Brilliant video summary of the different stages of progress in this difficult but fascinating art and this video is a very good reflection of the quality of your online courses which I am thoroughly enjoying. Thank you very much 🙏
Thank you for the feedback on the online courses that you're enjoying! This past week a student of the online courses visited my in person class and I was so happy to see that he was successfully performing the skills on my in person students. It's really awesome to see you guys grow because I totally want to see all of you become a new generation of Tai Chi masters. Thanks for being on this journey with me! 😃🙏
I don't know if all the people watching this realize what gems you're putting out there, for free. I for one am much grateful for your wisdom you share with us and hope you will continue to surprise us with much more knowledge in the future. Thank you!
Thank you for the awesome feedback! And I really appreciate you sharing your appreciation with others. I aim to keep surprising everyone with more helpful knowledge, even as all of you become more and more wise and informed. It can be a challenge but I look forward to it! 😁
Chester, thank you so much for preparing this video on the skill sets of Tai Chi mastery. A road map like this is very useful. In addition to watching current video's I am currently watching your older videos' in order of occurrence. I'm almost caught up. Very cool to watch Moe's development during such a short period of time. It is a testament to your teaching as well as Moe's tenacity. Thanks again for being so open and clear. Very nice😄🙏
That's so cool that you are watching in order and seeing Moe grow in skill and understanding. He's been studying with me for about a year, and I hadn't thought about how these videos are kind of a documentary on his experience but you're so right! He is talented and hard working and I'm grateful for all his help and hard work, and for all of you who support and motivate us too! Thank you all very much. 😃🙏
This is really helpful: fascia is used for grappling and counter-grappling; song aids in non-telegraphic motion, striking, and health; qi is for counter-striking and energy healing; neijin supports Yang-style combat; and yi is for weaponry. Questions: 1. Does this mean that qi and yi primarily enhance fascia and song? 2. You mentioned that fast attacks are not countered by fascia or song, but qi and yi can counter them. How does this work? Do they allow you to exceed reflex speed limitations? That would be incredible, but it seems unlikely, as reflex speed imposes a hard limit on what can be physically reacted to.
I remember you are the one that always picks out the essences of the videos really well! Good summary! Yi is also good for counter striking, immediately affecting their balance and force, and is uniquely beneficial in weaponry. You can say that fascia gives us the awareness to efficiently applying Qi and Yi. Song gives us the body that allows the effective flow of Qi and Yi. Fascia's limitation with dealing with fast attacks is related to how long you can maintain contact with them, and whether that gives you time to tap into their fascia. Song is not limited, but also not especially helpful, aside from giving your blocks a lot of structure and reflection capacity. Qi and Yi affect the opponent immediately upon contact. So that means they can be effective even when the strike only touches you for a brief moment. You're right that nothing can help you if you can't perceive and respond to their attacks. On that note, Yi can also be used to slow down the opponent's intent, initiation. Like making them take longer to aim and fire off their attack, by sensing their attempt to aim and lock on, and interfering with that. You see good counter hitters in boxing and kickboxing utilize this kind of principle. Thank you for the great summary and great followup questions! 🙌😃🙏
They are by LK Chen, an excellent maker of training and usage Chinese swords! You can spar with these with a bit of protective gear: gloves, helmet. Check out his craft: lkchensword.com/sparring-miao-dao For another great training sword, that is a bit harder so you will want more hefty protective gear, but are totally beautiful, I love the ones by Little Raven Studios. www.little-raven.com/products/dao_detail/miao-dao-sprout-saber/ Check them out!
@@phoenixmountaintaichi Thank You... I try to train with "Live" blades, but due to recent changes at our school ( New Floor Mats ) it is now forbidden.
@@dzj20phaha that is totally understandable..! There's real value in training with the real blades. There's also real monetary cost in replacing floor mats. 😅
this video is related to my previous question in the other video, and answered what i was going to ask next, about the next stages after fascia. i hope you don't mind another question: for the fascia stage, is there a way to train it solo, or do we really need training partner? it's hard to find people interested in this kind of practice.
