Nasser: April 2007 Archives
I managed to visit a few Taiji schools in the area and spend some time at each. There are a lot of good schools and teachers here. I finally decided to stay with Li's Tai Chi & Kung Fu Academy in Cupertino. Master Shu Dong Li is very professional and very serious about Taiji, and focuses a lot on the internal energy and the foundations in addition to the forms. The students are pretty advanced, and most of them are Chinese, which is another good sign. I have been to the school for a second "trial" session and it's obvious to me that Taiji - specially the Chen style - is a very serious thing here, which is what I've been looking for. The school itself is a large and professional facility.
Master Li has DVDs showing the forms along with step by step instructions, and I can tell you seeing different tapes/DVDs from different teachers they are of very good quality in terms of content. I regularly use my Chen Style Old Form First Road as a learning aid. Obviously tapes and DVDs are not to be used as the sole means of learning, but a helpful tool to complement the actual class.
Some other good schools/teachers in the area:
Hong Dao Wushu Academy
Academi of Tai Chi
Wu (Hao) Tai Chi Foundation
Taijiquan Tutelage of Palo Alto (Yang Cheng-Fu style)
Master Li has DVDs showing the forms along with step by step instructions, and I can tell you seeing different tapes/DVDs from different teachers they are of very good quality in terms of content. I regularly use my Chen Style Old Form First Road as a learning aid. Obviously tapes and DVDs are not to be used as the sole means of learning, but a helpful tool to complement the actual class.
Some other good schools/teachers in the area:
Hong Dao Wushu Academy
Academi of Tai Chi
Wu (Hao) Tai Chi Foundation
Taijiquan Tutelage of Palo Alto (Yang Cheng-Fu style)
32-step is an interesting routine. It's much more complex compared to the 24-step routine, but in terms of combining styles it's still very Yang centric. I liked the routine when I learned it, specially since it's more demanding and there are more curves built into it (I particularly loved the beginning of the form). However, now that I think back, I think it would have been just as effective if I had started 42-step right after 24. I don't think 32-step adds much value for somebody who wants to learn the competition form anyway. Nevertheless, I found this nice demonstration of the form which I'm adding here as a reference:
I promised I will talk about the significance of the 24-step routine. Taiji is an ancient martial art, and like anything ancient, people have changed it over time based on personal taste, preferences, and new needs, resulting in many styles and flavors. I relate to that very much because the same thing has happened to music in my culture.
While having different styles and flavors is necessary in terms of authenticity and also the growth of an art form, it makes things hard when it comes to education, "common understanding", and competition.
Therefore back in 1956 a shorter version of the Yang style Taiji was developed as the "standard simplified form". Some of the harder physical moves were taken out to make it appropriate for pretty much any age, doable in about 6 minutes. This routine has 24 postures or "steps" and is therefore called the 24-step Taiji routine.
24-step is the most widely known and practiced form of Taiji these days. So if you travel to a country far far away (for me Australia!) and you happen to run into some people doing Taiji in a park, if you know the 24-step form you have a good chance of being able to join them and enjoy group Taiji.
I have heard - I hope I can see it some day - that in the mornings people get together in parks in Beijing and do the 24-step Taiji to music. The only way to achieve group practice at such levels is through having a standard, not-so-hard form. That's why if you're into Taiji you pretty much have to learn 24-step. Additionally, if you're doing a different style like Chen or Wu, 24-step will give you a flavor of what Yang style looks like without making you learn the really long 108-step original routine!
A detailed account of the 24-step form can be found here.
While having different styles and flavors is necessary in terms of authenticity and also the growth of an art form, it makes things hard when it comes to education, "common understanding", and competition.
Therefore back in 1956 a shorter version of the Yang style Taiji was developed as the "standard simplified form". Some of the harder physical moves were taken out to make it appropriate for pretty much any age, doable in about 6 minutes. This routine has 24 postures or "steps" and is therefore called the 24-step Taiji routine.
24-step is the most widely known and practiced form of Taiji these days. So if you travel to a country far far away (for me Australia!) and you happen to run into some people doing Taiji in a park, if you know the 24-step form you have a good chance of being able to join them and enjoy group Taiji.
