Tim,

I was reading the section from Effortless Combat Throws on bending from the hips, and the picture illustrating the incorrect alignment looks a lot like the stance taken in Chen style tai ji. Am I mistaken about this similarity? I've been doing Chen for a while, but practicing Yang for much longer, and I've always felt more comfortable in Yang style stances, maybe this is why?

My second question is about the section on maintaining the alignment of hips and shoulders. It sounds like you are saying that the shoulder should always be directly over the hips, that when rotating to the right, if the hips rotate 30 degrees then the shoulders should only rotate 30 degrees. Does that mean you never turn the shoulders more than the hips? Or is it still structurally sound to turn the shoulders a little more than the hips, depending on the situation?

Thanks in advance for taking the time to read my long questions and for your answers.

Peter

Hi Peter,
I missed your post.

In answer to your question, let me first state that I'm not criticising the methods your teachers advocate, since I don't know firsthand what they are, this is an explanation of what I teach: I believe in keeping the spine naturally elongated, by lifting with the crown of the head. Most of the time, the pelvis remains neutral (not over-arching the back or tucking the rear under)and free to move. In some situations, you will have to curl your pelvis under (if you dive into a forward roll for example) or arch your back more (when lifting a heavy weight off the floor for example). Any method that advocates "holding" the spine or pelvis in any fixed position is, in my opinion unnatural and incorrect.

The curves in your back are there for a reason, collapsing the lower back and slumping the chest or otherwise trying to "straighten" the spine into a vertical column vioates the nature of the body's constuction.

In answer to your second question, the shoulders should not rotate further than the hips when applying force. There may be a slightly greater rotation in the shoulders from the whip-like effect of momentum from the hips, but not much of one.

Tim,

Thanks for your answers. I have always felt more comfortable in styles that move in a manner closer to just walking (Yang style taiji, xing yi) than in Chen, but I guess it could be that I am not doing Chen properly yet, or maybe it just isn't "my style." I suppose the best way to figure that out is more practice, both form and with my classmates.

Peter