You can definitely train it solo and in fact I trained a lot of it solo. I first experienced it when I was young studying from my teachers, and did not understand it back then beyond "do it soft" "don't use force". Eventually I started to experience it in a way that began to form an understanding. And I worked on it solo a lot before presenting it to my students. As I developed ways to make transmitting it consistent and easy for the learner, the Fascia Mastery course came into being. The course is mostly partner exercises, because that is the easiest way to learn it. There are solo exercises within it and I will be adding more because many people have asked for more solo ways to train it and I definitely see the value in that! Good question and thanks for asking!
Really love your videos and the way you explain things thank you. When you describe Lu (rollback) you say it has no direction, unlike the other 3, but it is driven by intent or Yi. How does this work? For example with ward-off you put your Yi back, with Press you put your Yi up; so not sure how Lu works without any direction but I'd be interested about your thoughts on it.
Oh thank you for asking this question! In the video I spoke a little too briefly on the matter. It would be more clear to say that: Peng, Ji, An - directions of Qi Lu - a direction of Yi Cai, Lie, Zhou, Kao - also directions of Yi With Lu, we are not creating a backwards or pulling directionality of Qi, we are more rolling their intention into or back past us. That's what causes them to stick, or to be moved, in the desired manner. This is a pretty esoteric topic! Does that make more sense for you?
@@phoenixmountaintaichi Thank you Master. First of I just want to say I appreciate the way you describe these energies/direction in a technical manner because I have heard many different descriptions of these 8 energies and directions and this does jive with me somewhat even though I am still at beginner level, out of all the descriptions I have heard so far. I must admit this does feel abstract as a concept, due to me being a beginner but, if I understand when you say Peng, Ji, An are directions of Qi this means that these 3 energies have to be preceeded by float or sink as when your opponent comes at you with force (Li) you will either float or sink their force then respond with Penj, Ji or An. With Lu/rollback its different in that you dont use float/sink but you also never meet their force 'head-on' like you can with the other 3, with Lu you meet their force/Li from the side so you're only meeting a little bit of their force which is subtle or 'gentle' enough to term it as intention and not as Li or real strong force. Therefore you can divert this 'subtle force' or intention to your elbow. The important thing about this tehcnique is to meet the force from the side which allows you to capture a small force which then disspiates the much large force that would otherwise come at you head-on. Not sure if this is correct its my attempt at answering. Also Is it only possible to divert the force using only the elbow or can you use other methods to divert the intention to dissipate the rest of the force, in the case where your opponent is punching you head on with full force?
@@robertjordon1984You're totally on the right track! Peng is essentially a floating upwards directionality. An is essentially a sinking downwards directionality. Ji is essentially floating upwards and then forwards, like serving a tennis ball. Lu is for more than just meeting from the side. You can meet them straight on, taking their fist into your palm if you like. Because Lu is not countering their force, not wrestling with their strength. It is guiding them. I can not out wrestle an Ox but I can lead one to the fields, right? 😃 Lu shifts their point of intention, into your elbow, to your control which means your can then redirect their force with little muscular effort. The shifting of your elbow instead to elsewhere is because it's probably the closest point to where you made contact with them. And that is entirely sufficient even for bigger and more committed punches. You're welcome to move it all the way down to your feet or ground if you have the time. And you don't have to go that far when time is tight. Does that make sense? Thanks for asking some good key questions! Lu in Yang Tai Chi is a very deep subject and it takes up a huge portion of our Neijin Mastery course! Lots of exercises and drills to develop all the elements that really make Lu work in a natural, flexible, and practical way. But it's a totally worthwhile endeavor because it is a big key to how Tai Chi works in push hands. Afterall, there is a Dalu practice, large rollback, and not a Dapeng or Daji or anything else haha. Thanks for asking and go ahead and ask more! 😃🙏
