Teacher Yen's Training
Using Muscles, Not Stretching Them
Yan's 37 Form Ward off and Sit Back
FB
外肩宽 (Outer Shoulder Width) and 内肩宽 (Inner Shoulder Width)
Four points Push Hands Practice Drill
蜻蜓點水
Tsaifucius Tai Chi Notes-2
2026年9月29日 星期二
Using Muscles, Not Stretching Them
Using Muscles, Not Stretching Them
Never use or stretch the muscles” should not be taken literally. Moving and supporting your arms, legs and trunk requires muscle activity. The practical question is how much effort you use and how well it is coordinated.
In Tai Chi, teachers may be addressing different problems:
| Teaching instruction | What it may help you learn | What can go wrong if taken too far |
|---|---|---|
| “Use the muscles to extend.” | Actively support the posture and reach with control | Excessive tightening, locked joints or isolated pushing |
| “Use qi or intention to extend.” | Let intention guide the movement, with less unnecessary tension | Becoming limp, or imagining that no muscular work is needed |
“Using muscles” and “stretching muscles” are also different. A muscle can contract to produce movement while another lengthens to allow it. An extended posture does not necessarily require a strong stretching sensation.
For example, when extending your arm forward:
- Let your intention lead toward the direction of the reach.
- Allow the shoulder blade and arm to move together, with support from your trunk.
- Use enough muscular effort to support the arm, while keeping the neck and shoulder comfortable.
- Keep a little freedom in the elbow; stop before you have to lock it or strain.
You should feel supported length and available movement, rather than either rigid tension or complete relaxation.
I would interpret “extend through qi” as a traditional practice cue for coordinated, attentive movement, not as evidence that qi physically replaces muscle action. A teacher might use that cue to help a student who is already trying too hard.
For your practice, the useful combination is: clear intention, sufficient muscle activity, and minimal unnecessary tension. Ask the master: “When you say not to use muscles, do you mean not to tense them excessively?” That distinction often resolves the apparent disagreement.
Bagua Walking
Bagua Walking
“Bagua walking” usually means Baguazhang circle walking—八卦掌走圈 or 轉掌. You walk around a centre while coordinating your steps, waist, trunk and arms. It trains balance and the ability to turn and change direction while remaining connected.
Different schools teach different footwork. The mud-wading step（趟泥步）is one method; some use more natural stepping. There is no single footfall that is correct for every lineage. 八卦掌 - TAIPING INSTITUTE
For learning the basic coordination, start with this simplified version, before attempting formal palm changes:
| Part | What to do |
|---|---|
| Circle | Choose a broad circle on level, nonslip ground. A wider circle requires less abrupt turning. |
| Posture | Keep your head comfortably upright, shoulders relaxed and knees softly bent. Start with a high stance. |
| Steps | Take short, quiet steps. Lift each foot enough to clear the ground; don’t deliberately drag it. |
| Weight transfer | Place the advancing foot gently, then progressively transfer support onto it. Avoid falling onto the front foot. |
| Turning | Let your feet and hips create the turn. Keep each knee generally following its foot’s direction; don’t twist over a firmly planted foot. |
| Trunk and arms | Initially keep your arms comfortable. Add a slight inward orientation of the torso without forcing a deep twist. |
| Direction changes | Stop comfortably and turn with several small steps. Learn formal 扣步、擺步—inward and outward steps—from a teacher. |
In traditional practice, inward body orientation and the palm posture are coordinated with the walking, rather than performed independently by the arms. Dragon Phoenix
What should you feel? A smooth succession of support: one leg receives your weight while the other becomes free to step. Your torso remains supported as your direction changes. As with your two-cup exercise, observe the changing support instead of forcing a particular “energy pathway.”
For your knee, I would avoid starting with low stances, tight circles or forceful inward steps. If walking the circle produces pain, catching or giving way, stop rather than trying to correct it by sinking lower.
