Everyday we are faced with more and more disturbing news. The Financial Crisis, the "New Great Depression," our failing healthcare system, overpopulation, climate change, genetically modified foods, war, poverty, and a thousand other things that our news outlets beam at us every single day.
Combine these world problems with the personal scale problems of paying the bills, raising kids, dealing with annoying people and you have a perfect storm of stress. Tai Chi is an excellent answer to these problems.
You may ask: What the hell is standing around breathing deeply and moving slowly going to do to solve these problems?
The simple answer is nothing. Tai Chi will not fix these problems but it will make you better able to deal with them. When you do Tai Chi you slow down, relax, and make an effort to let go. This is necessary. We cannot run on adrenaline forever and we must stop and recharge our batteries otherwise our bodies will break down. You don't drive your car for over a year and not change the oil. You change the oil, make sure the battery is good, you get fuel. If you do this for your car then you owe it to yourself to practice Tai Chi. Your body and mind can only benefit. Then you can return to your problems refreshed and better able to deal with them.
Tai Chi cannot directly solve all the problems you face but it can make you better able to tackle what must be done to solve them. No other exercise I have ever practiced has ever been as useful in recharging, restoring, and strengthening.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Feeling Better with Tai Chi
The beauty of Tai Chi is that there is something for every mood you can have. Feel like you want a really hard work out? Hold all the postures in your form for 1-5 Breaths, it's called Ding Shi and it will make you much stronger. Want to do something a little more aerobic? Then practice the form at a fast pace. Feel like you can't do anything else that day? Sit down and practice one of the Qigong meditations. Tai Chi is a vast subject. It is a martial art, a meditation, a Qigong exercise, and it is just plain fun regardless of your mood.
I used to focus on telling people how Tai Chi could overcome this or that ailment. About how studies had proven that it was beneficial for some ailment or another. Then one day it hit me. Those things are good and Tai Chi can do them but they come from dedicated daily training over time. Most folks in our world today don't care about six months from now. They care about right now. So, I decided to focus on the immediate benefit I get from doing Tai Chi which is simply that I feel good having done it. It's a simple thing to measure really... do I feel better having done this exercise? If the answer is yes then you will continue doing it.
Really for Tai Chi it is essential that when you finish the exercise you feel even a little better than you did before you started it. This goes for qigong, yoga, or any other form of exercise. In my experience You will do exercises that make you feel good. You will avoid those that do not. So try out Tai Chi from a real live instructor today... see if you can feel a little better.
I used to focus on telling people how Tai Chi could overcome this or that ailment. About how studies had proven that it was beneficial for some ailment or another. Then one day it hit me. Those things are good and Tai Chi can do them but they come from dedicated daily training over time. Most folks in our world today don't care about six months from now. They care about right now. So, I decided to focus on the immediate benefit I get from doing Tai Chi which is simply that I feel good having done it. It's a simple thing to measure really... do I feel better having done this exercise? If the answer is yes then you will continue doing it.
Really for Tai Chi it is essential that when you finish the exercise you feel even a little better than you did before you started it. This goes for qigong, yoga, or any other form of exercise. In my experience You will do exercises that make you feel good. You will avoid those that do not. So try out Tai Chi from a real live instructor today... see if you can feel a little better.
Friday, July 15, 2011
My Five Benefits of Tai Chi
Oftentimes we hear about how Tai Chi is good for this or good for that. But those anonymous benefits tend to fade into the blah blah blah of the constant streams of information we get these days. Today I'm going to share with you what practicing Tai Chi has done for me.
1. I became more graceful.
When I started Tai Chi I was a very clumsy kid who could barely walk and chew gum at the same time. I bumped into things and fell a lot. However, after I started learning Tai Chi I slowly got more and more graceful and became more comfortable in my own body.
2. I am better able to cope with adversity.
About a decade or so into my Tai Chi practice I lost my mom to cancer. It was a very rough time for me as my mom had raised my younger brother and I as pretty much a single parent. We muddled through and one of the only things I can remember about that time is doggedly practicing the 37 movement Yang Style Form everyday twice per day.
More recently about ten months ago I lost my son in an automobile accident. It has been the most devastating experience of my life. I will not lie and say that this is easy but I will say that Tai Chi practice has been the one thing I have felt in control of in this awful experience. It doesn't make the loss easier but it does help you have a center while everything else crumbles.
