Tai Chi
Tai Chi Checks
One of the best things in tai chi – or in any pursuit, really – is reading something that we not only agree with, but that also challenges us, inspires us and broadens our outlook in ways we may not have recognized. That’s how I felt when I read the following, which a friend and…
Read More“But I Don’t Wanna Kick Butt!”
It’s likely to happen in class – and I’ve addressed it somewhat – that a student will come to me and point out that he or she took the class to improve their health, not learn to dislocate joints or crush skulls. I’m not judging – it’s a perfectly valid reason to study the art…
Read MoreCenteredness and Rootedness
The images above come to us from the author of the “Brisbane Chen Tai Chi” blog. It’s a great resource no matter which style of tai chi you do: https://brisbanechentaichi.weebly.com/skill-knowledge.html More than once, my students have complained that at times their feet feel like they’re sliding out from under them. This has happened in nearly…
Read MorePostures and Transitions
I’ve probably said it before in class, and I’m sure I’ll say it again in class, but it’s worth putting up here so I can say I’ve done it. Put very bluntly, the transitions – the movements we make from one posture to the next – are as important as the postures themselves. It’s one…
Read MoreMonkey Mind
The Buddhists have a phrase they call “Monkey Mind.” It’s basically our everyday, normal, active mind, roaming around inside our skulls, always chattering, always busy, easily distracted and more than a bit annoying at times. Everyone has it – it’s part of being human. Putting “Monkey Mind” in its place may be one of your…
Read MoreMore About Qi and Jin
In a previous post, I said the Chinese make a distinction between qi and jin. A basic understanding of the differences between the two is important when learning the form. Qi, as we’ve discussed before, is a word with a cluster of meanings all relating to energy of some sort, such as breath, air, physical…
Read MoreTai Chi Fundamentals – Yin/Yang Theory
Much of what follows comes from notes I took at a seminar with Grandmaster Yang Jun near Detroit in September 2019. It was a transformative experience, not only to receive instruction from the Grandmaster, but also to learn what he thinks is important, and how he teaches it. I tried to learn as much about…
Read MoreWhy So Slow?
The most common response I get among people who do any martial arts, when they find out I do tai chi, is that it isn’t really a martial art at all; that saying you do tai chi as a martial art is a lot like saying you do “Combat Pilates.” A humorous (and slightly gross)…
Read MoreYang Chengfu’s Ten Essentials
Every martial art has a foundation – those essential principles which define it, and without which, no matter how good you look, whatever you’re doing isn’t that martial art. Yang Family tai chi has the Ten Essential Principles. They were codified by Yang Chengfu but they’ve been around rather longer, either expressly or implied in…
Read MoreProgress
A student’s progress in tai chi is pretty straightforward. There are certain steps one takes in his or her journey; they go roughly in order, and there’s really no “skipping a step.” It’s a process, and we must learn to trust the process. The first thing we learn is the “external” part of tai chi…
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