Chris Chi

Tai Chi for health & wellbeing

 

 

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You are here: Home / Archives for For Beginners

Tai Chi – Miracle Cure?

By Chris 5 Comments

Is Tai Chi a miracle cure for your problems?

Is it the best fighting art?

In two words, no and no.

It’s not Tai Chi that will provide you with a miracle cure.

The miracles you are looking for may occur if you do two things.

  1. Keep an open mind
  2. Practice

Very simple concepts that are difficult to do because it requires discipline.

So the next time you read about the miracle of Tai Chi, ground yourself in reality and focus on the above concepts.

If you do your Tai Chi, wellbeing, and self defence skills will improve gradually.

Footnote: There are no free yum cha’s in Tai Chi. Only practice.

Filed Under: For Beginners, Forms, Self defence Tagged With: Miracle cure, Reality, Tai Chi

Sitting Meditation

By Chris Leave a Comment

As part of my overall training I do about ten minutes of sitting meditation each day.

I do it for two reasons;

  1. it enables me to calm my mind
  2. it gives my wonky knees a rest from the more physical training I do

When I do this meditation I spend two minutes on the ‘inner smile’, three minutes on ‘dissolving’ and five minutes on focusing on my tan tien.

Here’s how to do it;

  1. sit on the edge of the chair
  2. relax the shoulders
  3. Imagine a string attached to your head, gently pulling you straight up
  4. feet shoulder width apart and flat on the flloor
  5. Hands resting on the knees
  6. Breathe slowly, deeply and comfortably

Although I combine my sitting meditation with other techniques,  it is okay to sit there and just meditate.

Have a go and let me know how you feel afterwards.

Filed Under: Chi Kung, For Beginners Tagged With: Calm the mind, Meditation, Sitting, Tai Chi

Top 5 Tai Chi Books

By Chris Leave a Comment

Here are my top 5 Tai Chi books that I often refer to for research purposes.

1. Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan – Wu Ying-hua and Ma Yueh-linag

2. Wutan Tai Chi Chuan – Cheng Tin Hung and D.J. Dockerty

3. Wu Style Taijiquan – Wang Peishing and Zeng Weiqi

4. The Inner Structure of Tai Chi – Mantak Chia and Juan Li

5. Advanced Yang Style Tai Chi Chuan Vol 1 – Dr. Yang Jwing-Ming

I will write up a review of each book in future posts.

What are your top 5 Tai Chi books?


Filed Under: For Beginners Tagged With: Tai Chi Books, Wu Tai Chi, Yang Tai Chi

Inner Smile

By Chris Leave a Comment

The inner smile is an effective way of reducing tension in the body and the face.

I use a simplified version of the  ‘inner smile’ technique as part of my training.

It can be done either sitting or standing.

Here’s how to to do it;

  • align your body correctly
  • breathe slowly and deeply
  • slightly raise the corners of your mouth to form a smile
  • guide the chi (energy) from the smile to any tense areas of the body or face
  • Feel the chi dissolve any tension

The benefits of the inner smile are;

  • in training – stops you from grimacing which can lead to tension and poor performance of your skills
  • in general – makes you feel good and sends out good chi to people you commincate with

So don’t forget, put a smile on your dial with your inner smile!

Source: Tai Chi tip #9

Filed Under: Chi Kung, For Beginners Tagged With: Chi Kung, easy to do, Inner Smile, Technique

Tai Chi Tip #45

By Chris Leave a Comment

Forms: Before starting, stabilise yourself by breathing slow and deep for at least 30 seconds.

Filed Under: For Beginners, Forms, Tai Chi Tips Tagged With: Form practice, Tai Chi Tip

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Good Chi News – Februrary Issue coming soon

Terms

Tai Chi Chuan
A health and self defence system.

Chi
The ‘intrinsic energy’ which circulates in all living things – Dr. Yang Jwing-Ming.

Chi Kung
….. specialises in building up the Chi circulation in the body for health and/or martial purposes – Dr. Yang Jwing-Ming.

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