Practicing Taiji - Magic Moments

I have learned and practiced Taiji for almost 10 years with different teachers and groups of Taiji enthusiasts. Initially I was attracted to Taiji by its graceful movements and potential health benefits. Later, I was also fascinated by Taiji principles and philosophy. Looking back, here are some positive impact and magic moments I have experienced:

Story 1 - My Ankle

I broken my ankle last year. After a few months of rest, I started Taiji practice again. During the practice, I felt a warm air or blood flow went from the leg to the injured ankle. The ankle was warm and became more flexible. There was no pain but warm feeling.

Story 2 - Pressure Relieve

A fellow partitioner told us that she had stomach problem. Every Saturday during the group practice, she could feel her stomach was lifted slightly which relieved the pressure to the lower abdomen. It was a good feeling.

Story 3 - Feeling Great

Amy, who has practiced Taiji for 8 years, told me a story few weeks ago. A Taiji beginner asked Amy to help her practice Taiji 24. During the practice, Amy experienced the great feeling of completing the entire form in a continuous flow. She never had that feeling before. It is from that moment, she realized the impact of years of Taiji practice.

Story 4 - Complete Relaxation

I spend 12+ hours working and commute during the week. I don't feel completely relaxed by Saturday morning. I wake up early. We practice Taiji in the park as a group. After the practice, I can feel my entire mind and body are completed relaxed. The nap I usually take on Saturday afternoon is the most relaxing nap.

I am sure there are many interesting stories and magic moments out there. As I collect them, I will share them with you.

Keep up the practice!

Tips for Taiji Beginners to Avoid Injury

You came to a park and saw a group of people doing Taiji, the slow and gentle exercise from China. You were curious about it and thought you could do it, too. It looked easy. You joined the group. After a session, you felt your knees hurt and there was some back pain, too.

As a Taiji beginner, if you do not pay attention to your body postures when you learn Taiji, you may hurt your knees and back.

Here are some tips for you when learning and practicing Taiji:

1. Warm Up

You must do some warm-ups before you start doing Taiji. Taiji routines have a lot of foot work which requires bending knees slightly and sometimes squatting. The movements are slow and the body weight shifts from one foot to another constantly. Warming up your lower body part including lower back, hips, knees and ankles is especially important to prevent injury. Suggest you do 10 - 15 minutes warm up every time you start doing Taiji.

2. Relax

You must first relax your entire body and mind before you start doing Taiji. Spend some time to check from head to toe and relax every part of your body. Completely relaxing your body is extremely important for beginners to avoid awkward postures and movements.

3. Keep Your Back Straight

Even though you should relax your body but it does not mean you should slouch your back. You must keep your back straight all the time. Check your lower back when in movements and transitions from time to time. Keep it straight and relaxed. Think about the head is leading the way making your spine straight.

4. Do Not Bend Your Knees Too Much

All most all Taiji poses and movements require bending knees. Advanced Taiji practitioners can bend their knees and squat to a very low position but you should not to do that. You should just bend your knees slightly. If you do not even feel comfortable doing that, keep your knees straight first. The goal is to be able to easily move without hurting the knees.

Make sure you do these checks every time you learn and practice Taiji. Once you have learned basic movements and can feel your body move smoothly and comfortably, you should learn more Taiji principles and incorporate them into your postures and movements. The goal is to exercise your body so that they will become more flexible, stable and can move uniformly and gracefully.

What is Yi? How to Use Yi in Practicing Taiji?

Taiji (or Tai Chi) improves both mental and physical abilities. This is a key characteristic of Taiji. In both Taiji books and lessons, teachers constantly remind us "Use Yi to lead Qi", "When you have Yi, you will have Qi. Your movement will then follow Qi". What is "Yi"? What are the benefits of practicing Yi? How to practice Yi?

Definition

Yi: Idea, Thought, Intention

Example: When dinning, when you have a thought of eating the delicious meat in the plate, you might use the chopsticks, pick up the meat and put it into your mouth. Here your Yi is the idea of eating the meat. So Yi is a thought. This thought directs your movement. You do it automatically without even thinking on how to use the chopsticks.

