The meaning of relaxation in a Tai Chi context is often confused with the same kind of limp, collapsed, let-go feeling you get from flopping on to the couch after a long day. In fact, there’s a very different sense of “song” or relaxation in Tai Chi, which is at once easy and loose, but also energized and alert. In his translator’s introduction to Mastering Yang Style Taijiquan, Louis Swaim nails the nuance of the concept. ...
Most people are familiar with the benefits of basic Tai Chi: relaxation, better balance, relief from stiff joints. As you get more internally connected and learn to listen to the inside of your body as you practice, there are whole other layers of benefits, hidden beneath the surface of the graceful, flowing movements typically associated with Tai Chi. In this video, Robert Tangora explains one of the more interesting ones, that is rarely taught with the precision he is outlining: how to use specific Tai Chi movements to target and massage individual organs in your body, like your liver, spleen, heart, and lungs. ...
I get the question all the time, or at least it’s always implied, “When am I going to get it?” Or, “how do I know if I’m getting good at this?” Now, let’s unpack a little bit of what’s behind this question and then I want to share some different ways that I think you can answer this question on your own, without even asking your teacher. Practice Goals I’m on a training trip this weekend out in New Mexico with Robert Tangora. Robert is teaching to six of us, twice a day, for two hours each session and the only agenda is giving personal feedback. ...
Try this follow-along practice on Emptying the Leg. We’re combining principles from Standing Qigong and Tai Chi to create a blend of stillness, movement, and internal contrast. The progression includes: Varying your stance, increasing in complexity and physical demands. Increased contrast over time between empty and full or unweighted and weighted legs Heightened sense of sinking as you stabilize in each posture Perhaps the most surprising element of this exercise is the way that it’s going to help you build flow. Once you’ve set up the yin/yang contrast in the legs, you begin to search it out in your moving forms. Instead of thinking of shifting the weight, you dial in greater contrast between the legs, and that leads you to movement.
Every six months or so, one of our Senior Instructors at Brookline Tai Chi tells me that he’s had an amazing revelation about how to do the kwa squat. The kwa squat is one of the very first things we teach, he’s been doing Tai Chi for 40 years, and he gets new insight into it all the time. Amazing, right? Tai Chi and Back Pain One of the reasons we get so interested in this exercise is its power to relieve pressure on the spine and open up important joints of the body. ...
I want to thank Paul Brennan for making translations of classic Tai Chi texts available online. Pleasevisit his site and let him know we all appreciate the awesome work he’s doing. In **THE TAIJI BOXING OF MR. WU JIANQUAN - FOR SELF-STUDY, **by Chen Zhenmin & Ma Yueliang, published by the Health Magazine Society, May, 1935, translation by Paul Brennan, May, 2012, the authors explain the foundational body mechanics of Tai Chi. ...
In issue 48 of Qi Magazine, there is an article about Wu Style Tai Chi Master Wang Hao Da. The article describes Master Wang’s early training and his desire to interact with as many different people as possible to refine his art. The description of Zhong Ding, or Central Equilibrium, drawn from the article, explains much of what organized Master Wang’s teaching and personal practice, as described to me by one of my teachers, Robert Tangora. ...
Recently, I received a question about qigong practices for spinal health. I am always looking for ways to keep my body healthy inside and out. I practice yoga, I do my daily cardio and some weight training. I am especially interested in keeping my spine healthy. I am 57 and am concerned about osteoporosis which runs in my family. Anything you could share with me would be greatly appreciated. There are some pretty sophisticated spinal health techniques in Qigong and Tai Chi, but the progression is basically this: ...
This winter, PBS is airing a special one-hour introduction to Tai Chi with David-Dorian Ross. I highly recommend watching the episode, whether you have a lot or a little Tai Chi experience. The way Ross presents basic concepts and teaches body alignment and choreography is simple and clear. Above all, he moves between classical explanations rooted in Chinese Medicine and Western, physiological-based explanations in an elegant and understandable manner. ...
One of the biggest puzzles when you learn Tai Chi is learning to feel the 4 main energies: Peng, Lu, Ji, and An. The question of how to manifest the energies has come up for my students again as they work on the Tai Chi Mastery Program and discuss commencement in our Inner Form training group. It’s hard enough for most of us, perpetually stuck in our heads, to reconnect to our bodily sensations by feel, to relax muscles, loosen joints, and release our nerves. ...