Tai Chi Tuesday: Spending the Weekend With Richard Clear

Fairfax, Va. recently had a visitor from Maryville, Tenn.

Sigung Richard Clear gave Tai Chi Chuan workshops, including healing, chi energy and fighting the Tai Chi way.

Friday night was the healing workshop.

I have completed level 4 healing with Sigung Clear, and he demonstrated a few healing techniques I never saw before. (This is Sigung Clear's M.O.: just when you thought you have seen the best he has to offer, he goes a bit deeper into his bag of tricks.)

I was pretty impressed when he mimicked someone's posture in order to match the other person's energy to release the other person's tension.

Saturdays workshop was on borrowing energy — and 4 ounces moves 1,000 pounds.

This is probably the most sought-after skill for most Tai Chi practitioners. Within a couple of hours, all participants were comfortable applying this skill, and we were moving each other with little to no effort.

Sunday we practiced fighting skills (mostly evading and rolling). There were some great drills in evading punches and grabs.

If you have n opportunity to participate in one of Richard Clear's workshops, I highly recommend it. Check his website (http://www.clearstaichi.com/tai-chi-workshops) for workshops or request one for your kwoon.

Tai Chi Tuesday: Wu Chi Position, or How to Increase Chi Flow

If you have been practicing Tai Chi Chuan for a couple of years abut you do not not feel chi flow through your entire body, check your body positioning.

Get into your best wu chi position. Have someone take a picture of your positioning.

Now, ask yourself the following questions about your position:

1. Back: slightly rounded?
2. Crown of your head: pointed upward. (chin slightly and gently tucked downward).
3. Hips: tucked underneath you?
4. Knees: bent enough? (For most people, it's about two inches.)
5. Chest: slightly rounded and hollow?
6. Feet: about shoulder width apart?
7. Sole of the foot: can you feel it? (Triangle made by the ball of the little toe, ball of the big toe and the heel).
8. Shoulders: down and relaxed?

Make adjustments as necessary.

When you are ready, form a small ball with your hands in front of your body. (Your arms should be down and relaxed, hands relaxed with fingers slightly opened).

Breathe into your dan tien. After a minute or two, you should feel your tai chi ball.

Remember, the feeling is not the same for everyone: you could be heat, vibration, tingling or magnetic with opposing polarities.

When you do get a sensation, hold it for a couple of minutes, and repeat to be sure what you felt was real (though, in most cases, there is little doubt).

Be sure to practice often — and find a class, and a teacher, in your area to help you. Feel free to e-mail me if you have questions or need help finding a class.

Tai Chi Tuesday: Slacklining as Meditation

One of the key elements of Tai Chi is being mindful of what you are doing at that very moment. Mountain climbers have found a way to bring mindfulness into Tai Chi and meditation with a new practice called slacklining.

Slacklining involves stringing a webbed mountain climbing line between two posts or trees just a couple of feet off the ground.

The college students in the video below are doing it for a number of reasons (to impress a possible mate is one), and performers have done it for the thrill. Hardcore mountain climbers have created "highlining," which is stringing line between — you got it — two high points and walking across the crevass.

No matter the reason, however, practitioners all say the same thing: they value the focus, concentration and, yes, meditation required to achieve this skill.

Would you try slacklining for Tai Chi practice or meditation?

Richard Clear Comes to Fairfax September 20-22

Qi gong healing, hua jin/borrowing force and push hands are on the agenda at Richard Clear's Tai Chi seminar set for September 20-22 in Fairfax, Va.

Tai Chi students from around the country will gather at Green Acres Center for the three-day seminar with the internationally-recognized martial artist. Click here for video of the teacher in action.

Space is still available. For information, visit Clear's website, clearstaichi.com. Hope to see you there.

Tai Chi Tuesday: Thoughts on Push Hands by Ian Sinclair

How important is push hands? According to Ian Sinclair, who wrote the article How Important is Push Hands? for Tai Chi Central, very important. Here is what he has to say in a recent article:

How essential, really, is push hands? Can we not learn or advance in tai chi without it? Are we not doing real tai chi without knowledge of push hands?

Push hands is a defining characteristic of taijiquan. Along with qigong, forms and application practice, push hands contributes to the physical, mental, spiritual and psychological development of a taiji player. It is seen as a continuation of the practical development that begins with the solo routine and qigong. 

