Sticky Tai Chi

In my last tai chi class Sifu Maury explained the purpose of the movement that we have been practicing for the last few weeks. It is a pulling followed by a pushing movement, shifting weight from one side of the body to the other and back again. The idea is that you are grabbing and pulling on an attacker as the attacker is moving towards you and as the attacker pulls away from you your direction is shifting to move towards them as they withdraw. I have talked about "sticky hands" techniques in the past in this blog and this tai chi exercise is a perfect example of that idea performed in a way that makes it easier to visualize the movement and purpose. The attack comes in and rather than meeting the energy with force you are trying to control and adjust the direction slightly past you. As the energy is reversed while the attacker is pulling back, you then shift your weight forward and direct your energy towards them. When you encounter hardness you react with softness and you react to the softness with your own hardness.

The big challenge is to incorporate this into the fast pace of sparring practice. I will try my best to see what if I can adapt to this idea; I hope I have patient sparring partners! The initial idea to grasp is careful observation of your opponent, being not only able to see their movement but be aware of the energy they are using. It is only a this point can you hope to react with the correct response, waiting for the point of softness when your strikes would be most effective.

Nick
Green sash