One of my students recently asked me about the difference between my form and Carol’s. This led to an exposition of Mr. Chow’s form, which was different from most other Wu style teachers in some very beautiful ways.
Dr. Wu, Dr. Young, and Mrs. Chow’s form is very similar. It may be described as sparse, or minimalist, with the fingers of one hand touching the inside wrist of the other hand often when the hands were together, as in, for instance, Grasping the bird’s tail.
Mr. Chow would often appear to be holding a ball of energy within his hands as his hands moved in vertical and horizontal circles. My form, although not as much “Holding the ball” as Mr. Chow's, often follows the “Circles of energy”, and shares some of the circular components that I learned from Mr. Chow.
My hypothesis is that the sparser, more minimalist form favored, (or al least most often shown) by other teachers, would lend itself to self defense applications, while the Circles within circles, following the energy approach might lead one in the direction of the cultivation of Chi energy and the healing aspects of the form.
Mr. Chow was never known to participate in Push Hands or to teach it. He did, however, sometimes offer a healing treatment (Described in an earlier post, “Healing with Chi”), when requested.
To be Continued, including:
Circles and the circular nature of Healing Energy,
Further explication of the Tsunami Analogy presented in an earlier post, The Calling, in the section ‘Some thoughts on conscious evolution’, and
A more technical description of the circular, ‘holding the ball’ style of the form.
