For Beginners – Page 24

Is Chi Real?

I’ve trained with Western doctors who believed in Chi.

And I’ve read about a Tai Chi master who doesn’t believe in Chi.

Is Chi real?

Well, I can’t prove it exist. And it doesn’t matter if Chi exists, technically anyway.

To me the concept of Chi is more valuable rather than proving its existence.

And the way to understand the concept of Chi is to reflect on the philosophy of Tai Chi and practice the movements.

When this is done over a period of time you will then be able to ‘feel’ the Chi ‘regardless of whether it exists or not’.

360 Degree Breathing

By Chris Leave a Comment

One of the Chi Kung techniques I use occassionally to energise my body and calm my mind is what I call ‘360 degree breathing’.

You can do this skill either lying down, sitting or standing.

Here’s how it works;

Take a deep breathe and imagine you are breathing in good Chi inside every cell of your body
Breathe out slowly and imagine you are breathing out negative Chi (toxins or negative thoughts or feelings)
Do at least 8 repetitions to start with and build to whatever is comfortable for you
relax your breathing – make it natural – don’t force it

A very simple technique that with practice will give you a quick way of feeling good and staying focused when you need to.

Bear Staff Form

By Chris Leave a Comment

Check out this bear performing a staff form.

I like his wrist flexibility and posture.

Not sure what style it’s practising. Probably some ancient Bear Style form.

Hmm, I must go outside and practice my form – up to where he bites the staff.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBB0F7naojM&feature=player_embedded#![/youtube]

Footnote: Discovered this clip on Al Simon’s ‘The Tai Chi and Qigong Blog’.

Tai Chi & Aussie Football

By Chris Leave a Comment

This evening I will be delivering a presentation to about thirty 15-19 year old footballers.

The theme is Best Performance – a Tai Chi perspective.

I know from experience that if I present it in the traditional way I will lose the audience in the first few seconds.

Teenagers need excitement, movement, fun to keep their attention otherwise they get bored quickly.

I intend to ramp up the excitement and get them focused by using humour demonstrations and challenges. I’ll bring in the teaching points at the end of the fun stuff.

The key to the success of the presentation will be the language I use in relation to Tai Chi.

I’ll need to keep it simple and relevant to their football skills. Having an esoteric approach will only bore them.

Now excuse me while I go and practice my sabre form for the demonstration this evening.

And iron my Tai Chi shirt.

It’s a bit wrinkled. Just like me.

Every Little Bit Helps

By Chris Leave a Comment

It’s difficult fitting in all my Tai Chi and Chi Kung training sessions each week.

I don’t train at a set time each day because of the nature of running a facilitation business. I can be working any day of the week, morning, afternoons or during the evenings.

So I have to fit my training in around my work.

While taking out the rubbish bin the other day I discovered a way of fitting in extra training time.

I ducked into my garage and spent a few seconds training a specific skill on the punching bag.

I now do this at least once a day whenever I step outside my backdoor.

It’s only a light workout lasting a few seconds but every little bit helps.