Tai chi concepts and experiments : hidden strength, natural movement, and timing

Title:

Author:

Chuckrow, Robert, author.

ISBN:

9781594397417

Personal Author:

Chuckrow, Robert, author.

Publication Information:

Wolfeboro, NH : YMAA Publication Center, Inc., [2021]

Physical Description:

xiv, 220 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Abstract:

This book clarifies and makes accessible critical aspects of the art that are currently understood and manifested by only a small number of high-level practitioners. Numerous step-by-step experiments are provided for readers to experience and perfect these critical tai chi aspects. This interdisciplinary book utilizes elementary physics, physiology, anatomy, psychology, and spirituality. It contains detailed analyses and explanations for achieving internal, expansive strength, known as nei jin, and for attaining optimal timing and natural movement.--Publisher.

Subject Term:

Tai chi -- Physiological aspects.

Physiology, Experimental.

Stretching exercises.

Muscle strength.

Movement, Psychology of.

Motor ability -- Physiological aspects.

Reaction time.

Qi (Chinese philosophy)

Spirituality.

Mind and body.

Genre:

Self-help publications.

Instructional and educational works.

Document ID:

SD_ILS:2369390

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Library	Collection	Collection	Call Number	Status
Searching... Visalia Library (Tulare Co.)	Searching... Unknown	Non-Fiction Area	613.7148 CHU	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

The Tai Chi Concepts and Experiments book clarifies and makes accessible critical aspects of the art that only a small number of high-level practitioners currently understand and manifest.

Numerous step-by-step experiments are provided for readers to experience and perfect these critical tai chi aspects.

Contents include:

The meaning and importance of releasing tension in movement for stability, health, and spirituality. The differences between contractive and expansive strength including a promising mechanism for the nature of expansive strength. Numerous experiments for readers to recognize and experience expansive strength and to confirm that they have achieved it. Elucidation of famous master's sayings on mind, strength, and chi. Health and martial advantages of expansion over contraction in tai chi. Protocols using expansion including those for helping an excess curvature of the upper and lower spine and for relieving plantar fasciitis. Quotes from the classics and how they confirm the interpretations of the principles of tai chi. How to achieve optimal balance through an understanding of physical, anatomical, physiological, and mental factors. A detailed analysis of "rooting and redirecting" including physical and internal aspects. Understanding natural movement from physical, philosophical, health, and martial points of view.

This interdisciplinary book utilizes, elementary physics, physiology, anatomy, psychology, and spirituality. It contains detailed analyses and explanations for achieving internal, expansive strength, known as nei jin , and for attaining optimal timing and natural movement.

Author Notes

Robert Chuckrow, Ph.D. (experimental physics NYU) has been practicing T'ai Chi since 1970. He is certified as a master teacher of Kinetic Awareness and author of six books. His teachers include Cheng Man-ch'ing, William C. C. Chen, Elaine Summers, Alice Holtman, Harvey I. Sober, Kevin Harrington, and Sam F. S. Chin. Robert Chuckrow teaches and resides in Ossining, New York.

Reviews (1)

