us, we have available translations to study in the English language.

Yang Luchan introduced the Traditional Chen family’s long “old and expansive” form to Wu Yu-Hsiang however, he also learned from Chen Yu Pen (Chen Chang-Hsing’s junior clansman) the “new and small” style, which Wu combined to develop his own style. Wu passed his new Tai Chi style down to a Manchurian named Chuan Yu (1834-1902) , whose son Wu Chien-Chuan (1870 -1942) became the founder of  the Tai Chi Wu style. Later a descendant of the Wu style lineage became the founder of another style known as the Sun Tai Chi style.

 It was from the Chen family original teachings that Yang Luchan was catapulted from a “humble and poor” status to becoming the “Martial Arts Master to the Manchurian Princes.” It was through Yang Cheng Fu’s educated disciples that Tai Chi has now become adapted for practice all over the world by martial artists, intellectuals, the sick and the elderly. Besides being a highly effective system of self-defense, Tai Chi is now well known for its abilities toward developing a peaceful mind, mental and physical health, flexibility, agility, balance, coordination, and power (internal and external). Tai Chi practice also increases breathing capacity and normalizes and strengthens the circulation of blood and Chi energy throughout the entire body, including the brain and all of the internal organs promoting radiant health and long life.

The Tai Chi form taught at the Praying Mantis-Tai Chi Center is based upon Yang Luchan’s original Traditional Long Form which is presently the most popular worldwide.  The long form in Chinese is called “Cheung Kuen” meaning “long fist” or, more subtly translated as “endless form”. Tai Chi uses circular motions. Circles have no beginning and no end. Within the Tai Chi form are numerous distinct postures that can all potentially link together in endless combinations.

The traditional Yang Style long form taught at the Praying Mantis – Tai Chi Center is composed of 165 individual maneuvers or postures divided into three sections as follows:

THE NAMES AND THE ORDER OF THE POSTURES CONTAINED IN THE YANG STYLE LONG FORM

SECTION ONE

SECTION TWO

SECTION THREE

The Synergistic Relationship Between Mantis and Tai Chi Chuan

By Marlon Pilossoph

I began studying martial arts in 1977, training in various hard styles of Karate and Gung Fu.  For years I had thought that tightening up my body was the only way to achieve power, until I joined the Praying Mantis Martial Arts Institute in 1990.  Since then, I observed another way of generating power, and a whole new set of fighting strategies and theories.  I was not aware of the importance of a calm mind and relaxed body, which is a key theory in both Praying Mantis and Tai Chi.  With the patient assistance of Sifu, I eventually modified all my previous concepts and retrained my body all over again.  Over the last 19 years, I have learned many theories incorporated within both Praying Mantis and Tai Chi.  I cannot profess in my short time of practice to yet have a complete grasp of the many sophisticated and subtle theories contained within either system.  However, drawing from my own rudimentary experience I will, to the best of my ability, make a comparison between these two synergistic systems of Gung Fu.

Both systems have long and distinguished histories going back hundreds of years.  Praying Mantis (created by Wang Lang of Shantung Province), has origins which date back to the mid-1600’s.  Since the time when both styles were created, some families or inheritors of the styles subsequently modified the original styles into what they felt were more effective for their own mental dispositions and body types.  Thus, several schools or variations of the Praying Mantis and Tai Chi Chuan styles exist today.

