When people hear "Sash Graduation" at a tai chi school, they fear that they will have to get up in front of a group of people and perform while under intense scrutiny. Nothing is further from this than a Typical Sash Graduation at Internal Gardens Tai Chi...
I try to remind my students that real tai chi chuan (taijiquan) practice is not about fixating on memorizing the form. A lot of people will never understand this. But the ones that do, soar like eagles. My teacher, Master Jou Tsung Hwa, always emphasized that the...
"Tai chi chuan" 太極拳 - casually referred to as "tai chi" - is a deep, meditative, internal Chinese practice. At its original core, it is a martial art, but is nowadays commonly practiced and taught in a manner that strengthens and promotes the mind/body health of...
One of the great old founding masters of tai chi chuan (taijiquan), Wang Zong Yue, stated in his tai chi classic, known as the Taijiquan Jing: "Yin cannot be separated from yang and vice-versa. When yin and yang complement each other, you will interpret the...
What is meant by the phrase, "All tai chi chuan (taijiquan) is to be done as a Torso Method?" The old masters of the traditional Chinese internal arts - such as tai chi chuan (taijiquan, baguazhang, xingyiquan, etc) mentioned the crucial skill of using the body as a...
Master Jou taught mentioned three Taoist rules of success that helped him develop an incredible life, despite having survived a brutal war and experiencing the resulting deaths of family and friends. He lost everything he had in his homeland China in World War II. He...
The ancient art of tai chi neutralizes the number one destroyer of your health and lifespan - stress. All the money in the world can’t buy you a peaceful mind and more years of your life. So tai chi may be the wisest investment you’ll ever make, as for centuries it’s...
Too many people hurt their knees in tai chi. I never could understand this, as I took up tai chi to CURE a knee injury! One day I finally understood why people were getting hurt. The culprit was improper execution of "twist steps." When you twist-step, you need to...
For millennia, the Chinese have relied on natural methods of healthcare, like acupuncture, to treat a vast array of health complaints. But you don't need needles to gently stimulate the points yourself with acupressure (instead of acupuncture). A common acupoint to...
Few practitioners nowadays abide by the Tai Chi Classics - the founding principles of the art of tai chi chuan (taijiquan). One such principle is the first of WuYuXiang's "13 Torso Methods" of traditional taijiquan. It is the principle of "han xiong."...
In the year of 1917, China was going through a tumultuous transition. With the last emperor of the Manchu Dynasty ousted 6 years prior, China saw the end of its 2000 year old imperial system. In the following years, Japan would make demands for special...
For centuries, tai chi has been rumored to be an exceptional "therapy" of rejuvenation, anti-aging, pain cure/relief... and its deep meditative and qigong characteristics are said to cause almost unbelievable transformation in dedicated practitioners. Although...
The first thing you must consider is: Should you play music while practicing tai chi or not? As long as any music or sound is not the main focus, or a distraction, to your practice it doesn't matter. You just need to make certain that you don't get dependent on...