This morning, I decided to focus on sinking into my hip joint using Dantien energy. Wow, what a difference that made! It came from my teacher Diane mentioning during the form last week that sinking into the hip is what moves the leg back in "Step Back and Repulse Monkey".
Previously, I had just gotten my hands in position, and did what I tell my students to do: "walk away from your upper hand". While that is not a bad strategy, it really misses this whole other level and it's time to bring that into my form work.
So here's how that works in Repulse Monkey. You still get your hands in position, forward hand out, palm up, rear hand by the ear, relaxed into a position where the fingers are relaxed, sunken and pointing into that little dip between the upper and back shoulder bones. Now, using your Dantien, sink everything into the hip of the leg that will move back and rotate it back. That brings the leg back with it and also sends the upper hand out and brings the former upper hand back with the leg. Rotate the energy back to centre, let the elbows settle and there you have it, one repetition of Repulse Monkey.
Do it again and again. This is not easy to do! It will take some practice.
Ok, let's get the breath involved, too. As you sink the energy into the hip/groin joint, breathe in (Yin) and when you rotate to move the leg back, send the opposite arm out, and come back to centre, breathe out (Yang).
Now do this for every other part of your form! Figure out how to sink into the hip/groin using the Dantien to send the energy there and then down to your root and simultaneously, send it out from the root to the upper or forward hand, or leg if it's a kick you're doing.
It took me almost 5 minutes longer to do the form because I was practicing so deeply into that. And the form felt completely different. Which is as it should be when you are incorporating a new awareness of movement.
It requires a concentrated awareness, which brings us back to zen practice and how zen and Tai Chi and Tao are all the same. You have to practice them.
Here's to deepening your practice. Play hard. Be aware.
Rich
Wednesday, 21 May 2014
Tuesday, 8 April 2014
Rich's 3 S's of Tai Chi; Sequence, Structure and Shen - Part 3
Shen
This has taken me a while to get to because it's a bit of a tricky subject. Shen can be translated in various ways but for Tai Chi it is most commonly used to mean mind, energy or spirit. So it is where the physical and spirit-ual sides of Tai Chi are joined at the hip, so to speak.
When I walk into a zendo or just sit down on my meditation cushion or bench at home, my mind and body instantly enter into a state of Shen. This is because I have practiced this for years. I don't have to think about it, it just manifests. My spine straightens and aligns, my breathing deepens and slows down and my attention starts to focus on my breath. Of course my attention invariably wanders and I have to bring it back time and again but that's just what we do. We practice zen! We never get it completely right. And that's what you're going to start doing with your Tai Chi. Start practicing Shen.
When I watch an experienced person doing Tai Chi, I instantly can feel the Shen they are manifesting but when I watch an inexperienced person doing Tai Chi, and depending on their ability they may look pretty fluid, I rarely get a sense of Shen emanating from them. That's because usually, they're still working on the first 2 parts which I previously discussed, Sequence and Structure. To really practice, develop and manifest Shen, you need to have Sequence and Structure firmly in hand.
You can't be thinking "What comes next?"! Soon as that happens, Shen just flies out the window. Bye, bye.... And like zen practice, you have to bring your self back to it again and again.....
But you can develop your Shen and you don't have to know the whole sequence of a form. You can practice it on any portion of the form you know well. Just isolate a section, say the Grasp Sparrows Tail set of moves. Or Wave Hands Like Clouds, etc. As soon as you're confident with the sequence and the structure - what comes next, where do hands, feet etc go - then you can begin working on your Shen.
Remember that you have a Dan Tien? Okay, if you forgot, now's the time to remember! You actually have three and now is when you're really going to start using the lower one to put Shen into your form. Let's take a simple move from Yang style Tai Chi, Parting the Wild Horse's Mane.
(BTW, none of us are likely to have ever seen a wild horse's mane no less parted it so I've recently begun to call this move, Throw the Frisbee. Now that's something almost everyone can relate to!! And it describes the move perfectly. I'm working on other modern move descriptions but that's another post for the future. Let's get back to Shen.)
In the Yang Style 24-Form set, the move is the first move after preparation for Tai Chi. You are standing with your 2 hands in front of you in the position commonly called Holding the Ball. Right hand is on top, chest high, palm facing down, left hand is on bottom pretty much right at the height of the Dan Tien, palm facing up. You are fully weighted into the right foot with the left foot positioned right next to it, with only the toes touching the ground at about the middle of the right foot. It looks like this:
Now, what I want you to do is to imagine energy spiraling down from your Dan Tien through your right heel deep into the earth below you.
Now you see why you couldn't do this until you had the first 2 Ss, sequence and structure. That's a lot to imagine and manage. If you find this difficult to do, don't worry, it doesn't come automatically the first time you do it. Like all of Tai Chi, it requires practice and repetition over many years.
Once you start getting Shen into your practice, your Tai Chi will begin to take on a whole new depth and feeling. So get to it!
Sending you lots of positive Shen until next time,
Rich
This has taken me a while to get to because it's a bit of a tricky subject. Shen can be translated in various ways but for Tai Chi it is most commonly used to mean mind, energy or spirit. So it is where the physical and spirit-ual sides of Tai Chi are joined at the hip, so to speak.
When I walk into a zendo or just sit down on my meditation cushion or bench at home, my mind and body instantly enter into a state of Shen. This is because I have practiced this for years. I don't have to think about it, it just manifests. My spine straightens and aligns, my breathing deepens and slows down and my attention starts to focus on my breath. Of course my attention invariably wanders and I have to bring it back time and again but that's just what we do. We practice zen! We never get it completely right. And that's what you're going to start doing with your Tai Chi. Start practicing Shen.
When I watch an experienced person doing Tai Chi, I instantly can feel the Shen they are manifesting but when I watch an inexperienced person doing Tai Chi, and depending on their ability they may look pretty fluid, I rarely get a sense of Shen emanating from them. That's because usually, they're still working on the first 2 parts which I previously discussed, Sequence and Structure. To really practice, develop and manifest Shen, you need to have Sequence and Structure firmly in hand.
You can't be thinking "What comes next?"! Soon as that happens, Shen just flies out the window. Bye, bye.... And like zen practice, you have to bring your self back to it again and again.....
But you can develop your Shen and you don't have to know the whole sequence of a form. You can practice it on any portion of the form you know well. Just isolate a section, say the Grasp Sparrows Tail set of moves. Or Wave Hands Like Clouds, etc. As soon as you're confident with the sequence and the structure - what comes next, where do hands, feet etc go - then you can begin working on your Shen.
Remember that you have a Dan Tien? Okay, if you forgot, now's the time to remember! You actually have three and now is when you're really going to start using the lower one to put Shen into your form. Let's take a simple move from Yang style Tai Chi, Parting the Wild Horse's Mane.
(BTW, none of us are likely to have ever seen a wild horse's mane no less parted it so I've recently begun to call this move, Throw the Frisbee. Now that's something almost everyone can relate to!! And it describes the move perfectly. I'm working on other modern move descriptions but that's another post for the future. Let's get back to Shen.)
In the Yang Style 24-Form set, the move is the first move after preparation for Tai Chi. You are standing with your 2 hands in front of you in the position commonly called Holding the Ball. Right hand is on top, chest high, palm facing down, left hand is on bottom pretty much right at the height of the Dan Tien, palm facing up. You are fully weighted into the right foot with the left foot positioned right next to it, with only the toes touching the ground at about the middle of the right foot. It looks like this:
Now, what I want you to do is to imagine energy spiraling down from your Dan Tien through your right heel deep into the earth below you.