Another example is that when you watch a Taiji teacher demonstrating a Taiji form, you might think that when I have learned the form, I will move just like the teacher, gracefully and smoothly. If you bring this thought to your practice, it will improve your movement. When you understand some basic Taiji principles such as "Head moves upward and Qi sinks into Dantian" and put this thought into your practice, it will improve your postures and movements.

One of Taiji practice requirements is: "Your heart leads and your Qi executes". Every movement in Taiji requires using Yi instead of hard force. Your thought comes first and your body follows.

The Benefits of Practice Yi

Practicing Taiji is a mental exercise. When you becomes skillful in associating Yi and physical movements, your thought will direct Qi. When you think of a body part, your Qi will lead the way to make the movement. The coordination among brain, internal organs and limbs is strengthened. When you experience a sudden external force, your body can react naturally. From health view point, you can reduce the possibility of body injury. From defense perspective, you have a better chance of protecting yourself and defeating the opponent.

How to Practice Yi?

The first step is to learn the basic steps really well. If you cannot do the movement correctly, you will not be able to achieve your goal directed by your thought. For example, if you do not know how to use chopsticks, your muscles will be tense when picking up the meat from the plate. For Taiji practice, you must know the correct postures and transitions of basic steps very well.

Secondly, you must understand basic Taiji principles and apply them during practice. For example, when in the opening movement, you must relax, breath naturally, think about the head leading the way and Qi sinking to Dantian. If you practice Taiji for learning defense skills, the Yi might be different from heath purpose.

In summary, Yi should be in every posture and movement in practicing Taiji. By doing this, you will be able to improve your coordination between your mind and body.

How to Move Gracefully?

We practice Taiji in the park on Saturdays and Sundays. Sometimes new comers commented "Your movement is so graceful. How do you do that?"

Practice.

How?
First, you must have the intention. You want to move like cloud, slowly and smoothly; like a cat, quietly and agile; like flowing water, fluidly and continuously. You want to feel the harmony of the nature.

Second, you visualize. You see your body moves like a chain, i.e. one section moves, other sections follow. The movement starts from feet (energy coming from the earth). It is controlled by the waist then followed by arms and hands. Your whole body as well as your eyes and mind move together.

Then you practice.

Practice Makes the Qi Flow

Practice simple Taiji movements such as the opening movement (Commencement) repeatedly and pay attention to your breathing, i.e. inhale for opening movement and exhale for closing movement, you can feel the Qi flows within your mind and body. If this is difficult for you, use natural breathing initially.

Your movements should always be continuous and graceful. Lift your foot like a cat. Move your hands like clouds.

Keep practicing and you will feel it!

Taiji Sword - Form 42

Here is the Taiji Sword 42 Form demonstration by Gao Jiamin on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_apJ1xFlnt4

Notice the following:
1. Her back is straight
2. Her movement is continuous and graceful
3. Her arms open widely and rounded

These are basic Taiji practice principles.

In addition, the basic Taiji sword attacking methods such as pointing, swipping, hitting, etc. are clearly demonstrated.

How to Continue Taiji Practice after Several Years of Learning?

Some Taiji friends who practiced Taiji for several years asked these questions:

• How does Taiji improve my health?
• How come I don't feel anything?
• I've learned many forms. How do I continue practicing Taiji?

Many Taiji friends think Taiji as a magic that can improve their health miraclly. They religiously took the classes and practiced the forms every week for several years. Suddenly they found even they could skillfully perform several forms but their health condition stayed the same or even got worse.

They started questioning the benefits of Taiji. Some of them stopped coming to the class and practicing. Some still come to the class but complain not receiving the benefits.

Where is the problem?

I believe the biggest problem is that some of my friends only have learned the external forms of Taiji but not how to feel the energy flow. They did not cultivate their mind to move energy within their body. They can do the Taiji forms externally but not moving the Qi internally.

"Tai chi is a martial art that begins with cultivation of the mind, learning to discard everything except the thought of moving energy within the body, to nourish it and bring it to full health and, if necessary, to defend it. Various schools of tai chi have developed their own ways of training the body, but the aim is always to keep the joints relaxed to allow a free flow of chi." (Stanford researchers record 'optimal force' of tai chi master)

There is an old Chinese saying: Practicing Quan without cultivating Gong, you ended up with nothing. (Quan refers to Martial Art; Gong refers to Gongfu or Work). It means if you only learn external forms without cultivate your mind and spirit, you will not get any benefits.

