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.

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.

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.

The Ten Basic Rules of Practicing Tai Chi

"Tai Chi for Health" by Edward Maisel

1. Relax. Avoid any nervous or muscular tension. Relax facial muscles as well. The result will be a look of serenity.
2. Empty your mind of thought and allow it to become wholly concerned with and aware of each movement of the body.
3. Perform the actions as slowly as possible.
4. Keep the same tempo throughout. Some actions lend themselves to a faster tempo, but avoid any such temptation to hurry.
5. Breath easily and naturally through the nose.
6. Every action should be comfortable. If it is not comfortable, it is not correct.
7. Never push any action to the utmost. Never stop as far as possible. Always reserve the end of the action to become the beginning of the next one.
8. Every action should be performed with careful deliberateness. Nothing is unimportant. Perform each action as though for the first time.
9. No conscious strength or force should ever be exerted.
10. Action is continuous from the beginning of Tai Chi to the end of Tai Chi. Never stop an action. Never be completely still.