- As you step out with your left foot getting ready to enter a bow stance and Throw the Frisbee, you place your left heel on the ground without any weight in it.
- Now you're going to Throw the Frisbee with your left hand and to do this, you begin to send the weight and energy into your left foot by mentally placing it there.
- At the same time, you are going to send energy into your left hand by pushing it up from your "rooted" right foot through the Dan Tien to the palm of the left hand so there is a continuous string of energy spiralling from the earth to the right heel through the Dan Tien and ending in your left hand.
Now you see why you couldn't do this until you had the first 2 Ss, sequence and structure. That's a lot to imagine and manage. If you find this difficult to do, don't worry, it doesn't come automatically the first time you do it. Like all of Tai Chi, it requires practice and repetition over many years.
Once you start getting Shen into your practice, your Tai Chi will begin to take on a whole new depth and feeling. So get to it!
Sending you lots of positive Shen until next time,
Rich
Monday, 3 March 2014
Rich's 3 S's of Tai Chi, Sequence, Structure and Shen - Part 2
Structure
Let's continue illustrating with zen meditation practice and then move over to Tai Chi.
Ok, you now know a little bit about the sequence when when you go to your new Zen Centre. You come in the door, take off your coat, hat, shoes (and socks if you like to meditate barefoot), Gassho when you enter the zendo, proceed to an empty seat, bow to the seat, turn around and bow to the meditators across from you and then sit down in your seat to begin meditation. You know that the meditation period is 30 minutes long, then there will be a 10 minute walking (kinhin) session, then another 30 minutes of zazen, etc.... That's the sequence. So what do you do while you're actually meditating?
Now we come to structure. First, you want find what kind of cushions work for you to give you the most relaxed, pain-free experience. That may take a bit of trial and error but you will discover whether you like hard, soft or medium resistance sitting cushions. And you may like cotton filled, air-filled, husk-filled, etc. Many different kinds to choose from.
Next, you need to determine your sitting posture - whether you're going to sit in full lotus, half lotus, seiza (using a small wooden bench), or a chair or some combination of the above. You want to get your head, spine and tailbone in a nice straight line so that the energy can flow and there is minimal tension. Droopy postures will limit you in a couple of ways: they will promote pain and discomfort in your spine and they tend to lead to drowsiness, both of which are detrimental to meditation practice.
Once you have your head, back and tailbone aligned, your feet and legs positioned, you then need to address how to hold your hands. Most zen centres recommend either a classic "mudra" where the left hand sits in the right hand, thumbs just touching to form a nice circle of space or just placing the right hand over the left hand. In both cases, your hands are positioned just a little below your waist with your thumbs at the height of your navel. And your elbows are held a little bit away from your body. There is an excellent description in Zen Master Shunryo Suzuki's book, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind.
As you can see, there is a lot to the simple structure of just how to sit during zen meditation and then all you need to do is maintain it for a certain length of time. Easier said than done! But that's a discussion for another time...
When doing Tai Chi, we are constantly changing the position of our head, hands, feet, arms, legs, knees, hips, elbows, shoulders, waist and torso etc. So structure is the next stage of learning as we develop our understanding of Tai Chi practice and it's important to not have to worry about sequence when you begin to concentrate on structure. I really like the KISS! method of learning - KISS! stands for Keep It Simple for Students! Structure can't be simplified until you already know the sequence. So if you don't really know the sequence, go back and spend more time memorizing that! It will pay off in the long run.
Ok, you now know a little bit about the sequence when when you go to your new Zen Centre. You come in the door, take off your coat, hat, shoes (and socks if you like to meditate barefoot), Gassho when you enter the zendo, proceed to an empty seat, bow to the seat, turn around and bow to the meditators across from you and then sit down in your seat to begin meditation. You know that the meditation period is 30 minutes long, then there will be a 10 minute walking (kinhin) session, then another 30 minutes of zazen, etc.... That's the sequence. So what do you do while you're actually meditating?
Now we come to structure. First, you want find what kind of cushions work for you to give you the most relaxed, pain-free experience. That may take a bit of trial and error but you will discover whether you like hard, soft or medium resistance sitting cushions. And you may like cotton filled, air-filled, husk-filled, etc. Many different kinds to choose from.
Next, you need to determine your sitting posture - whether you're going to sit in full lotus, half lotus, seiza (using a small wooden bench), or a chair or some combination of the above. You want to get your head, spine and tailbone in a nice straight line so that the energy can flow and there is minimal tension. Droopy postures will limit you in a couple of ways: they will promote pain and discomfort in your spine and they tend to lead to drowsiness, both of which are detrimental to meditation practice.
Once you have your head, back and tailbone aligned, your feet and legs positioned, you then need to address how to hold your hands. Most zen centres recommend either a classic "mudra" where the left hand sits in the right hand, thumbs just touching to form a nice circle of space or just placing the right hand over the left hand. In both cases, your hands are positioned just a little below your waist with your thumbs at the height of your navel. And your elbows are held a little bit away from your body. There is an excellent description in Zen Master Shunryo Suzuki's book, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind.
As you can see, there is a lot to the simple structure of just how to sit during zen meditation and then all you need to do is maintain it for a certain length of time. Easier said than done! But that's a discussion for another time...
When doing Tai Chi, we are constantly changing the position of our head, hands, feet, arms, legs, knees, hips, elbows, shoulders, waist and torso etc. So structure is the next stage of learning as we develop our understanding of Tai Chi practice and it's important to not have to worry about sequence when you begin to concentrate on structure. I really like the KISS! method of learning - KISS! stands for Keep It Simple for Students! Structure can't be simplified until you already know the sequence. So if you don't really know the sequence, go back and spend more time memorizing that! It will pay off in the long run.
Once my students have reliably memorized a portion of the sequence, we can begin to look at the structure of the form and the various postures. Here's a nice chart of the 24-postures Yang Style Tai Chi with simple drawings of the structure of the various postures. There are others, just search Google images and you can find lots of different examples.
You can see from careful examination of this chart how to hold the body, how to sink into a posture, how to move using the waist, where parts of the body move to, the timing of movement and all the other little intricacies of the structure of a given posture. But it's still a bit removed from the actual doing and the transitions can be confusing when just looking at diagrams. That's where a teacher is helpful. I also work with my students by demonstrating and practicing movement exercises with my them so they can get a sense of how postures transition in a fluid manner, without interruption; what the right hand does when the left foot steps forward, etc. This is a very important aspect of Tai Chi and is also a bit of an introduction to Shen, but primarily it is structure.
Lastly, in Part 3, we will look at Shen, or mind-energy. This is what underlies everything in Tai Chi, but just as in zen practice, you need to work with the 1st two S's before you can work with mind-energy.
Remember, the most important thing of all is to keep playing!!
We'll talk again soon,
Rich
Monday, 24 February 2014
Rich's 3 S's of Tai Chi; Sequence, Structure and Shen - Part 1
When you first enter a zen centre, if you have never been there before, you have to learn what the "rules" are. Essentially this involves finding the answers to simple questions like, where is the entry to the zendo? What time does the sitting begin? How long is the sitting period? Who do I bow to and when? How fast is the Kinhin line? When I go to see the Roshi or head of the centre, how many times do I bow? and the list goes on...
