Tai-Chi Ch'Uan

Only, I think, in fictional martial arts feature films like CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON, do people learn tai chi ch'uan simply by reading a book with illustrations and/or text. Normally, you pick a teacher. He belongs to one of four or five major "schools" of tai chi and that is what he teaches you. My teacher is of the YANG School. So is Y. K. Chen and that is what his splendid little book teaches -- all 108 moves or postures of the YANG long form. *** Chen's illustrations and texts track with my teacher at least 95%. That makes it easy for me to use the book to flesh out my face-to-face lessons. That compatibility is not something the beginner dare take for granted. For instance, I have two beautiful YANG family T'ai Chi DVDs by Terence Dunn. Dunn's performances are pleasing to watch but pair up with the way my teacher presents materials no more than 75% at best. Put it this way: if both Chen and Dunn were Christians teaching their forms of Christianity, then Chen might be Catholic and Dunn Protestant. The differences may not ultimately be crucial in the eyes of God but neither are they helpful to novices like me at this early stage. *** How do I use Y. K. Chen? *** As a reference work. Every one of the 108 moves has a name given in both Chinese and English. Thus in my last class I learned moves 78 and 79, "Snake Creeps Down" and "Golden Cock Stands on One Leg (Right)." Next week will come Move 80 "Golden Cock Stands on One Leg (Left)." Move 80 is so much like move 79 and Chen's illustration and words are so clear that I have already begun practicing it. Move 81 "Step Back and Repulse Monkey (Right and Left) begins repetition of an earlier sequence I have already learned. By looking ever ahead, I, a physically clumsy, slow learner, can lessen the time it takes me to learn the elements, which are, let me emphasize, merely the very basic ABCs of tai chi. A minor not unrelated point: my teacher expects me to pay him each month. Why not, therefore, quicken the pace with the help of Y. K. Chen and save a few dollars? *** Chen's text, in addition to the details of the 108 moves, is rich and instructive in other dimensions. Tai Chi is explained as the underpinning of more advanced and aggressive taoist martial arts. There are discussions of posture, balance, centrality of the waist, the circles contained in all tai chi movements and the contributions of tai chi to health. There are also speculations on tai chi in relation to physiology, dynamics, psychology and moral life. *** The elements and 108 movements of WANG family tai chi are learned in class, as it were, all alone, in one-on-one imitation of the teacher. Your teacher need never lay a hand on you. At a later stage, however, you practice with a partner what is called "Joint Hand Operations With Fixed Steps." I now watch my more advanced classmates do this. In a couple more weeks, I will begin to improve my 108 postures through a leisurely systematic classroom review called "Corections." After that I will join others in doing the original 108 movements in reverse, more properly as mirror images of the first time around (if left foot was forward the first go around, then in the mirror image, the right foot will be forward, etc.) My teacher will then lead me and others through joint hand operations and eventually into weapons. *** My teacher does not tell us the number of the movement as we learn it and only rarely, with a smile, refers to its Chinese name. I, however, like to know where I am. And knowing the names of moves in a sequence helps my aging brain remember "what comes next." *** Will this learning through class and through Chen's book eventually get me to the point where I can be a bit player lost in the crowd of a Jackie Chan martial arts movie? I wouldn't say no. Meanwhile Y. K. Chen's little paperback book helps me work with my teacher to improve balance and form and to understand better what I am being taught. -OOO-