太極拳

Needle the Tiger - Using 'Needle to Sea Bottom' to setup 'Embrace Tiger'

Needle the Tiger - Using 'Needle to Sea Bottom' to setup 'Embrace Tiger'

Yang's Cotton Boxing has innumerable combinations of moves that transition from one to another. Here, Vincent and I will show the use of 'Needle to Sea Bottom', to setup 'Embrace Tiger Return to…

Grasp Sparrow Tail, REVEALED!!! - Yang Lu Chan's Masterpiece

Grasp Sparrow Tail, REVEALED!!! - Yang Lu Chan's Masterpiece

Grasp Sparrow Tail, the one and only. Yang Lu Chan's masterpiece sequence from Qing dynasty Chinese Boxing. This is Yang's Cotton Boxing (miánquán 棉拳), or more widely known as Taijiquan (Tai Chi). The Yang style long form is riddled with this move. I have spent years trying to figure out how this move worked, and it is one of the handful of Cotton Boxing techniques that has continued to elude me. Until now…

The Dirty History of Tai Chi

The history of Tai Chi, correctly called Tai Ji Quan, disseminated to the masses, is often a mythical story that involves an art form thousands of years old with Taoist immortals, monks, and fairies. Commonly it is propagated that a non-existent type of magical energy, will heal the practitioners body and/or throw opponents without ever touching them. This is a fictional portrayal that in the West we call a fairy tale and in the East they call wu xia.