When I teach this movement to beginners, I often do what many teachers do, and describe it in terms of a specific martial techniques, like brushing the opponent’s knee and pushing them off balance. This is useful for learning the choreography, and the applications can be useful, perhaps, someday.
But at its core, this movement is about a mechanically efficient way of applying shear stress to the opponent without compromising the tensile centripetal geodesic that is so crucial to tai chi skills. (It’s about applying lateral pressure to the opponent without pushing yourself sideways.) It allows you to break the opponents posture without breaking your own.
I have been busy with renovations and multiple obligations. But, thanks in no small part to support from donors to this site, I am still more-or-less in business. I am set to ramp things up in the next few weeks, and hope to be teaching full-time again, both online and in person. Thank you for your continued support.
Ian Sinclair
Comments are closed.