Aikitaiji Online Training

greased track

2007-10-11T20:38:20Z

this lesson teaches the exercise "greased track" which further develops sensitivity and ability to yield to an attack

weigh back and slip

2007-10-06T19:42:38Z

this lesson teaches weigh back like chasing clouds, and how to slip from push or press

two hand circling

2007-09-27T19:59:09Z

This lesson covers the concepts of maai, or strategic distance, and weigh-back, yielding to force (4 ounces), giving a balanced push, giving and receiving feedback, and taking a push.

One Hand Circling

2007-09-20T19:37:30Z

This lesson teaches the principle of the two-man-saw, proper distancing in push-hands, manipulating space, and introduces the concept of "weigh-back."

lesson 12: repulse the monkey

2007-04-19T01:11:25Z

From “fist under elbow” turn your waist to the right corner and reach out with both arms.

Step your left leg back, put it down toes first, foot pointing straight forward.

As your shift your weight into the left leg, turn your left palm over and circle your right hand up to shoulder height, palm down.

Your left hand descends, palm up, down your centerline and settles near your hip. Move back from your right hand while turning your palm forward.

Your right foot pivots on the heel so that it points straight. Your feet are now shoulder width apart and pointing straight forward. This is “repulse monkey, right side”

Turn your waist out to the left while you bring your arms to a horizontal position.

Step your right leg back and put your foot down, toes first, pointing straight ahead.

Follow the same directions for the left side as you did on the right. You are now in “repulse monkey left.”

Repeat “repulse monkey” on the right side to finish the lesson.

lesson 11: fist under elbow

2007-03-08T19:42:19Z

From “diagonal single whip” sit back into your right leg and drop your left arm to horizontal.

Step your left foot to the left wall and follow it with your left hand like they’re connected by a string.

Shift your weight into the front leg and open the right hook hand.

Coil your arms around your body as you turn your waist to the left diagonal corner. As you coil, your right foot steps to the left corner. Your right arm moves with your foot. As you shift your weight into the right foot, your right arm wraps in with your palm looking at your heart. The left hand comes up from under your armpit, strikes upward to throat height, and rests above your right fist.

lesson 10: embrace tiger, return to mountain

2007-03-05T03:16:30Z

After “cross hands” instead of moving to double-weightedness, keep your weight 100% in the left foot.

Bring your hands down your centerline, keeping your wrists crossed. Your left hand is on top, palm up, and your right palm faces downward.

As your hands approach your navel three things happen simultaneously: The right foot steps to the rear diagonal corner while the right hand stays down and follows the step, palm leading. The left hand circles up to shoulder height facing downward.

Start to shift your weight forward, As you reach the point where 50% of your weight is in the front foot, pivot on your back heel. Your right hand brushes past your knee and then turns over to face upward. The left palm remains palm down until you pivot, then turns up to face forward.

You now find yourself in a full 70/30 posture which is the same as “brush knee” except that the right foot is forward. The right palm faces upward instead of to the side as it does in the first “brush knee.”

Bring the right hand up as you shift your weight back into the left leg and perform “roll back.”

Finish this lesson with “press,” “push” and “single whip” as was performed in the first section except that you now face the left front diagonal corner.

demonstration of 2nd section

2007-03-05T00:22:21Z

from embrace tiger to 3rd single-whip...

lesson 9 finish 1st section

2007-01-27T18:55:00Z

From “punch” let your right fist go to the left corner as though someone were pulling it in that direction. Bring the left hand under the right el-bow and as you withdraw, sweep the wrist along the forearm, forming a push on the back leg. Come straight forward and push, fingers at the height of the throat.

Sit the weight back again and as you turn, pivoting on the left heel, bring the hands up in a great sweeping motion, the right hand leading the left. When you get to the back leg 100% the left foot has turned to the right to face the same direction as your body.

Shift the weight back to the left leg as you finish the circular sweep with the right hand and reverse the left, bring the hands together at the wrists and let the arms down so that you find yourself back in the beginning posture.

lesson eight: deflect downward, parry and punch

2007-01-11T22:06:39Z

From “brush knee” shift all of the weight back, remembering to maintain knee alignment. Turn the left foot out 45 degrees, and bring your hands down on either side of your left thigh. As you shift all of your weight into the left leg make a fist with the right hand and leave the left hand open. As you shift all of the weight forward, cock your arms into a circle with the right fist looking into the left palm, and step 90 degrees to the right as you bring the right elbow up as in an elbow strike. Keep your leg pointing prop-erly. Bring the right hand over like you’re striking with a back fist as you step the left foot forward with width. As the right hand comes to rest at the hip, the left hand chops down at the height of the forehead. From this stance, punch under the left hand so that you can see the fist through the space between the thumb and index finger, referred to as the tiger’s mouth.

lesson 7: brush knee, palm-strike, play guitar, brush knee

2006-12-16T04:58:46Z

From “white crane” turn your body to the right as your right hand reverses its previous movement, palm up, and travels in a semi circle down the centerline while the left hand sweeps, palm first, past the navel point. Step with width and as you shift the weight into the front leg, brush past your knee with the left hand and strike with the right palm at shoulder height.

