Wen Hsiu Quan

I have just started searching for examples of this movement on the internet and realised that among all the people doing Tai Chi out there I might just be the only one who would apply Cloud Hands the way I do. I have found different variations of the movement itself as well. This makes my writing about my version and its application a bit unfair as you will be missing out on some really elaborate applications. Now- how I always did this movement is starting from a posture like the Lute Playing posture like the picture below- or the Spread Wings posture like this: From either one of these ready postures I then rotate my front foot and let my body follow while my leading hand makes contact with an imaginary thrust and I then complete the rotation by passing the attack while I guide its force past me with minimal effort and my free hand follows the blocking hand to wind up for an outward strike. When the rotation and step is complete I shift weight ...

Hi, blog readers. As suggested by Travelling Lakan in our Martial Arts Forums group on G+ I write this weekend's post about the reverse crescent kick as we find it in Taijiquan. I admit that I have not seen a spinning version of this kick in Tai Chi forms, but using the principles of Taiji technique I have constructed a spinning kick for us to use in this discussion. I was not able to get examples from the internet of this particular kick off the internet, so I made videos under the strict supervision of Master Patrys. She supervises all of my Saturday workouts and makes sure that I do not slack off when training. :D I have not seen this kick in Shotokan before. To give you an idea of what a reverse crescent kick is I can use Ryu from the Street Fighter game series as an example. Ryu has a special attack called the "Tatsu Maki Senpuu Kyaku". I have yet to ask my Japanese friends for an accurate translation, but we gamers got to know it as the "Hurrica...

Looking at martial arts competitions-particularly fights or sparring matches, it is very easy to get so captivated by the spectacular appearance of kicking techniques that one does not realise that a properly executed kick can land its victim in hospital or cripple him for life. With Taijiquan, however, I  have not found much in the line of being spectacular when it comes to kicking. In fact- the front kick, which I am going to discuss here- appears in most forms. Circular and crescent kicks are also found in some forms and upward kicks with the instep also occur, but the front kick is basically guaranteed to show up in most forms if not all. If you have practiced Taiji walking a lot you will feel that each leg carries the body's weight on its own for a long time. This in itself develops the strength needed to effectively execute this kick. Another thing you tend to become aware of is the shifting of weight from one leg to another. Rooted posture is of paramount importa...

When you look at the nice slow movements of Shotokan's Heian Yondan wrestling is the last thing that comes to your mind- if it ever comes to mind at all. With Taijiquan the uninitiated observer will also not think of grappling when he sees much of the movements shown in Taijiquan forms. This particular move took my karate mind a while to get around. Sure- in Karate we have a back stance that looks like this half-split stance used in the move we call (look at the post's title!) "Snake Creeps Down". We have a hand movement that looks very much like the one in this move which we know to be a knife hand block. Now I want to know why the hell I'd want to crouch all the way down to deflect a kick away from my shin... Hehe! Sure- forms have lots of blocks and punches, but not everything is a strike or a block. If we leave the cannonating pushes and heart-stopping punches out of the discussion for a while we can take a closer look at w...