It is critically important that you learn the answers to these questions because if you don't, then every time you come to that zendo to sit in meditation, you will create disturbances that may disrupt other sangha members' zazen and your own practice will be in constant disarray and confusion. In a very real sense, you have to learn the sequence of events. Then you can begin to relax and work on other aspects of your zen practice. Structure is the next important piece and some would argue that sequence is unimportant, that structure is everything but for now, bear with me on this.
So, the structure of zen practice. You have to learn how to sit properly. It doesn't matter if you use a cushion, a seiza bench, a chair, whatever. How you "hold" yourself physically while doing zazen is also an important part of the practice. Where do your hands go, what position can you place your legs? Are the eyes open, closed, half-closed? Does the left hand go on top of the right hand? Where are the hands held during Kinhin, how far do I step? How far should I be from the person in front of me?
And lastly, how you work with your mind and energy (or chi) is important. If you are given koan practice, you need to know how to do that. If you are counting and / or following the breath, then you need instruction on how best to do that. Your teacher will give you instruction in these parts of the practice, when you are ready for them.
So just like Zen practice, learning Tai Chi also progresses along this same 3-fold path: Sequence, Structure and Shen. I call these the 3 S's of Tai Chi.
Sequence
In most Tai Chi classes, you will be taught a form which is a series of postures that you move through from beginning to end. Some forms have as little as 8 postures and some have as many as 108 postures. It doesn't matter how many postures; if you want to practice that particular form, you have to learn the postures and the order in which they proceed. That is the sequence.
Different instructors teach differently and what I do is to have a warm-up Qi-gong session (which also has a sequence of postures) and then I lead my students through the form, calling out the moves as they come up and giving directions for how to move hands and feet, etc. So I take them through the whole sequence, beginning to end. I like to do this because then they can see their ultimate goal, get a brief exposure to all the different movements and how they transition to each other, see how long the form takes to do and begin to get a feel for what it's like to go from beginning to end.
Other teachers take a different approach; they have a very formal class schedule. Class one starts at the beginning and each time the class meets, the next posture is taught so in week 1, you only learn the 1st posture, in week 2 you learn the 2nd posture, etc. so by the end of week 8, you will have learned 7-9 postures depending on how fast or slow they teach and the ability of the individuals in the class.
There's no right or wrong way between the two methods. I've had instructors use both methods and they both have their advantages and disadvantages. I just prefer the first method for my own style of teaching.
Other teachers take a different approach; they have a very formal class schedule. Class one starts at the beginning and each time the class meets, the next posture is taught so in week 1, you only learn the 1st posture, in week 2 you learn the 2nd posture, etc. so by the end of week 8, you will have learned 7-9 postures depending on how fast or slow they teach and the ability of the individuals in the class.
There's no right or wrong way between the two methods. I've had instructors use both methods and they both have their advantages and disadvantages. I just prefer the first method for my own style of teaching.
Once we go through the whole form, I then take the inexperienced students aside and we concentrate on learning a move and how to get into it from the previous move. At this stage, with inexperienced students, I ask them to concentrate on learning the sequence and don't worry too much about any of the physical details of the posture. Often my experienced students will join in both to refine their own sequencing and to give me a little help with the inexperienced students.
Most folks have all they can do to just learn the sequence at the beginning. As long as they are not falling over backwards, and doing harmful things to themselves such as bending the knees so that they extend past their toes, I don't worry too much about how things look, where their hands and feet are, etc. Just memorizing the sequence is enough!
And that's enough to think about for now. In Part 2 we'll look at structure.
In Gassho to your Tai Chi beginner's mind,
Rich
And that's enough to think about for now. In Part 2 we'll look at structure.
In Gassho to your Tai Chi beginner's mind,
Rich
Thursday, 30 January 2014
Chi Ski
It has been a terrible ski season here in Vancouver this winter, so far. There has been no new snow falling on our mountains since I can't remember when and the snow they make at the local ski spots gets quickly eroded away so you have to get up there early to really enjoy it.
I finally got my lazy butt up there for the first time this winter and the run I picked to start on was so "slushy" I fell over within the first minute of skiing. (So much for Tai Chi Master) As I'm struggling to get back up, one of the ski patrol folks comes over and asks if I'm ok. I was ok, but very embarrassed and I have the most ridiculous time trying to get back upright once I've fallen over if both skis are still attached. Maybe someday I'll have the necessary core strength, but what I did, and what I usually do is to just release one ski and then I can plant a foot and leverage myself back up to standing.
Ok, so he tells me the other slopes are less slushy than this one and I should check them out. So I make my way down the rest of the run without any major problems and head over to the other lift that's open. And sure enough, he's right, the snow is way better on those runs. Must be how the sun hits it.
(I know, you're thinking "What has this got to do with Tai Chi?!" Relax, be patient.... )
But I'm still not feeling the "flow" of it. I'm expending WAY more effort than I usually have to make it down a simple green run. What's going on here. And then, all of a sudden, I'm in the groove. Huh, what is the difference? I figure I'm back to ski-normal and I can start hitting the blue runs.
Nope! Well, yes, I can make it down the blue run but it was a LOT of effort and struggle. Usually I just fly down these things! And then it came to me. Time to chi-ski! (which is what I was doing without being aware of it when it felt effortless for that brief couple of moments)
What is chi-ski? I made up the word so I get to tell you what it is. And I really like how it sounds. Kinda like cheeky only with an "s" in it. Essentially, it is just like chi running only you're skiing. I get back up to start a new run and sure enough, as soon as I start chi-skiing, it's effortless again. What I do when I chi-ski is get into my Tai Chi wu-ji posture while on the skis, relax, push off and sink my Tantien into the foot that I need to weight to execute my turn. And then back into the other foot for the next turn, ad infinitum and before I know it, I'm back down at the entrance to the lift. And skiing is fun again. Relaxed. Easy. Effortless.
Of course, if you don't have the experience of using your Tantien to focus and execute your Tai Chi movements, you won't have any idea what I'm talking about. In which case, you need to ask your teacher about it and whether your Tai Chi is ready for that kind of work.
So I hope you all go out and chi-ski and let me know how it feels for you. It's just another way of practicing Tai Chi while you're out having fun.
Relaxing into my Tantien,
Rich
I finally got my lazy butt up there for the first time this winter and the run I picked to start on was so "slushy" I fell over within the first minute of skiing. (So much for Tai Chi Master) As I'm struggling to get back up, one of the ski patrol folks comes over and asks if I'm ok. I was ok, but very embarrassed and I have the most ridiculous time trying to get back upright once I've fallen over if both skis are still attached. Maybe someday I'll have the necessary core strength, but what I did, and what I usually do is to just release one ski and then I can plant a foot and leverage myself back up to standing.
Ok, so he tells me the other slopes are less slushy than this one and I should check them out. So I make my way down the rest of the run without any major problems and head over to the other lift that's open. And sure enough, he's right, the snow is way better on those runs. Must be how the sun hits it.
(I know, you're thinking "What has this got to do with Tai Chi?!" Relax, be patient.... )
But I'm still not feeling the "flow" of it. I'm expending WAY more effort than I usually have to make it down a simple green run. What's going on here. And then, all of a sudden, I'm in the groove. Huh, what is the difference? I figure I'm back to ski-normal and I can start hitting the blue runs.