I have learned Taiji for about 7 years. I was very interested in the external forms and slow movements initially. I thought they were beautiful and relaxed. After learning several forms, I learned Taiji Form 8. It only consists of 8 different postures with 16 movements. Since I have learned other forms, I thought Taiji Form 8 was too simple to learn and it was a little boring.

Since Taiji Form 8 was simple and it requires very little space to practice, I started doing it every day before I go to bed at night. Overtime, during the practice, I started feeling the energy flow. I felt my body moves like a chain, one joint at a time and the Qi moves from Dantian to my fingers and the toes.

Last year, I took a Yoga lesson. The instructor kept reminded us that we should be observant of our body in Yoga exercises. I started pay more attention to my body reaction and flow when practicing Taiji. I have been feeling the energy flow. I have been feeling really good after every practice.

My experience is that if you perform a simple form, empty your mind, pay attention to breathing and the movements, you can start feeling the energy flow.

The rule of thumb for breathing during Taiji practice is inhale during opening movements and exhale during closing movements. Make sure your breathing is continous and smooth. Another important tip is understanding Taiji principles and applying them to the practice. With patience, you will start feeling the energy flow and getting the benefits.

Happy Taiji Practice!

Taiji and Music

One of the most important characteristics of Taiji is that when performing a Taiji routine, the whole body should move like moving clouds and flowing water. It means that the movement is quiet, fluid, and continuous. The end of one movement is the beginning of another movement.

Using light and graceful music in practice can guide the body move smoothly and mind feel relaxed. I have 1-2 favorite music pieces for each Taiji routine. During the practice, my body can completely merge into the continuous movements with the music.

In our group Taiji practice and demonstrations, we move uniformly by following the same music we are familiar with.

Here are some tips for using music for Taiji practice:
• Soft and graceful Chinese music is the best for Taiji practice.
• If you want to select other music for practice, it is also OK. You should select the music that can make you feel enjoyable and delight.
• The length of the music piece should be longer than the time it requires you to complete the routine.
• Following your mood and feelings to do the practice and do not feel obligated to follow the music rhythm.

Taiji Performance vs. Routine Practice

Our Taiji club had a holiday party today and we all did demonstrations for various forms. It was great to see various styles and forms that members learned from different sources such as Yang style, Chen style, Bagua, Xingyi, etc. I was also happy to see the progress club members have made over the past year in forms 8, 16, 24, 32, 42 and sword 32 and 42.

When I did the performance, I could not enter into the mind state as in normal practices. As a result, I could not stand still in many poses and some movements were not continuous and smooth. I guess I felt nervous when there were so many eyes watching. I was wondering how people could perform the forms in Taiji competitions.

In my routine practice, I can enter into the state that my mind and body are fully involved in the continuous movements and poses. My mind is alert and my body follows it naturally. I enjoy the practice routines and feel good after completing it.

I can't do the same whenever I do performances/demonstrations. I hope through practice, I can improve my foot strength and balance. However, I think the key is the mind state. If I can put my mind into the mindful state in any circumstance, my body will follow it with ease.

Yin and Yang Transitions

In last week's class, my Taiji instructor pointed out that my upper body was held too straight while performing Fair Lady Throws Shuttles in Taiji 42 Form. He said during the Taiji routine, both the upper body and lower steps should go through constant Yin and Yang transitions. In the upper body area, it means to contain and open the chest alternately.

In the past week, I have been practicing in front of a mirror to find out how I can change my upper body from containing the chest to opening it and vice versa. I found it was awkward since I had been holding my head high and back straight all my life. My understanding of the Taiji principle “Containing the chest and pulling up the back” was just relaxing both shoulders and the chest area plus Yi Nian (imagination). I guess my natural tendency even in a relaxed position is to open the chest area and straighten the back.

Today, the instructor told me to move shoulders slightly inward to achieve the effect of containing chest and pulling up the back. It seems worked. I can feel the chest area more relaxed when pulling both shoulders slightly inward.

