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Tai Chi Chuan Online Playshop Lesson Page
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LESSON 15:
              
             PATTING THE HORSE
             RIGHT KICK, LEFT KICK, FOOT DIVIDES

 please read the following text information while the images load on the page

click>>>LESSON 1<<<here
click>>>LESSON 2<<<here
click>>>LESSON 3<<<here
click>>>LESSON 4<<<here
click>>>LESSON 5<<<here
click>>>LESSON 6<<<here
click>>>LESSON 7<<<here
click>>>LESSON 8<<<here
click>>>LESSON 9<<<here
click>>>LESSON 10<<<here
click>>>LESSON 11<<<here
click>>>LESSON 12<<<here
click>>>LESSON 13<<<here
click>>>PREVIOUS LESSON - 14<<<here
click>>>NEXT LESSON - 16<<<here

Letters in (  )* stand for the eight directions=N, S, E, W, NW, NE, SW, SE.
Numbers in (  )* correlate to the frame number in main lesson image below,
as much as possible...(some frames are 'in between' described movements,
in which case either I will try to redo the image, or you will need to exercise
your imagination even more than is necessary to learn any movement art from
'text and images' alone in the first place.)
Formula in brackets [W= ] denote weightedness, which is the amount of body
weight shifted to either side (L=left, R=right, even=doubleweightedness);
example: [W=70R] means 'put 70% of your weight on your right side.' The range
here will be approximate, ideally based on an individuals personal needs, abilities
and experience.   *You may choose to read through the text the first time disregarding these
parentheticals...it's easier!!
We OPENED  the set (Lesson 1) facing North(N); as you view
images on your monitor for the current postures (below),
imagine that you are again facing North(N) as you begin Lesson 15.  As you end this lesson (foot divides) you are facing West(W).

                      Patting the horse
                      Right kick, left kick, foot divides

Patting the horse   (1 through 9)
     
     As Single whip concludes in Lesson #14, your left palm, with fingers upward, points to the NW corner (at about a 45° angle to your torso), creating about a 90° angle with your right arm, which points to the NE corner.  Your left foot also points to the NW corner creating about a 90° angle with your right foot, which points to the NE corner.  Your head faces the same direction as your left palm (NW) and your weight is distributed evenly. (1) [W= even]
     Patting the horse begins as you shift your weight to your left side [W= 60L] while you raise the toe of your right foot (2) and pivot [W= 70L] toward your left (West) on your right heel (2-5) until your right foot is parallel to your left, (5) both pointing NW. [W= 80L]  Your left hand begins to move further to the left as you shift to that side, slightly lowering in an arc.  Simultaneous to that, your right hand begins to drift in the same direction (West), remaining all the time at about shoulder level, with your right fingers slowly unfolding from the beakish pose and flattening out (2-5).
     Concurrently with pivoting your right foot leftward, twist your entire body, moving as one from your center, so that it turns from facing North to facing West.  Continue to move your right hand leftward at about shoulder level as you pivot, allowing it to arc around in front of you as you eventually turn to face West.
     Once your right foot pivots to point to the NW, rest your right toe back down to the floor (6) [W= 70L] and start to shift your weight back again [W= 60L] toward your right leg (East).  As you do, lift up (7) your left heel [W= even] and gently turn your left foot leftward slightly until it points West. Raising your left knee directly upward slightly (7,8), pull your left foot a bit toward you, pointing forward. [W= 70R]  As you place your left toe ahead of you (West), finish shifting your weight back onto your right side. [W= 90R]
     While your left foot is shifting into place, your arms continue to move. Your left hand circles about with the movement of your torso (2-8) as it rotates leftward (West) on your pivoting right heel.  As Patting the horse concludes, your left elbow pulls downward and in toward your torso as your left palm turns from initially facing away from you (NW) at the start, rotating at your left wrist as your left arm lowers, so that your left palm finishes this posture horizont- ally, facing upward toward the ceiling with your fingers pointing away from you (West).  Your left elbow rests near the left side of your abdomen.¹ (9)
     At the same time, your right hand has moved leftward, arcing around at about shoulder level as you rotate toward your left (West), until it finally draws downward just slightly as it meets just above your left hand directly before you. (9) As it finishes moving leftward, your vertical right palm turns (South) to face your left hand and rests slightly above and to its right at a perpendicular, with fingers pointing upward.² Your right elbow rests near the right side of your abdomen.¹
     Your left foot rests on its toe at a comfortable distance just before you, with your right foot resting flat, pointing to the corner (NW). [W= 90R]

