Who is Tung Ying Chieh?
A leading Tai Chi Chuan master and one of Yang Cheng Fu's top students, Tung Ying Chieh, a Chinese-born man famous for defeating a foreign boxer in a public challenge match at the time, devoted his life to martial arts, training extensively in multiple styles, serving as chief assistant instructor for Yang Cheng Fu, and continuing to forge his own path.
1. Tai Chi Chuan is an internal martial art exercise. Power is generated in the bones. Power is stored in the muscles. It does not require a person to have tough skin or thick muscles, but sunken "chi" and strong bones are necessary. Therefore, students do not suffer from broken bones, injured muscles, and fatigue from jumping, but simply move naturally to find the potential of original power. This is an exercise to develop your original power.
2. The three main points: spirit, intention and posture (similarity of the names of the movement) must be there. If the posture is right, the spirit and intention are there and you will make good progress. Also, you will feel different every day. Students should try to feel these differences intentionally.
3. If the posture is not right, the spirit and intention are not there. The result will be just like cooking with an empty pot, you can't succeed even after years of practice. There is a sarcastic saying that ten years of Tai Chi Chuan practice is not as good as three years of kung fu. Therefore, to practice Tai Chi Chuan well: first, you must practice diligently; and second, you must have a good understanding. In addition, the result depends on your intelligence, but hard practice can help stupidity. So you should always encourage yourself to practice harder.
4. Breathing during practice - breathe naturally. Do not force your breath to be deep. After practicing many times, your Tai Chi Chuan will reach its natural point. By then, the breath will automatically balance.
5. The thirteen movements of Tai Chi Chuan are actually methods of guiding "chi". Guiding means guiding the circulation of "chi" and blood. Therefore, when you guide well, "chi" and blood will have a good balance. All diseases will disappear, but do not misunderstand the method and work hard to achieve this balance. If you practice hard and naturally, you will achieve it when you reach maturity (when the time comes).
6. Relax the shoulders and drop the elbows, that is, do not keep the force in the shoulders. Do not try to make your hands heavy, move them softly and gently.
7. Suspend the upper part (head) and hold the lower part (anus). To suspend the upper part, the head must be held naturally. If you hold the lower part, the "chi" will automatically go up from there. The chest needs to be slightly empty to draw the force back, but do not hold the chest and do not arch your back.
8. There are at least three things you should do every time you practice the Form. The first is to relax your muscles. The second is to adjust your posture. The third is to concentrate more on intentions and spiritual styles. When you can master all the movements, the spiritual style will emerge when you move. When you reach this stage, your progress will be better and faster.
9. Feel and understand the power - You should practice more pushing hands to learn these, then you will get the benefits of stick, hold, touch and follow. If you don't have a partner, you can always practice the form diligently and always use both arms to feel the power. Try to imagine your opponent is attacking you and how you are controlling him. If you continue to practice this for a long time, you will definitely learn the power.
10. The most important thing when doing push hands is not to try to knock your opponent down, but to work on the feeling of power. Try not to let your opponent discover your center and always control your opponent's center.
11. You can practice Tai Chi Chuan while walking, standing, sitting, and lying down. The method is to use your mind to circulate the "chi" and find the feeling. For example: feel the difference between holding a teacup with strength and without strength; feel the difference between walking with heavy steps and walking with light steps. When standing still, try to feel the difference between straightening your legs and bending your legs; one leg or both legs on the ground.
12. In the first stages of Tai Chi Chuan practice, your muscles may ache, but do not worry, because this will pass and you will feel fine afterwards.
13. The basic steps to learning push-ups are to know strength. There are many different types of strength, such as sticking strength, following strength, internal strength, suspending strength, friction strength, tender strength, fixing strength, holding strength, touching strength, and pushing strength. In addition, there are also types of strength such as bone-penetrating strength, swinging strength, sharp strength, sudden strength, tenth-of-an-inch strength, arrow-shooting strength, and even strength. In general, the above strengths are learned from the feelings developed during practice. It is more difficult to learn strength alone, but since people are alive, it is easier with two people. In addition, you can use your own harmony and feelings when practicing strength. Of course, all types of strength are learned and discovered.