Nope! Well, yes, I can make it down the blue run but it was a LOT of effort and struggle. Usually I just fly down these things! And then it came to me. Time to chi-ski! (which is what I was doing without being aware of it when it felt effortless for that brief couple of moments)
What is chi-ski? I made up the word so I get to tell you what it is. And I really like how it sounds. Kinda like cheeky only with an "s" in it. Essentially, it is just like chi running only you're skiing. I get back up to start a new run and sure enough, as soon as I start chi-skiing, it's effortless again. What I do when I chi-ski is get into my Tai Chi wu-ji posture while on the skis, relax, push off and sink my Tantien into the foot that I need to weight to execute my turn. And then back into the other foot for the next turn, ad infinitum and before I know it, I'm back down at the entrance to the lift. And skiing is fun again. Relaxed. Easy. Effortless.
Of course, if you don't have the experience of using your Tantien to focus and execute your Tai Chi movements, you won't have any idea what I'm talking about. In which case, you need to ask your teacher about it and whether your Tai Chi is ready for that kind of work.
So I hope you all go out and chi-ski and let me know how it feels for you. It's just another way of practicing Tai Chi while you're out having fun.
Relaxing into my Tantien,
Rich
Wednesday, 15 January 2014
Tai Chi Mind, Beginners Mind
With several years of teaching Tai Chi under my belt now, I have to admit that teaching beginners is the hardest thing I have ever done. When I started up, I was never quite sure just what I should be telling them to do. I was afraid that if I give them too much, they'd feel overwhelmed and not come back, and if I give them too little, they'd feel like they were wasting their time and money and not come back! Essentially it boiled down to - I'm afraid they won't come back and I "turned them off" to Tai Chi. I was taking it very personally. I have finally realized that it's time to let go of that!
The truth is that for the most part, it really doesn't matter what I give them in the first class or two, as far as material. What's most important is how I treat them as people who are concerned about their health and well being and are interested in Tai Chi. I especially don't try to hide anything from them; not my lack of skill in certain areas, nor how difficult or easy they might find Tai Chi to be, and that there are better teachers out there than me. For whatever reason, they have come to my class and I will do my utmost to support and help them to learn this activity to the best of my ability. And that just like them, I also take classes and work with teachers to improve my own Tai Chi. Really, that's all I can do.
What I have learned is that students flow in and out of Tai Chi classes, just like sticks going down a stream. Some float into my pool for a quick break, swirl around for a bit, get caught up in the current again and are taken away downstream. Some find my pool to be a nice pool and stay for quite a while, discovering more and more about just what's in there that sustains their practice. Some find my pool is too deep for them, others find that it is too shallow, others, that it's just right. Kinda like Goldilocks and the 3 bears. It's all good. I just welcome them when they arrive, show them what's in my pool, and wish them well if and when they move along.
And for me, that's just like sitting on my zen cushion. I watch my breath come and go, my thoughts come and go, other zen practitioners come and go. Both Tai Chi and Zen are very deep pools for me and the more I experience of both, the more I see that they are different aspects of the same pool. And that there's always more to discover.
One of the things that I always liked about Tai Chi is that we often say to other Tai Chi people, "would you like to play Tai Chi with me?". It could be to do a form together, or to do some push hands. Just that it's play, not work. And that's what I invite all my students to do, come play some Tai Chi with me for a while. It seems to be working, I'm still teaching and I still have students.
So come play some Tai Chi with me if you're ever in Vancouver, BC.
The truth is that for the most part, it really doesn't matter what I give them in the first class or two, as far as material. What's most important is how I treat them as people who are concerned about their health and well being and are interested in Tai Chi. I especially don't try to hide anything from them; not my lack of skill in certain areas, nor how difficult or easy they might find Tai Chi to be, and that there are better teachers out there than me. For whatever reason, they have come to my class and I will do my utmost to support and help them to learn this activity to the best of my ability. And that just like them, I also take classes and work with teachers to improve my own Tai Chi. Really, that's all I can do.
What I have learned is that students flow in and out of Tai Chi classes, just like sticks going down a stream. Some float into my pool for a quick break, swirl around for a bit, get caught up in the current again and are taken away downstream. Some find my pool to be a nice pool and stay for quite a while, discovering more and more about just what's in there that sustains their practice. Some find my pool is too deep for them, others find that it is too shallow, others, that it's just right. Kinda like Goldilocks and the 3 bears. It's all good. I just welcome them when they arrive, show them what's in my pool, and wish them well if and when they move along.
And for me, that's just like sitting on my zen cushion. I watch my breath come and go, my thoughts come and go, other zen practitioners come and go. Both Tai Chi and Zen are very deep pools for me and the more I experience of both, the more I see that they are different aspects of the same pool. And that there's always more to discover.
One of the things that I always liked about Tai Chi is that we often say to other Tai Chi people, "would you like to play Tai Chi with me?". It could be to do a form together, or to do some push hands. Just that it's play, not work. And that's what I invite all my students to do, come play some Tai Chi with me for a while. It seems to be working, I'm still teaching and I still have students.
So come play some Tai Chi with me if you're ever in Vancouver, BC.
Rich
Thursday, 19 December 2013
Merging Zen, Tao and Tai Chi
It has been a long time since I put up a post in Reeling Silk's
blog because I wasn't sure that I actually had anything to say that
hadn't already said by others, and better than I could have said it.
And with what I was considering saying at the time, that was certainly
true.
But I have finally discovered the place that I want to come from and talk about in this blog; the merging of Tai Chi practice with my Soto Zen Buddhist practice and my curiosity about how the Tao and Zen speak to one another through the medium of Tai Chi. So let's talk a little bit about my practice of both, so you know where I'm coming from.
Every morning before I begin my Tai Chi forms, I sit zazen. Sometimes for as little as 25 minutes, sometimes as long as an hour. Then after a stretch, I do a short bowing practice and then either begin my Tai Chi form practice or further warm up with a Qi-qong routine I learned from one of my former teachers, Master Xu Gong Wei (you learn a bit more about him here). Then I practice 1-3 forms before beginning my regular morning routine. They will either be chuan (hand/fist), jian (sword) or some of each, although lately I have been doing a chuan form and then Yang jian 51-form.
Sitting meditation before doing Tai Chi offers several benefits. First, I get to wake up a bit more gradually, my zazen practice being to follow my breath. Second, the slow awakening and the focus on breathing results in a very nice accumulation of energy, which I get to carry over into my form work. And I can also carry my meditation breath work into my form work. Both aspects are especially helpful when doing my Chen forms, which require a bit more speed and oomph to them with the fa-jin moves than Yang or Wu styles.
Then it's on to the rest of day, whatever that may be; work, play, relaxing, etc.
That's a quick summary of how I physically approach Tai Chi from a Zen meditation point of reference. Stay tuned for more regular posts in the future now that I know what I want to say.
Salute and Gassho,
Rich
But I have finally discovered the place that I want to come from and talk about in this blog; the merging of Tai Chi practice with my Soto Zen Buddhist practice and my curiosity about how the Tao and Zen speak to one another through the medium of Tai Chi. So let's talk a little bit about my practice of both, so you know where I'm coming from.
Every morning before I begin my Tai Chi forms, I sit zazen. Sometimes for as little as 25 minutes, sometimes as long as an hour. Then after a stretch, I do a short bowing practice and then either begin my Tai Chi form practice or further warm up with a Qi-qong routine I learned from one of my former teachers, Master Xu Gong Wei (you learn a bit more about him here). Then I practice 1-3 forms before beginning my regular morning routine. They will either be chuan (hand/fist), jian (sword) or some of each, although lately I have been doing a chuan form and then Yang jian 51-form.
Sitting meditation before doing Tai Chi offers several benefits. First, I get to wake up a bit more gradually, my zazen practice being to follow my breath. Second, the slow awakening and the focus on breathing results in a very nice accumulation of energy, which I get to carry over into my form work. And I can also carry my meditation breath work into my form work. Both aspects are especially helpful when doing my Chen forms, which require a bit more speed and oomph to them with the fa-jin moves than Yang or Wu styles.