@@phoenixmountaintaichi Thank you Master. I think I understand but I might not lol, I will have to meditate on your words and try it out on a real person. At the moment I am mostly getting my nephew into the taichi form and occasionally we practice a little bit of (not very advanced) push hands. But it's useful as he can't deliver so much force on me as he is smaller than me for now so I can work with his force and weight delivery without too much effort, although I try to be as soft as possible. This is the whole problem I face without having an opponent to practice to test stuff out with. But thanks for clarifying about Lu in that it can be redirected anywhere whether to the elbow or the feet. I suppose my question would be what makes Lu works, and the way I think it works is to build the connections (the tendons/connective tissue) which come from Standing Posture or Zhan Zhuang. Then its a case of just thinking of your elbow when you meet the force and it will get drawn there and cancel out their intent as they can't find anything to 'land on'. I think I saw a demonstration of what you described once using Lu with the elbow and feet. When the opponents force was directed to the elbow the opponent stumbled but when the Master redirected to his feet the opponent dropped suddenly and quite forcefully to the ground. It was quite amazing to watch, some say it was fake but I knew it was real. One thing I find is if you go into the punch of the opponent and your song enough then the impact somehow lessens and you can move the force or intention without feeling the full impact that one is probably expecting. Maybe it starts with embracing the force rather than being afraid to get hit. But yeah I will digest your explanations and try to make it work. Also which video on the course explains all about Lu Mastery?, is it the very last course i.e. Qi Mastery - Invisible Strength & Blissful Well-being Tai Chi Masterclass #3: Discover the journey beyond the physical ?
Brilliant video summary of the different stages of progress in this difficult but fascinating art and this video is a very good reflection of the quality of your online courses which I am thoroughly enjoying. Thank you very much 🙏
Thank you for the feedback on the online courses that you're enjoying! This past week a student of the online courses visited my in person class and I was so happy to see that he was successfully performing the skills on my in person students. It's really awesome to see you guys grow because I totally want to see all of you become a new generation of Tai Chi masters. Thanks for being on this journey with me! 😃🙏
I don't know if all the people watching this realize what gems you're putting out there, for free. I for one am much grateful for your wisdom you share with us and hope you will continue to surprise us with much more knowledge in the future. Thank you!
Thank you for the awesome feedback! And I really appreciate you sharing your appreciation with others. I aim to keep surprising everyone with more helpful knowledge, even as all of you become more and more wise and informed. It can be a challenge but I look forward to it! 😁
Chester, thank you so much for preparing this video on the skill sets of Tai Chi mastery. A road map like this is very useful. In addition to watching current video's I am currently watching your older videos' in order of occurrence. I'm almost caught up. Very cool to watch Moe's development during such a short period of time. It is a testament to your teaching as well as Moe's tenacity. Thanks again for being so open and clear. Very nice😄🙏
That's so cool that you are watching in order and seeing Moe grow in skill and understanding. He's been studying with me for about a year, and I hadn't thought about how these videos are kind of a documentary on his experience but you're so right! He is talented and hard working and I'm grateful for all his help and hard work, and for all of you who support and motivate us too! Thank you all very much. 😃🙏
@@phoenixmountaintaichi You are welcome🙏
Great explanation - thanks 🙏
Thank you for this Study Teacher Chester. Sending positive energy from London UK.
Positive energy received and sending my best energy for you too in London. I hope to visit sometime! 🧘☯️
Hi Chester! Amazing work! Thanks so much for breaking it down for us.
Thank you for your continuing support! 😃🙏
Shifu, don't stop sharing. It's great inspiration and I love how you showed how yi works using the miaodao, a nice demonstration of your power.
Thank you! There's plenty more to share and I'm excited to share them as all of you keep growing in skill and understanding! 🙌
Thank you, master, you are a true Master.
Thank you for the generous praise! I hope you become one too. 😃🙏
This is really helpful: fascia is used for grappling and counter-grappling; song aids in non-telegraphic motion, striking, and health; qi is for counter-striking and energy healing; neijin supports Yang-style combat; and yi is for weaponry.
Questions:
1. Does this mean that qi and yi primarily enhance fascia and song?
2. You mentioned that fast attacks are not countered by fascia or song, but qi and yi can counter them. How does this work? Do they allow you to exceed reflex speed limitations? That would be incredible, but it seems unlikely, as reflex speed imposes a hard limit on what can be physically reacted to.
