Postures

Tai Chi: 50 Minute Man

Correct technique - camera amgle off line - honest :) — Correct technique – camera angle off line – honest 🙂

Well, this week has been a milestone as I’ve reached the 50 minute mark of the ’embrace the tree’ posture.

I’m well on my way to the ‘magical’ 60 minute workout which will be a huge achievement for me as in my early years of Tai Chi practice I could never hold the stance for more than 2 minutes without causing pain to my knees.

Three years ago I decided to research the embrace the tree stance in depth to see if I could find a way to hold the stance for longer periods of time.

So I started with 30 seconds, 3 times a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday). And each following week I added another 30 seconds. This gave me the opportunity to avoid over-training and to train correctly.

When I reached the 30 minute mark I decided to train on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. On those days I started with 30 seconds and each following week added another 30 seconds.

Now I’m advancing to the 60 minute mark on the Monday, Wednesday, Friday sessions and the other days I just do 30 minutes as I have other training to do.

So on December 14th I’ll hit the ‘magical’ 60 minute mark.

My high stance work schedule will then be 60 minutes on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and 30 minutes on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

Not bad for a former 2 minute man.

Footnote: If you look down to the bottom of the page you’ll see my progress – updated on a weekly basis. Publicising my progress gives me added incentive to achieve my target.

Tai Chi Stance: 540 Breaths

By Chris Leave a Comment

It wasn’t easy but I’ve managed to slow my breathing rate down while practicing the embrace the tree stance.

I now breathe at a rate of 1 breath per 4 seconds which works at to about 540 breaths for my current 36 minute 30 second stance.

Earlier I was breathing at about 1 breath per 2 seconds which was a fast pace. I noticed I was breathing quicker the longer I held the posture and that’s what made me decide to slow the breathing down.

Slowing and regulating my breathing certainly feels more energising.

Eventually when I reach my target of one hour standing practice my total breaths will be about 900.

Tai Chi Lines

By Chris Leave a Comment

One of the ways I make sure my Tai Chi postures are precise is to move along an imaginary line/s.

For example, when practicising the As If Closing Posture I think of imaginary lines extending from the palms of my hands. As I lean forward and push, my hands move along the extended horizontal imaginary lines and stop when I’m in the correct position.

[Read more…]

Instant Tai Chi Postures

By Chris Leave a Comment

I’m having fun, as usual, running our Pozitive Kidz are happy kidz six week program. The focus is on building self esteem from a Tai Chi perspective.

The kids love the speedy Tai Chi drill. This is where I stand out in front of about 30-40 students and yell out various posture names and then they have to quickly jump into position.

For example I’ll yell out names such as;

[Read more…]

Embrace The Tree Spots

By Chris Leave a Comment

When practicing standing postures such as ’embrace the tree’ there’s the temptation to slightly raise up out of the posture to ease the ‘discomfort’ you may feel in your legs.

The ‘discomfort’ here is usually located in the quadricep muscles, front of the thigh area, and the longer you stay in the stance the more they will feel like heavy logs. But that’s okay because that ‘discomfort’ is really a workout and it’s a normal feeling in stance work. Obviously if you are feeling pain in the joints, such as the knees and ankles then you should stop and come out of the stance.

[Read more…]