Then it's on to the rest of day, whatever that may be; work, play, relaxing, etc.
That's a quick summary of how I physically approach Tai Chi from a Zen meditation point of reference. Stay tuned for more regular posts in the future now that I know what I want to say.
Salute and Gassho,
Rich
Wednesday, 6 March 2013
What Moves What?
One of the first things I learned in Tai Chi was that parts of the body never really moved the way you were used to thinking of moving them. Let me illustrate.
Your teacher tells you to raise your hand so you think ok, no problem, I'll just raise my hand. Ding, Ding, Ding....my alarm bells just went off. Not really.....If you only do that you're just waving your hand and why would that be of any use, either for martial or health benefits? So how actually do you raise your hand?
Well, let's get really simple and add complexity as we go. You remember that song Dry Bones? Here's just one verse but I highly recommend you check out all the others.
"With the finger bone connected
to the hand bone,
and the hand bone connected
to the arm bone,
and the arm bone connected
to the shoulder bone,
Oh mercy how they scare! " and so on.... What's important is to keep in mind all those connections.
Ok, let's get back to raising the hand. Hold your arm out in front of you at shoulder height with your hand nice and relaxed, same for the shoulder. Now, just raise your hand. You can do that by flexing your wrist and tightening the wrist muscles. But notice that it doesn't get your hand very much higher and now your wrist is all tensed up. Not an ideal situation.
Extend your arm and hand again and this time, drop and close your elbow joint. Hey, look at that, your hand just got raised up and now, it's still nice and relaxed and ready for action. This works even if you're sitting down. That's because the hand bone's connected to the arm bone, the arm bone connected to the elbow bone, the elbow bone connected to the.....you get the idea :)
Now, let's take it a step further. I assume you're standing. If not, stand up and extend your hand and arm. This time, drop and close your elbow joint but do that by using Dan Tien chi energy. If it's your right hand we're raising, visualize sinking Dan Tien chi into and through your lower back and down into the right heel as you sit down and open into your lower back. If done properly, the sinking of the chi into the heel will automatically lower and close the elbow while raising the hand. Practice connecting these pieces and your on your way to beginning to understand how use your whole body to move a single part.
As you deepen this awareness, because that's what your really doing, you will begin to feel it in your muscles, your tendons, your ligaments and your bones. And that's what the song's really about, isn't it? All those connected bones.
Keeping it all connected until next time,
Rich
Your teacher tells you to raise your hand so you think ok, no problem, I'll just raise my hand. Ding, Ding, Ding....my alarm bells just went off. Not really.....If you only do that you're just waving your hand and why would that be of any use, either for martial or health benefits? So how actually do you raise your hand?
Well, let's get really simple and add complexity as we go. You remember that song Dry Bones? Here's just one verse but I highly recommend you check out all the others.
"With the finger bone connected
to the hand bone,
and the hand bone connected
to the arm bone,
and the arm bone connected
to the shoulder bone,
Oh mercy how they scare! " and so on.... What's important is to keep in mind all those connections.
Ok, let's get back to raising the hand. Hold your arm out in front of you at shoulder height with your hand nice and relaxed, same for the shoulder. Now, just raise your hand. You can do that by flexing your wrist and tightening the wrist muscles. But notice that it doesn't get your hand very much higher and now your wrist is all tensed up. Not an ideal situation.
Extend your arm and hand again and this time, drop and close your elbow joint. Hey, look at that, your hand just got raised up and now, it's still nice and relaxed and ready for action. This works even if you're sitting down. That's because the hand bone's connected to the arm bone, the arm bone connected to the elbow bone, the elbow bone connected to the.....you get the idea :)
Now, let's take it a step further. I assume you're standing. If not, stand up and extend your hand and arm. This time, drop and close your elbow joint but do that by using Dan Tien chi energy. If it's your right hand we're raising, visualize sinking Dan Tien chi into and through your lower back and down into the right heel as you sit down and open into your lower back. If done properly, the sinking of the chi into the heel will automatically lower and close the elbow while raising the hand. Practice connecting these pieces and your on your way to beginning to understand how use your whole body to move a single part.
As you deepen this awareness, because that's what your really doing, you will begin to feel it in your muscles, your tendons, your ligaments and your bones. And that's what the song's really about, isn't it? All those connected bones.
Keeping it all connected until next time,
Rich
Thursday, 31 January 2013
Tai Chi is not Exercise
Tai Chi is not Exercise
Recently, in my Creekside class, I talked about how Tai Chi is not really exercise and that to do it only as such is to miss the point. The reason I was talking about this is because one of my friends told me that he had re-injured himself while doing Tai Chi and I immediately thought, "he's not doing Tai Chi, he's doing exercise that he thinks is Tai Chi."If you are really doing Tai Chi, the slow, deliberate motions done properly will not EVER re-injure or cause you any discomfort, IF you are LISTENING to your body. And you can't direct energy if you aren't listening. Tai Chi is good for healing, restoring a feeling of wellness, and strengthening your body in subtle ways, not for reinjuring yourself!!
When you do Tai Chi, you DO get some exercise, but more importantly, you are beginning to learn how to direct your energy (ji) with your mind (shen). Done properly, your internal organs get massaged, energy channels open and chi accumulates.
If you want exercise, go to the gym and workout, go ride a bike, go for a run, go skiing, go swimming, go for a long walk, etc.... I enjoy all those, too, but it has nothing to do with my Tai Chi. Unless, of course, you incorporate Tai Chi principles into these activities!
I'll have more to say about this in the future but this is a good place to stop for now. I'm happy to entertain questions, feedback, comments, etc.
Searching for Balance,
Rich
Monday, 29 October 2012
The Secret to Relaxing During Tai Chi
RRRREEEELLLLAAAAXXXXXXINNNNGGGG....ahhhh :)
One of the things I was constantly told when I was a beginning student, and now I tell my students is that they need to relax more. Just relax. So simple, right?
NOT!
How can you relax when you're busy trying to remember your posture movements and transitions, you only have a few minutes to practice, you have to get groceries, the laundry needs to be done, the kids are screaming or need to be transported, your arthritis is bothering you, and on and on....
I have puzzled over this myself for many years and I think I may have finally unlocked the secret! And it's deceptively simple. Ready?
be......... here.......... now!!
It's a bit counter-intuitive but the more you can concentrate on what you are doing IN THIS MOMENT, the less the rest of your external world that creeps in and the more you end up relaxing. The deeper you focus your awareness on the single movement you are performing (rotating your waist, sinking into your root, extending your hand/foot), the more your physical body will drop tension in other areas and relax. And this is not a forced, conscious "trying to" relaxation. It just happens without you even noticing or realizing it at first.
Another thing that often sabotages students' attempts at relaxation is simple physical discomfort. You absolutely cannot relax if you are uncomfortable. I keep telling my students that if they feel any pain or discomfort then they need to adjust the posture so that it feels comfortable. We have all heard the expression "No Pain, No Gain" especially associated with increasing performance in sports. Well fawgeddaboudit for Tai Chi. If anything, in Tai Chi, it will set you back and can easily lead to injury from improper body positioning and strain.
So start by getting comfortable. If your postures are leading to really tense muscles and regular soreness, talk to your teacher and work out variations that are best for you. We all do Tai Chi differently because we all have different bodies and capabilities. And even those are continuously changing if we are practicing regularly.
