Tai Chi

When you spend a month training Tai Chi 10-12 hours a day, what happens when you go home? What does it feel like several months later when your life has returned to normal? Is it a let down? Do you need to be inspired again to continue your training? What have you continued to discover about your practice? How has the intensive training infused your teaching? I sat down with several Energy Arts Tai Chi instructors to discuss these issues for Episode 3 of Qigong Radio. Here’s what they had to say. Since we were all together for a Push Hands training, designed to be a follow-up to the Short Form training, we also talked about the ways we were seeing connections between the two topics. ...

We’re hosting Bruce Frantzis for a Push Hands Intensive this week at Brookline Tai Chi. The training is being filmed and it will become the Push Hands module of the Tai Chi Mastery Program, due out later this year. Here are my thoughts so far on how the Push Hands component fits in with what we did this past summer in Brighton:

Recently, on the Insight Taiji Facebook group, we got into a fascinating discussion about the challenges of teaching and the different kinds of student expectations that come across as teachers. As much as this was framed as a teacher’s dilemma, I felt that I came away with some lessons about how I set my own expectations as a student as well. Anthony Court has been studying systems of health, healing, meditation and self-defense for over 41 years. He has taught and given workshops in Britain and Southern Ireland, and holds regular classes in Wales. Anthony started the discussion with this reflection: ...

Twisting, especially the legs, is one of those techniques that sounds really cool, but it easy to overdo. Going slow and steady with twisting can help everything loosen up. My advice: at first work on feeling what naturally happens rather than trying to make something happen. Develop sensitivity. In this “office hours” clip, we look at twisting the legs in Cloud Hands and troubleshoot some of her stuck spots. We went on to explore the “rings” of the legs, which are horizontal bands of tissue running around the legs. At first, when you work with the rings, you use them as markers for developing better feeling awareness of the soft tissue. Later on, the rings can be adjusted, increasing their internal or external rotation, to fine-tune your leg alignments. ...

In this “office hours” post, Nate asked me about kwa work in Tai Chi. Specifically, we were looking at movements where you squat in a front stance. The question is figuring out how low to go and why. In Tai Chi, you use your kwa to control your movements. At first, think of your kwa as simply the fold in your hip joint. In the following video, though, I explain how your understanding, and use, of the kwa changes as you learn to work deeper into the body. ...

As part of the State of the Art survey, I asked people to explain what drew them to Tai Chi initially and what keeps them interested. I was also curious to know more about what role, if any, Tai Chi plays in their physical health, mental/emotional wellbeing and spiritual development. Weighty stuff, I know. People came back with some surprising and great answers. Here are a few: ...

When people explain the connection between the mind and the body in tai chi, they often use the breath as a bridge between the two. In other words, you can unite the mind and the body through breathing practices. This is true, but it’s only one technique. In fact, good tai chi includes several methods for making this link. Breathing is only the beginning. Here are a few other things you should be looking for: ...

Can you take 5 minutes to help me with a survey? I’m compiling a report on the state of Tai Chi. I want to know what teachers and practitioners think is important about their Tai Chi practice. We’re also trying to figure out where Tai Chi stacks up for people who don’t do Tai Chi, but have another movement/wellness practice. You can take the survey here and if you could help me spread the word about it too, that would be great. ...

We are about to start the Early Fall session at Brookline Tai Chi and I’ve been thinking a lot about how to teach the introductory class. The challenge, when you learn tai chi for the first time, is all about mindset. I want to see if I can teach them “how to learn tai chi” as much as actually teaching tai chi. This might sound like a beginner-only problem, but I have a challenge for more experienced readers at the end of this post and I’m wondering if you can keep up with my beginners on this one. ...

So, I know I’m writing this on vacation where the most pressing decision we make each day is whether to hike, kayak, or swim, but I’m going to go ahead anyway and recommend that you practice twice a day. Here’s why… What I Learned from a Month-Long Tai Chi Intensive After a month in England, practicing 10 hours a day at the Short Form Instructor Training this summer, I have a renewed appreciation for daily practice rhythm. At the training, there were three distinct types of training sessions we would go through each day. In the mornings, we would practice in our groups. Most of the day, from 10am to 5pm was reserved for class time with Bruce. In the evenings, we would be free to practice again, ideally training the pieces of what we did in class that day. ...