Put all of your weight into the front foot and bring your right foot up behind your left calf. Put the foot back to the right rear diagonal a little far-ther than it was in the first “brush knee,” and shift your weight 100% to the back leg. As you sit into the back leg, bring your hands in to your centerline, top fingers at eye height and bottom palm looking at the left elbow. Simultaneously bring your left foot in to zero width. This posture looks somewhat like you’re playing a guitar.

Bring the left hand over past your face to look at your chest as the left hand sweeps downward and turns over at shoulder height. Be sure to align the leg with the foot. Check the posture by lifting the front foot one centime-ter without moving your head.

Take an empty step to the left to regain width, and repeat “brush knee.”

lesson six: white crane cools its wings

2006-11-25T19:12:26Z

In “white crane cools its wings” we have the other side of the leg- hip challenge found in “lift hands.”

From “strike with shoulder,” poke the left hand under the right elbow as you turn left 90 degrees. The hands pass each other in opposite semi circles on the centerline. The left hand descends inside the right hand in a semi circle until it brushes past he navel point, pointing down to the left of your leg.

The right hand comes up the center line in an opposite semi circle to rest above your brow, palm pointing outward as if it was shading the sun from your eyes. The two hands are pressing to opposite corners. The right palm points up toward the right and the left hand points down and back to the left.

Get the feeling of pressing out from the inside of a cocoon of chi. There’s no width between the feet but be careful not to have negative width. You should be able to move the left foot back and clear the right heel.

“White crane” has the same squared hips and straight leg as lift hands, but on the opposite side. Square the hips straight forward while keeping the right leg pointing the same way that the foot points. This posture is called “white crane cools its wings.”

lesson five: lift hands to strike with shoulder

2006-11-19T19:27:43Z

In the next posture you’ll really be tested on how well you can align your leg.
From single whip, shift all of your weight into the left leg, turn right and open your arms to embrace a large chi ball. Bring the hands together, lined up on your centerline at the same time that you bring the right leg in to point straight ahead with zero width. The top hand is at the height of the eyes and the bottom hand looks at the elbow. Point your belly button forward while keeping the left leg and foot aligned. If you can’t do both, keep the leg lined up with the foot and don’t worry if you can’t square your hips. Just keep the pressure on your hips in that direction. This posture is called “lift hands.” “Lift hands,” is ideal for standing meditation.

Now bring your hands and foot down in front of you without shifting your posture backward. Step the right foot out, and put it down at 90 degrees from the left, with half shoulder width. Come into the front leg and incline your shoulder forward as you bring the left hand up to point at the right elbow. The front leg aligns with the foot.

lesson four: single-whip

2006-11-18T05:47:32Z

From “push” sit back 100% into the back leg, leaving your hands to trail behind, palms turning down.

Check your stance by lifting the front foot a centimeter without shifting your head, and see to it that your left leg points straight. Rotate left, pivoting on your right heel until your foot points 90% left, your arms following the body’s shift. Let your arms go past the body a little to torque your hips left of center.

As you reach the limit of the turn the hips spring back to the right as your arms, following behind, simultaneously describe a circle with the left hand as if to hold the bottom of a ball, the right hand staying up on the cen-terline and forming a hook a small distance from your chest.

Turn to the right as far as you can without losing the alignment of leg and foot, again torqueing your hips.

As you hit the right foot 100%, spring out letting the right hooked arm extend to the corner while your left hand comes up to look at the centerline at chest height and your right leg releases.

In the single- whip hook hand, let the fingers relax so that they ap-proach each other naturally. Don’t try to press them together. When fully relaxed, extend chi out of the tips and they’ll come together.

Step the left foot 90 degrees and put it down, heel first. The right leg continues to point the same way as the foot. Pivot the right foot as you pass halfway, square the hips and sink as you fix the 70/30 full posture.

lesson three: roll-back, press, and push

2006-11-13T04:38:41Z

From the posture “ward off right,” turn out slightly right. As you do so, bring the right arm to a position somewhat short of vertical, your left fin-gers looking into the right elbow, palm tipped slightly upward. Keep your hands directly in front of you as you turn so that your hands rotate with the body. Gradually, while turning back to the left, the arms lagging slightly be-hind the momentum of the body, the left arm swoops down in a large circle, turning over at shoulder height while the right arm makes a small circle, palm looking at your chest. Check the left leg to be sure that your leg points the same way as your foot.

Shift your weight forward and bring the rear hand to meet the right hand at 50/50 weighting. Both hands meet at the heel of the hands on your centerline. This is the full 70/30 posture called “press.” Hold this posture and check that the width is still right, the belly button pointing forward, the back hip bent, the front or right thigh pointing in the same direction as the foot, your weight centered just behind the balls of the feet, and your body slightly inclined forward.

Now shift the weight straight back but this time don’t turn out. Your hands come apart, describing a circular line, lagging behind the body, to form a pushing shape on the back leg. Push forward to a full posture called “push.”