environments that seem to oppose practicing tai chi chuan

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environments that seem to oppose practicing tai chi chuan

Postby brer_momonga » Thu Apr 04, 2013 9:34 am

this is actually a bit of a rant.

spring is slow to arrive this year, so I'm not going out in the 30's and 40's F temps with the bitter wind to practice my tai chi chuan by the tree at work very much. instead, I do what I normally do in the colder months - find an empty conference room and do my thing for a little while.

problem is, the building where I work has no-slip carpet everywhere. It makes business safety sense, but makes practicing the tai chi I know terribly frustrating. I cannot slide my feet so my knees torque and often become sore afterward. I suppose I should modify the form for the environment, pick up my knees more - but it just seems to be more than that. it's as if the area has no chi!

perhaps this just a reminder that I need to work on adapting my form for smooth execution on any terrain.

how do you guys deal with making environments better for tai chi chuan?
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Re: environments that seem to oppose practicing tai chi chua

Postby Dvivid » Thu Apr 04, 2013 9:36 am

WE ARE STUCK IN THE MATRIX.
"Avoid Prejudice, Be Objective in Your Judgement, Be Scientific, Be Logical and Make Sense, Do Not Ignore Prior Experience." - Dr. Yang

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Re: environments that seem to oppose practicing tai chi chua

Postby Monsoon » Thu Apr 04, 2013 2:27 pm

When I practice at home I do so in the garden. My garden is not very flat and the surface itself is somewhat uneven. When I am in Shanghai the area my master uses in our local park is on a slight slope and is also grassy. You get used to it. In fact I have found that when I practice on a perfectly flat wood/carpeted/tiled floor it feels really easy to maintain a good centre of balance - so practising on uneven surfaces is not just natural but beneficial!

For a long time I found that if I was practising indoors on carpet that I had to do so in bare feet as I couldn't spin-turn on my heel otherwise. Now I can do it in virtually any footwear. Part of the this is (I imagine) and improvement in my overall technique, but I think a part of it comes from adaptation to other surfaces.

I suppose the obvious answer is that your environment forces you to step more carefully. From a martial perspective you are heading into dangerous territory if your footing is neither convincing nor sure.
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Re: environments that seem to oppose practicing tai chi chua

Postby brer_momonga » Fri Apr 05, 2013 6:55 am

Dvivid wrote:WE ARE STUCK IN THE MATRIX.


it's so true... :cry: it really feels like that at work - and we would fit in too - if only we spent all of our free time consuming.

Monsoon wrote: so practising on uneven surfaces is not just natural but beneficial!
...
your environment forces you to step more carefully.


this was the same advice my master gave me. I've decided to use it as an opportunity to slow down and increase stepping sensitivity. I need to slow down my tai chi chuan anyway.
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Re: environments that seem to oppose practicing tai chi chua

Postby sub_human » Fri Apr 12, 2013 9:08 pm

Silk socks...
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