Let's do a little simple relaxation exercise. Assume your starting Wu Ji pose. Just stand there for a few moments and pay attention to all of your body. First, centre your weight to rest equally on both feet, preferably mostly in your heels, but also throughout the bottom of your foot. Now take a few abdominal breaths and check other parts of your body. To check your shoulders, shrug them up military style and then let them fall loosely. Now they will be relaxed. Tense and wiggle your toes and then just let them be. Now they should be relaxed. Clench your fists and then extend your fingers as far down as possible and then just let them hang. Now they are relaxed. And you can do the same with any other parts of your body; knees, elbows, neck, head. So you will now be pretty fully relaxed and ready to start your form practice.
Simple, right?! And all you had to do was to pay attention to what you were doing and feeling in that moment. You were Being Here Now.
Tai Chi can be practiced on many levels - from simple exercises to advanced martial art skills - but most people that I encounter are looking for the health benefits that they have heard about. Bottom line: The more often and deeper you can relax, the more those benefits will begin to manifest and appear in your life. So pay attention, relax and enjoy.
Keep on playing,
Rich
One of the things I was constantly told when I was a beginning student, and now I tell my students is that they need to relax more. Just relax. So simple, right?
NOT!
How can you relax when you're busy trying to remember your posture movements and transitions, you only have a few minutes to practice, you have to get groceries, the laundry needs to be done, the kids are screaming or need to be transported, your arthritis is bothering you, and on and on....
I have puzzled over this myself for many years and I think I may have finally unlocked the secret! And it's deceptively simple. Ready?
be......... here.......... now!!
It's a bit counter-intuitive but the more you can concentrate on what you are doing IN THIS MOMENT, the less the rest of your external world that creeps in and the more you end up relaxing. The deeper you focus your awareness on the single movement you are performing (rotating your waist, sinking into your root, extending your hand/foot), the more your physical body will drop tension in other areas and relax. And this is not a forced, conscious "trying to" relaxation. It just happens without you even noticing or realizing it at first.
Another thing that often sabotages students' attempts at relaxation is simple physical discomfort. You absolutely cannot relax if you are uncomfortable. I keep telling my students that if they feel any pain or discomfort then they need to adjust the posture so that it feels comfortable. We have all heard the expression "No Pain, No Gain" especially associated with increasing performance in sports. Well fawgeddaboudit for Tai Chi. If anything, in Tai Chi, it will set you back and can easily lead to injury from improper body positioning and strain.
So start by getting comfortable. If your postures are leading to really tense muscles and regular soreness, talk to your teacher and work out variations that are best for you. We all do Tai Chi differently because we all have different bodies and capabilities. And even those are continuously changing if we are practicing regularly.
Let's do a little simple relaxation exercise. Assume your starting Wu Ji pose. Just stand there for a few moments and pay attention to all of your body. First, centre your weight to rest equally on both feet, preferably mostly in your heels, but also throughout the bottom of your foot. Now take a few abdominal breaths and check other parts of your body. To check your shoulders, shrug them up military style and then let them fall loosely. Now they will be relaxed. Tense and wiggle your toes and then just let them be. Now they should be relaxed. Clench your fists and then extend your fingers as far down as possible and then just let them hang. Now they are relaxed. And you can do the same with any other parts of your body; knees, elbows, neck, head. So you will now be pretty fully relaxed and ready to start your form practice.
Simple, right?! And all you had to do was to pay attention to what you were doing and feeling in that moment. You were Being Here Now.
Tai Chi can be practiced on many levels - from simple exercises to advanced martial art skills - but most people that I encounter are looking for the health benefits that they have heard about. Bottom line: The more often and deeper you can relax, the more those benefits will begin to manifest and appear in your life. So pay attention, relax and enjoy.
Keep on playing,
Rich
Monday, 10 September 2012
What Should I Practice?
This is probably the most common question that I'm asked. The other one is "How long will it take me to learn the form?" As they are both related, let's talk about them together.
"Give me 5 minutes a day. That's all I ask. 5 minutes."
Whoaaaa!! How can I learn Tai Chi if I only practice 5 minutes a day?? What benefits can I get from only practicing 5 minutes a day?! Must not be that important if he's only asking for 5 minutes.
That couldn't be further from the truth!!
What you need to do is to start to incorporate it into your everyday routine so that it becomes a habit. This is more difficult than it sounds. In my experience, the reason many students stop doing T'ai Chi is because they were never able to get into the habit of practicing. But if you start with just 5 minutes a day, 3-5 days a week, after a few weeks, you'll find yourself practicing a couple of minutes more. And that's a good thing. Now it's in your routine, it's a habit and you're more likely to improve and learn your forms. And it's a lot easier to find 5 minutes a day than it is to try to set aside 15-30 minutes. Especially if your life is as busy as mine!!
And let's take it a step further, so to speak. Once you know a simple form like Yang style 24-form, how long does it take to do it from start to finish.....Just 5-10 minutes depending on just how fast or slow you do it. And if that's all you do - Yang style 24, everyday - you'll get a significant amount of benefits, both mental and physical. That's why it's such a popular form! Only takes 5 minutes or so to do and the payoff is terrific!!
Ok, that's enough about how you should practice. Now let's talk about "what should I practice?" Of course your teacher will tell you what to practice, and that's usually the last thing they taught you! But personally, I think anything you can remember from your classes is what you should practice. Or if you have a weakness in a particular part of doing Tai Chi, for instance, foot placement during bow stance, which we talked about in a previous article on this blog. And this brings up another less verbalized question that students have: When am I actually doing Tai Chi?
I always take a few moments with new students to let them know that "doing Tai Chi" is not about completing a form from beginning to end but rather is practicing whatever piece of Tai Chi you are working on at that moment. If what you practice is the opening sequence and work on using your Tan Tien to transfer your weight properly to acheive good body position, alignment and foot placement, you are doing as much Tai Chi as someone who is doing a form from beginning to end. Don't short change yourself by thinking that if you don't know a whole form you aren't really practicing Tai Chi yet. Nothing could be further from the truth! It is not the what that you practice but the intention and awareness that you bring to your practice that transforms it from just casually moving your body to actually doing Tai Chi. I often do Tai Chi when I'm waiting for a bus. I just stand there and conciously align my body and practice shifting weight from one foot to the next. Try it the next time you're waiting for a bus or in a line at the grocery store. No one will know you are actually practicing Tai Chi because most people are constantly shifting their weight and moving around when they're in a queue. They just don't bring the awareness aspect into play.
There are 2 common modern styles of teaching forms that I have encountered. They both have advantages and disadvantages and I have learned from teachers that used one or the other as their method for instruction. The first method is to go through the whole form every class - calling out each move with directions as to how to do it - while students of all levels follow along as best they can. Then after going through the form, the instructor will work in depth on one form or set of movements to help students understand them better.
The second method is to introduce a new movement each class. In this method, the class starts off reviewing the form with the instructor up to the movement learned in the previous class. Then questions from students and problems with performance as noted by the instructor are worked on. After a while, the next move in the form is then introduced, with the rest of the class session being devoted to it's instruction. In this method, you're never quite sure how far along in learning the form you are but you can assume that if it's a 24 posture form, it's going to take you at least 24, and more likely 30 weeks to learn the form. That's because it is always necessary to take a week now and then to just work on the form up to where the students have progressed. This also gives students that have missed an occasional class a chance to catch up to where everyone else is.
