Michael Gilman: Taiji Inner Secrets

I just got back from another great weekend workshop with our Tai Chi Chuan instructor Michael Gilman. This class was on what he calls "The Inner Journey", and delves into the hidden ways of movement that make for really great Tai Chi Chuan.
Michael explains things in great detail, and this is the second of an eight-part series.
In Tai Chi Chuan, the power is generated from "the root". In this video, Michael explains the importance of "gathering" to the inside of the foot and "releasing"(energy) from the outside of the foot and the heel. This is the key to success in rooting and stability in grappling arts. Taiji players that push hands (and other arts) will benefit from this series.
So many people mindlessly practice their forms with no clue to proper structure, let alone proper application. A good instructor that can explain the subtleties of a complex art like Tai Chi Chuan is a rare find, and our Dojo has a lot to thank for Michael's patient instruction and deep knowledge of the art.

You can see Michael Gilman's website at this link

Parting Wild Horse's Mane Application

Here's a nice presentation of "Parting Wild Horse's Mane" by Michael at San Diego Fitness.
This is exactly the kind of work Tai Chi Chuan students need to do to understand what the hell they are practicing in their form. As we know, Tai Chi Chuan (Grand Ultimate Fist) was once considered the most sophisticated fighting art in China, with Dim Mak pressure-point striking, takedowns and weapons systems. Many masters were lost to war early last Century, and when State Communism adopted Tai Chi as a health program, they pretty much dropped the "Chuan", or "Fist". Hence the "New Agey" profile of much of Tai Chi today.
Here Michael utilizes a low arm-pass to set up a takedown, and the sequence at the end is worked off a hitting combination. We have used the exact same technique (with a different set-up) from the Xingyi system as taught by Tim Cartmell:

I think this shows how much these arts have in common.
On an aside, if I remember correctly, Michael in the first video was kind enough to be a designated driver and drop ol' Dojo Rat off at his hotel room after all the guys had dinner and (many) Beers following a Mike Martello seminar. Whew; that kept me from getting in trouble on the mean-streets of Seattle...

Esoterica In Tai Chi Chuan

Once again we see that much of modern Tai Chi Chuan practice is nothing as the art was intended. Refering again to Douglas Wile's "Lost Tai-Chi Classics From The Late Ching Dynasty" page 63, discussing the "Yang Family Forty Chapters":
"In the third category of texts we find advanced, even esoteric, techniques that go well beyond the specificity of the classics and beyond what has appeared in print in the twentieth century. These teachings begin with advanced grappling and pressure point concepts, noting especially their physiological effects in terms of traditional medicine. On a more advanced conceptional level, text 32 provides a sophisticated model for analyzing an opponents energy pattern. Taking an opponent's energy as "empty" or "bound", one employs techniques of "breaking" or "rubbing" in order to destabilize the balence of Chi and strength. Text 36 is a catalogue of hand and finger techniques so rich in it's detail and variety as to rival anything in all of martial arts literature".
(D.R.)- So here we understand that hidden within the original forms (as opposed to the 13-movement new-age crap) is the roadmap to joint manipulation, pressure point striking, and studies affecting Chi flow in the body's meridian system. The problem is I haven't met an instructor yet that can transmit all aspects of this advanced knowledge. For the Chin-na locking and joint manipulation, I had to learn Small-Circle Jujitsu techniques from the Jay family system. For pressure point information I had to learn from students of George Dillman and study acupunture theory and the work of Erle Montague's Dim Mak. For Taiji fighting techniques, nobody comes closer to explaining all of the above information than Dr. Yang Jwing-Ming. But finding teachers like Dr. Yang is very difficult, so we take it wherever we can get it.
Douglas Wile continues:
"That martial arts are a system of self-defense is self-evident, and the medical benifits of martial arts exercise is not a great leap. However, Chinese culture has taken the martial arts several steps further, merging them with meditation and inner alchemy, and finally presenting them as a path of ultimate self-realization through the Tao".