Right kick, left kick, foot divides    (9 through 36)

     Right kick begins as your left toe lifts up (9) off of the floor [W= 100R], and you then move slightly forward [W= 100R], as one, from your center, with your right knee bend- ing slightly more. (10)  Your left heel rests down (11) first [W= 90R], at a comfortable distance before you, then your left toe [W= 80R], slowly turning your left foot to the left corner (SW) as it lowers (12-14) and you continue your forward momentum.
     As your left foot moves out and turns to the corner, both of your hands begin to move.  Your right hand and forearm rotate toward your left (South) at the elbow, which rises slightly, with your right palm turning to face downward to the floor with fingertips pointing leftward (South).  At the same time, your left hand and forearm rotate toward your right (North) at the elbow, which rises slightly, with your left palm still facing upward throughout.  Hence, at this point, your arms are inches from, and parallel to, each other, and parallel to the floor as well. (11)
     All the while, you continue to shift your weight forward and toward the corner (SW) as your entire torso twists to face in that direction [W= 60R].  
Because you face the corner now, your right fingers point toward the SE corner while your left fingers point the opposite direction (NW).
     Next, as you continue shifting your weight [W= even] forward, move your elbows toward each other, so that your hands move further apart.  As your elbows pass by each other, with the right elbow slightly above the left, they be- gin to rotate (12), turning the arms clockwise in a circle. [W= 60L]  
This occurs by rotating both your right and left elbows to the right just as they pass each other.  This causes the left forearm to lower, then move leftward, then upward, as the right forearm rises, then moves rightward, then down-ward, then leftward, and finally upward again, meeting at an apex with the left.³ (12-18)
     As your arms rotate at the elbows in a circle, your palms rotate at the wrists: the right palm initially facing downward, then turning to face away from you (West) as it rises up and lowers down, finally again turning to face you as it rises the second time to meet your left palm; the left palm meanwhile starts out facing the ceiling, then turns to face toward you (East) before turning to face away from you (West) as it completes the circle, rising to meet your right hand. (18) [W= 80L]
     As both hands complete the circle and meet, your hands cross each other, (with your right arm moving outside of -- further away from you than -- your left), and form into fists (enclosing your four fingers with the thumb either over them, or on the end of the fist, but not inside of the fingers) at about eye level, with the back of your right hand facing away from you (West) and the back of your left hand facing toward you (East).  Your left hand rests just inside (grazing) your right hand, with both hands aiming upward away from each other at diagonals (i.e., crossed). (18)
     Simultaneous to the movement of your arms in a circle, shifting your weight forward pulls your right foot slowly up off the floor, heel first (15) [W= 90L], then toe (17). [W= 100L]  As your arms finish their circling, your right foot moves forward (17-19), ahead of your left foot and rests several inches off of the floor, pointing toward the corner (SW) with your toes pointing slightly downward. [W= 100L]
     Right kick concludes as you move your torso to your right 90° so that you face the opposite corner (NW).  Your 'floating' right leg [W= 100L] concur-rently moves as one toward your right (19-21), then rests in the air pointing toward the corner (NW).  As your right leg moves rightward here, your arms separate (fists uncross).  Your right arm moves rightward as your right wrist rotates outward, away from you, fist slowly unclenching until your right palm finally reaches the corner, facing away from you (NW), vertically, with fingers pointing upward.  Your left hand simultaneously moves leftward to the op-posite corner as its fist slowly unclenches until your left palm reaches that corner, facing away from you (SW), vertically, with fingers pointing upward. (22)
     Left kick is just about the exact opposite from right kick with the only slight differences at the beginning and the end. Left kick begins by lowering your suspended right foot down on its toe only (22) [W= 90L] at a comfort-able distance, as your arms begin to move once again into the position de- scribed above in Patting the horse, except the hands positions are reversed this time and your torso already points to the corner (NW).  Your right arm moves lower and to your left as your right elbow rotates so that your right palm turns from vertically facing away to the NW corner to horizontally facing upward toward the ceiling, just in front of you, with fingers pointing away from you (West).
     Simultaneously, your left hand moves slightly lower and to your right, as your left elbow rotates so that your left palm turns from facing vertically away to the SW corner to facing, still vertically, toward the North.  As it finishes moving to your right, your left palm faces your right hand, and rests just above and to its left at a perpendicular, directly before you, with fingers pointing upward.² (23)  Your left elbow rests near the left side of your abdomen and your right elbow rests near the right side of your abdomen.¹  Your right foot rests on its toe at a comfortable distance just before you and slightly to your right, with your left foot resting flat, still pointing to the corner (SW). [W= 90L]
