Taking my first formal Tai Chi class this Saturday

[Daniel Sullivan]

Hello,

This Saturday, I will be taking my first formal Tai Chi class. I am going with a friend who has been doing Tai Chi for quite awhile so I'll at least know someone in the class.

The instructor's is Sifu Rob Johnson and he has trained with Sifu Joseph Dunphy. Not sure if anyone here is familiar with either gent. Looking forward to the class, as I have been wanting to try Tai chi for quite a while.

Any advice that you can give to a TKD/HKD/Kumdo guy before his first class?

Daniel

 

[clfsean]

Hello,

This Saturday, I will be taking my first formal Tai Chi class. I am going with a friend who has been doing Tai Chi for quite awhile so I'll at least know someone in the class.

The instructor's is Sifu Rob Johnson and he has trained with Sifu Joseph Dunphy. Not sure if anyone here is familiar with either gent. Looking forward to the class, as I have been wanting to try Tai chi for quite a while.

Any advice that you can give to a TKD/HKD/Kumdo guy before his first class?

Daniel

Cool...

Advice... relax & breathe, both are good things. And when you think you're relaxed, you'll probably be told you're too tight. :mst: It takes a minute.

 

[mograph]

Good advice. If they say you're still too tight, start looking inside for tight parts, like neck, jaw, hands, thumb, but, whatever, Try to relax them, then keep looking for other tight parts. I used to hold my thumbs way out and tensed, until I learned to find the mid-point of the thumb positioning and it feels much more even and relaxed. Sometimes, finding the mid-point of a joint's range of motion works, but other times, it's more about finding the point where it feels unstressed in either direction. But sometimes we can't trust that sensation, and it takes a teacher to help us overcome old habits of tension.

But in order to hold yourself up, you need to exert some force, right? Try to distribute it as much as possible. For example, if your weight is on your heels, your thighs are working. If your weight is on the balls of the feet, your calves are working. Try to even that out so it feels as if they are both sharing the load, then over time you will eventually feel as if neither is taking the load, since neither one is noticed by you. Then try to spread the load out some more so that you notice it (in one spot or another) less and less. Eventually, you'll feel it only on the soles of your feet because internally, the load-bearing would be so spread out (shared) you don't notice anything else. Then, presumably, you'll only notice it at any point of contact, such as a hand, shoulder, elbow, whatever.

This works for me -- hope it helps. Good luck!

 

[mograph]

I forgot to add that proper alignment and position is necessary for effective distribution of force throughout the body. Depend on your instructor for the gross alignment, but depend on your own proprioception and sensitivity for fine-tuning.

I hope that makes sense ...

 

[Xue Sheng]

Go to class

Don’t worry about anything it takes time

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

Well, class was interesting and enjoyable. He says that he is teaching it as an MA and not as a lifetyle/fitness program.

My friend said that he seems to be legit and knows what he's talking about.

He opened class with a number of qi-gong breathing exercises and we did some stepping drills and the opening of (I think he said) a Yang (Yong??) 108 (103??) form.

Daniel

 

[mograph]

Sounds good.

The long form is often called the 108-move form.
It's Yang style, but pronounced "Yahng" by the Chinese.

Keep us posted. I for one like to hear about taijiquan as a martial art.

 

[Sukerkin]

Aye, I am most interested too as I have long considered tai-chi as an empty-hand option for me (with my duff arm preventing me from doing the hard contact stuff anymore).

 

[Xue Sheng]

Sounds good.

The long form is often called the 108-move form.
It's Yang style, but pronounced "Yahng" by the Chinese.

Keep us posted. I for one like to hear about taijiquan as a martial art.

Or if you are Tung Ying Chieh lineage it is just called the Long Form.

It really domes down to how you count and I have seen the same exact form with multiple numbers applied. I think Tung Hu Ling numbered it at 88 but he did not count repeats and it was the same exact form.. but he just called it the Long Form

 

[tshadowchaser]

Happy to hear that you enjoyed your first class.
As others have said before just relax and absorb what is being said and demonstrated

please keep us informed as to how the classes go and what your thoughts are on your progress

 

[stickarts]

Relax and stay open minded! I particularly enjoyed push hands when i took it and found that to help a great deal with the ability to work applications.

 

[mograph]

I used to push hands with a young lady who was very good, actually a champion. She had such a great attitude, she made it fun -- as if we were brother and sister messing around when we were supposed to be asleep. "Hey you kids, knock it off and go to sleep!"

You don't mind being bounced around in that situation. Good fun, no aggression, no tightness.

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

Had my second class over the weekend. It was fun and more structured than the previous week. We did line drills (for lack of a better term) where I practiced walking. We worked on the first few movements of the form.

He uses a sixteen form, which I had never heard of (as if that means anything), but he said that after the student learns it, he mirrors it and has them do it in the opposite direction.

He takes time to explain applications of the moves, which I appreciate, and he tries to connect it to things that I know in hapkido and taekwondo.

So far, so good.

Daniel

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

Sadly, my lessons with Sifu Johnson have come to a conclusion. He will be unable to continue coming to the school where I was training. A good friend who has done tai chi for quite a while has offered to train with me so that I can at least continue to practice what I have learned. Definitely enjoyed the class and will have to find a way to continue. Perhaps closer to home too.

Daniel

 

[fyn5000]

Sorry to here your class ended. Take your friend up on the offer. It's better to have someone with some experience guide you in your learning than try to learn on your own.

Fyn

 

[Xue Sheng]

Sadly, my lessons with Sifu Johnson have come to a conclusion. He will be unable to continue coming to the school where I was training. A good friend who has done tai chi for quite a while has offered to train with me so that I can at least continue to practice what I have learned. Definitely enjoyed the class and will have to find a way to continue. Perhaps closer to home too.

Daniel

How close are you to Scott M. Rodell and the Great River Taoist Center?

And a bit of webfu showed a few other Taijiquan schools around your state

 

[Namii]

That is cool that you had a chance to study a different art for awhile. Glad you enjoyed it and hope your friend can help you out.

 

[James Kovacich]

Hello,

This Saturday, I will be taking my first formal Tai Chi class. I am going with a friend who has been doing Tai Chi for quite awhile so I'll at least know someone in the class.

The instructor's is Sifu Rob Johnson and he has trained with Sifu Joseph Dunphy. Not sure if anyone here is familiar with either gent. Looking forward to the class, as I have been wanting to try Tai chi for quite a while.

Any advice that you can give to a TKD/HKD/Kumdo guy before his first class?

Daniel

I've started working nights and been taking community college classes off and on since I was outsourced in 2007. This fall I'm signed up for Yoga followed by Tai Chi, for 1 1/2 hour each. Something new for both of us.

 

[James Kovacich]

Sadly, my lessons with Sifu Johnson have come to a conclusion. He will be unable to continue coming to the school where I was training. A good friend who has done tai chi for quite a while has offered to train with me so that I can at least continue to practice what I have learned. Definitely enjoyed the class and will have to find a way to continue. Perhaps closer to home too.

Daniel

That may be all you need.