Music and Acting/ Long Form Names – 5/18/20

Music and acting have a lot in common with Tai Chi. In music, there are notes and tunes written down, very specifically. In acting, there are lines written. In both cases, the artist must play or say what the author or composer wrote.

Every one who plays the same notes or speaks the same lines will sound different. That is because they interpret the material according to their own unique life and training, combined with their own body structure. Music and acting both utilize the heart and mind working together.

Tai Chi is the same. If you are a student of Yang style, there are certain “notes” (moves, philosophy) that compromise what defines Yang Style, yet no two people will do the moves in the same way. Each uses heart and mind to interpret Yang’s intention. Master Yang had a different idea of what Tai Chi is than Chen, or Tung, or Sun. Their Tai Chi forms came from the same source, but was influenced by their hearts and minds. I watched the form evolve through the Choy family generations. Each made slight changes that interpreted the philosophy/principles according to their own thoughts and feelings.You need to ask yourself, “Does my instructor know what he or she is doing and why?”

So make sure you know your “lines and notes”, and play your form like jazz. Experiment and discover the essence of Tai Chi Chuan.

Last week I wrote about the Pushing Hand and the Striking Hand. For those of you interested in applying this to the long form, here is a list of which moves fall into the push or strike. I am not implying that it is only this way, but it is my own interpretation of the applications of the form at this time. It has changed through the years.

Push Hand Move numbers: 6,18,21,35,56,57,59,65,68,70,72,85,99,107

Strike (Set the Wrist): 10,12,13,14,16,23,24,25,29,67,69,91

Push or Strike: 20,79.80,81

Here is a list of the names of the movements of Traditional Yang Long Form. If you don’t have such a list, I recommend printing this one up.