Tai Chi the Martial Art & Philosophy – Ji Hong Tai Chi Mississauga

What to Look for in a Great Tai Chi Teacher

September 10, 2018 by May Rahnema Leave a Comment

When you’re looking to learn tai chi, you want to find a good teacher who can help you understand, enjoy and appreciate tai chi in a way that’s meaningful for you. Ji Hong Tai Chi has a philosophy of grooming good teachers not just people who have mastered tai chi in some way. This makes the Ji Hong Tai Chi a great place to learn and grow your qi gong, tai chi and weapons skills.

So, while you might be considering where to learn tai chi, I have been considering what we evaluate when we look for good teachers here at Ji Hong Tai Chi Mississauga.

To Be a Great Tai Chi Teacher, We Must First Master Tai Chi

Firstly, it takes many years of learning and diligent practice before one can achieve the skills and proficiency to be considered a tai chi expert. Even under ideal conditions, where you have the time and ability to train several hours daily under a good tai chi teacher, it will still be 10 years at a minimum. To be a good tai chi teacher, you need at a minimum certain technical proficiencies such as sound knowledge of the forms and underlying tai chi principles plus:

good observation skills
attention to the details
good communication skills

To be a great tai chi teacher, you need more than just the technical skills, you need a set of qualities that are not easy to cultivate. The following are the top 10 qualities that I believe can serve as a guide to becoming a great tai chi teacher.

1. A Passion for Teaching Tai Chi

Passion manifests itself in many ways. Passionate teachers wake up looking forward to a day with the opportunity to work with students so the students can gain a passion for tai chi as well. Some teachers will walk into the room with a spring in their steps while others show it quietly with earnest dedication. This passion is something that cannot be faked nor hidden and students can feel it.

2. A Love for Tai Chi

Great teachers not only love Tai Chi, but they love to share that joy with their students. You cannot escape the enthusiasm and joy that exudes from a great teacher when they discuss and share their favourite subject. You can see the glint in their eyes, hear the excitement in their voices and watch the enjoyment in their face and entire demeanour.

3. Vested in the Personal Growth of Students

An expert can talk for hours about a subject. A great teacher will always talk about the students and the joy of seeing students grasp and understand a subject. For a tai chi teacher, joy comes in the form of seeing a student execute a move, understand something or achieve something that was unattainable just moments ago. What feeds the soul of a great teacher comes from seeing students who have been working hard for weeks or months and suddenly have a break through where they realize that they have got it finally. And, once someone knows, it is not possible to not know any longer. This look on their face is priceless. This is the personal growth that every great teacher wishes for their students.

4. Patience

Great teachers are patient with their students, they will repeat the move or explanation as many times as necessary for students to learn. They do it with a smile every time. They allow mistakes without judging. They wait for the right moment to say the right thing. Teachers gently correct and encourage while patiently waiting for students to reach their own potential in their own time.

5. Personal Self-Reflection

Like many professionals, great teachers work to improve their skills as teachers. They study and continually upgrade their skills in the art of teaching. And, they regularly reflect upon their own performance throughout the day or daily so they keep learning as teachers as well as tai chi martial artists.

When something good or bad happens, teachers want to spend time reflecting on it. If things went well, we ask ourselves questions such as whether it was something that a student did or something that we as teachers facilitated. If things went poorly, we focus on what we did or did not do and what we would do in a similar situation the next time. We are constructively critical of ourselves and learn from any mistakes we may make along the way.

6. Learning is a Two Way Street

A great teacher learns from the students as much as the students learn from the teacher. Great teachers are not threatened by questions from students and do not take it personally when challenged on a topic. We aim to listen carefully without jumping to conclusions. Questions help us as teachers to increase our depth of knowledge about tai chi and wisdom about the process. We all improve as teachers as much as students.

7. Teachers are Humble

A great teacher will not let ego get in the way. When we put the focus on the students instead of ourselves, then we are performing our role well. Students use the mirror to see if they are doing things well and whether they are modeling the movements correctly. When leading a class, the great teacher uses the mirror to see if the students are able to keep up with the pace of the lesson.

8. Being Flexible

Things do not always go as planned during a lesson. A great teacher must be flexible enough to change the lesson plan when things are not working out for the students. We are constantly assessing the class to make sure that every student is able to understand what to do and be able to learn the lesson well.

A great teacher can conjure up new ways to present the same topic from new perspectives. This helps students grasp the lesson from a more relatable point of view for them. Great teachers understand their students and they will adjust to the learning style of the students present in the studio during each hour.

9. Professionalism

Professionalism shows in our personal presentation, timeliness, preparedness for the classes, and the way we interact with students, peers and our own teachers. Beyond the classroom, we may need to look after other aspects of maintaining a healthy learning environment. We may need to look after problems that might impact the class or a student’s health and well-being. Regardless, we are able to maintain our poise through difficult situations and react in an appropriate manner.

