On behalf of Master Hwa, I am happy to welcome you to the Classical Tai Chi Forum. It is his hope that through the Forum, his students will have a venue in which to ask questions of him and discuss their experiences with Classical Tai Chi.
Send your questions and comments to parea10@yahoo.com. We are especially interested and are looking forward to hearing about your learning experiences from the tapes.
Make sure to subscribe to our Yahoo discussion user group.
Topics discussed in the Forum
Forum 1: body posture important to healthy knees and lower back; tai chi chuan& Taoism; push hand. Forum-01 (PDF)
Forum 2: typical experience of learning the first few lessons; Form competition; torso method; comments from experienced taiji practitioner; method of practicing internal movements; taichi weapon; what is “sink the body.” Forum-02 (PDF)
Forum 3: how to learn the beginning Forms; lineage of Wu style; Yang Cheng-fu & Yang Shao-hou, large frame & small frame; why movement with heel on ground is important to power, fa jing, and internal energy circulation; step or stance size. Forum-03 (PDF)
Forum 4: healing ability of tai chi practitioner; Young Wabu; Wu Gong Yi; silk reeling exercise ( chan ssu jing); t'ai chi walk. Forum-04 (PDF)
Forum 5: tai chi walk & balance; what speed one should use to play tai chi Form; inner feeling in playing the Form; Wu Chien (Chian) Chuan, his form, large circle (frame) & small circle (frame) or compact Form, and his martial art application; Yang style; Wu family healing tradition. Forum-05 (PDF)
Forum 6: yi – martial art intent in tai chi chuan; internal energy and qi; avoid extraneous motion & localized impulses; use DVD for self-improvement; freedom in using tai chi principle to everything; momentum in tai ji movement. Forum-06 (PDF)
Forum 7: philosophy of tai chi; tai chi & Taoism; I Ching (Book of Change); Lao Tzu Tao Te Ching; Sun Tzu The Art of War; yin & yang; relaxing & energizing; yield & fa jin; round Form & square Form; rigidity & suppleness; application of emptiness or nothingness; soft conquer hard; form & formless; the element of surprise; adapt winning strategy according to the enemy; stick to the opponent; ting jin. Forum-07 (PDF)
Forum 8: imaginary opponents during Form playing; projecting one's intent; applying tai chi in everyday life; internal power and fa jing; body posture and fa jing; martial art application of tai chi Form; breathing and qi gong. Forum-08 (PDF)
Forum 9: impact of body posture on fa jin & internal energy circulation; walking forward brush knee; cloud hand; Square Form; DVD and books with martial art applications. Forum-09 (PDF)
Forum 10: after finishing the lessons-a beginning, the turning step, impact of body posture-leaning or perpendicular, the importance of the sit back move to neutralize an attack, some key elements in the sit back move, understand the capability of dan tien or tan tien, coexistence of suppleness and energizing or soft and hard, learning with DVD's slow motion capability, tai chi walk, high kick, snake creep down. Forum-10 (PDF)
Forum 11: arm blocking (ward off) movement, why tight fist or clenched fist not include in tai chi Form, body posture (structure) or rooting in martial art application, becoming "one" with the opponent, dynamic tuck in and tai chi walk, names of the 108 Forms, learn the internal movements is to learn fa jin, fa jin is issued from the waist not from the legs, classical writings about tai chi, every arm movement in tai chi Form is internal, Peng jin, ideal shoes for playing the Form, practice the Form indoor or outdoor. Forum-11 (PDF)
Forum 12: health benefits of various components of tai chi-silk reeling exercise (chan ssu jin), push hand (tui shou), and sparring (san shou), daily practice time, students' experience in learning Square Form, practice internal movements seated, build good foundation in tai ji Form before trying sparring, importance of teaching classical taiji, how does one correct one's Form practice, how does taiji fair against other martial arts, difficulty in achieving the forward lean body structure. Forum-12 (PDF)
Forum 13: The passing of Grand Master Young Wabu, teaching Classical Tai Chi, teacher certification, a review and analysis of Master Hwa's lecture on classical chinese philosophy in Tai Chi, forward lean of the body when walking backwards, lead foot to pull the body forward or backward-no pushing, relationship and scope between different frame size of Tai Chi Forms: large frame (circle), mid frame (circle), small frame (circle) and square form, past and coming events. Forum-13 (PDF)
Forum 14: How to move the arm and the core body as a unit; folding the body along the spine; effect of tai chi on lymphatic system; emphasize on tai chi Form or martial art application: application of Tsai or Cai in the Thirteen Movements of Tai Chi Chuan; the proper under arm spacing from the body; one inch punch move in the Form. Forum-14 (PDF)
Forum 15: Turning movement silk reeling exercise (on Youtube); folding the body along the spine exercise; newly certified Classical Tai Chi instructors; importance of the nonmoving part of the body; sources of help for distance students; Yahoo Group discussions. Forum-15 (PDF)
Forum 16: This Forum presents two Youtube video. The first video is about Tai Chi Walk. The last few minutes of this video is an important addition to the DVD Lesson 1, regarding how to use internal move to pull the body forward and backward. The second Youtube video is about how to move the arm and the core as a unit. Forum-16 (PDF)
Forum 17: Emphasis on Square Form; experience with distant learning students and in-class students; learning path for distant learning students; key points on practicing square form; free DVD set on square form; a discussion of the Square Form and a compilation of the entire 108 Square Form moves in written form; wuji positions & zhan zhuang applications; turning at the waist vs. turning using kua/hip.. Forum-17 (PDF)
Search Forum
Thanks to Sifu James Roach, there is a searchable Index for the Forum. Please go to www.classicaltaichiofbuffalo.com and the link to the index is posted on the articles/curriculum page.
Dear Students,
We have created a classicaltaichi user group on Yahoo as a way for Master Hwa's students to discuss their experiences with learning, with each other if they wish, and also to ask questions of Master Hwa more directly. I will moderate the group and it is only for his students. We will continue with the Forum but this is for the times in between the publication. Please click below to join the group.
Em K.,
Editor
T. M., Virginia
I am very surprised that I can learn from your DVD so readily. I was apprehensive about learning from DVD, since my previous lessons from a teacher in a class did not go very smoothly. Your teaching is so thorough and orderly. I also find that DVD's capabilities of play in slow motion repetitively at will and from different angles are actually more suitable in learning than classroom learning.
S. B., Oregon
I bought the intro and four forms tapes early last summer and have found them most excellent for learning the forms and the internal discipline—I have been studying regularly and steadily.
T. C., Washington
The key element, for me, is the "Internal Discipline" which Dr. Hwa presents so clearly. In my experience of trying out different taijiquan styles and teachers, this information and guidance on "internal discipline" is very rare. If you study Wu style with him, you're very fortunate. I had no idea that a direct student of Wu Jianquan's was living and teaching here in the U.S. I first read about Young Wabu in an article that appeared a few months ago in "Qi" magazine.
Y. Z., Singapore
Your suggestions are very good. I have downloaded all those forum files you mentioned. Those questions and answers on the forum are really informative.
M. B., Massachusetts
Since I have been practicing the tai chi walk for 30 min. to an hour a day, I can feel my body is like one. I am on lesson #6 and everything feels very good—a lot of the basic movement is starting to come together. Thanks again for being so generous with your knowledge.