     Next, your right toe lifts up (23) off of the floor [W= 100L], and you then move slightly toward the NW corner [W= 100L], as one, from your center, with your left knee bending slightly more.  Your right heel rests down first (25) [W= 90L], at a comfortable distance before you, then your right toe (27) [W= 80L], still pointing your right foot toward the right corner (NW) as it lowers and you continue your forward momentum in that direction. (27-28)
     As your right foot moves out and turns to the corner, both of your hands begin to move.  Your left hand and forearm rotate toward your right (North) at the elbow, which rises slightly, with your left palm turning to face downward to the floor with fingertips pointing rightward (North).  At the same time, your right hand and forearm rotate toward your left (South) at the elbow, which rises slightly, with your right palm still facing upward throughout.  Hence, at this point, your arms are inches from, and parallel to, each other, and parallel to the floor as well. (24-25)
     All the while, you continue to shift your weight forward and toward the corner (NW) as your entire torso twists to face in that direction [W= 60L].  
Because you face the corner now, your left fingers point toward the NE
corner while your right fingers point in the opposite direction (SW).
     Next, as you continue shifting your weight forward [W= even], move your elbows toward each other, so that your hands move further apart.  As your elbows pass by each other, with the left elbow slightly above the right, they begin to rotate, turning the arms clockwise in a circle [W= 60R]. This occurs by rotating both your left and right elbows to the left just as they pass each other.  This causes the right forearm to lower, then move rightward, then upward, as the left forearm rises, then moves leftward, then downward,
then rightward, and finally upward again, meeting at an apex with the right.³ (26-31)
     As your arms rotate at the elbows in a circle, your palms rotate at the wrists: the left palm initially facing downward, then turning to face away from you (West) as it rises up and lowers down, finally again turning to face you as it rises the second time and meets your right palm; the right palm meanwhile starts out facing the ceiling, then turns to face toward you (East) before turning to face away from you (West) as it completes the circle, rising to meet your left hand. [W= 80R] (31)
     As both hands complete the circle and meet, your hands cross each other at about eye level, (with your right hand between your face and your left hand), and form into fists (enclosing your four fingers with the thumb either over them, or on the end of the fist, but not inside of the fingers), with the back of your left hand facing away from you (West) and the back of your right hand facing toward you (East).  Your right hand rests just inside (grazing) your left hand, aiming upward away from each other at diagonals (i.e., crossed).
     Simultaneous to the movement of your arms in a circle, shifting your weight forward pulls your left foot slowly up off the floor, heel first (28) [W= 90R], then toe (29) [W=100R].  As your arms finish their circling, your left foot moves forward, ahead of your right foot and rests several inches off of the floor, pointing toward the corner (NW) with your toes pointing slightly downward. (29-32) [W= 100R]
     Left kick concludes as you move your torso to your left 90° so that you face the opposite corner (SW).  Your 'floating' left leg [W= 100R] concur-rently moves as one toward your left, then rests in the air pointing toward the corner (SW) (32-34).  As your left leg moves leftward here, your arms sep-arate (fists uncross).  Your right arm moves rightward as your right wrist rotates outward, away from you, fist slowly unclenching until your right palm finally reaches the corner, facing away from you (NW), vertically, with fingers pointing upward.  Your left hand simultaneously moves leftward to the opposite corner as its fist slowly unclenches until your left palm reaches that corner, facing away from you (SW), vertically, with fingers pointing upward. (34)
     Foot divides quickly concludes this lesson.  Rather than lowering your left toe down in front of you here, as you did with your right toe following the conclusion to the posture right kick, here you allow the left foot to swing gently behind your right leg (34-35), passing closely on its left, then resting your left toe only on the floor (36), directly behind your right foot, such that your two ankles are crossed. [W= 90R]
     As you draw your left foot behind your right leg, allow both your hands to drift toward one another at about eye level. (35,36)  Your left palm rotates inward toward you where it again meets up with your right hand directly before you.  Your right hand simply moves laterally to the left, and as both hands meet, they cross each other, with your right hand between your face and your left hand, and form into fists, with the back of your left hand facing away from you (West) and the back of your right hand facing toward you (East).  Your left hand rests just outside (grazing) your right hand, with both hands aiming upward away from each other at diagonals (i.e., crossed). (36)