I remember you are the one that always picks out the essences of the videos really well! Good summary! Yi is also good for counter striking, immediately affecting their balance and force, and is uniquely beneficial in weaponry.
You can say that fascia gives us the awareness to efficiently applying Qi and Yi. Song gives us the body that allows the effective flow of Qi and Yi.
Fascia's limitation with dealing with fast attacks is related to how long you can maintain contact with them, and whether that gives you time to tap into their fascia.
Song is not limited, but also not especially helpful, aside from giving your blocks a lot of structure and reflection capacity.
Qi and Yi affect the opponent immediately upon contact. So that means they can be effective even when the strike only touches you for a brief moment.
You're right that nothing can help you if you can't perceive and respond to their attacks. On that note, Yi can also be used to slow down the opponent's intent, initiation. Like making them take longer to aim and fire off their attack, by sensing their attempt to aim and lock on, and interfering with that. You see good counter hitters in boxing and kickboxing utilize this kind of principle.
Thank you for the great summary and great followup questions! 🙌😃🙏
Master, will the "song" in this course also address the chronic stiffness / pain of muscles and fascia? Thank you!
It is very exciting to see the possibilities. Thank You... BTW.. Where did you get the training swords ?
They are by LK Chen, an excellent maker of training and usage Chinese swords! You can spar with these with a bit of protective gear: gloves, helmet. Check out his craft:
lkchensword.com/sparring-miao-dao
For another great training sword, that is a bit harder so you will want more hefty protective gear, but are totally beautiful, I love the ones by Little Raven Studios.
www.little-raven.com/products/dao_detail/miao-dao-sprout-saber/
Check them out!
@@phoenixmountaintaichi Thank You... I try to train with "Live" blades, but due to recent changes at our school ( New Floor Mats ) it is now forbidden.
@@dzj20phaha that is totally understandable..! There's real value in training with the real blades. There's also real monetary cost in replacing floor mats. 😅
Sticking seems like an interplay of Floating and sinking energies.
You are right that on an energetic level, Yang and Yin interact and contribute to sticking! Good thinking. 😁
this video is related to my previous question in the other video, and answered what i was going to ask next, about the next stages after fascia.
i hope you don't mind another question: for the fascia stage, is there a way to train it solo, or do we really need training partner? it's hard to find people interested in this kind of practice.
You can definitely train it solo and in fact I trained a lot of it solo. I first experienced it when I was young studying from my teachers, and did not understand it back then beyond "do it soft" "don't use force". Eventually I started to experience it in a way that began to form an understanding. And I worked on it solo a lot before presenting it to my students. As I developed ways to make transmitting it consistent and easy for the learner, the Fascia Mastery course came into being. The course is mostly partner exercises, because that is the easiest way to learn it. There are solo exercises within it and I will be adding more because many people have asked for more solo ways to train it and I definitely see the value in that! Good question and thanks for asking!
@@phoenixmountaintaichi thank you very much for the answers :)
Really love your videos and the way you explain things thank you.
When you describe Lu (rollback) you say it has no direction, unlike the other 3, but it is driven by intent or Yi. How does this work?
For example with ward-off you put your Yi back, with Press you put your Yi up; so not sure how Lu works without any direction but I'd be interested about your thoughts on it.
Oh thank you for asking this question! In the video I spoke a little too briefly on the matter. It would be more clear to say that:
Peng, Ji, An - directions of Qi
Lu - a direction of Yi
Cai, Lie, Zhou, Kao - also directions of Yi
With Lu, we are not creating a backwards or pulling directionality of Qi, we are more rolling their intention into or back past us. That's what causes them to stick, or to be moved, in the desired manner.
This is a pretty esoteric topic! Does that make more sense for you?
@@phoenixmountaintaichi Thank you Master. First of I just want to say I appreciate the way you describe these energies/direction in a technical manner because I have heard many different descriptions of these 8 energies and directions and this does jive with me somewhat even though I am still at beginner level, out of all the descriptions I have heard so far.