Few schools teach tuishou to beginners. 

Most schools have optional tuishou classes so that students who do not wish to engage in the practice are not required to do so. There is so much to be gained from the solo practice that most student of taijiquan do very little if any tuishou practice. Even among those who do, few approach the depth or intensity of practice that is possible.

If you are seeking high level martial skill in taiji, it is pretty safe to say that push hands is essential. But push hands is useful even if your purpose for learning taiji is more health and fitness related, or you practice as a means of achieving peace of mind.

Martial arts in general are often practised more for their benefits to mental and physical well-being than for pure combat skill. The reasons for this are deep and complex.

One thing that I tell my students is that push hands - like sanshou, suaijiao, and fencing - is an excellent form of biofeedback. If you want to know if your posture is correct, or to know if you mind is clear, or to know if you are in harmony with the universe then play push hands. If you lose your balance, use force, or get knocked over, then you will know that you have some work to do. push hands can teach you what your mistakes are and help you to correct them, especially if you have a patient training partner.

If you don't have the opportunity to practice tuishou very often, then occasional practice will inform your solo practice. You can take the lessons learned in push hands and use them to refine your understanding of the forms and your qigong practice.

My teacher once told me that he doubted there were many high level qigong masters who were not also martial artists. I think this may be because martial study is a very efficient way of exposing the delusions, illusions and misunderstandings of the ego.

Every thought carries an emotion, every emotion affects the physical body. Refining these things on our own is very difficult. It is like wearing a lamp on our foreheads and looking for our shadow. Solo practice just doesn't give us an objective point of view of ourselves the way push hands does.

There are many stages in push hands practice. And there are many ways to approach it. Beginners should practise in a co-operative and non competitive manner at least until they understand the basics of listening and following. Later it can be quite vigourous.

Having a good teacher, patience, and an open mind are most important. 

Do you agree with Ian? Visit Tai Chi Center, the Global Tai Chi Community, and let him know what you think!

Tai Chi Tuesday: Tai Chi Goes to the Movies

Tai Chi has a place in modern cinema: just ask Keanu Reeves.

The actor is making his directorial debut with a movie that centers on Tai Chi and its application in current Chinese sports culture. In this new cinematic fete, a young fighter of exceptional talent finds himself fighting for his life in the underground world of Chinese Fight Club.

In this movie, Keanu Reeves performs with a former colleague: Tiger Wu Chen, who worked as a stunt professional in two of the Matrix movies. Chen's credentials reach back to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, another popular Chinese movie that heated up American movie screens.

Do you think Tai Chi will be positively or accurately represented in this movie? And do you plan to see it when it's released November 1?

Tai Chi Tuesday: Breathing for Self-Defense

Here is a video by Sigung Richard Clear, who will be giving workshops in Fairfax, Va., on September 20-22. I have attended four events he has held — two Tai Chi Gala workshops, one semi-private healing workshop and a qi gong healing weekend workshop — and I have learned a lot and enjoyed myself immensely.

If you're interested in attending his upcoming Fairfax workshop, drop me a note via e-mail and I'll share the information with you.

Check out his YouTube channel for more videos.

Hope to see you in September.

Tai Chi Tuesday: Seven Transformations of the Tai Chi Form

Tai Chi, like all other disciplines of study (including non-martial arts studies), evolve over time. It is important to understand the phases of Tai Chi so we don't get to hung up on any one phase in our practice. The key is to keep an open mind so we are open to a deeper learning.

Here is how I see the Tai Chi phases, or building blocks, work and evolve.

Each individual will spend a different amount time on different phases, depending on their understanding, their ability to learn new things and dedication to practice.