                     
                     do not over-do     do not under-do                     

           ~   ~   ~   ~   ~

(Remember to keep your knees and elbows at least slightly bent and your pelvis tucked in throughout the set.)

(If at all possible, it is suggested that someone read the text to you - or record it on a tape and play it back - while you slowly practice the form...and slowly is the best way to practice.)


notes:

¹   Fist space/separates: always leave a gap between your arms/hands and your torso equal to the size of your fist--no touching your arms/hands to your torso, generally.  (In this posture, you should have room to fit your fist between your torso and your elbows.) _go back_

²   Throughout this and most of the postures in the set, the hands, when near to each other especially, should be considered to be forming as if to hold a globe or ball.  Imagine this as much as you can.  _go back_

³   With right kick, though the left arms action is a bit simpler than the rights, in that it makes a 270° arc while the right travels about 450°-- more than a circle, actually-- the distance the left arm travels is a bit further, starting underneath the right arm, so that the timing of their arrival at the apex is concurrent.  For the left kick this all reverses, of course. _go back_
                        
                        The links back to the above footnote numbers will only return you to
                                       the very first use of that number in the above text,
                   not to the subsequent references on this page to the same footnote number.

  do not over-do     do not under-do
             
click>>>LESSON 1<<<here
click>>>LESSON 2<<<here
click>>>LESSON 3<<<here
click>>>LESSON 4<<<here
click>>>LESSON 5<<<here
click>>>LESSON 6<<<here
click>>>LESSON 7<<<here
click>>>LESSON 8<<<here
click>>>LESSON 9<<<here
click>>>LESSON 10<<<here
click>>>LESSON 11<<<here
click>>>LESSON 12<<<here
click>>>LESSON 13<<<here
click>>>PREVIOUS LESSON - 14<<<here
click>>>NEXT LESSON - 16<<<here

 List  of moves

FUNDAMENTALS OF
TAI CHI CHUAN
breathing
moving as one
being grounded
tan tien (center of balance)
ding jin (common axis)
continuity
single weightedness
double weightedness
yin/yang duality
bent knees and elbows
fist space/separates
moving on a curve
moving slowly

as time permits i will explain these
concepts and expand the list of
fundamentals


May I suggest the best way to see these images in the days after the lesson page has changed is to 'right click' on those images you want NOW and click
'save image as', then save it to some hard drive (the loads are BIG!)
You can also freely copy/paste/amend the text. (But do not sell, please)

~ ~ special thanks ~ ~
to
Michael W and Shar'n
for making free cyberspace available for MORE Playshop lessons at
www.caliban.net
NOW all of the Playshop lessons should ALWAYS be available online

~ ~ ~

Follow my movement on your monitor.
   You will be performing a Right Hand Set...
(Tai chi is practiced from both sides)
 When YOU practice tai chi, move slowly
 (and hopefully less jerkily than this animation)
If the pictures stop animating on your page, hit reload (refresh)
(I've even had to "clear memory cache" first if I interrupted initial page loading)


    