So how long will it take you to learn a form via the first method? Probably about the same amount of time as by the second method! Unless..... you are a very dedicated student, who practices hard (more than 5 minutes a day!), and has a talent and a good memory for body movement patterns. Those students are rare so don't worry about them. They'll be your teachers, soon!!
Ok, enough reading about Tai Chi for now. Go practice for 5 minutes!!
How Should I Practice and What?
Good question!! I'm glad you asked. And the truth of it is there is no one answer. If you're a long time student, you pretty much know what you need or want to work on but as a beginner, it is often a bit of a mystery. There you are, you've just completed your first class and depending on your teacher, you may not even have learned any of the postures in the form, yet! Here's what I tell all my beginning students:"Give me 5 minutes a day. That's all I ask. 5 minutes."
Whoaaaa!! How can I learn Tai Chi if I only practice 5 minutes a day?? What benefits can I get from only practicing 5 minutes a day?! Must not be that important if he's only asking for 5 minutes.
That couldn't be further from the truth!!
What you need to do is to start to incorporate it into your everyday routine so that it becomes a habit. This is more difficult than it sounds. In my experience, the reason many students stop doing T'ai Chi is because they were never able to get into the habit of practicing. But if you start with just 5 minutes a day, 3-5 days a week, after a few weeks, you'll find yourself practicing a couple of minutes more. And that's a good thing. Now it's in your routine, it's a habit and you're more likely to improve and learn your forms. And it's a lot easier to find 5 minutes a day than it is to try to set aside 15-30 minutes. Especially if your life is as busy as mine!!
And let's take it a step further, so to speak. Once you know a simple form like Yang style 24-form, how long does it take to do it from start to finish.....Just 5-10 minutes depending on just how fast or slow you do it. And if that's all you do - Yang style 24, everyday - you'll get a significant amount of benefits, both mental and physical. That's why it's such a popular form! Only takes 5 minutes or so to do and the payoff is terrific!!
Ok, that's enough about how you should practice. Now let's talk about "what should I practice?" Of course your teacher will tell you what to practice, and that's usually the last thing they taught you! But personally, I think anything you can remember from your classes is what you should practice. Or if you have a weakness in a particular part of doing Tai Chi, for instance, foot placement during bow stance, which we talked about in a previous article on this blog. And this brings up another less verbalized question that students have: When am I actually doing Tai Chi?
I always take a few moments with new students to let them know that "doing Tai Chi" is not about completing a form from beginning to end but rather is practicing whatever piece of Tai Chi you are working on at that moment. If what you practice is the opening sequence and work on using your Tan Tien to transfer your weight properly to acheive good body position, alignment and foot placement, you are doing as much Tai Chi as someone who is doing a form from beginning to end. Don't short change yourself by thinking that if you don't know a whole form you aren't really practicing Tai Chi yet. Nothing could be further from the truth! It is not the what that you practice but the intention and awareness that you bring to your practice that transforms it from just casually moving your body to actually doing Tai Chi. I often do Tai Chi when I'm waiting for a bus. I just stand there and conciously align my body and practice shifting weight from one foot to the next. Try it the next time you're waiting for a bus or in a line at the grocery store. No one will know you are actually practicing Tai Chi because most people are constantly shifting their weight and moving around when they're in a queue. They just don't bring the awareness aspect into play.
How Long Will It Take Me to Learn the Form?
I think now you can see how the 2 questions are related. Obviously, the more you practice, the quicker and better you'll learn the form. But this is also related to how the form is being taught.There are 2 common modern styles of teaching forms that I have encountered. They both have advantages and disadvantages and I have learned from teachers that used one or the other as their method for instruction. The first method is to go through the whole form every class - calling out each move with directions as to how to do it - while students of all levels follow along as best they can. Then after going through the form, the instructor will work in depth on one form or set of movements to help students understand them better.
The second method is to introduce a new movement each class. In this method, the class starts off reviewing the form with the instructor up to the movement learned in the previous class. Then questions from students and problems with performance as noted by the instructor are worked on. After a while, the next move in the form is then introduced, with the rest of the class session being devoted to it's instruction. In this method, you're never quite sure how far along in learning the form you are but you can assume that if it's a 24 posture form, it's going to take you at least 24, and more likely 30 weeks to learn the form. That's because it is always necessary to take a week now and then to just work on the form up to where the students have progressed. This also gives students that have missed an occasional class a chance to catch up to where everyone else is.
So how long will it take you to learn a form via the first method? Probably about the same amount of time as by the second method! Unless..... you are a very dedicated student, who practices hard (more than 5 minutes a day!), and has a talent and a good memory for body movement patterns. Those students are rare so don't worry about them. They'll be your teachers, soon!!
Ok, enough reading about Tai Chi for now. Go practice for 5 minutes!!
Rich
Thursday, 5 July 2012
Resolving Body Confusion: Your Feet
As I watch my T'ai Chi students, I often see a common problem that I'll call, body confusion. They're not sure which part should move when and to where, and how to get it all connected. How DO you know, apart from listening to and watching your teacher? In the next few articles, I'll give you a few simple tips to help you sort through and improve this part of your practice.
Tip 1: Work on one thing
Sounds so simple, doesn't it? But what should you work on; hands? feet? transitions? connections? smoothness? energy awareness? and the list goes on. How do you choose where to start? Well, there's no right or wrong but what I like to do is work from a position of strength. And since strength in T'ai Chi comes from your root, which is your connection to the Earth, the feet are usually a good place to start so let's talk about your feet.
First, let`s just look at your feet. Just take your normal everyday comfortable stance that you would assume if you were talking to someone who is directly in front of you. What`s going on down there on the floor? Do you have large, small, narrow or wide feet? Do you stand with one foot splayed out to the side? Are you pigeon-toed or knock-kneed? Are they spaced wider than your body or very close together? All this will have an effect on how you do your T'ai Chi forms. Let's go right back to the beginning and start with a good technique I use for finding a good starting foot placement during T'ai Chi Form work.
OK, let's do some analysing. Start doing your form and at any posture of the form you're practicing, stop, hold the posture and then look at how you've placed your self and in particular, your feet. If your feet aren't well placed, get them where they need to be and hold that for a minute or so. Try to memorize what that feels like. Then continue your form. Stop again and repeat. In Forms that have repeating postures, you might see if you achieved a better position the next time it comes around. If not, readjust and continue. T'ai Chi is a never ending source of learning and practice. Eventually, with good intention and many repetitions, your feet will begin to obey you.
Most important, playing T'ai Chi should be fun. That's why we say playing, not working! Don't worry if it's not exactly right in the beginning. You have the rest of your life to get it right.
Rich
Tip 1: Work on one thing
Sounds so simple, doesn't it? But what should you work on; hands? feet? transitions? connections? smoothness? energy awareness? and the list goes on. How do you choose where to start? Well, there's no right or wrong but what I like to do is work from a position of strength. And since strength in T'ai Chi comes from your root, which is your connection to the Earth, the feet are usually a good place to start so let's talk about your feet.
First, let`s just look at your feet. Just take your normal everyday comfortable stance that you would assume if you were talking to someone who is directly in front of you. What`s going on down there on the floor? Do you have large, small, narrow or wide feet? Do you stand with one foot splayed out to the side? Are you pigeon-toed or knock-kneed? Are they spaced wider than your body or very close together? All this will have an effect on how you do your T'ai Chi forms. Let's go right back to the beginning and start with a good technique I use for finding a good starting foot placement during T'ai Chi Form work.