1. The form. The form is the series of movements that make up our set. This is the beginning of your Tai Chi practice. how we move properly, weighted and balanced. (Better balance provides fall prevention)
2. Good dan tien breathing. We breath through the dan tien to create relaxation and energy flow through the body. (This lets us de-stress and lowers blood pressure.)
3. Combine dan tien breathing with the form. This allows us to learn to move in a relaxed and balanced state of mind, or calm mindfulness.
4. Apply the movements to self-defense scenarios. This adds more flow to the movements when it's attached to context. At this point, many practitioners begin to make the form their own — and we learn how to defend ourselves).
5. Chi development. Make sure chi development takes place all through the study. When the form starts to flow and feel relaxed, chi flow increases and the form evolves once again. Now the form takes on a living, breathing feel as we expand and contract the chi energy. (Other health benefits include healthy organs).
6. Revisit the self-defense aspect. This happens once the chi energy becomes more part of the form. Instead of just moving with the dan tien leading. We perform the self-defense movements with the expanding and contracting of energy. (Learn to manipulate opponents energy: "Move 1,000 pounds with four ounces.")
7. Put your mind and body in harmony. It is imperative if you wish to perform Tai Chi skillfully — total relaxation. Mind and body need to be in harmony. This relaxation of mind and body can be very spiritual for some people. Spirituality brings better understanding of self, which in turn brings better relationships with others.

Tai Chi Chuan is multi-faceted, as I have stated many times. Each practitioner needs to choose how far to take their practice to make it enjoyable and beneficial to their needs.

Tai Chi Tuesday: The Science of Elastic Force

I have attended dozens of workshops, seminars, classes and symposiums in my life, but only three have changed my life. The Science of Elastic Force, with Sifu Mark Rasmus, is one of them.

There are always new techniques to learn and tricks of the trade, but Mark Rasmus does his best to increase the overall skill level of his students — and succeeds.

The Science of Elastic Force is the elastic properties, magnetic properties and electrical properties of the human body. Once this is examined, we can take these forces and manipulate them on an opponent. Creating tidal waves of force, supplied by ripples of force from our opponent.

Sifu Mark Rasmus not only has great skill, but he is able to teach this skill in a limited amount of time. Perfecting this skill normally takes years — but after this two-day seminar, I feel like I got a pretty good handle on it.

Check out some of Sifu Mark Rasmus' videos on YouTube.

I also would like to thank everyone who attended the seminar because I enjoyed practicing with them. I just wish I was able to work with every person in attendance.

I also learned an important tidbit: eight or nine hours of Tai Chi a day is about my limit.

Tai Chi Tuesday: Previewing the Skills of Sifu Mark Rasmus

I will attend Sifu Mark Rasmus' seminar this weekend in Maryland. Here is a video from his YouTube channel.

I am looking forward to all of the things I will learn and practice with him. I hope to see you there!

Tai Chi Tuesday: In China

Courtesy paranormalcore

Tai Chi Tuesday: Video Introduction to Chi Healing

Chi healing — using your energy to help another person feel better and heal quickly — is easy to learn, and easy to do. Watch my video below to find out more.

Tai Chi Tuesday: 'Medication in Motion,' According to Harvard

Just how good is tai chi?

Harvard Women's Health Watch heralds it as "medication in motion" and calls it an exercise that can be done by anyone with any fitness and health level. Here's an excerpt from "The Health Benefits of Tai Chi," originally published in May 2009:

Tai chi is often described as "meditation in motion," but it might well be called "medication in motion." There is growing evidence that this mind-body practice, which originated in China as a martial art, has value in treating or preventing many health problems. And you can get started even if you aren't in top shape or the best of health.

Don't be intimidated by some of the language or culture that might be very different than what you may have been exposed to, the article continues.

Tai chi helps provide muscle strength, flexibility, balance and aerobic conditioning.

Also, consider tai chi if you have (or have a family history of) any of these diseases:

• Arthritis
• Low bone density
• Breast cancer
• Heart disease
• Heart failure
• Hypertension
• Parkinson's disease
• Sleep problems
• Stroke

Find a tai chi class near you and start on the path to health and wellness today.

Tai Chi Tuesday: Roll Back Press and Push (Video)

Tai Chi Tuesday: Fight Stress With Tai Chi

Stress attacks at any age.

Worried about school? Check.
Work? Yep.
Family? Absolutely.
Health? Sure.

Find a stress reduction activity to help you cope — and tai chi is the perfect activity for every age and fitness level. Here are just a few benefits of tai chi, according to Positive Medicine:

• Decreases stress and anxiety
• Increases aerobic capacity
• Increases energy and stamina
• Increases flexibility, balance and agility
• Increases muscle strength and definition
• Enhances quality of sleep
• Enhances the immune system
• Lowers cholesterol levels and blood pressure
• Improves and helps alleviate joint pain
• Improves symptoms of congestive heart failure
• Improves overall well-being in older adults

No matter how busy you are or how stressed you feel, you must make time for your health and welfare.

