| T'ai Chi is many things to many people. It's | | | | 4) SOFTEN YOUR HANDS: release tension from |
| important to have a sense for why you come to | | | | your hands: they are soft, light, flexible, and |
| T'ai Chi so that you can focus your efforts and | | | | sensitive. Don't curl your fingers or overextend |
| get what you need. You'll get out of T'ai Chi what | | | | them. Maintain a neutral wrist position. "Soft |
| you put into it. | | | | hands" relaxes tension, enhances the flow of qi, |
| I teach the Yang Style Short Form as adapted | | | | and opens the way for sensing life-energy. Feel |
| and taught by Professor Cheng Man-Ch'ing. | | | | the connection of your hands to your lower |
| Professor Cheng brought this form to the United | | | | dantian. The rotation of the lower dantian spirals |
| States in the 1960s. He condensed this form from | | | | out through the arms. Allow your hands to be like |
| the Yang Style Long Form by eliminating some | | | | cotton which can feel the air like thick clouds |
| repetition and a few postures in order to make it | | | | around you. |
| more accessible to the lifestyle of the Western | | | | 5) SINK INTO YOUR ROOT & SEPARATE |
| world. As anyone knows who has studied this | | | | YOUR WEIGHT: feel your feet contacting the |
| form, it is challenging enough in its length and | | | | ground; your weight distributes evenly across the |
| complexity. | | | | entire surface of each foot. Maintain a slight knee |
| T'ai Chi Ch'uan is an "internal" art which seeks to | | | | bend. Sink your weight into the Bubbling Well |
| develop and harmonize the human energy system | | | | points, your roots (in the middle of your feet, just |
| in the context of a martial arts form. In my | | | | behind the balls of your feet). Except at the start |
| teaching, I emphasize the energetic or health and | | | | and finish of the form (when your weight is 50% |
| self-development aspects of T'ai Chi. | | | | in each leg), separate your weight distribution |
| As a beginning, T'ai Chi enables us to recognize | | | | between your feet, either 70%/30% or 100% |
| and actively release tension. This opens the way | | | | 0%. Being rooted comes from the weighted |
| for us to develop balanced, free-flowing energy | | | | rotation of the dantian that "screws" your legs |
| which creates the conditions for optimum health | | | | into the ground. Another sensory image for "root |
| and well-being. T'ai Chi has been called moving | | | | and separate" is to feel as if your lower body is |
| meditation since its practice quiets the mind by | | | | full of water. Gradually pour the water 100% into |
| centering us into body awareness (and, later, | | | | one leg while emptying the other leg, then |
| energetic awareness). The deepening of | | | | vice-versa. |
| awareness integrates body, emotions, mind, and | | | | At first, practice the five principles as a checklist. |
| spirit. | | | | In time, they will blend into one feeling that you |
| Ultimately, T'ai Chi can be practiced as a | | | | can shift into with a moment's attention. |
| comprehensive system of self-development. | | | | Beyond the five principles, the following cues are |
| When you are proficient at T'ai Chi you can use it | | | | also essential to T'ai Chi practice: |
| as a tool to shift your state of being. During T'ai | | | | *Roll the tip of your tongue up to touch the roof |
| Chi practice you become relaxed, present, | | | | of your mouth. |
| energized, and aware. You shift into what I call a | | | | *Center your chin with the center line of your |
| Core Energy State in which you experience | | | | body. |
| yourself as a part of the Oneness of life and you | | | | *Square your shoulders and hips to one of the |
| feel the flow of universal qi ("chee":life energy) | | | | eight directions. |
| throughout your body. | | | | *Movement is slow, continuous, flowing, soft, and |
| In addition to these profound effects, T'ai Chi just | | | | circular. |
| plain feels good. We often lose this sense when | | | | *Movements initiate from the ground, move up |
| we try too hard to excel or to get something out | | | | through the legs, are directed by the lower |
| of it. Practice T'ai Chi with awareness and pure | | | | dantian, and released at the fingertips. |
| enjoyment and the rest will take care of itself. Of | | | | *Sense inwardly: the eyes maintain a "soft focus" |
| course, to enjoy T'ai Chi you've got to do it. The | | | | to the outer environment. |
| good feeling one gets in T'ai Chi is developed | | | | *Find balance by harmonizing opposites: sinking |
| through daily practice. | | | | with rising, forward with backward, left with right, |
