Mrs. Kwan, who worked with Mr. Moy and taught Tai Chi, Lok Hup, and Hsing-I, once commented about doing the “series of four” of Brush Knees, Monkeys, Cloud Hands and Parting Mane when a cold is coming on. It gets the circulation going well. So can a hundred Dan-yus. What if you combined them and added other repetitive moves?
Whether you practice Taoist Tai Chi, Fung Loy Kok Taoist Tai Chi, other internal or external arts the principle is the same. Interspersing a repetitive move with a foundation exercise is a power house to get things moving. Relative to Taoist Tai Chi, you can start with 18 Dan-yus. That’s not so bad. Then do a row of Strum the Pei Pa followed by 18 Dan-yus; Brush Knee & 18 Dan-yus; Repulse Monkey & Dan-yus; Cloud Hands & Dan-yus; and Parting Horse’s Mane & Dan-yus. Depending on how fast you perform the movements and how long the rows are, the circulation will be pumping in 10-30 minutes. In that time is 108 Dan-yus plus a lot of repetitive movements. It’s excellent to see how quickly people can fall into the stillness of the movements. If used as a warm up for the form or foundations, you can utilize the circulation to share details of the movements that normally get shared in workshop settings.
If you’re on your own keeping your practice going without the luxury of time to connect within a class setting, this idea is an excellent opportunity to explore old or newer corrections within different movements.
Enjoy
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