The first two are Adam Hsu, you can download them free.
It says one download only, but you can bypass that one of two ways, wait two hours to download another, or restart your computer right away to download another, do it over, download another till you have them all.
I know, because that's what I did and it worked everytime
Nice. Well I have the Adam Hsu tapes as well as the Su Yu Chang ones...except the latter ones are in Japanese (I have a translated booklet). My practice right now is based off of the Adam Hsu tapes, what I have read from Adam Hsu, Tony Yang, and Maming Ma, and my former training in a "Bodyguard" style that was basically Baji + Pigua + Shiau Jiao.
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Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiik, you haven't replied to my post... =X
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I don't know the Adam Hsu tapes that well. I just know them briefly, and all I can say is, do the moves at least after some time of getting used to the strain to the body with some vigor. Also the connecting moves, with precision, and correct, taking a bit of time in them. The Xiao Baji form I posted was good in many parts, only some of the transitions could have been done smoother. All in all it's BODY TRAINING, so doing that regularly for extended time, the forms repeatedly, should do the trick considerably well.
On the repetitive thing, I think I just did the whole form again and again. But we practiced the elbow ramming partner work continuously which has this coiling elbow punch putting load on the upper spine. I think my partner didn't like mine.
There are VCDs out from a younger Taiwan guy who does the stuff in a sand covered sports hall with nets around and a square Taiji symbol on the wall. He does it nicely, with good vigor, and speed. I think he could punish a lot of guys doing more posing than anything real. The booming sound he makes on the stomps indicate he has some power.
__________________ "Fawning, but proud!" - (at least sometimes, in rare cases) "Killing them all didn't make it any better..." - "Are you a freak or something ???" - Max Payne "Theft is a crime, even in Iraq." - Me.
Last edited by Nik; September 9th, 2007 at 03:13 PM.
Mei....your exercise that you do where you stand in a posture for 8 breaths sounds a lot like the exercise that is done in Bagua called Zhan zhuang (art of standing posture). The practitioner stands in one of the eight mother palm for a long time then moves on to the next one. People who do this exercise claims that it can build great enternal power. I don't know much Baqua so I've never done this exercise. It sounds a lot like what you do though. Have you ever heard of this exercise in Baqua?
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I think you might have gotten the 2 of us confused again. It is similar to the 8 Mother Palms posture holding in that you hold the posture for 8 breaths. In 8 Mother Palms, you move from one posture to next in a slow and deliberate fashion. In Baji, there is a sudden explosion of movement followed by the 8 breath posture holding, then another sudden explosion of movement.
Its an interesting practice method. Basically your slow twitch muscles are always involved with interjected fast twitch muscle movement. So this is a very good work out on the legs because they are in constant work. The upper body, however, only gets fast twitch muscle work on the explosive movements.
Going back to what Nik said about having a sore back after practicing Baji, I remember when I did my old format of the "Bodyguard" system we did not hold the postures. It was mentioned by my teacher, but we never actually did it. We practiced consecutive moving drill format with a second pause so that the movement was not constant and there was clear start and stop. A few of our drills were also a little different than the ones I've seen elsewhere.
Now I'm looking for a good solid wall and tree to start doing some conditioning with. The other option is the metal pole the flood lights are on at the tennis courts.
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"You must eat bitter before you can taste sweet"- Iron & Silk
"I see no virtue where I smell no sweat"
"Arm yourself because no one else here will save you" - Chris Cornell
It became sore because I was doing it right and used coiling of the back to punch. I just wasn't used to practicing that much.
__________________ "Fawning, but proud!" - (at least sometimes, in rare cases) "Killing them all didn't make it any better..." - "Are you a freak or something ???" - Max Payne "Theft is a crime, even in Iraq." - Me.
Hmmm...I keep practicing and just don't feel a huge soreness in my upper body. However, I am feeling it a little more from last night's workout. I have a small soreness (but I wouldn't classify it as such) on the muscles surrounding my spine. Other than that, the usual suspects in the legs. Although actually the tendons in my ankles are little bit sore'er today.
I think I'm going to see about heading back to my parents house some time this week and get them to record me doing the solo drills and Small Structure Form to get a 3rd person perspective. I'll probably go ahead and post them here this weekend to get some more feedback.
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"You must eat bitter before you can taste sweet"- Iron & Silk
"I see no virtue where I smell no sweat"
"Arm yourself because no one else here will save you" - Chris Cornell
It's actually the upper back, and neck area. The thing between your shoulders that gets the stress from hitting.
__________________ "Fawning, but proud!" - (at least sometimes, in rare cases) "Killing them all didn't make it any better..." - "Are you a freak or something ???" - Max Payne "Theft is a crime, even in Iraq." - Me.
Going back to what Nik said about having a sore back after practicing Baji, I remember when I did my old format of the "Bodyguard" system we did not hold the postures. It was mentioned by my teacher, but we never actually did it. We practiced consecutive moving drill format with a second pause so that the movement was not constant and there was clear start and stop. A few of our drills were also a little different than the ones I've seen elsewhere.
