The 'yao,' usually translated as 'waist,'...

-

 "The 'yao,' usually translated as 'waist,'...the Chinese concept of the waist is different from that of the English: 'yao' refers to the whole midsection of the torso, including the all-important kidney and dantian areas."

Barbara Davis in the preface to Chen Weiming 'Taiji Sword and Other Writings', p.xv



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Coming from the judo experience, I was prepared to sweat and exert till mastery came.

-
Image
 “Coming from the judo experience, I was prepared to sweat and exert till mastery came. But it does not come thus in T’ai-chi, Cheng said; it comes by “quiet minding” while “investing in loss.” And it comes with time.” Robert W. Smith ‘Chinese Boxing: Masters and Methods’, p.30 [Image: Robert W. Smith and Benjamin Pangjeng Lo from 'Da Lu and Some Tigers' in Journal of Asian Martial Arts, Vol. 6 No. 2 (1997)]
Read more

Therefore, the application of Taiji Sword is not in one's ability to hit or thrust...

-
Image
  "Therefore, the application of Taiji Sword is not in one's ability to hit or thrust, but rather in hitting but not hitting, and thrusting but not thrusting. Its subtleties lie in this: hitting by means of not hitting, thrusting by means of not thrusting. I should control the sword to the extent that I don't need to strike others." Chen Weiming 'Taiji Sword and Other Writings'. Translated by Barbara Davis, p.12.
Read more

Continuing the theme of teaching...

-
Image
Continuing the theme of teaching - and non-Taiji posts - I came across this in something that I'm currently reading. "Being a coach is not about swagger or bravado. It's not just about how well you can play or the knowledge and information you have accrued, it's about how you communicate it to your player and tailor it to their needs. And it's about your passion, commitment and emotional resilience."  While the (martial) skill of many past Taiji greats is often discussed it's less apparent how well they conveyed their skills to the next generation and in some cases (notably Yang Shaohou) they were clearly not sympathetic teachers. [Image: Cheng Man-ching and ???]
Read more