- Just stand naturally
- Place one foot directly in front of the other, in a straight line, with the heel of the foot in front touching the toes of the foot in back. Not so easy to stand like this is it!
- Now, rotate the front foot on the big toe toward the side of the foot that it is - right to right or left to left - until they make a perfect right angle (corner of a rectangle) to each other, about a foot's distance apart. You should look and feel kind of silly.
- Finally, rotate the front foot on the heel so that the toes are again pointing forward naturally
OK, let's do some analysing. Start doing your form and at any posture of the form you're practicing, stop, hold the posture and then look at how you've placed your self and in particular, your feet. If your feet aren't well placed, get them where they need to be and hold that for a minute or so. Try to memorize what that feels like. Then continue your form. Stop again and repeat. In Forms that have repeating postures, you might see if you achieved a better position the next time it comes around. If not, readjust and continue. T'ai Chi is a never ending source of learning and practice. Eventually, with good intention and many repetitions, your feet will begin to obey you.
Most important, playing T'ai Chi should be fun. That's why we say playing, not working! Don't worry if it's not exactly right in the beginning. You have the rest of your life to get it right.
Rich
Too much, too little, Just right
I've been thinking about this for a while now; how much is too much? How much is too little? and How much is just right? For the most part, I'm referring to leg and knee extensions but it also applies to arms, upper body, waist turns and other aspects.
Let's concentrate on the legs and knees. When I watch my students, I often see a fair amount of confusion as to how far to step and how far to extend the knee in relation to its foot's placement. I have talked a little bit about how to place one's feet in relation to each other so let's focus first on how far you should step.
What I teach is that it is totally unique to each individual. Tall people with long legs are often going to step out further than a short person like myself. The bottom line is that there is no simple formula for distance that I know of. It also depends on what you are practicing at a given moment. Often, when I do a form in the morning, I'm still a little stiff and so I tend to economize in movement - all my movements - but especially the extensions. In the afternoon and evenings, I'm a lot looser so I will often explore larger movements and leg extensions. That translates into needing anywhere from 1/3 to 1/2 the space to do the same form in the morning vs the evening! And I'll sink lower later in the day, which also makes it easier to do longer extensions, especially in Chen forms.
Ok, how about the knees. I have only one critical rule for your knees and it's this:
Let's take a look at a picture taken from this article about Tai Chi's effectiveness for increasing motion in arthritic joints. Look particularly at the top right and lower left drawings. This has the angle where the leg meets the foot looking like the corner of a square when viewed from the side. This is the most comfortable, least stressful position for the joints, will result in smoother form work, and facilitates sending your Chi energy into the earth through the heel and bubbling well to establish your root.
Also note that the upper body has the spine at a right angle to the ground, as well. This prevents you from overextending your arms and helps to establish a good sense of balance and rooting.
So if you haven't thought much about it, this is a good time to examine how you're positioning your body in regard to these basic concepts. And keep practicing!! A little effort each day can take you a long way on this T'ai Chi journey you're on.
Rich
Let's concentrate on the legs and knees. When I watch my students, I often see a fair amount of confusion as to how far to step and how far to extend the knee in relation to its foot's placement. I have talked a little bit about how to place one's feet in relation to each other so let's focus first on how far you should step.
What I teach is that it is totally unique to each individual. Tall people with long legs are often going to step out further than a short person like myself. The bottom line is that there is no simple formula for distance that I know of. It also depends on what you are practicing at a given moment. Often, when I do a form in the morning, I'm still a little stiff and so I tend to economize in movement - all my movements - but especially the extensions. In the afternoon and evenings, I'm a lot looser so I will often explore larger movements and leg extensions. That translates into needing anywhere from 1/3 to 1/2 the space to do the same form in the morning vs the evening! And I'll sink lower later in the day, which also makes it easier to do longer extensions, especially in Chen forms.
Ok, how about the knees. I have only one critical rule for your knees and it's this:
- Never let your front knee extend past the toes of its foot!!
- Repeat, Never let your front knee extend past the toes of its foot.
Let's take a look at a picture taken from this article about Tai Chi's effectiveness for increasing motion in arthritic joints. Look particularly at the top right and lower left drawings. This has the angle where the leg meets the foot looking like the corner of a square when viewed from the side. This is the most comfortable, least stressful position for the joints, will result in smoother form work, and facilitates sending your Chi energy into the earth through the heel and bubbling well to establish your root.
Also note that the upper body has the spine at a right angle to the ground, as well. This prevents you from overextending your arms and helps to establish a good sense of balance and rooting.
So if you haven't thought much about it, this is a good time to examine how you're positioning your body in regard to these basic concepts. And keep practicing!! A little effort each day can take you a long way on this T'ai Chi journey you're on.
Rich
Tuesday, 12 June 2012
Why Study T'ai Chi?
There are as many reasons to learn and study T'ai Chi as there are people who do it! Some of the more popular ones that I have heard people express are "Doing T'ai Chi helps to relieve the stress of my high pressure life";T'ai Chi helped improve my mobility and balance"; "I feel more alive after doing T'ai Chi"; "T'ai Chi has really helped me to become a healthier person"; "T'ai Chi helped me to recover more fully and faster from my injuries"; and the list goes on. So there are many reasons to do T'ai Chi.
I started my own T'ai Chi practice to help aid in my recovery from a serious chronic lower back condition that was severely restricting the types and amount of activity that I was able to do and occasionally would keep me bedridden for days at a time. Those days are long gone and T'ai Chi definitely played a major role in my recovery. I now regularly go on multi-day hiking trips, extended bike rides and run several half marathons a year. In May of 2012 I completed my first marathon!!
T'ai Chi is a wonderful meditative practice and is an excellent complement to spiritual practices. It can help you better integrate sitting meditation into your daily life because during T'ai Chi practice, you need to maintain a similar state of awareness while actually moving your body through a series of complex postures.
T'ai Chi is also quite beautiful to watch. The movements of the forms are very carefully arranged to move you from posture to posture while at the same time, gently stretching and reforming your tendons and ligaments to increase your mobility and energy. The quality of flow that results often looks like a graceful dance.
T'ai Chi is different for every person because every person's body is different. I am very sensitive to this and work with my students to do the best T'ai Chi they can with their unique physique and physical challenges. Because my own practice began as a means to help relieve a chronic back condition, I especially enjoy working with people who have physical limitations that they would like to improve or overcome.
Keep playing.
Rich
I started my own T'ai Chi practice to help aid in my recovery from a serious chronic lower back condition that was severely restricting the types and amount of activity that I was able to do and occasionally would keep me bedridden for days at a time. Those days are long gone and T'ai Chi definitely played a major role in my recovery. I now regularly go on multi-day hiking trips, extended bike rides and run several half marathons a year. In May of 2012 I completed my first marathon!!
T'ai Chi is a wonderful meditative practice and is an excellent complement to spiritual practices. It can help you better integrate sitting meditation into your daily life because during T'ai Chi practice, you need to maintain a similar state of awareness while actually moving your body through a series of complex postures.
T'ai Chi is also quite beautiful to watch. The movements of the forms are very carefully arranged to move you from posture to posture while at the same time, gently stretching and reforming your tendons and ligaments to increase your mobility and energy. The quality of flow that results often looks like a graceful dance.
T'ai Chi is different for every person because every person's body is different. I am very sensitive to this and work with my students to do the best T'ai Chi they can with their unique physique and physical challenges. Because my own practice began as a means to help relieve a chronic back condition, I especially enjoy working with people who have physical limitations that they would like to improve or overcome.
Keep playing.
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