A useful check is: can you pause at any point without stumbling, bracing your shoulders or twisting your knee? A teacher should then refine the stepping and palm position for the particular style you are learning.
Pour Water from Cup to Cup
Pour Water from Cup to Cup
Both same-side and diagonal connections can be valid ways to explore coordination—but the correct one for this particular exercise depends on what your master intends to teach. You do not need to force yourself to feel a predetermined connection.
When you pour water from the right cup into the left, the right hand’s load decreases while the left hand’s load increases. Your trunk and legs coordinate to support that changing load. Which foot carries more pressure depends on your stance, the cups’ positions, and any shift of your body. There is no mechanical rule that the left hand must connect exclusively to either leg. This follows from whole-body balance of forces and turning effects. OpenStax
| Connection you explore | What to observe |
|---|---|
| Same side: left hand–left leg | Can you receive the increasing load without collapsing the left waist or raising the shoulder? |
| Diagonal: left hand–right leg | Can you maintain coordination across the trunk without twisting or bracing? |
| Whole body | Can the support adjust smoothly while your breathing, shoulders and balance remain comfortable? |
These are observation cues, not proof that force travels along one isolated pathway. Feeling a connection to the opposite leg does not necessarily mean that leg bears more weight.
For the yin–yang aspect, one possible interpretation is the continuous relationship between emptying and filling, releasing and receiving. Neither hand becomes inactive: even the emptying hand still supports and controls its cup.
Try pouring slowly with a small amount of water, first observing naturally. Then explore each connection gently. The useful question is: “What changes throughout my body as one cup empties and the other fills?”
If your master specifically calls this “crossing energy,” ask whether the intended instruction is “receiving hand connected to the opposite supporting leg.” That would identify the exercise’s purpose more clearly.
2026年9月22日 星期二
Wayne 加州許永強老師
Wayne 加州許永強老師
Bagua Walking
Pour Water from Cup to Cup
Standing Meditation with Eyes Closed
Central equilibrium and Leaning
Stretch, Elongate, and Expand
Rotate from the Qua and Rotate the Qua
心靜Silence
Silence helps Release Tension
TALK SUMMARY: SONG, IST TRAINING & TAI CHI
Wayne's Demos
Wayne's Tai chi Terms
Pole Training in Push Hands
ArmBridge Tai Chi Exercises
Roc Flying Cross-Shaped Stake Exercise
Wayne's list of 6 and 10 regular partner drills
The Figure 8 落胯 (luò kuà) training
The Push Hands Roly-Poly Practice
Root Training 2
Root Training 3
Listening and Responding with Rooted Force
落胯training
How to Manage the Spine When Forced to Lean Back
Standing Meditation with Eyes Closed
Standing Meditation with Eyes Closed
For standing meditation（站樁）, I suggest keeping your eyes gently open or half-open（垂簾）, with a soft gaze ahead and slightly downward.
Closing your eyes may help you turn attention inward（內觀）, but it also removes visual information used for balance. Closed eyes do not necessarily mean deeper relaxation or better practice.
Given your knee’s previous giving-way episodes, practise near a stable support and keep your eyes open. If you become unsteady or dizzy, sit down.
Keep the head naturally upright, shoulders relaxed, and breathing unforced:
「目光柔和，神意內斂；鬆而不懈，靜而清醒。」
Soften the gaze, gather attention inward; stay relaxed, supported, and alert.
Even if your mind feels completely empty（心無雜念）, open and closed eyes still give your body different information. Mental quiet does not remove that difference.
Eyes softly open（鬆視）： You receive visual information while remaining quiet inside. You see without staring or following every detail—見而不逐.
Eyes closed（閉目）： Visual distractions decrease, so bodily sensations may become more noticeable. However, you lose visual reference points for balance, and may sway more or become sleepy.
In standing meditation, 空 does not mean losing awareness. It means releasing unnecessary thought and tension while remaining clearly aware—空而有覺，鬆而不懈.