I must admit this does feel abstract as a concept, due to me being a beginner but, if I understand when you say Peng, Ji, An are directions of Qi this means that these 3 energies have to be preceeded by float or sink as when your opponent comes at you with force (Li) you will either float or sink their force then respond with Penj, Ji or An.
With Lu/rollback its different in that you dont use float/sink but you also never meet their force 'head-on' like you can with the other 3, with Lu you meet their force/Li from the side so you're only meeting a little bit of their force which is subtle or 'gentle' enough to term it as intention and not as Li or real strong force. Therefore you can divert this 'subtle force' or intention to your elbow. The important thing about this tehcnique is to meet the force from the side which allows you to capture a small force which then disspiates the much large force that would otherwise come at you head-on. Not sure if this is correct its my attempt at answering.
Also Is it only possible to divert the force using only the elbow or can you use other methods to divert the intention to dissipate the rest of the force, in the case where your opponent is punching you head on with full force?
@@robertjordon1984You're totally on the right track! Peng is essentially a floating upwards directionality. An is essentially a sinking downwards directionality. Ji is essentially floating upwards and then forwards, like serving a tennis ball.
Lu is for more than just meeting from the side. You can meet them straight on, taking their fist into your palm if you like. Because Lu is not countering their force, not wrestling with their strength. It is guiding them. I can not out wrestle an Ox but I can lead one to the fields, right? 😃
Lu shifts their point of intention, into your elbow, to your control which means your can then redirect their force with little muscular effort.
The shifting of your elbow instead to elsewhere is because it's probably the closest point to where you made contact with them. And that is entirely sufficient even for bigger and more committed punches. You're welcome to move it all the way down to your feet or ground if you have the time. And you don't have to go that far when time is tight. Does that make sense?
Thanks for asking some good key questions! Lu in Yang Tai Chi is a very deep subject and it takes up a huge portion of our Neijin Mastery course! Lots of exercises and drills to develop all the elements that really make Lu work in a natural, flexible, and practical way. But it's a totally worthwhile endeavor because it is a big key to how Tai Chi works in push hands. Afterall, there is a Dalu practice, large rollback, and not a Dapeng or Daji or anything else haha. Thanks for asking and go ahead and ask more! 😃🙏
@@phoenixmountaintaichi Thank you Master. I think I understand but I might not lol, I will have to meditate on your words and try it out on a real person. At the moment I am mostly getting my nephew into the taichi form and occasionally we practice a little bit of (not very advanced) push hands. But it's useful as he can't deliver so much force on me as he is smaller than me for now so I can work with his force and weight delivery without too much effort, although I try to be as soft as possible. This is the whole problem I face without having an opponent to practice to test stuff out with.
But thanks for clarifying about Lu in that it can be redirected anywhere whether to the elbow or the feet. I suppose my question would be what makes Lu works, and the way I think it works is to build the connections (the tendons/connective tissue) which come from Standing Posture or Zhan Zhuang. Then its a case of just thinking of your elbow when you meet the force and it will get drawn there and cancel out their intent as they can't find anything to 'land on'. I think I saw a demonstration of what you described once using Lu with the elbow and feet. When the opponents force was directed to the elbow the opponent stumbled but when the Master redirected to his feet the opponent dropped suddenly and quite forcefully to the ground. It was quite amazing to watch, some say it was fake but I knew it was real. One thing I find is if you go into the punch of the opponent and your song enough then the impact somehow lessens and you can move the force or intention without feeling the full impact that one is probably expecting. Maybe it starts with embracing the force rather than being afraid to get hit. But yeah I will digest your explanations and try to make it work.
Also which video on the course explains all about Lu Mastery?, is it the very last course i.e.
Qi Mastery - Invisible Strength & Blissful Well-being Tai Chi Masterclass #3:
Discover the journey beyond the physical ?
Certainly appears that you are far from Tai Chi Enlightenment ...
what do you mean?
Very few people reach enlightenment.
All crap bullshitdo😂😂😂
Great input - totally normal, mature, respectful, substantial feedback 👍