3. I am in better health than most of my peers.
I am 35 years old as I write this and am on no daily medications whatsoever. I don't get headaches, I suffer from no allergies or chronic pains, I haven't had a cold or the flu in years, my blood pressure is normal, I sleep soundly, and nothing gives me heartburn. I kinda doubt this is genetics because my non practicing brothers do have all these problems. So I feel that Tai Chi has really benefited me on this front. Also despite my loss and grief I have not had to resort to antidepressants and other happy pills.
4. I am in better control of my temper.
When I was younger I could fly off the handle into a blinding rage. I was angry all the time and felt pent up. Slowly as the years pass and my Tai Chi practice becomes deeper I find myself not moved to such extremes of emotion. This makes me much easier to be around and makes my friends and family very happy.
5. I am overcoming overeating.
Back in the day when I was in High School and college I ate a tremendous amount of food. I did so up into my late 20's so that by the time I reached 30 I was over 314 lbs. That was nuts I was starting to feel bad. So thanks to my favorite Vietnamese Qigong teacher I took myself in hand started out eating low carb, then slowly just began eating a normal diet but eating less of it. I cut out soda, iced tea, hot tea, and any caffeinated beverages. As a result I'm very slowly and steadily losing weight. I realized through my teacher's guidance and my own practice that I control what goes into my mouth in a very real and visceral way. I wasn't fat from genetics. I was fat from stuffing my maw.
So... it's a process. That is what Tai Chi is about. The ancient Chinese used it as a form of internal alchemy and now I understand what they meant. Alchemy is about making lead into gold... transmuting the base and the not so appealing to the more pure and appealing. Only thing is Tai Chi doesn't turn metals to metals but helps to make you better in a gradual and reliable way.
1. I became more graceful.
When I started Tai Chi I was a very clumsy kid who could barely walk and chew gum at the same time. I bumped into things and fell a lot. However, after I started learning Tai Chi I slowly got more and more graceful and became more comfortable in my own body.
2. I am better able to cope with adversity.
About a decade or so into my Tai Chi practice I lost my mom to cancer. It was a very rough time for me as my mom had raised my younger brother and I as pretty much a single parent. We muddled through and one of the only things I can remember about that time is doggedly practicing the 37 movement Yang Style Form everyday twice per day.
More recently about ten months ago I lost my son in an automobile accident. It has been the most devastating experience of my life. I will not lie and say that this is easy but I will say that Tai Chi practice has been the one thing I have felt in control of in this awful experience. It doesn't make the loss easier but it does help you have a center while everything else crumbles.
3. I am in better health than most of my peers.
I am 35 years old as I write this and am on no daily medications whatsoever. I don't get headaches, I suffer from no allergies or chronic pains, I haven't had a cold or the flu in years, my blood pressure is normal, I sleep soundly, and nothing gives me heartburn. I kinda doubt this is genetics because my non practicing brothers do have all these problems. So I feel that Tai Chi has really benefited me on this front. Also despite my loss and grief I have not had to resort to antidepressants and other happy pills.
4. I am in better control of my temper.
When I was younger I could fly off the handle into a blinding rage. I was angry all the time and felt pent up. Slowly as the years pass and my Tai Chi practice becomes deeper I find myself not moved to such extremes of emotion. This makes me much easier to be around and makes my friends and family very happy.
5. I am overcoming overeating.
Back in the day when I was in High School and college I ate a tremendous amount of food. I did so up into my late 20's so that by the time I reached 30 I was over 314 lbs. That was nuts I was starting to feel bad. So thanks to my favorite Vietnamese Qigong teacher I took myself in hand started out eating low carb, then slowly just began eating a normal diet but eating less of it. I cut out soda, iced tea, hot tea, and any caffeinated beverages. As a result I'm very slowly and steadily losing weight. I realized through my teacher's guidance and my own practice that I control what goes into my mouth in a very real and visceral way. I wasn't fat from genetics. I was fat from stuffing my maw.
So... it's a process. That is what Tai Chi is about. The ancient Chinese used it as a form of internal alchemy and now I understand what they meant. Alchemy is about making lead into gold... transmuting the base and the not so appealing to the more pure and appealing. Only thing is Tai Chi doesn't turn metals to metals but helps to make you better in a gradual and reliable way.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
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Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Tai Chi Training
There is a defined course in Tai Chi Chuan training that is followed by most traditional schools.
The first step is training for force and skill.
