Taichi trains slow and most people think it is just for old folks and for health. While this may be true for some, training just for health is certainly not the goal for all practitioners. When I went to learn taichi many years ago, I was attracted to it by stories of its legendary effortless fighting methods. I studied more than one system of taichi – Wu, Yang and Dong. While they are all from the same origin but they also have some conflicting standards that puzzles me. Furthermore, they are so different from the Wing Tsun principles that my uncle taught me.
I heard about liuhebafa’s hitting power from tournament reports at the 1971 South East Asia Kung Fu tournament. I wanted to find out how an internal slow style can be so explosive and punch with so much power. Liuhebafa has a slow form call “Zhú Jī (築基)” which means “building the foundation”. When I went to my sifu to ask him to accept me as a student, On my first day of class, I remembered it was right after the Chinese New Year and I even get red pocket money (利是). The thing that caught my attention is my sifu’s explanation of the center-line – finally, I don’t have to rationalize contradictions between the theories that I learn from my uncle and the new thing I am about to learn! Having that starting common ground was important for me at my young age and ended up being a life long journey within as well as outside of liuhebafa.
Slow training is like weight training or endurance training, if it becomes a goal in itself, you have wandered off from your original goal – to learn how to fight.
To use slow training effectively, you have to understand where it excels. For you, some of the obvious questions are:
- Why train slow? Your opponent’s punches and kick will not go at your speed.
- Can it really work? How can you hurt someone with a ‘slow’ punch. Chances are that it will never reach your opponent.
- Assuming there is a reason for training slow, how slow should ‘slow’ be? Is it the slower the better?
- What should I be thinking and feeling during the form or the movement?
- Are there any prerequisites for slow training?
- Are there any counter-balancing exercises needed before or after slow training?
- Is this mandatory? What do I lose if I don’t train slow?
Exercise:
We have touched on the topic a few times from different angles. Try to answer the above frequently asked questions and email / message me. We will do further experiments and discussions during class.