Taiji Notebook for Martial Artists
Here are extensive comments from two people who attended seminars given by Scott M. Rodell.
I'm not exactly a "Tai Chi rat", but this isn't exactly the 1st Tai Chi seminar I've attended either... I would say this was absolutely the best, most instructive, martial arts seminar I've attended, period...
Not to belittle the other's who's seminar's I've attended, William Chen's seminar will always stick out also. But, I think that Scott Rodell's approach to this, is superior, for most of us, especially those that are not of his "system"...
I think that virtually everyone that attended got something out of it. Those that probably got the most, would have been those that came out of Scott's "system". Those that got the next most out of it, would be those that came out of something related, had some Tai Chi background, and some sword background {this is where I fit in}. Then would be those with some Tai Chi background, and last would be those with some unrelated sword background. Well, I don't know that that is fully true either, because I feel someone with nothing but a desire to learn could have gained from this seminar. ...
Now a minor word of advice/ caution on this. If you haven't attended an all day or weekend Tai Chi seminar, plan on it being intense. And make sure you bring your own water and something to eat to charge your system, as its quite possible that you're not going to have regularly timed breaks... One thing I noticed is people didn't come fully prepared this way, so be prepared, the one most responsible for taking care of you, is you yourself.
My impressions in more detail. ...
The seminar included, some description, a look at, and a chance to handle some historical gems, and historical Chinese sabers. It touched on some basics and basic themes of Tai Chi, some historical perspective, and then the main thing – swordsmanship. Also a demo, and a small session showing the "hidden" form that Scott teaches...
Things actually started with a small, effective intro, and rules explanation from Adrian Ko. Our Adrian is a very effective public speaker.
Now, if you're a Yang stylist, Scott's form has a couple of things you may not have seen. But if your a Yang stylist, and have been exposed to some Wu, some Sun, and maybe some Bagwan, you most likely have seen the moves Scott does in his form. ...
This seminar basically broke down things for about 8 moves, procedures, or attacks (whichever you want to term things) of which I think we made it thru 7..... *g* Pretty good considering how much material, and hands on practice we actually got in a couple of days...
Scott started everyone out with the basic start, from his form (somewhat different if you're a Yang "public form" stylist, like myself). All of the repetition parts of this, to sink in the exercise started this way. Now, Scott's roots are from Jersey, and he has a great, rolling kind of sense of humor. I think this is key to his delivery, and his humor kept things from getting too dry, and boring at times, helping sink things in...
For a rank beginner, you're going to get a short intro to some things very basic to Tai Chi skills. And the basic sword skills would most likely be helpful later {I'd certainly like to find out how our to Japanese sword stylists felt about things, and our one fencer, after they've had time to reflect on things}. For myself, if one were interested in going to one of Scott's future seminars, I would highly recommend being familiar, and experienced with some push hands. Particularly important in my view would be the understanding of rooting, and connection...
Though I don't think its really necessary. It would however be very helpful. There was "dry" practice alone, doing the moves, as a repetition. Then a slow practice with a partner, to help set a pattern in... Then the fun part, some "free sparring"... *g* No, not at full speed, and full intent... *g* not going to do that with a weekend seminar and different skill levels as well as different backgrounds...
On the 2nd day, I got the opportunity (and pleasure) to work with Scott for a few minutes..... You know how many Tai Chi stylists like to hold their blades against one another until one attacks? Well I don't really do that, I do like to touch blades as part of my "listening", and I do like to drop my blade, for the same reason, but I got absolutely nothing from Scott... *g* That's a good thing... Now I'm two years rusty, but when I was actually "listening" to the other students, I could pick something up, Scott's the real deal, he was "listening" more thoroughly than I. I was most likely a pretty open book to him..... and I couldn't read what little escaped from Scott...
To say I was impressed would be to understate it... I don't want to get to detailed, 'cause I don't want to steal anyone's thunder. But it was a real well put together seminar, by the "real deal" martial artist, and a real swordsman in my view... I would recommend something like this done by Scott to anyone... And kudos to Adrian and his support crew for doing such a great job of getting it done...
This was my first exposure to Mi Chuan. Much of Tai Ji today centers mostly on health benefits or moving in form in slow motion but with little understanding of the actual martial applications of the art. Taiji, after all, is primarily a martial art, with health benefits as a byproduct - not the other way around.
What amazed me was the emphasis on ligaments and skeletal structure, delving into a depth I had not experienced before. In my own studies of Japanese kenjutsu, we use the opponent's skeletal structure against him to lock him up, do throws, or rob his ability to stand and to control the fight.
In TaiJi, there is much more to this. Understanding one's own skeletal structure and use of ligaments instead of muscles is merely the beginning. Scott demonstrated this by having me stand in front of him, and with hardly a shove sent me backwards into a sofa. There was hardly a transmission of strength but two things are happening:
Some other demonstrations were equally fascinating. He had me assume a regular sword stance, and with minimal force pushed me on my shoulder and caused me to go off balance, as rooted as I thought I was. Then he showed me to realign my foot as little as 2 inches and suddenly I was far better braced against his push; the slight angle of my foot realigned my internal skeletal structure to be less push-over-able. Taiji is an internal art.
Yet understanding this was only the beginning. Also, "Dui Fang" is often mistranslated as "opponent" or "enemy" - these concepts do not exist in traditional TaiJi Chuan. If you respond to someone who is an enemy, you may tense up in anger and therefore not properly use your body in a fight. Instead, think of, say, a compass needle. If someone pushes one side, the opposite side is brought back to the pusher (and perhaps here I have entirely inelegantly described what "Dui Fang" is about) but it's not about meeting an attacker with opposing force but returning his force to him.
This concept is practiced in the push-hands exercise where in one hand you are trying to be supple and offer no resistance such that your Dui Fang cannot push you, and the other hand is that you are trying to find that "grain" of structural weakness in your practice partner so that you *can* push him back. The arms act like antennae to sense the Dui Fang's skeletal structure, ligament use and martial intent. Very, very fascinating.
This also translates into swordsmanship. There are times when you may want to cause your Duifang's attack to go around you; sometimes you may want your body to go around your Dui Fang's sword.
Your grip - which I've not heard from anyone but Scott - is not done in the fashion of a pistol or saber but rather you hold it in such a way that your palm does not touch the handle of your sword. The difference in handling was immediately apparent. It allowed for a greater freedom of control; conversely gripping it like a katana or saber made the jian feel stiffer.
Also, the ricasso of a Chinese Jian may be used to intercept a Dui Fang's blade, but "parries" are done with the flat of the blade - not the edge.
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