This is the place everyone in any martial art needs to begin. Here we work on health and fitness. In Tai Chi we learn Qigong as a basic training method. Usually a moving qigong is taught first, then a static one called Zhan Zhuang or standing post is taught next. Then we move onto skills such as learning to unify the body to manifest what in Taijiquan we call Chan Si Jing, or silk reeling strength. This is a way of learning to move from the feet, through the legs, to the arms. We take the time to relax and unify the body as one whole unit. After this we begin practicing exercises for flexibility. We begin breathing and stretching rhythmically. Perhaps my favorite example of this ind of training comes as a story from the Tai Chi Master Kuo Lien Ying who spoke of how in the old days his teachers before him would insist you practice stretching until you could put your teeth to your toe. After these skills are trained then the students begins to learn individual movements from a Tai Chi form.
There is a saying that I have heard over and over again throughout my years of learning Tai Chi: Until you have practiced a movement 5000 times, you do not own it.
This is very true. This repetitive practice of the same movements over and over may seem boring but with a good teacher you will learn how to breathe, how to move mind and energy, how to manifest power from this portion of the training.
After you have reached a standard that the teacher is pleased with (note that in Asia it is unthinkable to ever tell your Sifu that you "know something already" if he or she is a good teacher then trust that this is not a stalling tactic but a time to refine movements and sensations.) your teacher will then begin to teach you the form. The form is an extended qigong exercise, a concise encapsulation of highly effective combat techniques, and a moving meditation. However, for it to be these things, you must have followed the training schedule and have already developed force and skill. Without force and skill your form is an empty dance or as the Chinese saying goes "Brocade legs and flowery fists." You would probably get more benefit from going to a swing dance class if you only practice form.
After the form is learned we move onto Tui Shou or Pushing Hands exercises. This work is done with a partner to help teach you distance, timing, and the application of force in a safe, controlled environment. Eventually the push hands becomes a freestyle affair, but you need the proper foundation learned in the basics to make it to that point.
After Push Hands you will move on to learn a weapon form or two to teach you how to project your energy past your physical body. Then you will spend much time learning applications in prearranged sparring patterns until finally we reach the stage of San Shou or free hands wherein you can fight freely and creatively with the techniques, principles, and movements you have learned.
So there you have it. The proper way to learn Tai Chi. Anything else is as TT Liang once said: A blind alley.
The first step is training for force and skill.
This is the place everyone in any martial art needs to begin. Here we work on health and fitness. In Tai Chi we learn Qigong as a basic training method. Usually a moving qigong is taught first, then a static one called Zhan Zhuang or standing post is taught next. Then we move onto skills such as learning to unify the body to manifest what in Taijiquan we call Chan Si Jing, or silk reeling strength. This is a way of learning to move from the feet, through the legs, to the arms. We take the time to relax and unify the body as one whole unit. After this we begin practicing exercises for flexibility. We begin breathing and stretching rhythmically. Perhaps my favorite example of this ind of training comes as a story from the Tai Chi Master Kuo Lien Ying who spoke of how in the old days his teachers before him would insist you practice stretching until you could put your teeth to your toe. After these skills are trained then the students begins to learn individual movements from a Tai Chi form.
There is a saying that I have heard over and over again throughout my years of learning Tai Chi: Until you have practiced a movement 5000 times, you do not own it.
This is very true. This repetitive practice of the same movements over and over may seem boring but with a good teacher you will learn how to breathe, how to move mind and energy, how to manifest power from this portion of the training.
After you have reached a standard that the teacher is pleased with (note that in Asia it is unthinkable to ever tell your Sifu that you "know something already" if he or she is a good teacher then trust that this is not a stalling tactic but a time to refine movements and sensations.) your teacher will then begin to teach you the form. The form is an extended qigong exercise, a concise encapsulation of highly effective combat techniques, and a moving meditation. However, for it to be these things, you must have followed the training schedule and have already developed force and skill. Without force and skill your form is an empty dance or as the Chinese saying goes "Brocade legs and flowery fists." You would probably get more benefit from going to a swing dance class if you only practice form.
After the form is learned we move onto Tui Shou or Pushing Hands exercises. This work is done with a partner to help teach you distance, timing, and the application of force in a safe, controlled environment. Eventually the push hands becomes a freestyle affair, but you need the proper foundation learned in the basics to make it to that point.