Kirkus Review

The mysteries of the Chinese martial art tai chi are illuminated with the help of science in this primer. Chuckrow--the author of Tai Chi Dynamics (2008), a physicist, and a tai chi instructor--addresses the seemingly contradictory teachings of the masters of this martial art, like the admonition to use "no strength" in practicing it, and interprets them in light of Western physics and biology. His main idea is the concept of "expansive strength," a kind of "hydraulic pressure" in which "bodily tissues can actively expand under the action of bioelectrical stimulation." Expansive strength, he contends, is better than ordinary strength through muscle contractions because it doesn't create metabolic waste products or telegraph one's intentions to attackers. He goes on to apply more physics--explained in plain English, with the math tucked away in the appendix--to tai chi problems, like the niceties of maintaining one's balance in a pushing match. ("If an opponent A exerts a force F on me, according to Newton's third law, I automatically exert the same force F on A in the opposite direction….In order to remain in balance, A must arrange things so that the total frictional force of the floor on his feet exerts a force that is opposite to the force I am exerting on him.") Much of the intricate book explores tai chi's preoccupation with an exhaustive, even eye-glazing analysis of rudimentary bodily acts, such as taking a step--"As the knee k starts to arc forward, the lower leg lags behind, swinging backward relative to the upper leg; (b) the knee stops, and the lower leg swings forward past (c) to (d); (d) the lower leg has freely swung forward into a position with the heel just touching the ground"--or sitting down. ("True T'ai-Chi practitioners lower themselves slowly and first contact the chair without any commitment. Then, they mindfully transfer weight until it is safe to commit it fully.") Physiologists may scratch their heads at Chuckrow's notion of expansive strength, but otherwise his explications of the fundamental laws of natural motion, complete with diagrams, are written in reasonably clear, if involved, prose. Tai chi students will gain from the author a deep theoretical grounding in the discipline's basic approach to movement along with a wealth of useful exercises to help them practice it. This informative introduction to tai chi combines extensive discussions of principles with hands-on techniques. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Author's Note	p. xi
Introduction	p. xiii
Chapter 1 "Relax"	p. 1
Cheng Man-ch'ing	p. 1
Yang Cheng-fu	p. 1
The Meaning of Relax	p. 2
Attaining Song	p. 3
The Importance of Releasing Tension in Doing Taiji Movement Stability (Root)	p. 3
Push-Hands	p. 5
A Seeming Contradiction	p. 5
Shedding Some Light on the No-Strength Paradox	p. 6
Chapter 2 Expansive Strength	p. 8
Background	p. 9
The Current View of Muscular Action	p. 9
Differences between Contractive and Expansive Strength	p. 10
Some Experiential Evidence for Expansive Strength (Experiments You Can Do)	p. 11
A Promising Mechanism for Expansive Strength	p. 17
Chapter 3 "Swimming on Land"	p. 19
Professor Cheng's Advice	p. 19
My Initial Skepticism	p. 20
My Eventual Realization	p. 20
The Mental Aspect	p. 22
"Zombie-Style Taiji"	p. 23
Swimming on Land Is Only a Tool for Recognizing Neijin	p. 23
Chapter 4 Elucidation of Famous Masters' Sayings on Mind, CM, and Strength	p. 24
Li, Jin, and Nei Jin	p. 24
QJ, Breath, and Internal and External Strength	p. 25
An Analysis of Cheng Man-ch'ing's Distinction between Two Different Types of Strength	p. 29
An Attempt to Further Elucidate What Professor Cheng Wrote	p. 30
An Analysis of Yang Cheng-fu's Commentary on Strength	p. 31
Breath and the Dan Tian	p. 33
Health Aspects	p. 34
Martial Aspects	p. 34
Mind, Breath, Qi, and Strength	p. 36
Summary	p. 37
Chapter 5 Advantages of Expansion over Contraction in Taiji	p. 38