I have heard - I hope I can see it some day - that in the mornings people get together in parks in Beijing and do the 24-step Taiji to music. The only way to achieve group practice at such levels is through having a standard, not-so-hard form. That's why if you're into Taiji you pretty much have to learn 24-step. Additionally, if you're doing a different style like Chen or Wu, 24-step will give you a flavor of what Yang style looks like without making you learn the really long 108-step original routine!
A detailed account of the 24-step form can be found here.
Very nice Chen style demonstration by master
Chen Zheng Lei. Sounds to me like a flavor of the old frame routine one. I see a lot of common elements and sequences with the routine I know as the old frame routine one. I have learned to accept that with old routines there is no "one" right form. There are many verities, evolved and changed over time as each master taught his or her students...
Here is the direct link in case the video does not show up.
Here is the direct link in case the video does not show up.
It was a pleasant surprise for me upon moving to the Bay Area to find out there are many Taiji schools here. There are a lot of Chinese people living in this area and therefore one sees more traditional Chinese things - everything - here: From authentic Chinese food to Real Taiji schools.
I'm planning to attend a session at a few of them to get a feel about the school, the teachers, and the level of students. I'm very excited!
One should be able to find a Taiji school without difficulty in either San Francisco, San Mateo, or San Jose/Cupertino area.
I'm planning to attend a session at a few of them to get a feel about the school, the teachers, and the level of students. I'm very excited!
One should be able to find a Taiji school without difficulty in either San Francisco, San Mateo, or San Jose/Cupertino area.
In case you're wondering why there are two different names for Taiji, it goes back to the history of romanizing (using a phonetic notation) for written Chinese. Because of unique characteristics of the Chinese (Mandarin, to be more accurate), it's practically impossible to transliterate the language into a western language. Romanization helps us transcribe the sounds, or pronunciations, of characters.
The first widely used romanization of Chinese was developed in 19th centuray through the (independent, but related) works of Thomas Wade and Herbert Giles. Many reference and well-known books printed in the west about China - before 1979 - used the Wade-Giles notation. In fact Wade, who was British ambassador in China, published the first Chinese text book in English using this system he devised. The transcription of the Chinese words for Taiji in Wade-Giles notation is T'ai chi ch'uan.
Later on, during the 60's and 70's, the Chinese government had a new effort in standardizing the romanization of Mandarin for teaching in schools. The results, officially in place in 1979, is called Pinyin and has replaced the older Wade-Giles system. It's more flexible in terms of transcribing Chinese sounds. In this system, the sound that was represented using ch in Wade-Giles is j, and the sound representing ch' is q. Therefore, in the Pinyin system one writes Tai ji quan.
Given the fact that Pinyin is the new standard which has practically replaved Wade-Giles, and also listening to how Chinese people actually pronounce the name, I have been consistently using Tai ji Quan or Taiji in short since over the past few years.
The first widely used romanization of Chinese was developed in 19th centuray through the (independent, but related) works of Thomas Wade and Herbert Giles. Many reference and well-known books printed in the west about China - before 1979 - used the Wade-Giles notation. In fact Wade, who was British ambassador in China, published the first Chinese text book in English using this system he devised. The transcription of the Chinese words for Taiji in Wade-Giles notation is T'ai chi ch'uan.
Later on, during the 60's and 70's, the Chinese government had a new effort in standardizing the romanization of Mandarin for teaching in schools. The results, officially in place in 1979, is called Pinyin and has replaced the older Wade-Giles system. It's more flexible in terms of transcribing Chinese sounds. In this system, the sound that was represented using ch in Wade-Giles is j, and the sound representing ch' is q. Therefore, in the Pinyin system one writes Tai ji quan.
Given the fact that Pinyin is the new standard which has practically replaved Wade-Giles, and also listening to how Chinese people actually pronounce the name, I have been consistently using Tai ji Quan or Taiji in short since over the past few years.
This is a great video demonstrating the simplified Yang short form - the 24-step Taiji. I will write more about the significance of the 24-step routine in a separate post:
Here's the direct link in case the video does not show properly.
Here's the direct link in case the video does not show properly.
Wow! Finally I have created a blog on Taiji. I will try to make this a place for documenting what I have learned and will learn about Taiji, as well as any good material that I find on the web. I was checking Youtube the other day, and there are so many Taiji related videos out there. Not every one of them a good performance though. I will post the best ones that I find here, as well as any other useful information I run across...
May qi be with us!
May qi be with us!