After Push Hands you will move on to learn a weapon form or two to teach you how to project your energy past your physical body. Then you will spend much time learning applications in prearranged sparring patterns until finally we reach the stage of San Shou or free hands wherein you can fight freely and creatively with the techniques, principles, and movements you have learned.
So there you have it. The proper way to learn Tai Chi. Anything else is as TT Liang once said: A blind alley.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Returning from a long time away...
Well I'm back after much research and hard work. I have spent 23 years studying the Internal Martial Arts and I've come to a singular interesting conclusion recently. The problem with the state of the Internal arts and martial arts in general is that everyone has become obsessed with having more and more forms, more and more techniques. I'm guilty of it myself.
So in the spirit of trying new things I went back to the first form of Taijiquan I ever learned. That is the Yang style 37 of Cheng Man-ching. I modified it some to suit my own ideas and discoveries. (the most obvious one is the Roll Back posture I find that I prefer Yang Cheng-Fu's larger movement to Professor Cheng's smaller more understated move, and I find that for me in application, the larger movement works better.
Another aspect of my research and work has been that Taijiquan players do not spend enough time with basic movements or Ji Ben Gong. These days we do some standing and vaguely hope to develop some internal force. We need to be clear that internal force means energy or qi manifested as strength, stamina, and vitality. And to practice internal arts we must work with this invisible energy. Fajin is not "body mechanics", it is not physics as we understand it. It is an explosion of energy guided by the mind and breath. If you disagree with me, then find a qigong master who can show you precisely what I mean.
Too often in the martial arts world, especially on the internet, you hear people say that something is impossible. Some masters claim t0 disperse clouds and cure incurable diseases. Most martial artists say "That's impossible." Without ever directly experiencing these things for themselves. Many Qigong masters are charlatans. But does this mean that all qigong healing and extraordinary abilities are fake? Many medical doctors are incompetent. Does this mean that all doctors are fakes? Heavens no.
So before we say something is impossible let's give the method a try and see if we don't get the benefits.
Back to the topic at hand. I'm focusing on one Taijiquan form, and one weapon the Straight Sword. Add in Fajin practice, qigong, and extensive stretching and my basic Baguazhang exercises and you have a full training schedule.
So basically I have time to practice two forms. I have learned literally dozens over the years. So find a small section of the huge corpus of material and really focus. This is the key to becoming truly outstanding in Chinese martial arts.
So in the spirit of trying new things I went back to the first form of Taijiquan I ever learned. That is the Yang style 37 of Cheng Man-ching. I modified it some to suit my own ideas and discoveries. (the most obvious one is the Roll Back posture I find that I prefer Yang Cheng-Fu's larger movement to Professor Cheng's smaller more understated move, and I find that for me in application, the larger movement works better.
Another aspect of my research and work has been that Taijiquan players do not spend enough time with basic movements or Ji Ben Gong. These days we do some standing and vaguely hope to develop some internal force. We need to be clear that internal force means energy or qi manifested as strength, stamina, and vitality. And to practice internal arts we must work with this invisible energy. Fajin is not "body mechanics", it is not physics as we understand it. It is an explosion of energy guided by the mind and breath. If you disagree with me, then find a qigong master who can show you precisely what I mean.
Too often in the martial arts world, especially on the internet, you hear people say that something is impossible. Some masters claim t0 disperse clouds and cure incurable diseases. Most martial artists say "That's impossible." Without ever directly experiencing these things for themselves. Many Qigong masters are charlatans. But does this mean that all qigong healing and extraordinary abilities are fake? Many medical doctors are incompetent. Does this mean that all doctors are fakes? Heavens no.
So before we say something is impossible let's give the method a try and see if we don't get the benefits.
Back to the topic at hand. I'm focusing on one Taijiquan form, and one weapon the Straight Sword. Add in Fajin practice, qigong, and extensive stretching and my basic Baguazhang exercises and you have a full training schedule.
So basically I have time to practice two forms. I have learned literally dozens over the years. So find a small section of the huge corpus of material and really focus. This is the key to becoming truly outstanding in Chinese martial arts.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
After a bit of a Hiatus
After a bit of a hiatus on the blog and a bit of soul searching I took stop of all the forms I have learned over the years and I realized that I really only practice a few of them regularly. With this in mind I'm working on a syllabus for my classes to let students know where they are in my estimation and to see where they are heading to. I'll be back with more on this later but I would like to wish you all a wonderful day and to let you know there will be many more Tai Chi Thoughts!
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