by Chris on September 2, 2010
It doesn’t take long to whip up instant mashed potatoes.
And it doesn’t take long to whip up some instant Tai Chi.
As mentioned in a previous post ‘every little bit helps’ – each weekday morning I go outside and walk down my driveway to pick up the newspaper. Before I get to the top of the driveway I make a detour to my garage and do about one minute of Tai Chi training on my punching bag.
I do about 20 light repititions of a defending and striking technique.
There’s no plan to my efforts as I do what I feel like working on. A welcome change from having a detailed schedule to follow.
So far so good.
I’ve been consistent and on the odd days where I haven’t time to do or complete my Tai Chi schedule I know that at least I have achieved some ‘instant Tai Chi’.
Which is better than nothing.
by Chris on August 23, 2010
Quotes like ‘sinking the Chi’ can be obscure so the following is a a practical example to help you understand and feel the concept.
I regularly practice a Chi Kung technique which I call ‘Shaky’.
I stand in the ‘embrace the tree’ posture.
Then I shake my entire body for 60 seconds.
This sounds easy but it is very demanding. After about 30 seconds it’s normal to breathe heavily and feel tension in the arms and the shoulders.
When I start to feel these sensations I ‘sink the chi’ so I can remain calm for the entire 60 seconds and get a proper work out.
Here’s how Ido it.
I focus on visualising, dissolving the chi down to my tan tien and keeping it there.
If the chi rises I repeat the process until I reach my target of 60 seconds.
This simple technique is important in any cardiovascula Tai Chi workouts such as weapons, self defence and general repetitive movements.
So if you are on shaky grounds, don’t forget to sink the chi.
