Sung & Peng with Rise & Fall [Tai Chi]
video
Peng Jin ("Ward-Off") is one of the most essential aspects of Tai Chi. Without Peng, Tai Chi's famous softness has very little use in real-world applications.
One of the first moves in the set, the Rise and Fall, is an easy test for whether you have Peng, or not. If you're lacking this quality, you simply can't raise your arms when someone is trying to suppress them- If you're relying on your shoulder muscles to lift your arm, then you're relying on a muscle no bigger than a quarter to fight what is potentially someone else's entire body weight.
That isn't going to happen- so instead, you integrate your whole body into the movement. For this, you need proper structure and alignment. Without it, all the force defers to somewhere it isn't supposed to be.
It's been said that Peng is a function of proper alignment- but all of the minute details that might escape sight make a massive difference. The drills in this class are designed to make it obvious...