If you're not sure how to find a tai chi class, call your city's recreation program, or e-mail me and I'll help you find your local resources.

Take care of yourself: you're the only you you have.

Tai Chi Tuesday: The Thirteen Postures

All the thirteen postures of Tai Chi Ch’uan must not be treated lightly. The meaning of life originates at the waist.

The thirteen postures of Tai Chi Chuan are the foundation base to this art. It is important that students be shown and trained in them. Yang Cheng-fu tells us in his Ten Important Points "that the waist is the commander and that all movement must pass through the waist." The waist is also where we must turn to generate Chi and storing it at the Tan Tien.

When moving from substantial to insubstantial, one must take care that the Chi is circulated throughout the entire body with out the slightest hindrance.

When moving the body through the movements, it is important that you are aware of your changes from insubstantial to the substantial and that the Chi is still being transported to various part of the body. To do this you must be very relaxed and your mind clear so as Chi can flow easily without any hindrance. When this happens you have health. When it stagnates ill health will follow.

Find the movement in the stillness, even stillness in movement. Even when you respond to the opponent’s movement, show the marvel of the technics and fill him with wonder.

Tai Chi is referred to as moving meditation. The mind should be as still as if you are in sitting meditation, but you should still be able to actively circulate your Chi. You should look centered and calm from the out side, but with in is like a raging sea. When you are attacked you should still be calm and aware. When you have learned this you are able to respond in a calm and natural way to an opponents moves. Tai Chi is change and you should follow and respond naturally to the opponents every subtle move and situation.

Pay attention to every posture and study its purpose. That way you will gain the art without wasting your time and energy.

Study wide and deep and with determination and seriousness and that will determine your degree of success. To understand each posture you must study and research its nature and purpose then to acquire your goal is easy.

In every movement you must pay attention so as the heart (mind) stay on the waist, then completely relax the abdomen, and your Chi will rise up.

When you commence your Tai Chi form, allow your mind to sink to your waist and focus on Tan Tien (Yi Sou Tan Tien). When your abdomen is relaxed and your mind clear, the Chi will rise up and permeate your whole body.

Your Tail Bone should be centered and upright so as your spirit (Shen) rises to the top of the head. The top of the head is suspended and the entire body is relaxed and light.

Your tailbone should be straight, but do not exert force to acquire this, it should be natural for to force this will cause the tailbone to push forward. The back is straight with an insubstantial energy lifting up through the top of the head.

Carefully study and pay attention when doing research, extension and contraction, opening and closing follow their freedom.

This point relates to pushing hands. Contract to neutralise the opponent’s power, and at the same time close to store your Jin (chin) then extend and open to emit your Jin. To do this your technic must be natural and free flowing to follow you opponent’s intention. This allows you to stick and follow and to defeat your opponent. If you don’t research these technics you will never gain the key to Tai Chi Ch’uan.

To enter the door and to be led along the way, you need to have oral instruction; practice without ceasing, and the technic is achieved by self-study.

It is important that you understand that a teacher is needed to learn the art. There are to many subtleties and it is easy to miss what is being emphasized in a movement. If you make a slight error at the beginning, by the time you have reached the end you will have missed by a thousand miles. In the early times there where two types of students, those of the outer school and those of the inner. Outer school students where taught the basic form and only a little of the principles. The inner school students where those chosen as worthy and of right quality that were shown the inner secrets of the styles. To day most students have the opportunity to study wider and deeper than those only in the outer school. It is amazing to day to hear the number of students who put them selves in the outer school when they say "I have finished the form, now I know Tai Chi"! All they have is form. It is when you have the form together that the real learning begins. You need a good teacher who can impart the knowledge to you and once you have been shown the way, then it is up to you to practice unceasingly and continue researching yourself.

When asked about the standard, function and application of the thirteen postures, the answer should be the Yi (mind) and Chi are the master, and the bones and muscles are the chancellor.

