ChenSpear201

Chen Spear Part 4

Today's Chen Spear seminar was the perfect balance between lecture and form.
The lecture was very interesting as GM Tse started by comparing Taiji and Wing Chun, stating that Wing Chun is faster to learn and apply in a fight, whereas Taiji takes longer. Wing Chun also has fewer forms than the many forms found in Taiji. GM Tse then put us all on the spot when he asked us which 3 forms, Tui Shou and weapons would be the most important if we had to reduce the number of forms to make it faster to learn to quickly reach a good level which could be applied for fighting. As warm up Chan Si Jin could be used. For forms Xinjia Yi Lu, Xinjia Er Lu and Rolling Taiji were selected. For Tui Shou, back and forth, walking in a circle and free style made the cut. For weapons it was hard to stick to 3 and we ended up with Xinjia Dao, Jian, Spear, and either double Dao or double Jian when using two of the same weapon. So even when reducing the number of forms, we see that there is still a lot to learn. 
 
For the second half of the seminar we polished the movements from the previous seminars. The spinning of the spear which previously felt almost impossible now seemed to flow much more. We ended with some new movements, most spectacular of which was a shoulder assisted spear flick and swing…make sure you have enough space before you try that one out!
Looking forward to more next time.
by Thomas Hogg

Student Comments

 
Challenging fun big movements with Chen Spear today and the lecture was particularly helpful – guiding us on how to focus our practice.  Thanks, Sigong! -Kay
 
A really good Chen Taiji spear part 4 seminar. Some interesting new moves and each one subtly different from the other spear forms we have learned.   The discussion at the beginning on the simplifying  of the Tai Chi system following Wing Chun’s influence was very interesting. Thank you all especially those patient ones in the break out rooms. Your time was much appreciated. Daniel
 
Interesting lecture on how to develop faster in Taijiquan – keeping it simple and focusing on the most important forms and skills.
Thank you Sigong.
Paul Hogg
 
The fourth part of the Chen Spear spawned a few interesting questions in the breakout rooms- all   of which were good for getting us thinking more deeply about what we are doing  and whether we’re actually doing it correctly. After polishing the first parts a few times now they don’t seem quite as daunting. Looking forward to next time! Thank you Sigong. Peter Hogg
 
Really interesting lecture on focusing our Taijiquan development. Useful polishing and fun new movements to practise too. Thanks Sifu! Pete
 
Great to revisit Chen spear, always lots of good details. Thank you for a great seminar Sifu. Peter A
 
The beginning part is still a little tricky and I can see that the turning of the spear is an integral part of the form in order to control it in the right way. Looking forward to feel the form and the spear better. Thank you Sifu!
-Radu
 
Enjoyed the lecture, making us think about the essence of the forms, Tui Shou and weapons in Chen. Starting to understand better the positioning of the body and hands in the various Ja movements. Good to polish the movements many times, there is a lot of detail that is hard to pick up on first or second lesson. Many thanks Sigong. Christine