A
different
angle
of
this
lesson
as viewed
from
the West

click>>>LESSON 1<<<here
click>>>LESSON 2<<<here
click>>>LESSON 3<<<here
click>>>LESSON 4<<<here
click>>>LESSON 5<<<here
click>>>LESSON 6<<<here
click>>>LESSON 7<<<here
click>>>LESSON 8<<<here
click>>>LESSON 9<<<here
click>>>LESSON 10<<<here
click>>>LESSON 11<<<here
click>>>LESSON 12<<<here
click>>>LESSON 13<<<here
click>>>PREVIOUS LESSON - 14<<<here
click>>>NEXT LESSON - 16<<<here


~   ~   ~   ~   ~

notes:
I made the Tai Chi graphic images using a reverse image option so that I could
video the Left Hand Set, then when it is viewed here on your monitor, it appears as a mirror image of a Right Hand Set, which you can emulate by following my movements.  Most Tai Chi students only learn the Right Hand Set, and it is a good way to start.  One can practice the opposite side movements (Left Hand) by practicing the reverse of the image(s) above.  I am fortunate that the students who instructed me at my 'tai chi beginning' practiced both sides of the set daily.  By learning the left and right versions (identical, just reversed) of tai chi, I believe one may gain even more.


~   ~   ~   ~   ~

more notes:

Please let me know what you like here and what really bugs you here, too
TO EMAIL HERE PLEASE MANUALLY CHANGE 'AT' TO '@'

Is there some aspect of the movement not made clear by the images (or the text, for that matter)??  Please tell me, and if I cannot clarify it with words I will try to make a new image to illustrate a way out of that confusion.


~   ~   ~   ~   ~

still more notes:

It is better by far to experience learning Tai Chi of any kind in a group setting, primarily for two reasons.  First, it's more fun! and nothing is better for learning than sharing ideas and practice with individuals who share the same interests.  By having many artisans practice together, this allows for an excellent source of useful feedback.  More than critically watching the moves as others do them, this also affords an opportunity that is unparalleled: by standing in the center surrounded by more advanced students, with every movement in every direction, the novice has a rotating view of the form.  This allows the newer student to follow all the others, even as the plane of movement tangents onto a new direction.  Turn left, a senior student is in front to follow from; turn right, another teacher is in view;
spin around 180° and, yep, you guessed it.

Though learning Tai Chi from pictures, and (sometimes even worse) from text, is not the best method to use...it is what I can offer.  Some people have little or no access to teachers or classes in their area; some have little or no money for them even if they did exist; some folk are shy and some may be to dis-eased to go to a class; it is for all these people (the ones online, at least) and of course for the martial arts intellectuals (you know who you are) that I make this meager presentation.

TAI CHI CLASSES
For anyone in or near (or just visiting) the San Francisco Bay Area, please accept our invitation to join us in our VIRTUAL REALITY PLAYSHOP
(real people), any Saturday morning from 8:45 a.m. to 9:45 a.m.
at 1819 10th Street, in Berkeley.
(The set usually begins @ 9:10 a.m. Saturday
Just take the outside stairs on the south side of Finnish Hall to the top to get in--or take the disabled folks elevator inside--if you need it)

 ~   ~   ~   ~   ~

 finally! feedback
finally, your notes:

    Scott, I HAVE FEEDBACK FOR YOU
    and/or
I wanna get email when the lesson page changes :)

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~   ~   ~   ~   ~

Only you yourself will know if you have stretched
your chi 'enough', 'too much', or even 'not enough'.  What we desire to achieve with Tai Chi is balance: to get there, moderation, not excess, is required.

~   ~   ~   ~   ~

Keep in mind while upon this new journey that we do it for our health, for our joy, for our spiritual reawakening...not to suffer more, but to complete ourselves
as beings, and rejoice of the universe.

~   ~   ~   ~   ~

With gratitude to Li Lida      (1922-1982)



SPECIAL THANKS
to Ruth, David, Lydia, Michael, Shar'n, Harold, Eileen, Robert,
and all of the other people who have helped me learn Tai Chi...

                                     




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page last updated on February 1, 2005 at 5:20 P.M.


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~   ~   ~   ~   ~

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