When looking at the correctness of movement the criteria is, are the mind and Chi directing the movement. All the movements are done with Jin supported by the Chi and directed by the Yi (mind). If the movements are done with the bones and muscles, this is your Li (strength) and is considered incorrect.

Carefully investigate what the ultimate meaning is: to increase and extend our health and age, and maintain a youthful body.

This is what most people learning Tai Chi to day are looking for. The important thing here is to practice many time and often, then the prize will be won.

The song consists of one hundred and forty characters, every character is true and its meaning is complete. If you do not approach and study in this manner, then you will waste your time and energy, and sigh in regret.

It does not matter for what reason you study the art, whether for health or martial art, you must study the meaning of the Song of Thirteen Postures or you are just wasting your time and energy and your effort will amount to nothing.


 With thanks to Sigung Richard Clear and Tai Chi Australia

Tai Chi Tuesday: Novel Tai Chi

For most people, practicing tai chi is a choice. For Tao, however, it's a new life — and for Roan, it's a total surprise.

Wesley Chu features tai chi in his new science fiction novel, The Lives of Tao, which prominently features martial arts and fitness as a way of life — no, the only way to live — in this world and every other.

Reviewers call funny and fast-paced. Are you going to read it? I think I will. I'll let you know what I think.

Have you found other fiction in which tai chi is featured? Or is it a tough practice to convey into words? Let me know in the messages below, or drop me a line.

Tai Chi Gala: An Event You Don't Want to Miss

The annual Tai Chi Gala in Albany this year celebrated the Year of the Water Snake — and it was an intense weekend of study, learning, reflection and great opportunities to study with some of the most learned and well-known shifus and healers  in the nation.

If you are not familiar with the gala, it is a gathering of great Tai Chi instructors enjoying a chance to share their wealth of knowledge. This year's instructors such as Dr John Painter, Shifu William C. Phillips, Master Ken Lo, Master Donald Wong, Sigung Richard Clear and Shifu Shariff Bey — and others.

Credit for this great event rests on the shoulders of Shifu Loretta Wollering and her tireless efforts in organizing the Tai Chi Gala.

The workshops included Qi awareness, flat sword principles, push hands, Tai Chi ruler, freestyle Tai Chi fighting and Hung Ga tendon training. At the end of the weekend there is even a  Ba Gua week with Dr. John Painter.

These are just samples of activities from which participants could choose.

The festivities started Friday night with registration, dinner, and kung fu movies played on a big screen.

Saturday begins early with a stretching class or Qi Gong class to get you prepared for the day.

Participants choose from a large selection of classes: there are four time slots, and each offers as many as four different classes.

After dinner, the instructors give demonstrations of their prowess. This is always popular. It starts with a lion dance then proceeds to forms, sword forms — and this year there was even  a push hands demonstration.

The Best Western of Albany provided the venue and the menu. The hotel staff was amazing, totally professional and eager to serve. All meals were available at the hotel; unfortunately, the food this year did not match the quality of years past, but we hope it will be back on track next year.

If you want to take a Tai Chi vacation next June, keep an eye on the Tai Chi Gala website for details.

I almost forgot: if you do go, check out the tea ceremony with Master Ken Lo. It's incredible.

Hope to see you there next year.

Tai Chi Tuesday: Aiding Those Experiencing Parkinson Disease

Grandmaster Cheng Man Ching

Tai chi has yet another therapeutic application: for those who experience Parkinson Disease.

A study by Madeleine E. Hackney and Gammon M. Earhart published in Gait & Postures Journal in 2008  shows that tai chi can be helpful for balance and dexterity for those experiencing mild to mild-moderately severe Parkinson Disease.

According to the study's abstract, 33 people with the disease were randomly assigned to two groups. The Tai Chi group participated in 20 one-hour training sessions completed within 10–13 weeks; the control group had two testing sessions between 10 and 13 weeks apart without interposed training. 

The tai chi group improved more than the control group on six indicators of balance, gait and mobility — and all tai chi participants reported satisfaction with the program and improvements in well-being. Read about the study here.

Tai chi appears to be an appropriate, safe and effective form of exercise for some individuals with mild-moderately severe form of the disease.

Check back tomorrow for a tai chi bonus about the annual Tai Chi Gala in Albany.

Tai Chi Tuesday: The Beauty of Tai Chi

Courtesy Tea and Tao