The Value of Solo Practice and Study in Taiji, Xingyi and Bagua

internal arts training training Oct 21, 2008

I was reading an article in an ancient Tai Chi magazine about Zhu Tiancai, one of the "Four Buddha's Warriors" of the Chen Village. He was asked how masters at his level continue to learn.

He said that, since all his teachers are now dead, his progress is slow, but he continues to make progress by carefully analyzing his own movements and delving deeper into the possibilities of the movements, and the principles of tai chi.

My belief is that your best progress will come during solo practice. A lot of people go to class and get corrections, but they become too dependent on that. Some of them never go home and really analyze the movements slowly. They think too much about choreography.

Sometimes, your best practice would be to spend an hour on just a couple of movements, such as Buddha's Warrior Attendant Pounds Mortar and Lazy About Tying the Coat, watching and slowly going through each subtlety in the body mechanics until that light bulb turns on above your head as you try to sit back before turning, try to connect the entire body, and try to feel where you aren't connected or when your peng leaves a movement. Are you using silk-reeling properly? Does it feel right?

Your greatest breakthroughs and insights often come during thoughtful, contemplative solo study and practice.

Last week in class, it was obvious that one of the students was going through the choreography well, but I could see "emptiness" in one of the arms. Just working on details like this can elevate your skill, and you don't need a teacher to do it. You need to know WHAT you have to work on and then study as you would for a college exam -- really trying to UNDERSTAND every detail of the movement.

And once you feel progress, go to the next movement and apply the same principles.

There have been many years in which I've lived two hours from my teacher. There were years where I lived halfway across the nation from my teacher. I still made progress. You should take notes, and if you can learn one thing in each class (or each video lesson on the online school's website), work on it in solo practice and study so you can truly internalize it.

--by Ken Gullette

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The Value of Solo Practice and Study in Taiji, Xingyi and Bagua

Try Two Weeks Free and Get Step-by-Step Training in Taiji, Xingyi and Bagua from Basic to Advanced Skills with No Mystical Mumbo-Jumbo

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