Tai Chi Striking involves the transfer of internal power. Tai Chi Striking can also be a strike where the force of the strike is directed to the weakest part of the recipient. This involves internal sensitivity in order for the practitioner to be able to sense the weak area and then to direct force to that area instantly with a strike.
One way for a Tai Chi Striking technique to qualify as a proper “internal” Tai Chi Striking technique is for the whole body weight to be transferred in the strike. The recipient will feel this and may liken it to getting hit by a large tree trunk. This is the first stage. At later stages of Tai Chi Striking the body weight may not be felt by the recipient but the effects of proper Tai Chi Striking will be unmistakable. Most often the visual result is that the recipient goes flying even though the Tai Chi Master only physically touched them.
In Tai Chi Striking I have found that it is fairly easy for most students to grasp and understand how a Tai Chi practitioner can transfer full body weight to a recipient through a touch.
With this kind of training the question I am most often asked is, how can the Tai Chi practitioner touch the recipient and instantly feel where the weak area is to transfer force so that the weakness in the recipients body becomes the focal point and very little force “has” to be put and very little force “is” put into the Tai Chi Striking technique. The basic answer is that you need to work on as much hands on training as you can get where you are feeling into the other person’s body. After a good bit of practice you will learn how to feel the strengths and weaknesses inside of the other person and eventually you get good at it. Once this occurs then you will graduate to being able to see and / or feel it without physical contact. Then, it becomes fairly easy to do higher level Tai Chi Striking where you do not put out much force but the recipient gets blown off of their feet. Our “Internal Power through Push Hands” instructional DVD teaches the drills and skills you need to work on to build this level of ability. It is our hope to help revolutionize the deeper aspects and understanding of Tai Chi in America.
If you already have our materials and are working on this kind of Tai Chi Striking please be careful not to injure your partners. When this kind of Tai Chi Striking power is right the practitioner may not feel like they are doing much of anything but the recipient receives a lot of force even if the reason they receive it is due to their own weakness / lack of internal body connection.
Good training to you and yours.
Until next time.
Speak Your Mind