Briskness of Regulation of Strength Compared for Both Types of Strength	p. 38
Stability	p. 39
Neutralization	p. 40
Alertness	p. 42
Endurance and Health-Benefits	p. 43
Leverage and Fine-Motor Control	p. 43
Developing Bodily Unification	p. 45
Educating Bioelectrical Pathways	p. 46
Deception in Self-Defense	p. 47
Chapter 6 Health Protocols Using Expansion	p. 48
Expansion for Reeducating Upper-Back Alignment	p. 48
Expansion for Reeducating the Lower Back	p. 56
Improving the Cervical Spine Using Slow, Relaxed Movement	p. 60
Expansion for Relieving Plantar Fasciitis	p. 62
Chapter 7 Balance	p. 64
Gravity	p. 64
Leg Strength and Mobility	p. 65
Finding the Centers of the Feet	p. 68
Knee, Ankle, Arch Alignment	p. 70
Center of Mass	p. 72
Balance Experiments	p. 74
Vision	p. 76
Other Factors	p. 78
Chapter 8 An Analysis of "Rooting and Redirecting"	p. 80
Conditions for Optimal Stability	p. 81
Internal Aspects	p. 83
Chapter 9 Natural Movement	p. 85
Understanding Natural Movement	p. 85
Elements of Natural Movement	p. 86
Independence of Movement	p. 86
Reasons for Studying Natural Movement	p. 87
Attaining Natural Movement	p. 90
Tools for Studying Natural Movement	p. 92
Some Basic Physics Concepts	p. 93
Animate and Inanimate Natural Movement	p. 97
Chapter 10 Stepping Like a Cat	p. 109
Taiji Stepping	p. 109
Yin and Yang	p. 110
Weight Transfer	p. 110
Difficulties in Stepping Like a Cat	p. 111
Order of Stepping: Heel First, Toe First, or Whole Foot?	p. 113
Practicing Stepping to the Side Using a Movement from the Taiji Form	p. 115
Stepping Naturally	p. 117
The Swing of the Rear Leg During Stepping Forward	p. 119
The Swing of the Forward Leg During Stepping Forward	p. 120
Stepping at the Right Moment	p. 121
Experiments for Attaining Proper Stepping	p. 121
Swing of the Arms During Walking	p. 124
Chapter 11 Periodic Movement and Its Timing	p. 125
Periodic Motion	p. 125
Periodic Motion Terms	p. 126
Driven Periodic Motion	p. 127
Linear, Driven, Horizontal Periodic Motion ("Withdraw and Push")	p. 129
Analysis of the Motion in "Withdraw and Push"	p. 129
Importance of Timing of "Withdraw and Push"	p. 131
Circular Motion of Right Arm in "Single Whip"	p. 131
Centrifugal Effect	p. 133
Centrifugal Effect with Gravity	p. 133
Conical Pendulum	p. 134
"Swinging"-Turning the Body about a Vertical Axis, Arms Swinging Side to Side	p. 135
Benefits of Swinging	p. 136
Ti Fang	p. 139
Chapter 12 Additional Physical Concepts	p. 141
Constraints	p. 141
Rolling Without Slipping	p. 144
Chapter 13 A Clarification of "Secret" Teachings Revealed by Cheng Man-ch'ing	p. 147
Basic Concepts	p. 148
Neutralizing	p. 149
Attacking	p. 155
Yearning K. Chen's Alternative Way of Deflecting an Attack	p. 156
In Conclusion	p. 158
Chapter 14 Non-Intention, Intention, and "a Hand Is Not a Hand"	p. 159
Non-Intention	p. 159
The Mental Transmission of Intention	p. 160
"A Hand Is Not a Hand"	p. 163
The Transmission of Intention Over a Distance	p. 167
Chapter 15 Maximizing Your Progress in Taiji	p. 169
Studying Taiji	p. 169
Obstacles to Learning Taiji	p. 170
Dealing with Obstacles	p. 172
Dangers of Overusing Images in Movement Arts	p. 175
Validating Your Progress	p. 176
Chapter 16 Perspectives on Taiji	p. 179
Internal Versus External Martial Arts	p. 179
Lifting Versus Lowering	p. 180
Empty/Full, Yin/Yang Paradox	p. 182
Some Variations of the Taiji Symbol	p. 183
Taiji "Weapons"	p. 184
Misinterpretations	p. 186
The Yang Long Form and Professor Cheng's Short Form	p. 189
The Popularization of Taiji	p. 190
Afterword	p. 193
Acknowledgments	p. 194
Appendix 1 Supplement to Chapters 8 and 9	p. 195
Basics of Vector Addition	p. 195
Vectors	p. 195
Appendix 2 Supplement to Chapter 8	p. 200
Analysis of Forces in Rooting	p. 200
Appendix 3 Supplement to Chapter 9	p. 204
Analysis of Swing of Hanging Rods	p. 204
Bibliography	p. 210
Internet References	p. 212
Index	p. 214
About the Author	p. 220

Available:*

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Summary

Author Notes

Reviews (1)

Kirkus Review

Table of Contents