Praying Mantis and Tai Chi are both complete systems of Gung Fu.  Each has its own empty hand, solo and partner forms, internal and external development systems, combinations of flexibility and hardness and include various weapons in their training.  The Yang Tai Chi style’s long form that we practice in our school is based upon Yang Chen-Fu’s modified long form, which is presently the most popular worldwide.   Yang Chen Fu was the grandson of Yang Lu-Chan (1799-1872) who learned from Cheng Chang-Hsing in Chen Village, Hunan Province.  The long form in Chinese is called “Cheung Kuen” meaning “Long Fist” or, more subtly, translated as “endless form”.   Tai Chi uses circular motions and circles have no beginning and no end.  Within the Tai Chi form exists distinct postures that can link together in endless combinations.  So too, in each Praying Mantis form, all the moves link together continuously from beginning to end.  This gives the practitioner the ability to link together and interchange as many varied techniques as may be required.  Tai Chi relies on sensitivity which enables the borrowing of your opponent’s force by following your opponent’s moves and to a great extent so does Praying Mantis.  Sensitivity cannot be developed unless you are relaxed.  The parts of the body that come into contact with your opponent must have some tension to be effective but the rest of the body (and mind) must remain calm and tension-free.   There is a Chinese proverb, “Yi Tsing Tzai Dong”, which means, “to use quiet to overcome action”.   Both systems utilize this theory, which is to use stillness to defeat activity.  Another proverb is “Yi Yao Tzai Gong”.  This means “to use flexibility to overcome rigidity”, perfectly describing the Tai Chi Yin-Yang theory of yielding and issuing and the Praying Mantis theory of not using force against force.  Both systems utilize sensitivity to be ale to alter their defense or attack techniques spontaneously based upon the changes in reactions of the attacker.  In Praying Mantis, you use sensitivity to try to set-up your opponent in the fewest, most rapid series of moves possible to defeat, trap, lock up or take him down.  In Tai Chi, you use sensitivity to follow your attacker, then use their power to lead him into an off-balanced position at which time you defeat or take him down.

Tai Chi has a partner sensitivity exercise called “Toi Sao” or “push hands” which is specifically designed to develop “Ting Ging” which means “listening to your opponent’s power”.  Praying Mantis has a partner exercised called “Pa Awhn” or “sticking and pressing”, which when practiced at higher levels is comparable to “Toi Sao”, in Tai Chi.

Both systems use the entire body to generate power.  This is accomplished by first turning on the heel of the foot, then straightening the back leg to use the torque of the waist to thus channel the power through the arms, creating a snap or focus at the end of the strike.  In Praying Mantis, we refer to it as “loose and then tight”.  Similarly, both systems apply their fighting techniques with extreme speed, utilizing that speed for additional power.  Additionally, Praying Mantis uses the “slide up”, in which you use your forward momentum and the “catching up” of your real leg to the rest of your body to project that power like a wave through your body to the point of impact.  In Tai Gic, by sticking to your opponent, you may use this “sliding into your attacker” technique as well (such as with shoulder or elbow strikes).

Learning the Tai Chi form correctly takes time, patience and perhaps years of concentration.  This is not so with a basic Praying Mantis form.  The Yang Tai Chi style long form is practiced as slowly as possible to develop your ability to be aware of “conscious movement”:  You should be fully aware of the position and movement of your entire body at all times.  Once your body is moving correctly and you become familiar enough with the form sequence, you can enjoy the health benefits of Tai Chi.  The slow movements of the form combined with slow, deep rhythmic breathing calms the mind and body, which can be likened to moving meditation.  This practice greatly reduces stress, which is the number one cause of disease.  Tai Chi posture requires the body to be kept in a tucked or rounded position.  The chest is concave, head suspended, shoulders and elbows always dripped, and the bottom of the spine tucked in; which, together allows for the proper ability to deflect or redirect oncoming attacks and to properly use Tai Chi’s fighting applications.  Praying Mantis forms should be practiced  as if you were actually fighting an  imaginary opponent.  In both styles, the movements are very subtle.  What an observer may see while watching the Tai Chi or Praying Mantis forms does not necessarily reveal the true application of the movement.  This is unlike some other martial arts where you might be able to guess the application by looking at what the practitioner is doing.

Tai Chi is passive.  Its self-defense strategy is to allow your opponent to come into you, use their power, add some of your own and return that power to defeat your opponent after you have led them into a weak or overextended position.  Praying Mantis is more aggressive:  Using cunning, you might intend to confuse your opponent with a sudden feint to the right while attacking to the left.  You may attack high or suddenly low while moving in and out and shifting from side to side.  In Praying Mantis, your block is a strike and your strike can be a block or part of a locking or takedown technique.

The above comparisons are evidence of the many similarities of the Praying Mantis and Tai Chi styles, along with the few differences.  Over 25 years ago, I began with hard external styles of Karate and Gung Fu and I had a difficult time letting go of the rigidity.  Without learning Tai Chi, I would have spent many more years before realizing the great value and the inherent power of being of calm mind and relaxed body.  I do believe that Tai Chi and Praying Mantis complement each other and learning both together is invaluable.  Learning Tai Chi will improve and accelerate the study of Paying Mantis and therefore, to me is worthy of practice.  I remain extremely grateful that my Sifu, Tony Chuy provided this opportunity to me.           