I have been only paid attention to the steps and arms, and upper and lower following each other in Taiji practice. It makes sense that constant Yin and Yang transitions are realized by arms, upper body and lower steps in a unified way.

Here are the tips for Qi circulation during Yin and Yang transitions:
Relax both shoulders
Move the shoulders slightly inward
Neck straight
Contain the chest and pull up the back
Qi sinks to Dantian (inhale)
Qi moves up from the spine to the head crown (exhale)

Reciting Practicing Key Points

When I stand there and start Zhan Zhuang or performing a Taiji routine, my mind sometime wonders to other places. I have found reciting some practicing points and feeling myself right before the practice can help me relax, concentrate and maintain proper postures. These points also support me subconsciously during the practice.

Here are the key points I recite:

Head upright
Sink the shoulders and drop the elbows
Draw the chest and pull up the back
Loosen the waist and kua
Knees bend slightly and comfortably
Feet firm on the ground
Keep the spine upright
The Qi sinks to Dantian
The energy lifts up the crown of the head

I customized these points from "Thirteen Important Points in Taijiquan". As you can see, I run from the head to the feet and back to the head. I have found they are easy to remember and helpful.

Of course, other points such as harmony, using mind intent, even speed, etc. are important too but I have found the above is a good set to get me into the mindful state.

Inspiration from a Beginners' Yoga Lesson

I recently started a Yoga lesson. My goal is to learn the breathing techniques in Yoga to improve my breathing. Although I have been doing Taiji for many years, I have found my breathing is still shallow. It seems even though I feel the Qi goes down to Dantian but my chest area is still tight. Worse even, I forgot to breath sometimes! Although I will continue reminding myself about qi sinking into Dantian during the practice, I thought I might look at it from a different perspective.

After two classes, I felt I had more control of my breathing. In addition, I am inspired by the technique that the teacher used for Yoga beginners. I decided to share some thoughts with you.

My teacher, Alice, was trained in traditional Yoga. She is very encouraging, nurturing and supporting in the class. She put all the students at ease by her pleasant smile, soft voice and gentle touches. She constantly reminds us: "Just give it a try." "Listen to your body. Maybe it tells you something." "Don't make judgment, just feel it." I found I was led into Yoga postures without too much thinking.

On the way home after taking the first class, I thought of a quote from Martha Stewart in the book "Being Martha" by LLoyd Allen: "I do as I please and I do it with ease."

I recalled when I just started learning Taiji, how excited but overwhelmed I was about various postures and transitions.

I thought if one day, I would teach Taiji, I would do the following:

- I would seek to understand what motivates the students to learn Taiji
- I would ask how much they knew Taiji already
- I would introduce Taiji principles one at a time
- I would teach my students how to relax first
- I would have the students try one posture a few times and then move to another posture
- I would ask my students to feel themselves after learning one principle, posture or movement

- I would not bombard students with all the Taiji principles at once
- I would not teach any form at the begining
- I would not constantly correct students for postures until they are ready

In summary, I would create an easy and relaxed environment, have the students learn one thing at a time and encourage them to reflect what they have learned. I would make the learning process interesting and inspiring.

Taiji - How to Progress to the Next Level?

After learning several Taiji forms and practiced for several years, some friends often ask this question: How do we progress to the next level?

I am thinking... it depends.

It depends on what motivated you to learn Taiji in the first place and what motivates you now to move to the next level. You must ask yourself how you would be different from today if you would achieve the next level.

1. If you think of Taiji as a gentle form of exercising and do not want to spend too much time on understanding the internal meaning, I suggest you just keep practicing the form for the rest of your life. You will definitely get the benefits out of it.

2. If you are interested in performing Taiji in addition to the health benefits, take more lessons to perfect your postures, transitions and make your movements more graceful.

3. If you are curious about various Taiji styles. You may try learning other forms and styles with different teachers. You may compare the differences among various styles to find out the root of Taiji.

4. If you are amazed by the gongfu (or Kungfu) that Taiji masters possess like Chen Xiaowang, you will need to find the masters, learn from them and develop your strengths and gongfu.

5. If you want to get further health benefits such as reducing stress, experiencing internal connections and smoothing internal energy flow, you need to understand the principles of Taiji and put it into practice. You will have to practice Taiji daily, observe yourself, focus on your intention and feel the internal qi.