| To guide you on the path towards embodying the | | | | expansion with relaxation. |
| essence of T'ai Chi, focus on five principles: | | | | To progress in T'ai Chi, practice daily. Even ten |
| THE FIVE PRINCIPLES: | | | | minutes a day will grow your ability. If you |
| 1) RELAX DOWN: release tension around all joints | | | | become frustrated in what seems complex, |
| so they become open and free moving. Drop | | | | remember the five principles; these are the heart |
| your shoulders; let your elbows hang heavily; | | | | of T'ai Chi. |
| release tension in the low back and hips so the | | | | After going through the five principles at the |
| buttocks and hip flexors are soft. Sink your | | | | beginning of each session, a fruitful method for |
| energy. Feel as if your lower body is filled with | | | | practice is to focus on one principle at a time. In |
| water or as if there is a heavy weight attached | | | | the first stages of learning T'ai Chi, focus on the |
| to your tailbone. This is balanced by | | | | fifth principle, root & separate, and on feeling |
| 2) STAND UPRIGHT: raise the crown point of | | | | solid contact with the ground. This principle forms |
| your head (Bai Hui point) as if it's suspended on a | | | | a solid base for the other four. In time, the five |
| string from above; let your spine rises straight | | | | principles become one sensation, a feeling of |
| from the coccyx to this point. Tuck your chin | | | | rooted, relaxed, upright, soft, centered, energetic |
| slightly and raise your back. Feel as if your upper | | | | presence which is maintained by focusing on the |
| body is filled with helium. Allow your elbows and | | | | lower dantian. |
| wrists to rise slightly. | | | | At the finish of your daily practice, stay in the last |
| 3) BREATHE FROM THE LOWER DANTIAN: focus | | | | posture and hold it. Breathe into your body as a |
| your awareness inward and downward to the | | | | whole. Go through the five posture principles. |
| center of your body, the lower dantian | | | | Take a few moments to record the feeling of |
| ("dahn-tee-en": an energy center approximately | | | | relaxation and energy in every cell. This |
| three finger-widths below the navel and one third | | | | experience then becomes a reference point that |
| of the way from the front to the back of the | | | | you can return to when you feel rushed, tense, |
| body). Imagine this energy center as a heavy | | | | or overwhelmed, at other times of the day. |
| sphere in your lower abdomen. Its weight spirals | | | | BEYOND THE MOVEMENTS: |
| down into your legs and feet. All movement is | | | | After learning the movements of the form, |
| guided by the waist around this center. | | | | become aware of how your breathing is |
| In T'ai Chi, we keep awareness "centered" in the | | | | coordinated with the postures. Breathing further |
| lower dantian. Whenever your mind wanders to | | | | integrates, informs, and energizes the movements |
| any other thoughts, feelings, or sensations, let | | | | while giving them a natural ebb and flow. |
| those go and gently return your attention to | | | | You may also want to work with Push Hands, or |
| breathing from the lower dantian. As you inhale, | | | | two person T'ai Chi. Push Hands develops your |
| feel as if the lower dantian expands and fills up. | | | | ability to follow T'ai Chi principles while interacting |
| When you exhale, feel as if the lower dantian | | | | with another. We increase our internal and |
| relaxes inward and empties out. | | | | external sensitivity and learn to feel and respond |
| Awareness expands from the lower dantian to fill | | | | to another's energy while maintaining our own |
| the body as a whole. Feel the connection from | | | | energetic core. In Push Hands the connection |
| the lower dantian to the top of your head (Bai Hui | | | | between T'ai Chi and everyday interactions |
| point). Feel the connection from the lower dantian | | | | becomes apparent. |
| to the soles of your feet (Bubbling Well points in | | | | As you see in this brief summary, there are |
| the center of your feet). | | | | many levels to T'ai Chi practice. One of my T'ai |
| Besides unifying body movement, the lower | | | | Chi teachers says: "T'ai Chi is simple, but it isn't |
| dantian is the storehouse for universal energy or | | | | easy." In China, to learn T'ai Chi is considered a |
| "qi." By focusing on this energy center we | | | | life-long study. To maintain such a study, |
| accumulate qi. The movements of T'ai Chi help to | | | | remember the desire that brought you to T'ai Chi. |
| circulate qi throughout the body. | | | | Find the pleasure in practice. Enjoy. |