You can practise the same inner quiet with either, but softly open eyes help you bring that quiet into movement and contact with others: 內靜外明—quiet within, aware without.
Central equilibrium and Leaning
Central equilibrium and Leaning
Central equilibrium（中定）can include a bow stance（弓步）with a slight forward inclination. The important distinction is between leaning as an aligned whole and collapsing at the waist（折腰）.
Aligned inclination（整體前傾）： Your head, trunk, and pelvis remain coordinated; your back stays naturally lengthened. You can receive pressure, turn, or withdraw without first having to recover your balance.
Collapsing forward（折腰、前栽）： Your chest drops, your hips remain behind, or your weight falls forward so that you depend on the partner’s support.
中定 is dynamic balance and control, not simply a vertical appearance. However, 中正 also concerns posture, and different Tai Chi lineages have different requirements: some permit a slight incline in certain bow stances; others teach a more upright trunk.
A useful check is: If your partner gently removes contact, can you remain balanced and change direction comfortably? That is one indication of maintaining your own centre.
「身可微傾，中不可失；弓步有根，進退自如。」
The body may incline slightly while retaining its centre; a rooted bow stance allows free advance and retreat.
Demo: standing up from chair partner drill
Demo: standing up from chair partner drill
Gemini Interpretation
Here is the transcript of the video along with an analysis of the internal martial arts principles being taught
Video Transcript
Instructor (seated initially): Yes, we don’t initiate from here
Student (standing): Mm-hmm
Instructor: See that
Student: Yeah
Instructor: So, right now, my center is not in my foot anymore, it’s right here
(Instructor stands up smoothly using internal connection)
Instructor: You feel that integrity
Student: No, it didn’t come back in
Instructor: And it gets to your feet
Student: Yeah, I was already off my feet as soon as you started to rise
Instructor: Yeah, because I’m connecting your energy with one—see, it’s a very single line, right
Student: Right
Instructor: But if you do it wrong… see
Person off-camera: Right, that’s good enough when that happens, yes
Instructor: Just know that it’s the same as here
Person off-camera: It is, it would be, yes
Instructor: You try it, okay
(Student stands up successfully while maintaining connection)
Instructor: See that
Person off-camera: That definitely looked right
Instructor: Yeah, and didn’t come from here
Student: Wow, I felt you like… tugging me from the bottom, right
Teaching & Technical Analysis
- Rooting and Center Shift (Seated Connection):
- The demonstration begins seated on a chair to isolate mechanics
. The instructor emphasizes that while seated, his center shifts from his feet to the seat-chair-ground structure . - By framing the body and chair as a single grounding structure, he demonstrates how to divert and sink incoming force directly to the ground rather than opposing it locally at the point of contact (the chest/hands)
.
- Avoiding Localized Resistance (Contact Point Neutralization):
- A core lesson highlighted throughout the video is avoiding pushing back directly from the point of contact ("don't come from where the contact point is")
. - When receiving force at the chest, initiating movement from the upper body or contact zone creates double-weighting or tension
. Instead, the incoming force is absorbed, integrated into the core body structure, and directed downward into the Dantian and feet .
- "Rolling" Force Transmission and Rising:
- When rising from the chair, the movement is described as a "rolling" wave or continuous momentum
. - By maintaining structural integrity and taking incoming force down to the base before allowing the upward movement to roll through, the instructor uproots the incoming attacker without relying on muscular strain (Li)
. The energy acts as a single continuous vector rather than disjointed movement .
- Pedagogical Drill Methodology:
- Role Reversal & Sensory Feedback: After demonstrating, the instructor places the student in the seated position to physically experience sinking energy to the Dantian and rising smoothly while under gentle incoming force
. - Verbal Coaching: The instructor monitors tension levels, prompting the student to avoid head/upper-body muscle engagement and stay focused on continuous connection until the student successfully executes the ground-driven rise
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