6. If you want to apply Taiji principles to your life for happiness and success, you will have to go a step further. You not only have to feel the internal qi, but also use the qi to energize you and train yourself new ways of reacting to the world. This will take a long time. However, nobody can do it for you except for yourself. You should do some readings, exchange ideas with your pals and most importantly, use your brain to think and your body to feel.

In any case, keep practicing!

When Master Li Deyin visited NJ this May, he told us a story about seeing a 94-year old gentleman doing Taiji in a cold day without wearing many layers of clothes. The old man's postures and movements were not perfect but he was so immersed himself in the form. He looked so healthy and at ease. Mr. Li reminded us keeping up the practice was so important for getting the health benefits.

Feel Taiji During Form Practice

Many Taiji (Tai Chi) books and articles talk about how the mind should be emptied or concentrated when performing a Taiji form.

For example, on this web site, it says:
"The mind must be totally concentrated and absorbed in the form. The subconscious mind directs the form while the conscious mind becomes pure and empty. Mind, body and spirit are united as one and a state of selflessness exists."

In another article, the author says that the mind should not be emptied. It should be involved and move the qi.

"Tai chi chuan forms practice should calm the mind, but it should not empty it.
"The mind is always involved," Lee says. "The mind moves the chi, and the chi leads the movement. At the first stages, you have to learn to move your left foot, right foot, arms, etc., but eventually you become very fluid. You begin to express the movement. But you don't do it totally in a state of 'no mind.'"

I think both views are right. They are all about the mind should be immersed in the practice thus the tension in your head(if you have it from the work and life) can be released.

Recently, I paid attention to my mind activities during the practice. I have observed that the thoughts in my mind are different in different practice context.

Night Practice Before Going to Bed
I want to relax so I can have a good sleep. I only do Taiji Form 8 because it is really simple. I play my favorite music. Sometimes, I feel my mind, body and heart are melted with the music and the movements. Sometimes, I consciously put positive thoughts into my mind. Many times, other thoughts are flying into my mind especially when I have a deadline and/or unsolved problems, "the problem is..., solutions, debates, tomorrow,..." I have to consciously stop the thoughts and pull myself back to the practice.

Morning Practice after Getting Out from Bed
I do 20-30 min practice including warm-up and a simple form. I do it in the backyard where I can see a foggy lake, trees, grass, birds and squirrels. I feel excited and refreshed every time. My mind is usually focused on making the movements right and improvements.

Weekend Morning Practice
This is a fun time with friends. We chat before the practice, during the break and after practice. It seems we haven't seen each other for a long time. We practice in a park. The park is big and the landscaping is beautiful. I feel delightful, refreshed and relaxed. However, sometimes my mind is pulled off from the practice when we forget certain movements/transitions or our movements are not synchronized. To me, this is a pleasant excise time but not really Taiji time.

Taiji Class
Now our class starts again. During the class, my mind is really focused on the end-point postures, transitions and movements following the instructions from the teacher. This is a learning time. During the group practice, I can also feel the qi and the energy from the group. I treasure every minus with the teacher and the group practice. I also enjoy the social environment.

I think practicing on your own without any distraction is one way to feel Taiji, the qi, empty mind and the energy. Group practices can bring you the energy in a different dimension.

What's in Your Mind When You Perform a Taiji Routine?

I asked this question to my Teacher, Mr. Chen, Sitan last weekend. He replied:

"I always want to present Taiji as an art blended in with Chinese martial arts, culture and my personal understanding of Taiji. When I perform, I completely immerse myself into the routine using Yi (intend) to lead the movements. The movements are through my body but the presentation is from my heart. I present the entire routine as a whole."

He also said his performance was different now in comparison to that years ago when he was an athlete and competed for gold medals. He has a deeper understanding of Taiji now which reflects in all the movements. He is also more relaxed. In the past, his goal was to compete and win goal medals. Now, he has more time to feel the deeper meanning of Taiji.

Mr. Chen has received 32 medals in various competitions during his professional career. Whenever I was watching his live performance, either for a class demo or for an event, I was always amazed how graceful, light and powerful it was.

