Short Forms

This started out as a digression in the "Single Whip" post after my thought that Second Section makes good demonstration.  It's now on it's own, LOL. 

In my opinion, the development of short forms like Cheng Man Ching’s 37-step Short Form and the all-style Beijing Short Form were originally an attempt to standardize tai chi competition and to market this martial art as “exercise.”  Teachers over the years would dumb down the form to increase retention of beginners and/or reduce the need for space.  When competition came about, there were too many different styles, so the head of "family" styles tried to standardize things.  LOL new style by committee!  Um, no. What better way to lose "style," not to mention the original intent and completeness.  Yeah, I'm a traditionalist.

I’ve never been to a Tai Chi forms competition, they didn’t exist until after I’d left the classes.  From what I’ve seen on YouTube, watching Tai Chi forms competition is as exciting as watching grass grow.  But in Open Competition (meaning you compete against all martial arts styles, not just like styles), Second Section makes good demonstration.  Even done fast, it almost never wins because it’s too different from what the hard styles are doing and also because the judges, who are typically Karate black belts, lack knowledge in soft styles/internal martial arts.  There is the additional need to inform the judges you will be going past the boundary of the ring (on purpose) and ask to let you know if/when you’ve reached your max time limit. 

So why do I keep searching "my" short form?  It's nothing but a personal thing about collecting complete sets. While I was learning short form, I wasn't actively trying to learn it.  I just followed along to let this one get absorbed by osmosis  rote.  I'm not kicking myself over it, at the time it was as much as I could absorb while I was actively learning other styles.  It is what it is.  I am hopeful that one day I'll be able to visit Texas & record the form.  At the very least, I have the rest of my life to figure it out.

Single Whip

To help memorize the long form, I was taught to use Single Whip to further divide the form into smaller learning sets.

 

First Section only has one Single Whip posture.  Easy, peasy.  First Section was meant to be easy.  It’s almost like warm up before you get hot and heavy into the form.  If you are short on time or just starting or with other issues (like balance or stamina), you were meant to work on First Section.  You do need “walking space.”  If the stances are done properly, you will end up several steps (maybe four?) to the left, and almost two steps forward, from where you started. 

 

In Second section, Diagonal Single Whip is not directed to 9:00.  Until the 2nd Single Whip posture, it’s almost the same as First Section.  The only new addition is the Repulse the Monkey series.  The Single Whips bookend the Cloud Hands series and continues to High Pat on Horse (aka Pat the Horse’s Head).  From there, start the kicks.  The second part of the Second Section is all about kicks and balance (on one leg.)  I’d say this is the start of “the next level,” and I think the meat of the form.  This is also where beginners tend to drop out. The end of second section is where we were at the end of the beginner class.

 

In my memory, Mr. Ho always said “there are 7 Single Whips.”  That’s the part that sticks with me, but I’m counting lots more in the form and only 6 that face 9:00 in Third Section.  In order to match his statement, that means I must include Diagonal Single Whip and restrict its application to Third Section.  This section is repetitive and just about doubles the length of First & Second Sections together.

·         Between #1 and #2 Single Whip, is Split Horse’s Main four times.

·         Between #2 and #3 Single Whip, is Four Corners (aka Fair Lady Weaves Shuttles)

·         Between #3 and #4 is Cloud Hands.

·         Between #4 and #5 is almost a repeat of Second Section after Repulse the Monkey until you reach the end of the third Cloud Hands set of the form. 

·         That puts you at #6 Single Whip, which is nearly the end of the form.  Until this point, a new movement was introduced, then repeated later.  From #6 to the end, it’s all unique.  This can be further divided into subsets to learn #6 to #7 Single Whips, and #7 to Closing.

Stamina

There are different kinds of stamina. I’ve never had stamina of any kind, so who am I to talk? I have had times in my life when my fitness peaked and stamina was better, but I can’t say I ever had the mental ability to keep going past the physical pain and burning in the muscles. If I was going to continue for any length of time, that was always something I had to work up to. Then diabetes made my body stop automatically regulating energy & fuel, like a control system oscillating out of control. That went to “manual control.” When the blood sugar hits bottom, it’s like hitting “the wall” in marathon running, worse maybe because it’s not as easy as prepping with a carb load (which makes the blood sugar spike and consequent drop that much more steep.) Now the thyroid is losing its ability to regulate--whatever it regulates—it affects energy level, too. Getting old and gaining weight isn’t helping and a recent change in blood pressure meds make my heart race.  Iron deficiency & Yin deficiency on top of that...it’s anything but mental, I tell ya!

The first kind of stamina that comes to mind is like a marathon runner or long distance swimmer. I liken this to Judo stamina. OMG, these guys are like Energizer Bunnies. Even the fat, old experienced judoka keep going strong with all their muscles for the 2 to 6 hours they’re on the mat. Tae Kwon Do & kick boxing is more like sprinter, tennis or basketball stamina. They have bursts of intense exertion over the length of their workout. Whether upper body or lower body, it’s not like judo that works the whole body strength almost evenly at the same time. Oh, but to watch a skilled lightweight against someone tree times his weight & strength—the finesse is beautiful to watch.

Then there’s Tai Chi stamina. I don’t know what sport or style to compare this to, a long hike maybe? Sloth imitation? The tai chi practitioner is always in motion, albeit slow motion, never frozen in one position unless teacher is correcting their posture or they’ve chosen a position for mindful meditation. The stances, the stances, I tell ya! Just like karate or judo, the power is in the stances. The fact that my legs are always sore for two days after I attempt the form is a sign that I’m doing something right at this point in my practice. No pain, no gain.  Don't believe it!  But it was a popular saying in the 70’s from Jane Fonda aerobics videos. I say it depends on the pain. If I had sharp pain in my knee, that is bad pain and means I’m doing something wrong. Oddly my back doesn’t hurt right now, one of the reasons I returned to tai chi practice. It’s just in the leg muscles. That’s good pain.

Even in the 10-12 years I practiced at UTA, I don't think I ever actually finished the whole form with the low stances as Mr. Ho or Mr. Deng shows in video. Even at the peaks of my fitness, I could start out strong but I faded in the Third Section. I’d end with “old man” stances, narrow, almost standing upright, smaller gestures. I also used to have a problem with my arms falling down (strength failure) as I tired in Third Section. That’s not happening any more, so either I’m stronger in upper body or I’m not holding extra tension that I used to. I doubt it’s the former. It doesn’t take long to get benefit from Tai Chi just by being on the path, you don’t even have to “be there” yet.  You do have to practice somewhat regularly.

And again!

I got in another tai chi workout at the gym, that's two for the long weekend!   I wanted to go yesterday but my legs were so sore.  Felt good starting out today but I fatigued before I even got to the long form.  I had Mom do the 18-style with me.  She did as well as expected, I had a chair ready for her to sit but she almost finished. Then I barely got through 1st section, so I took 2nd section in bits.  I'm wondering if the new thyroid med isn't tiring me out quickly.

Finally

Finally got out to the gym and had to floor to myself.  I finally remembered my external speaker.  Egad, I was horrible.  I had mirrors on two sides to check my posture.  My legs were burning so my stance was very shallow.  At this point, I'm just happy to get through 18-style and the long form.  If I could just burn more of the form into my memory, I can work on posture later.

My attempts to the gym earlier this week, I learned I need to get started by 4:30p or it's too late.  The floor gets crowded and a class comes in before 5:30.  I worked legs earlier this week and I was surprisingly strong, this means I have strength but no stamina.