"What we call bad posture is actually correct posture for Tai Chi(traditional, not tai chi in the last 30 years)."

SillyDragon, you're soooooooo oblivious.

Shane

Shane,
Please enlighten me...

step one- realize you are soooooooo oblivious.

My error, Yang Sau Cheung' disciples.

Mr.Ip Tai Tak resides in Hong Kong, Mr. Chu Gin Soon resides in The United States and Mr. Chu King Hong resides in The United Kingdom.

Ip Tai Tak died last spring and Chu King Hung stopped teaching in the UK over 15 years ago. So I presume you trained with Chu Gin Soon. Please remember this is post Cheng Fu simplification as that has been all that has been available in the west, and I presume you practice post Fa Ke (Chen)simplification as that again is all that is available in the west. I think if you are serious you need to look a little deeper.

Simplification for public consumption has little to do with forms and postures. What is held back is the steps and methods of training. The form is nothing more than an expression of this.

Bad posture is simply bad posture and trying to rationalize it through reference to a structural principle is misguided.

If Tim says the posture is not proper then that's good enough for me. End of conversation!

Sounds like this could simply be a misunderstanding or improper application of the 'spinal wave'.

Shane,
You are very wise... Luckily I am oblvious. Now to work on step two!

I love people like you... make statements and offer nothing for rebuttal, and think you and only you/your way is correct.

Merry New Jeer!

And obviously oblivious to the spelling of oblivious.

Look at the photos of the old taiji, bagua and hsing-i masters (and there are lots around to provide such evidence); you rarely see a hunched or sloppy posture, even in the elderly ones.

Training to be hunched in the chest and shoulders and sloppy in your loose movements won't improve your martial skill and can help ruin your general health.

Step 2:

realize you've been mistaught....

"...runners hunch and round the bodies into little balls before the sprint..."


A well trained runner keeps their back as straight as possible while squating, in blocks with their fingers touching the ground. (this was designed to put all runners at a mutually disadvantageous position at the begining of a short race...not to fa jing them toward the finish line).

heres an example: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/tomgreen3.htm

If the hunched, rounded back was actually conducive to economic body use- then every professional athelete and all the record breaking runners in history have it wrong... or maybe you're soooooooo OBLIVIOUS.

Shane,
Mistaught? No... maybe taught differently.
However, it has been nice disagreeing with you.

Maybe I am not explaining my self properly... I believe you are reading to much into the word "hunched" thats why I said... rounded.

Question for you. Do you think it is possible to have a rounded posture(appearance) with a straight spine?

There's no such thing as a straight spine. The real discussion here is about proper body alignment, which includes much more than spinal posture. A spinal column is naturally curved. The bottom line up front is that if a rounded posture works for you (whatever that is), then use it. End of discussion. LOL!

You are all misinterpreting what is happening, you are trapped into purely physical considerations. What Tian is doing is energetic expression. It is explained perfectly well energetically:- 1 flatten the yao, 2 which opens the mingmen, 3 which allows the Chi to access the spine from the dantien, 4 this creates a wave that shows at the coil as a lift of the shoulders and back relatively, 5 which is then released with the strike. Look again at the clip. It emerges as a wave form or vibration. You will find more about this work in an interview between Tian Yin Jian and Yao Gou Qing at www.art-of-energetics.com link to Tian family and link to Interview

what clip?

Bob#2... click on the tab that says tai chi samples and there are links to clips at the top of the page.

what's wrong with that older guys neck and shoulders? did he have a botched vertabre fusion or is he making fun of no-necks? I hope it's not the later because my grandmother was a no-neck and I really think it's poor form to make fun of people who have physical malformities. she made incredible pecan pie. I used to tap her on the back of one shoulder and sneak a piece while she craned her body around to see who was tapping. then we'd both laugh and cry sometimes.

i like the "energy work" section. especially the 'swollowing' clip- i laughed so hard i passed a soup noodle though my nose. those guys are very amusing- it's nice to see people who don't take IMA so seriously that they wont post clips of them making fun of themselves.

Actually I train mainly in ba gua.

But thanks ever so much for the sound counsel.

I think "energy expression" sounds better than "bad alignment."

It's cool how in Taichi the usual laws of physics don't apply.

I thought we were all "trapped into purely physical considerations" because we lived on earth and stuff, but apparently not.

Lineage is very important in martial arts too. A guy wanted to fight me, I told him my lineage and he got scared and gave me his wallet.

I would have been very suspicious... what if he gave it too you and then yelled,"help... I am being robbed"!

Then you might fine out the lineage of Bubba while doing 12 months in the county hotel.