findley Posted June 8, 2009 Hey, that's cool... Â can you get any elaborate in your description of this form... or maybe suggest a text to learn this from... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tabula Rasa Posted June 8, 2009 Hey, that's cool... Â can you get any elaborate in your description of this form... or maybe suggest a text to learn this from... Â Â I compiled and condensed this list of qualities that underlie the eight Taiji moves about 10 years ago from the teachings I had read in a number of classic T'ai Chi books, in addition to information that was provided by my teacher many years ago. Â I also created a symbolic chart of each of the gates with these qualities in a right brain visual presentation. I was unable to figure the way to put the charts into this forum, and I'm not sure I want to share them at this time, so I chose to share them in a basic word list. Â I find that contemplation of these descriptive words adds depth and quality to my practice of these forms, whether I do them in my formal Yang Style Long Form practice, or flowing them in with my Freeform Taiji practice. Â Thanks for asking. I hope this will be helpful. You can find out more about the Chinese Taiji Classics by googling. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
living mountain Posted June 8, 2009 Thanks for posting this- it adds quite a bit of connectivity to my practice- to envision the trigrams shifting as i move through sequences is quite interesting! Â -lm. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tabula Rasa Posted June 9, 2009 "Of all the elements, the Sage should take water as his preceptor. Water is yielding but all-conquering. Water extinguishes Fire, or finding itself likely to be defeated, escapes as steam and re-forms. Water washes away Soft Earth, or, when confronted by rocks, seeks a way round. Water corrodes Iron till it crumbles to dust; it saturates the atmosphere so that Wind dies. Water gives way to obstacles with deceptive humility, for no power can prevent it following its destined course to the sea. Water conquers by yielding; it never attacks but always wins the last battle. The Sage who makes himself as Water is distinguished for his humility. He embraces passivity, acts from non-action and conquers the world." Â Tao Cheng, 11th century Taoist poet Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
steve Posted June 9, 2009 Very nice work Carol. Have you done something similar with the other five? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
findley Posted June 9, 2009 How interesting that you quote that poem! Â Just yesterday, I was thinking about this comment, (also in the TTC: highest good is like water...) Â ...Well, this cannot be true to pure taoist thought. The archetypes of all of the substances, (of the 8 trigrams,) should be utilized to their capacities in circumstances deeming such necessary. The most powerful 'tip-off' that such is corrupted taoist thought, lie in the dogmatic assertion, 'highest good is like water'. Â When it is necessary to to act like water, be like water; mountain, mountain; fire, fire. . . . Â Such harmony in action will be begotten from an achieved state of wu-wei... when one is truly not conscious of how one is, or ought, to be acting, but only responding appropriately. Â ehhh hurry for old tai-chi classics!! soudns like more homework for when I am in beijing !!!! Maybe I won't even need a master, if I have a masterful book at my command Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wudangspirit Posted June 9, 2009 This is nice how it relates to Taoist cosmology. This can also be related to the concept of Nine Palaces as well. Baguazhang uses these concepts. This is all a part of internal cultivation and how it relates to the movements. You can incorporate the Nine Palaces and 8 Extra Ordinary Channels for the internal energy movement of each move and the subleties of their nature. Â Tao Bless and Nice work Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tabula Rasa Posted June 9, 2009 How interesting that you quote that poem!  Just yesterday, I was thinking about this comment, (also in the TTC: highest good is like water...)  ...Well, this cannot be true to pure taoist thought. The archetypes of all of the substances, (of the 8 trigrams,) should be utilized to their capacities in circumstances deeming such necessary. The most powerful 'tip-off' that such is corrupted taoist thought, lie in the dogmatic assertion, 'highest good is like water'.  When it is necessary to to act like water, be like water; mountain, mountain; fire, fire. . . .  Such harmony in action will be begotten from an achieved state of wu-wei... when one is truly not conscious of how one is, or ought, to be acting, but only responding appropriately.  ehhh hurry for old tai-chi classics!! soudns like more homework for when I am in beijing !!!! Maybe I won't even need a master, if I have a masterful book at my command  Excellent point, findley! I agree completely that taking this advice literally would be unbalanced, and not going with the flow of the present moment.  The only possible small modifiers to this insightful criticism of Tao Cheng's poem that I can come up with are that (1) we might give it some slack for being written as a poem & (2) the use of the word preceptor in the first line, which means "a teacher or instructor", not a dictator.  In addition, I don't really know the exact words of Tao Cheng, or their precise meaning at the time he wrote this, and I have no clue who did that translation! I have learned from this to see more clearly, thank you!  Thanks for expanding my horizons, and best wishes while in Beijing!    This is nice how it relates to Taoist cosmology. This can also be related to the concept of Nine Palaces as well. Baguazhang uses these concepts. This is all a part of internal cultivation and how it relates to the movements. You can incorporate the Nine Palaces and 8 Extra Ordinary Channels for the internal energy movement of each move and the subleties of their nature.  Tao Bless and Nice work  Thank you, woodangspirit.  I know nothing about Taoist cosmology, nor am I familiar with the term "Nine Palaces", and will look them up. Anything else you have to share about your interesting points will be appreciated.      Very nice work Carol. Have you done something similar with the other five?   Gassho, xuesheng....thank you for being an encouraging teacher.  And so I take the first step, a humble beginning....  advancing - jin retreating - tui stepping to the left side - ku stepping to the right side - pan settling at the center - ding  Am I pointing in the right direction?  Any and all help with this effort will be greatly appreciated. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
