There is a tai chi, qigong and daoyin exercise that people often teach and do to “warm up” or “loosen” the knees. And it is the absolute worst thing you can do to your knees. It will “loosen” them alright – to the point that you may need surgery in a few years. WHY this…
Category Archives: Things to “Power Up” (enhance) your tai chi
When You Have No Time to Practice Tai Chi, Here’s What to Do Instead
I constantly remind my students that real tai chi chuan practice is not about being fixated on memorizing the postures of the form. Sadly, a lot of people will never understand this fact of traditional tai chi. But the ones that do, soar like eagles. Their skills and energy development accelerates exponentially. My teacher, Master…
What is the Silk Reeling Energy of Tai Chi (Taijiquan), or Chan Si Jing?
The traditional schools of tai chi chuan (taijiquan), along with the other Chinese internal arts, emphasize the development of “silk reeling energy,” or “chansijing,” in Chinese. The oldest documented and codified style of tai chi chuan known to man is Chen style. Chen tai chi chuan and its basic developmental exercises can help you learn…
No Time to Practice Tai Chi? No Problem! Here’s 5 Things You Can Do Instead:
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 highest form of tai chi practice was if…
3 Easy Ways to Understand Yin & Yang in all Your Tai Chi Moves
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 tenacious energy, or dongjing, correctly.” Dongjing translates to “the energy…
Master Jou on: “All Tai Chi Chuan (taijiquan) is a Torso Method Art”
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 whole unit. Not only does this give…
Master Jou’s 3 Taoist Rules for Making Progress in Tai Chi (or anything else for that matter!)
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 had to reinvent his life as he fled to Taiwan….
4 Previously Unheard of Ways You Can Use Music to Seriously Enhance Your Tai Chi Practice
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 music playing in order for…