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Therapeutic Exercise
Patient Education
Instructor TrainingRokukan Tai Chi - Movement #2
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THE SECOND MOVEMENT
Sword-Hand Block.
Preliminary Considerations
1. SWORD-HAND - The sword-hand is like a sword or a knife. It must be rigid. All five fingers are to be stiffly extended. Then the middle finger (only) is slightly flexed and the thumb is "cocked" back toward the wrist in order to provide ultimate rigidity.
This hand shape and usage has been called a "Judo chop " which is ridiculous as it has no derivation from Judo.
It does have a derivation from Karate, where is is termed "knife-hand" or "knife-hand block."
2. The "back up" sword (the non-active hand) is held in the same state of rigidity.
It is held at the level of the xiphoid process (at the bottom of the sternum) or the solar plexus (stomach) in a supine attitude (palm up - like holding a bowl of soup).
The fingers of the "back up" sword are aimed directly at the solar plexus of the opponent (real or imaginary).
3. Throughout these lessons, a section entitled Common Mistakes is included for each movement. It describes patient preferences and habits that frequently appear and detract from maximum efficiency.
These are the major (negative) points that you will see in your patients, and that you will need to point out and correct.
4. Throughout this course, constant references are made to left and right, and to the four directions of the compass.
This course presents the form in a traditional format where the initial block is made to the right side.
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However, from the very beginning, patients should also perform the movements on the other side (where the initial block is made to the left side).
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This mirror-image performance is an absolute requirement when treating balance problems.
Performing the movements in both directions enhances the right-brain / left-brain synchronization that tends to overcome a lack of balance.
Question #3
Balance problems in patients can be treated by performing in what method?
Write " both directions" on your Course Project Form.
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RIGHT SWORD-HAND BLOCK
(Turn to the East).
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.The disciple is attacked from the right side by an assailant who attempts to grab, thrust, or punch toward the disciple's head.
He or she counters by performing the Right Sword Block:
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The disciple remains on stepping stones #1 and #2.
The weight stays on the back foot ("back stance").
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1. Turn the right foot to the Right, pivoting on the heel.
2. As the body follows (turning to the right), the right hand comes up in a sword-hand.
3. At the same time, the left hand moves up to the solar plexus, palm up - as if holding a bowl of soup.
Common Mistakes
1. Being in a hurry to block and not turning the right foot first.
2. Being in a hurry to block and not moving the left hand up to the solar plexus at the same time (delayed movement).
3. Failure to hold the left hand supine (holding a bowl of soup).
4. Shifting the weight onto the forward foot ("leaning in").
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You may wish to tell your patients that :
A) This is the shortest and simplest movement in the entire form.
B) This movement has very practical applications.
C) The muscular-edge "metatarsal" sword hand must contact the opponent's forearm about three inches above the wrist.
Hard contact with your wrist or finger joints may cause severe damage to yourself.
Contact near the opponent's hand or elbow is too far away from the ideal contact point. It will allow him to keep coming - It simply is not an effective blocking point.
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TECHNICAL NOTE
This course has moving pictures on every page. These pictures have been taken from a video format and converted to .gif animations. As such, they have a "jerky" appearance.
However, this was the only way to get motion pictures on the website. The original video formats require huge amount of memory.
Even the .gif animations require a lot of memory, so . . .
Please allow adequate time for them to load if you are using a dial-up connection.
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