10. Self-Improvement

There is always room for improvement. No matter how good we think we are, we can still be better. Improvements can come in many ways:

Advancing our tai chi skills – as our skill level increases, we may see things from a different perspective and that allows us to explain concepts with greater clarity.
Expanding our knowledge – a wider or deeper knowledge base helps relate tai chi concepts with other concepts and knowledge with which students can relate.
Upgrading our teaching techniques – continuously exploring different ways to teach the same topic is key to improving our success as teachers.

If You Enjoy Tai Chi and Might Enjoy Teaching Tai Chi, Take the First Step

If you enjoy tai chi, continue your learning path to becoming a tai chi instructor. Start practicing these 10 qualities of being a great teacher. As a studio which looks for great tai chi masters who are also great teachers, we’ll start to take notice of the people who have the passion as well as the talent to make this long journey with us. We are always in search for good people and good company on this journey to improving our tai chi and becoming great teachers.

Watch and Learn about Tai Chi – A Video Blog

August 31, 2018 by May Rahnema Leave a Comment

Live Performance of Tai Chi

Tai Chi, commonly known as “moving meditation”, is much more than just an activity performed by people in the park. Tai Chi has its origins as an INTERNAL martial art, it can help maintain health as well as build skills to better movement, balance and biomechanics.

As we will witness in this demonstration, there is a lot of flow and grace in each of the movements, with a variety of speeds and dynamic interactions. Tai chi is not JUST the stereotypical slow moving exercise you see on TV or in the park. It is so much more … so let me introduce some of the lesser known aspects of tai chi.

Chen Village – The Birthplace of Tai Chi

Chen Village is the birth place of Tai Chi with roots dating back over 300 years. The oldest and original form of tai chi comes from Chen Village, therefore it is named Chen Style Tai Chi. In the early years, the original Tai Chi forms were kept a secret and practiced solely by villagers of all ages to defend the community. Tai Chi may have started as an internal martial art but the Chinese soon discovered that it offered enormous pro-active healthcare benefits to those who practice it daily.

Tai Chi – An International Martial Arts Sport

Tai Chi has also become an international sport, with athletes showcasing the grace and beauty of tai chi movements that vary between slow and fast, soft and powerful, with low stances, jumps, kicks and strikes.

In the late 1800s, a modified version of tai chi emerged called Yang Style Tai Chi. Yang Style Tai Chi is a gentle and flowing form, performed at an even speed, with simple, direct and easily adaptable stances. This form of tai chi is the most widespread and commonly practiced form of tai chi today.

Tai Chi for Health & Fitness

People of all ages practice tai chi for improving health and fitness. Learning Tai Chi is challenging with a steep learning curve, but the benefits and rewards are profound and long lasting.

Everyone starts with the basic skills program to learn vocabulary, principles and foundational movements before branching out to either a Yang style or Chen style tai chi, and weapons at the advanced levels.

Learning Tai Chi at Ji Hong Tai Chi Mississauga

My name is May Rahnema and this is Master Bao Sen Liang leading a class. We would like to welcome you to visit our studio in Mississauga, Ontario. Or visit our website: www.taichi.ca for more information.

Try a complimentary trial class or attend one of our monthly Open House events. We look forward to seeing you!

5 Myths about Tai Chi

July 7, 2018 by May Rahnema Leave a Comment

In North America, most people have only seen Tai Chi, also written as taiji or taijiquan, as an exercise that people perform in the park. But, most people don’t understand its full potential as a work out for people of all ages.

Many do not realize that tai chi originated as an internal martial arts, from a place known as Chen Village. As a means of survival, the entire village, from the very young to the very old, learned tai chi and have become renowned for their martial arts. Tai chi is a highly effective martial arts. However it takes a long time, with a lot of commitment and hard work to become proficient.

People may have a few ideas about tai chi but there are also definitely some misconceptions about tai chi. Very often these misconceptions prevent many people from even trying out tai chi.

Myth 1: Isn’t Tai Chi Too Slow to offer a Good Work Out?

In North America, we believe that a real work out must involve fast aerobic exercises. However, practicing the Yang style tai chi form which can take 25 – 30 minutes to complete will have fitness effects lasting hours afterwards. And, on top of that, there are other health benefits.

If your additional health goals include any of the following, then you should try a tai chi class.

Improving balance to reduce injuries due to falls
Improving postural alignment
Using core muscles for movement and work
Improving biomechanics
Reducing joint wear and tear
Increasing muscle relaxation and balanced muscle use
Reducing mental stress and anxiety

Tai Chi when performed correctly in this slow and deliberate manner is more strenuous than it looks, while providing a safer and better whole body workout from the inside to the outside.

Myth 2: I thought Tai Chi is too gentle for anyone except the Elderly

Most of the tai chi styles do appear to be soft and gentle, but this is not always the case. After all, its origins are from martial arts. For instance, the Chen style tai chi form incorporates gentle movements with interjected explosive movements. As the original and oldest form of tai chi, this style retained most of its martial arts roots and techniques.