In the past three years, I have been impressed by Mr. Chen's patience and the willingness to give all out to the students who want to learn from him. His pleasant personality always makes me think whether it was innate or from Taiji training.

Here is an interesting article about his life in US published on worldjournal.com(in Chinese):
陳思坦來美發揚中國武術
太極拳世界冠軍傳藝授徒 著作出書 澄清人們對福州人成見

Mr. Chen's web site is under revision. In the meantime, you can learn more about him from his recent presence in San Diego for teaching and demonstration.
http://www.sdtaichi.com/chensitanseminar.html

Now, my question is: What's in your mind when you perform a Taiji routine? I will share my experience in a future blog.

Tips: Don't Repeat My Mistake

A few years ago when I started learning Tai Chi, I spent a lot of time practicing the routine (Tai Chi 24 Form). At that time, I got a tape from a friend. The quality of the tape was not great but good enough for me. I watched the tape and was amazed by the graceful movements of the performer. I spent 3-4 hours every evening to watch the tape, imitated the postures and movements of the performer until my knees were sore and I was ready to fall into the bed.

Later, I joined a class and learned more forms, from Taiji Quan 24, 48 to 42. I spent all my spare time to practice the forms until one day I heard a noise from my right knee and then I felt the pain.

I was afraid that I broke the cartilage in the knee. I visited an orthopedic doctor. He examined it, took an X-Ray then told me my knee was OK. He asked me to do some exercise to strengthen the muscle around the knee. I bought two sand bags and started doing the exercise following his instructions.

Right now, my knees are stronger but my right knee is always weaker in comparison to the left knee. I have to be very careful about doing warm ups before doing the routines.

My advice to all people who just started learning Tai Chi:
1. Always warm up before you do Tai Chi
2. Don't bend your knees too low unless you have practiced a while and your knees are strong.
3. Find a good teacher to learn Tai Chi. Learn one movement at a time. Do not rush to learn more.
4. When you change the posture and need to make a turn, do not twist your knees. Always shift your body weight first (move your body away from the foot that will turn and support your body weight), reposition your foot, align your knee with your foot then make the turn. (Note: Thanks my friends for correcting this piece of advice - what a collective intelligence! :-)

Story - Benefits of Tai Chi

"On Sunday, the 62-year-old Norwalk man was standing on the floor at the O'Neill Center at Western Connecticut State University, twisting his body gracefully as he performed the slow, fluid movements that comprise the Chinese exercise system known as tai chi."I get in a zone," said Cronk, who took up tai chi after seeing a class advertised in a senior center bulletin four years ago. Although he walks with the aid of a pair of canes when not exercising and occasionally depends on his fold-up wheelchair to get around, tai chi has helped him avoid the $8,500 motorized wheelchair the Veterans Administration provided him after his operation, Cronk said."The people who do this and stay with it find they can do things they never thought they could do," said Mari Lewis, an instructor whose taught tai chi at senior centers throughout Fairfield County over the past 10 years."

"Born in China more than 500 years ago, tai chi is a series of 103 movements based on the martial arts and done in slow motion. It promotes balance, strength and flexibility, as well as reduces stress and promotes a feeling of relaxation and mental well-being."

Read More

A Dialog About Tai Chi

Audience
Anyone who is curious about what Tai Chi is, how people learn it and the benefits of practicing it.

Dialog between You and Me
You: What kind of exercise do you do?
Me: I practice Tai Chi.
You: I heard about it. It is like Yoga, right? Is it good?
Me: It's great. Let me tell you something about Tai Chi.

Introduction
Tai Chi is from ancient China. It is an internal Chinese martial art practiced by millions of people for the benefits of health - both physically and mentally.

Tai Chi Quan can be translated as "Supreme Ultimate Boxing" or "Boundless Fist" (Wikipedia). Tai Chi involves physical movements and postures similar to that in Chinese martial arts. So, learning Tai Chi involves learning a series of routines of movements, called forms.

The follow paragraphs from Wikipedia describe some people's view about the meaning of Tai Chi. However, most people practice Tai Chi not for combats but for health.