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That sounds a lot like my teacher's baji quan (it was from the Huo branch). A couple guys did the 8 breaths posture holding thing, but it generally wasn't done in class. This is the closest thing on video I've found to it:
As promised, here is a clip of me doing the 8 basic Drills and Baji Jia form.
Constructive criticism is very welcome as I know I have a lot to improve on. In fact simply by seeing myself perform it I have noted a bunch of stuff I need to work, some stuff that I thought I was doing well on! Its funny how things look different when you look at them from a different angle.
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"You must eat bitter before you can taste sweet"- Iron & Silk
"I see no virtue where I smell no sweat"
"Arm yourself because no one else here will save you" - Chris Cornell
Originally
Posted By: WraithAlcon
As promised, here is a clip of me doing the 8 basic Drills and Baji Jia form.
Constructive criticism is very welcome as I know I have a lot to improve on. In fact simply by seeing myself perform it I have noted a bunch of stuff I need to work, some stuff that I thought I was doing well on! Its funny how things look different when you look at them from a different angle.
”
Well, first off the whole performance didn't do anything for me as you weren't wearing silk pajamas, weren't playing Chinese music and weren't jumping and flipping with a pretty long ribbon being twirled.
Aside from that, just a few comments on crispness/technique, the crane's beak should be pulled tighter into the wrist, not so floppy, consider that you used that to hook a punch away, if you have it tight, you have control, if it's floppy, they can pull their arm free.
The first high block you did in the basic drills, think it was the second one, IMO I'd bring it a little higher to ensure efficient protection of the head, don't keep it so low. I used to do that till my master took a cherry wood staff and kept slamming it down onto my head, if my block wasn't high enough, I got a bad headache
Third, the double punches in mabu, drive your hips down when you punch, you get more power. So as if you're sitting down lower, you time the downward push of the hips with the punches and you will notice you have more momentum to the strike.
First, it overall looked pretty ok. From the dynamics, and speed.
The elbow looks as if ending in the wrong position on the strike. It should end ~ 45° forward and sidewise, in the exact position as it is when you do the Baji standing exercise. You might like to test it on a bag, but be careful with your neck.
The low kick before the elbow strike is a step in your clip. I learned it from Adam as first sinking a bit down into your knees in the monkey squat position from Xing Yi (but with closed fists), then reaching out with the fists, but then not just stretching out the foot but (trying to) do a snapping foot tip kick with your balance keeping in place (no going forward into the kick, no turning).
From that position, you do the elbow strike like you did, was good, but the elbow needs to point forward 45° and just _slightly_ down. Look at this guys elbow strike, he does many moves differently, but that elbow is compatible with yours:
I think that one of the preliminary steps before a stomp and strike should also be excecuted as a stomp, so you have a stomp-stomp/strike sequence for stimulation of jin.
However, my guess is that you get a better quality if you do that stomping stuff on a wooden ground that resonates, or a thinner ceiling that vibrates, so you feel the wave instead of have the earth dampen it and throwing it back so your ankles take it fully. If you do it on concrete, be careful and don't stomp full out, just enough so you get tingling. It should feel "right" if you do just enough jin to get a feeling.
The cranes beak should be inside enough so you get a tense feeling in the forearm, but without pulling it forceful. If you let it sink down from the horizontal position where no tension is in the tendons, until the tension just begins when it's about vertical, but before you need to pull powerfully, it's right. I attached a picture where it feels right for me, and how I do a cranes beak (also in Taiji). OF COURSE, ignore the babble of foolish people who insist this is a "strike" with the wrist forward, it would break if you do that with remote power. This trains the jin for pulling move usage, and to some amount for slaps.
Over all, it was pretty ok, and you can always look back to Adams tapes for reference.
Don't forget to do enough of the "soft work", he calls it "Baji qigong", and the standing work in that elbow position. Power benefits a lot from doing that "soft" waving motions, you can also try using a staff for this for fun.
__________________ "Fawning, but proud!" - (at least sometimes, in rare cases) "Killing them all didn't make it any better..." - "Are you a freak or something ???" - Max Payne "Theft is a crime, even in Iraq." - Me.
I noticed that thing about the elbow too. When I was doing it, it looked fine from my perspective and from general proprioception...but then I see myself on video and it is most certainly not ok.
The tip about the double fist punch is spot on and I'm going to work on that post haste.
The kick before the elbow feels really awkward, so I definitely need more work on that. I think I have an application clouding my mind, with the kick more as a step-sweep from the application Adam Hsu demonstrates. So yeah, gonna put some more thought into that one.
Thank you also for pointing out the Crane's beak. I never would of caught that. I blame it on too much "old man" style Tai Chi that I practice a lot. Its apparently built me some bad habits.
Alright! Got my notebook with some stuff to work on. Time to hit the gym! Unfortunately no good grounds like you desrcibe Nik. I'm stuck with grassy/dirt areas, tennis courts, and concrete.
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"You must eat bitter before you can taste sweet"- Iron & Silk
"I see no virtue where I smell no sweat"
"Arm yourself because no one else here will save you" - Chris Cornell
