One thing I like about Great Grandmaster Wiliiam CC Chen is that he avoids any mystical approach to tai chi. Likewise, I am comfortable only with solid, scientific explanations. As an example, to understand why tai chi works, I think more and more about our sixth sense, the proprioceptive system. I asked ChatGPT whether it … Read more
I had another student say they preferred the Tai Chi 24-form to the more rigorous “60 Movements” of Great Grandmaster William CC Chen. It occurs to me that perhaps TC-24 is college and “60 Movements” is graduate school? Anyway, we can help more people if we make tai chi more accessible, and TC-24 was designed … Read more
WARNING! I am not in any way qualified to give advice on fibromyalgia! I have had three months-long bouts, but never during my tai chi practice. If you are curious, I think the bouts were triggered when I halted creatine supplementation. And if I hastened my recovery, it was with (1) deep massage with a … Read more
Today I finally got around to taking a proper, full tai chi class with a true tai chi master, Melinda Applegate. I think she just calls herself Instructor, but titles come from students and I saw a master today. Here is her website. The form Flattery aside, in the Friday class — 10am, Belmar Taylor … Read more
I have been thinking we could express the value of tai chi chuan by saying something like “15 minutes of tai chi is like X minutes of <something else>”. Other exercises are great–just being up and moving beats sitting on the couch–but can we brag about a specific multiplier? Maybe a minute of tai chi … Read more
…and the “kung” in “kung fu”. They both mean work. In full, qi gong translates to energy work, and kung fu refers to skill developed through hard work. Is all this talk about work depressing? OK, let us talk about yoga. One of the coolest rules I ever heard was, “Skip one day of practice, … Read more
Maria asked a great question in class today, “great” because she is new to tai chi and I am surprised she focused on this issue that is indeed a solid question for tai chi practitioners, and one highlighted by Master Chen: how low should we go with our bent knee stances held throughout the form? … Read more
Today Kathy and I invented a new exercise for developing a fundamental skill, the namesake empty step. For fun, I call this exercise “The Counting Step”. The counting step incorporates three fundamentals of Master Chen’s teaching: How it happened For a change, I decided to just watch my student perform. As Kathy executed Ward Off … Read more
OK, that title is click bait. Kinda. Here is what happened. Somehow I worked out that the first movement of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata was a great accompaniment while practicing the Yang-style tai chi chuan form. No, we do not need an accompaniment for tai chi, but if I am having trouble getting motivated for solo … Read more
Hey, all! I have not been talking up World Tai Chi Day, but it is coming up next Saturday and I had scheduled an event, so let’s see what’s going on! Here is the web site for World Tai Chi Day. Here is the Empty Step event. Please sign up if you plan on attending. … Read more