A COMMENTARY ON TAI CHI CHUAN

By:  Mr. Marlon Pilossoph

Tai Chi Chuan is a complete system of a Chinese Gung Fu.  It has a long history of over 350 years and is now the most widely practiced martial art in the world.  The Praying Mantis-Tai Chi Center teaches the Traditional Long Form, Toi Sao (two-person sensitivity exercises), Sahn Sao (two-person self-defense fighting applications), Chi-Yute Gung (Chinese Medical Acupoint Techniques) which are meditative breathing exercises combined with Chinese acupuncture Medical Theory for health and internal development, as well as the Tai Chi Gim (double edged sword) and other weapons.

Tai Chi utilizes Yin/Yang theory and relies on sensitivity.  This enables the borrowing of your opponents force.  The more force an opponent uses against a Tai Chi practitioner, the more force will be returned back upon them.  Its self-defense strategy is to allow your opponent to come in and make contact with you so you can “sense” or “listen” (called “Ting Ging” in Chinese) and thus control and lead their power/body into a disadvantageous position.  Then the Tai Chi practitioner will add some of their own power, combine that with sinking or rising, and return all that focused power as a counter attack to defeat their opponent.  The counter attack is perfectly timed to be executed precisely as the opponent has been lead in to a weak, off-balanced and over extended empty position or, at the precise instant when the opponent begins to retreat. The Toi Sao (two-person push hands sensitivity exercises) are specifically designed to develop “Ting Ging”, to hone the practitioner’s degree and level of sensitivity and listening ability.

The Tai Chi Sahn Sao exercises the practitioner’s reflexes or “reaction”. M These are two-person exercises which utilize self-defense techniques extracted directly from the Tai Chi Form.  By building good reflex ability the practitioner is able to react instantly and be able to employ the most effective self defense technique to any particular attack.

Learning the Tai Chi form and performing it correctly takes time, patience and perhaps years of practice and concentration.  The form is practiced as slowly as possible to develop the ability to be aware of all the parts of your body which is referred to as “conscious movement”.  You should be fully aware of the position and movement of your entire body at all times.  This practice is likened to a “moving meditation”.  Its slow and gentle practice greatly reduces stress which is the number one cause of disease in the world.  The body is moved by the mind, and this movement is combined with deep rhythmic natural breathing.  This process promotes further relaxing and calming of the body and mind which builds up Spirit, the internal organs and health.  The form is practiced slow, thereby developing strong legs, body coordination, agility, balance, control and flexibility.  But when self-defense becomes necessary, the Tai Chi fighting techniques are delivered with extreme lightening speed, and devastating power.

The Tai Chi posture requires through relaxation of the stomach and buttocks, to allow the lower part of the spine of the body be dropped in a rounded or “tucked forward” position.  The head is held as if it is suspended from above with the chin tucked backwards lifting the head up and stretching the upper part of the spine, the chest concave, the shoulders relaxed, open and forward; which, together allows for the proper ability to deflect or to redirect any oncoming attacks using some, but, minimum force, and to be able to properly apply Tai Chi’s self-defense applications without the use of “force against force”. 

Once your body is familiar with moving correctly, maintaining the Tai Chi posture throughout the form, and you become familiar enough with the form sequence, you can further enjoy the health benefits of the Tai Chi Form.

What a novice observer sees while viewing the Tai Chi Form does not necessarily reveal the true nature or application of the movements.  All the Tai Chi postures or techniques in the form are very subtle, and each may have many variations of their self-defense applications as well.  This is unlike some other external styles of martial arts where you might be able to easily guess the application of the moves in the forms simply by watching what the practitioner is doing.

Tai Chi uses the entire body to generate power from the ground or from above.  This is accomplished by relaxing the body and using energy from the ground through the soles of the feet (rooting), or from above by suddenly sinking your entire body weight, by first turning on the heel of the back foot, then straightening the back leg to enable the use of the turn of the hips and the torque of the waist to thus channel the power through the shoulders to the arms, and out the hands, creating (Fa Ging) a “issuing a snap or focus” at the end of each technique.  Eventually the single mind moves the body, automatically responding with the hands and the legs, always as if the entire mind and body is one coherent single connected unit.  How much more power is there when one harmonious mind includes the intellect and feelings with the body, and its ability to borrow your opponents force and then finally combining that with the forces of nature?