Archives for 2010

May The Chi Be With You

Well. almost another year wrapped up and it’s been a busy one.

Usually this time of the year I’m on holidays and wind down on my training and anything else that has to do with my schedule. I simply do what I feel like. No 5.55am starts, 2 to 3 sessions a day training (when I’m not lazy) and no guilty feelings about doing very little.

It’s a time to casually gather my Chi and reflect on my training, catch up on my Tai Chi reading and mentally plan for next year.

And usually I start to crank up the engine and start my training after the new year.

Until then may the chi be with you!

Fajin Training

By Chris Leave a Comment

Just finished practicing some fajin training on my punching bag in the garage.

Fajin translates to ‘issue or discharge power explosively’.

One of the postures I worked on was ‘As If Closing the Door’ posture. Particularly the final movement where the hands issue the power into the punching bag.

One of the ways to determine if the ‘discharge of power’ has been successful is that upon impact the bag should hardly move.

If the bag swings wildly after impact then it becomes just a push.

The other principles of Tai Chi of relaxtion, centred, focused etc., also need to be applied to be able to discharge power explosively.

I can now confidently say that if I’m ever attacked by a punching bag I can now defend myself!

Slow Arms Tai Chi

By Chris 2 Comments

Sometimes I lose focus and speed up the form. A 15-20 minute workout suddenly becomes a 10-12 minute sprint.

This happens occassionaly when I’ve been busy working and then rush out into the garden to fit in my Tai Chi training.

I’m in more of a speed mode and to slow things down I concentrate on slowing my arm movements which then slows the body and leg movements.

It’s not pure Tai Chi, as the objective is to flow into the form without thinking. You just do and the form takes care of it self.

But it is a good technique on occassions when I’m distracted and need to slow the form down.

So if you are in a rush and you do want something of a Tai Chi workout, slow your arms down.

One Tai Chi Second

By Chris Leave a Comment

I was in Hobart, Tasmania, last week working with primary school students in our ‘Pozitive Kidz are happy kidz’ workshops.

It’s a program I’ve run for years and it focuses on building self esteem from a Tai Chi perspective.

In one of the workshops I discovered the ‘one Tai Chi second’.

It was after our yin meditative exercise which was preceded by a very active yang exercise.

I was reinforcing the theme that we need to pause before we react to things without thinking.

And it occurred to me to use the term ‘one Tai Chi second’. It’s something that I’ve never used before and it was created on the spot. And these creative moments are always a delight because it gives me more material to use when teaching young students.

I said to the students, ‘if you feel upset, or someone is teasing you, slowly breathe for one Tai Chi second’.

How long is one Tai Chi second?

As long as it takes to remain calm and centred.

Powerful Connections

By Chris Leave a Comment

I’ve just come back from my garden after practicing the Tai Chi form.

And I’m writing this post now before I forget the discovery I’ve made.

But before I discuss this discovery’I’ll explain my approach to practicing my Tai Chi form.

Sometimes I work on a specific theme and concentrate on that throughout the form. For example it may be on breathing, Yin Yang, weighting, knee alignment, tan tien, etc. Other days I’ll just do the form without focusing on anything particular.

Today I focused on the theme of ‘powerful connections’ which occurred to me as I commenced my first movement .

I focused on my body being totally connected in every movement and moving powerfully but in a relaxed way.

After the form I felt more invigorated than usual so it’s a theme I’ll play around with for a while to see what else I can discover.

And that’s the beauty and challenge of Tai Chi. No matter how long you have been practicing there is always something to discover and/or re-discover.

When that happens, like today, it makes all worthwhile.