After a month-long instructor training this summer, I’m itching to get something off my chest. Let’s talk about real tai chi and fake tai chi. I want to get clear on what tai chi is and what it’s not. To see the difference, you have to look at where the instructor is coming from and how they structure the stages of learning for their students. Let’s start with the fake, low-quality stuff, because that’s what most people are familiar with. ...
Have you ever tried to meditate? You sit down, close your eyes, and try to drop into a deep state of focus and relaxation….but you start thinking about a million different things, from what you have to do later today, to a fight you just had, to that itch on your leg that gets louder and louder….Given the way we are constantly bombarded by images and electronic messages, it’s not really surprising that you can’t quiet your “monkey mind” by trying to sit and forget it. ...
Here’s a little peek into our daily training routine in Brighton. You can see there was lots of partner work, holding postures and form practice. Of course, it was very serious the whole time! Thanks to Aimo for the photos. Click here for all the photos.
I’m heading home to Boston tomorrow, but I’ve already begun looking through my notes and thinking about what I will personally practice and what I’ll be able to share with my students in classes this coming year. Here are some of my initial thoughts: How Material is Woven together over a Month: Day to day we’re looking at really small specific pieces but now going back through my notes, I can start to see different threads that run throughout the duration of the month. It’s almost like you don’t even notice some of the nuances as in the moment, but like we’ll look at something about the legs in Tai Chi from the first day and then we came back to it four or five days later and then we look at it again, and when you actually line up the pieces side by side, what you start to see is that…versus looking at it from like sort of looking at a ball, you look at it from one side and then the next time you look at it from this angle, then you look at it from this angle. And by taking this kind of spherical approach to it, looking at different facets of the subject, you start to develop a sense for the whole. And it’s not the progression that he always teaches and it’s not linear. It’s not one, two, three, four, five. It’s look at it this way, look at it that way and it’s sort of up to you to put the pieces together to create the whole. ...
People often ask me if tai chi is good for losing weight. If they’re asking whether tai chi is a substitute for running or lifting weights, the answer is usually “no”. When someone has been really injury or hasn’t exercised in a long time, tai chi can get you back on your feet and moving pain free. For these folks, tai chi can be a safe first step towards more demanding exercise. ...
Week 3 wraps up and testing is right around the corner. What was Bruce’s big message as we prepare for testing? Work your ass off and cram all night for the big test? Not quite. You might be surprised. Check it out: A Lesson about Integration: The biggest thing that Bruce is emphasizing in the last couple days of class is that with this stage of the training, a month long training, you need integration time. And we talk about this all the time in regular weekly classes. We talk about in a given practice session, whether it’s an hour or 20 minutes or whatever, you always have this sort of startup time where you just get warmed up. And then from there you go into the work period, where you just kind of crank and crank and crank, and that’s when your system is the most open. You can get a lot done. ...
Here’s my Week 2 update. Some big milestones this week: group 1 finished the form and group 2 has been languishing in the purgatory that is holding static postures. Check it out: Inner Form vs. Outer Form In the two groups, we’re doing very different things. The group one just finished the form this week. So on Thursday after they finished it, we came in Friday, and it was a really interesting dividing line. Bruce made the big distinction between, on the one hand, on Thursday we finished the shape and the form, that’s sort of the container. He said, “Now, everything that we’re going to do has to do with internal content.” So he made this distinction all the time. He talked about the bottle versus the wine you put inside it and we even have an article at Brookline Tai Chi that we put out from, I think, it’s from 1989 Tai Chi Magazine. The title of the article is “The Inner Form is the Key to Health.” And in the article, Bruce talks about all the different internal content things that should be going on that to be Tai Chi form. ...
We’re a week into the Wu Tai Chi short form instructor training in Brighton, UK, with Lineage Holder Bruce Frantzis. So far we’ve been completely rebuilding our forms, working on Tai Chi leg power, and exploring the meditative aspects of the art. Check it out: On Rebuilding Your Form: It’s crazy when you come at these things, you’re completely rebuilding your Tai Chi form. We’re about two-thirds of the way through the form and it feels so different. When you run through the whole thing one time, you get up to what we’ve done so far and it feels brand new, like a completely different moves. And then you get to the last thing we’ve done, you come around to the last move that you finished and you go back to your old form and it has a totally different feeling. ...
Practicing Tai Chi or Chi Gung on the beach feels great, once you get past the funny looks and comments from passers-by! If you want to make the most out of your practice time on the beach, or in any other natural setting, you have to practice a little differently than you do during indoor practice. Here’s how: Take Extra Time to Settle In: Start by doing a little more quiet sitting or standing, “listening” to what’s going on inside you. Like turning the knob on a radio scanner, you’re waiting until you come across the right frequency. Don’t be surprised if this takes longer than normal if you’re used to practicing in a quiet, private space. Not only are you surrounded by more activity, but everyone is there because it feels great to be near the ocean – you’re listening for the energy of the ocean too. ** ** ...
Lower back pain can be a frustrating experience whose source may be hard to pin down and whose remedy may seem elusive. I hope that as you read through this article, you can start to understand the nature of pain a little differently. I’ll also show you some tai chi concepts that can help you unravel your lower back pain, and more importantly, how to search for a solution for your individual situation. ...