Question for Yiliquan

[James Kovacich]

What exactly is pinyin? I've seen it referred to quite abit, but never understood it.

Funny English reading on my part. I've been around enough Chinese based martial artists to be aware the quan and chuan are pronounced the same but when my first instinct when seein quan is to pronounce it kwan.

 

[East Winds]

Yiliquan1

Would you care to explain to us exactly what Yili Taiji is? and what paramaters you consider makes 48 step combined Taiji more "advanced" than 24 step?

regards

East Winds

"When asked about breathing in Tai Chi, my Master replied, "Yes keep doing it"

 

[Matt Stone]

Originally posted by akja
What exactly is pinyin? I've seen it referred to quite abit, but never understood it.

Funny English reading on my part. I've been around enough Chinese based martial artists to be aware the quan and chuan are pronounced the same but when my first instinct when seein quan is to pronounce it kwan.

Pinyin is the officially recognized method of romanization (the process of transliterating, not translating, words from non-English languages into English) for Chinese as directed by the Chinese Governement.

 

[Matt Stone]

Originally posted by East Winds
Yiliquan1

Would you care to explain to us exactly what Yili Taiji is? and what paramaters you consider makes 48 step combined Taiji more "advanced" than 24 step?

Well, to be perfectly honest, having never studied the compulsory sets (i.e. 24, 36, 48, etc.), I'm none too familiar with them. When I am watching someone perform, I can tell whether they have any fighting training in their background, and I can usually tell when someone is just doing "Taiji dance."

The first Taiji form learned in Yili is called Yili Jiju Taijiquan. I am not sure on the number of postures, as I didn't learn it that way nor have I ever referred to it by a numbering method. I was told in Japan that it had the surface appearance of a modified 36 set, but I didn't really know what that meant so the comment just kind of hung there...

Anyway, from what I have been taught, Yili Jiju Taijquan (we just call it the Short Form) is the simplified Yang form with modifications. When our teacher was in China, he saw that the Taiji players all had narrow stances, there root was weak, and there was little evidence of angular application of the postures (their forms were very perpendicular in application - head to head rather than coming in from an angle). Our method of the form opens up the stances, emphasizes the body mechanics (e.g. on Push I have seen folks just bring the hands back to the chest, down to the dan tien, then push out straight - we turn and coil as the hands move to dan tien, and there are variations on practice as to the personal expression of the push), and demonstrates the applications a bit more readily (I think).

I have just started learning our advanced Taiji form. It is almost all 45 degree angles as the postures move, so I'm not sure if it is similar to anything out there or not.

Does that help?

Gambarimasu.
:asian:

 

[East Winds]

Yiliquan1,

Thanks for the comprehensive response. Coudn't agree more with you about "tofu" taichee! Also coudn't agree more with you about the narrow stance destroying the root. However as you know, 24 step was developed by a "committee" purely for health and therefore they would not be too bothered about being grounded or rooted, although of course to develop Jins you have to be grounded. They would not be too bothered either about martial applications as they play no part in a health programme. The "committee" which formulated the simplified and combined sets were conforming to Government guidelines. Remember that during the Mao era, Taiji was banned and becasue of its martial element was regarded as subversive. So one has to look at the development of these "new" forms with these facts in mind.

The coiling and spiraling that you describe seem to have more of a Bagua flavour than a Taiji flavour? In Traditional Yang Family Taijiquan, structure is vitally important and we employ "open" and "closed" stances to overcome the head to head aspect.

Thanks again for the explanation

Best wishes

"When asked about breathing in Taiji, my Master replied "Yes, keep doing it"

 

[yilisifu]

I'm finally back online after my previous computer suffered a massive coronary and died..

Yes, our short form is actually the old 24-step form which has been modified very slightly. You're right; the original was used mainly for health purposes for the masses to practice. It's not a "fighting form" but it is excellent for teaching the fundamentals of Taiji to beginning students.
The advanced form combines primary Yang and Sun styles and utilizes Yili's unique footwork/body shifting to make the movements more applicable to actual fighting.