"Traditional T'ai Chi training is intended to teach awareness of one's own balance and what affects it, awareness of the same in others, an appreciation of the practical value in one's ability to moderate extremes of behavior and attitude at both mental and physical levels, and how this applies to effective self-defense principles."

"Teachers say the study of T'ai Chi Ch'üan is, more than anything else, about challenging one's ability to change oneself appropriately in response to outside forces. These principles are taught using the examples of physics as experienced by two (or more) bodies in combat. In order to be able to protect oneself or someone else by using change, it is necessary to understand what the consequences are of changing appropriately, changing inappropriately and not changing at all in response to an attack. Students, by this theory, will appreciate the full benefits of the entire art in the fastest way through physical training of the martial art aspect."

Styles and Forms
There are five major styles of Tai Chi. Each style has various forms. All the styles and forms are popular in China and among practitioners world wide. From 1950s to 1990s, experts from the decedents of major style families and academic professors in mainland China worked together and created several simplified forms (e.g. 24 Form, 32 Tai Chi Sword) to make it easier for people to learn Tai Chi. They then created competition forms for international competition. These forms mix various styles but are primarily based on Yang Style.

Characteristics
-Slow movements
-Stable and balanced stands
-Relaxed in appearance but internally, using "Yi" (intend) to lead the movements. The results of the movements can be very powerful to resist external forces.
-Abdominal breathing
-The joints of the entire body coordinate each other for movements
-Constant Yin/Yang and Solid/Empty transitions
-Most movements are using semi-squat postures

How Do People Learn and Practice Tai Chi?
I have learned Tai Chi Quan (or Tai Chi Boxing), Tai Chi Sword and Tai Chi Fan. There are a lot of VCDs and DVDs but the best way to learn it is to do it with a teacher. My current teacher is Tai Chi Master - Chen Sitan

Here are the forms I have learned:
Tai Chi Quan - 8 Form
Tai Chi Quan - 16 Form
Tai Chi Quan - 24 Form
Tai Chi Quan - 32 Form
Tai Chi Quan - 42 Form (competition form)
Tai Chi Quan - 48 Form
Tai Chi Sword - 16 Form
Tai Chi Sword - 32 Form
Tai Chi Sword - 42 Form (competition form)
Tai Chi Fan - Set 1

Benefits of Practicing Tai Chi
Physically:
- Stronger knees
- More flexibility
- Better coordination

Mentally:
- Mind relaxed
- More balanced view about life

Dialog between You and Me
Me: Tai Chi is different from Yoga in that your body is constantly moving. Your hands and feet constantly change positions from Yin to Yang, Yang to Yin, Solid to Empty and Empty to Solid. Learning Tai Chi is not just about learning a physical form. It is about learning a culture and life philosophy deeply rooted in China.
You: Can I see you when you practice Tai Chi next time?
Me: Sure. I practice Tai Chi with some friends in Donaldson park in Highland Park from 7:30-9:30AM every Saturday and Sunday. You are welcome to come.

Tai Chi - A Westener's View Points

Meanwhile: Tai chi - Old energy for a new age
By C.J. Moore International Herald Tribune
June 5, 2006

Tai Chi Chuan = "supreme ultimate fist."

"The name reveals it to be a combative art, but much practice and guidance with a master are required to be able to draw on tai chi in a situation of real conflict. Many will not get past first principles, but as the first stage is to make yourself mentally and physically fit and healthy, that is already well worth attaining."

"The slow, dance-like form, with a powerful hint of energy coming from an inner center, has something mysteriously attractive about it."

"Perhaps the crowning achievement of tai chi, in the words of the writer Cheng Tin Hung, is that it can change one's disposition: "After practising over a period of time, a hot-tempered man will change into a gentle man." One of my tai chi teachers put it another way. "It brings out the beauty in a person," he said. "With time, you see the change in someone's face.""

Read the Article

Gentle Tai Chi

There is no such thing as "one-size fits all". Practicing Tai Chi can improve health, flexibility, balance and mental state. However, some movements may not be suitable for some people who have certain physical limitations. If you can customize some Tai Chi movements to fit your needs, you will maximize the benefits of the practice.

Here is an interesting article about how a Tai Chi practioner changed some Tai Chi postures and movements to fit her needs.

"Gentle yoga, tai chi are within reach for all"