Got to play solo today with the rain and onshore wind discouraging our stalwarts. Worked on balance, so much harder outside the kitchen.
Balance in Golden Pheasant Stands On Left Leg
During our last practice, I was reminded that the human head is quite heavy, ten or twelve pounds. Same as a small to medium bowling ball. So we better not let that flop around uncontrolled while doing the form.
As one example, the balance in Golden Pheasant Stands On Left Leg becomes a lot harder if we bend our head forward to get low for the lead-in movement, Snake Creeps Down. Now our skull is no longer over our feet.
When it comes time to stand on one leg, we have a problem: we have to get the head back over the feet at the same time as we are bringing the right leg forward and off the ground. Good luck.
Solving Problems
Tilton’s Law: Solve the First Problem. tl;dr When working on a problem, consider any difficulty addressed prior to the problem. A flawed solution to the earlier problem might have created conditions provoking the current problem.
If instead of bowing our head to get low we put our legs to work, Snake can be executed with the back and head upright, squarely over the feet.
To develop this, before initiating Snake, we proprioceptively feel the weight of our head centered over our feet, adjusting if necessary. Now we can Creep.
Suggestions for alternatives to “proprioceptively” welcome in the comments.
As we Creep, we must again feel ourselves holding this head-atop-feet alignment as we shift our weight to the front foot, so when we come to Stand On Left Leg our only remaining task is to lift the right leg. Still challenging, but now it gets our full attention, untroubled by a wayward bowling ball of a skull. Our back and neck are already straight and upright, so there is nothing to do there, and we can use our blocking arms to adjust balance if needed.
Too easy?
As we said, yes, the crouch of Snake is now deeper and will require more strength to hold and exit, but we do tai chi precisely to strengthen our legs. That problem is a win!
Looking Cool
Continuing on to the next movement, Golden Pheasant Stands on Right Leg, the challenge remains, albeit in lesser form. Stepping down, we must resist any temptation to incline the head forward to ease the lowering onto the right leg. Make the left leg do the work to support us as we shift our weight emptily to the right leg, keeping the back and head upright and over the feet.
The legs work so the back and neck relax. Balance for lifting the left leg is easier, back and neck are unstrained, and we look cool doing it.
Cool? More and more Master Chen has emphasized simply looking cool, and playfully thinking “I am so cool!” while doing the form. It helps us relax, stand taller, and energize more grandly, the yang of every movement.
Great problem solving technique.
U are so cool. Maybe there is something to this tai chi thing after all?
U might just get me to ure class. Hot for teacher.
Very funny, Mom.
But seriously folks, on this my third deep dive into tai chi, perhaps only because I finally conformed to Master Chen’s speed (after noticing I was doing the form in nine minutes to his twelve) I have decided, yeah, maybe there is more to tai chi.
When at the school, we go from the form into tui shou “push hands” throwing each other around, then onto san shou boxing, belting each other, both so much fun we lose the form.
Interestingly, Master Chen religiously started each tui shou and san shou class by leading us in the full form. I never questioned why. Maybe I should have.