do you ever...

[Lucas]

practice any of your shaolin material like its taiji?

after i started chen taiji, and i realized the similarities between it and my shaolin material, i started to make the comparisons, and break down my shaolin material with a different eye.

now when I am practicing my 2 shaolin sets, i will always throw in a round or two that is more akin to chen taiji. slower movement with more on an extreme emphasis on structure and alignment and fajing.

some where around here there was a thread(still is im sure) pointing out the connections between the shaolin material i practice and chen taiji.

i think it was RD or Sal, probably a combination of both that laid out the historics of the connection.

of course I will still do my practices with emphasis on speed, precision and raw physical power. but i find that now i 'know' my 2 sets in a different manner after breaking them apart like this for about a year'ish

oh ya, the only sets i practice now are xiaohongquan, and dahongquan. i sometimes will do the chen (about as often as i do my other hand sets and weapon sets.) that i learned, but over all i feel that i dont need it because many of the techniques exist in the shaolin.

my martial goal: to continue to work my shaolin material until i die. also ill be beginning judo in a month, then i plan to work some form of jiujitsu along side the judo as a compliment. both complimenting my boxing.

i spend a lot of time with my heavy bag. very much so more than i do with forms. but i have not had a good sparring session in a bit. once I get my judo and jj on for a bit im hoping to remedy that by finding a MMA gym to let me come spar on a friendly basis if i can. mainly so that i can pressure test outside of the dojo ill be in.

where ever i learn jj may end up being a mma gym with bjj, not sure yet, so that might solve that aspect. the thing is i am wanting to hang on to my cma basics, ie; punches and kicks, and to utilize this for my boxing.

im not out to be any champion, but i do really enjoy training traditional arts. the judo school ill be joining is in a traditional format as well. im hoping to find either some traditional jjj, or if i can gjj.

i know this post went OT from my original posting purpose...but oh well.

ive always thought of shaolin as being a breeding ground for MMA, based on older generational standards of course, so it seems fitting for me to introduce my shaolin to the modern world of MMA. it only seems like the next step in evolution that my kungfu wants to go in.

[LFJ]

you mean like this?

yes, the connection is quite direct as the guys explored.

[Lucas]

you mean like this?

yes, the connection is quite direct as the guys explored.

i cannot watch this till I get home. but i will later tonight.

[Lucas]

you mean like this?

yes, the connection is quite direct as the guys explored.

Yes, like this.

Thanks for the link. his set is almost exactly like mine. Just a few nuances.

[LFJ]

but have you seen the "low frame", di(gong)jia xiaohongquan?

thats tough to do. there's a video of master dejian squatting under a table and practicing this.

[bawang]

i think it is nice, but xiaohongquan doesnt have soft techniques, no purpose to do it soft, the higher internal shaolin boxing is something they probably wont teach lol

interesting thing is, i do my tai ji like xiao hong quan its like the other way around lol

[LFJ]

i think it is nice, but xiaohongquan doesnt have soft techniques, no purpose to do it soft

what do you mean by soft techniques?

[bawang]

hi i mean redirecting and borrowing force technique

i think changhu xingyimen and rou quan are the internal soft shaolin styles

[Lucas]

what about the throws? they always seemed to me to be a redirection of your opponents force to me. i always viewed the best executed throws to be so because of borrowing your enemies energy/direction.

[bawang]

i guess that would be cool
i think doing it soft would look pretty cool, but doing it super slow like taiji doesnt rally have a point

[LFJ]

i think it would have the same point as practicing taijiquan slowly. obviously you dont use it slowly in application either. slow movements have neigong benefit. xiaohongquan has plenty of that if taught properly.

[DeHui702]

Well..doing a form slowly that is supposed to be done with speed and power is a sure way to get my Shifu's attention and told to perform the form at full speed in front of everyone. A lot of it is if he sees us doing something slow like that, he assumes we're lost or have questions about the correct way to do it. Otherwise what would the reason be to do Xiaohong quan slow?

He doesn't seem to mind if we're just 'thinking' through a form once a twice, but when we're actually practicing, he wants it done correctly with speed and power as that's the only way to get better at the form.

We have a pretty vast amount of internal techniques intended to be slowly practiced so if we're in the mood to do that, he'd probably rather see us practice that. I don't even have to ask to know that is the case.

[LFJ]

none of master shi dejian's sets are done fast. they are done slowly in coordination with the breath. thats including xiaohongquan, tongbiquan, etc..

there is not one way to do the sets, and thinking they are only proper if done fast and externally is to not fully understand their energy.

[bawang]

while i respect deeply shaolin monks xiaohongquan is a external military style. i think doing it slow doesnt benefit you. if you get a sort of spiritual feeling when you do it slow nothing wrong with that though

i think it would have the same point as practicing taijiquan slowly. obviously you dont use it slowly in application either. slow movements have neigong benefit. xiaohongquan has plenty of that if taught properly.

while good for slowing down and for better learning application, and warm down when you are tired, there is no point to do taijiquan slowly. i do it fast

[DeHui702]

none of master shi dejian's sets are done fast. they are done slowly in coordination with the breath. thats including xiaohongquan, tongbiquan, etc..

there is not one way to do the sets, and thinking they are only proper if done fast and externally is to not fully understand their energy.

That is for definite sure. If there is one thing Songshan Shaolin students learn is there are more than one way to do forms...stick with what your master teaches you. I've never met your Shifu DeJian. Do you travel to his temple to train?

I don't think anyone would suggest that there isn't multiple ways one *can* do a form and there may be some merit to practicing a fist set in a taiji manner. Main thing I was saying is that my Shifu wants me to do the form the way he taught me. If there is a reason for him to teach me another method of doing Hong boxing, he'll let me know. I wouldn't go outside of what he teaches unless there was a specific reason. I see no benefit to doing Xiaohong quan slow. By the count, sure. Broken into sections, sure. Straight through, sure. As a moving meditation..only if my shifu teaches that. Otherwise I have plenty of other things to work on including Taiji and Qigong forms.

There's so much Taiji to practice..even the most basic ones.