The Chen Style form includes a more dynamic range of postures that demand more strength, flexibility and engagement of the core muscles. Also, when our bodies move from a slow gentle movement to an explosive one, it is like accelerating a vehicle from 0 to 100km/hr, it requires a lot more energy and stability. Our bodies demand a great deal of cardiovascular activity as well as core muscle strength to move powerfully in quick bursts.

While there are many incidental health benefits for the elderly or those handicapped by other health issues, when practiced correctly, tai chi is both physically demanding as well as difficult to master advanced biomechanics. A typical practice of the Chen style first routine followed by the second routine can last for up to 40 minutes and leave you soaking in sweat as well as both mentally and physically exhausted.

Myth 3: Is Tai Chi just a series of Steps with Waving Arm Movements

If you end up in a class where you don’t learn anything more than which direction to wave your arm next, then you are not learning tai chi. To get the best out of practicing tai chi and the full health benefits, you want to understand how to move from the inside out using internal martial arts principles which engage core muscles fully, employ the full range of motion of our joints and demands postural alignment.

A good teacher will guide you through how to work with your internal core as much as your arms and legs which are the manifestation of the movement of our core energy or the “dantian”. A good teacher will guide you with goals that are within your abilities and explain how to achieve it in your practice. Repetition and a variety of training programs are required to achieve the muscle memory as well as mastery of concepts first introduced in the Tai Chi Basics class. And it does not need to be boring.

With a wide variety of tai chi class choices, people are able to continue learning, practicing and remain challenged while staying healthy and eventually mastering some of the more elusive concepts of an internal martial art. Our extensive offering of tai chi programs means people can tailor a journey that most inspires them.

Tai Chi Basics – our mandatory introductory course
Chen Style Tai Chi – Level 1, 2 & 3 plus workshops
Yang Style Tai Chi – Level 1, & 2 plus workshops
Wu Style Tai Chi – Level 1, 2 & 3 plus workshops
Tai Chi Push Hands
Cannon Fist which is the Chen Style Second Routine
Tai Chi Weapons– Spear, Sword, Sabre & Long Pole
Forms Practice – practice skills from the many classes
Tai Chi Fitness – enhance your fitness while honing more difficult Yang & Chen Style moves
Qi Gong Health and Vitality (read more about Qi Gong here: What is Qi Gong? )

The Tai Chi Fitness class is a unique offering pioneered at our Mississauga school which incorporates repetitive Tai Chi movements from Yang and Chen styles tai chi to achieve fluency in the movements while getting a good work out. People attend Qi Gong, Forms Practice and Tai Chi Fitness in addition to a primary program to boost their weekly work out time or hone skills which may still seem elusive.

Myth 4: But, I have bad knees so I can’t practice Tai Chi

When you practice tai chi as intended, tai chi will help your knees not hurt them. Knowing how to move into and out of the most effective postures for your body, you’ll learn good biomechanics which minimize impact on your knees and return proper knee alignment and function. On the other hand, poor biomechanics, tense muscles and tight knee joints are some of the issues which lead to the deterioration of our knees.

Start slow and do not push yourself too hard too fast, your muscles need time to strengthen and joints need time to restore its elasticity. Rest when you are either mentally or physically tired. We make mistakes in our movements when we are tired and not paying attention, so avoid injuries by taking a break.

To learn more about why tai chi helps knees, read our blog on how to Strengthen and Protect Knee Joints with Tai Chi.

Myth 5: Isn’t Tai Chi the Chinese version of Yoga?

Tai Chi is not anything like yoga. Firstly, Tai Chi is an internal martial art, even if you are practicing it for health reasons. Tai Chi is not static and will never fit on a mat like yoga. It’s a series of continuous movements which flow from one to the next. Hyperextension or over stretching is discouraged due to its potential for injury while moving from one stance to the next.

Tai Chi is known as the “moving meditation”. How you move is just as important as the final stance into which the movements evolve. It takes all of our awareness and focus to move into and finish tai chi stances as they were intended. Since there is no stopping between movements, there’s no time for our focus or attention to lapse. We have no choice except to be fully present as we practice tai chi. This fully engaged mindfulness into what you are doing now is the definition of meditation.

Even with a hip or knee replacement, tai chi can be practiced as joints remain well within their normal range of movement and typically, within the strongest range of its movement. And, because all the movements are done slowly in standing stances, people with hypertension or vascular conditions are able to participate safely.

Explore the Many Exciting Aspects of Tai Chi

These are just a few of the myths that we answer for new or prospective participants who may hesitate to join a tai chi class. The only way to understand is to get started with one of our Basic Tai Chi classes. We’ll get you started with tai chi terminology as well as typical movements which you will need again and again as you take your journey through the many exciting and challenging tai chi or qi gong classes. Check out our schedule and contact us to attend an open house or trial class.

Tai Chi for All Ages of the Family

February 17, 2018 by May Rahnema 1 Comment

If you’re considering what everyone in the family can do this coming Family Day, consider tai chi also known as taiji quan. Tai Chi is a form of exercise that has been widely adopted around the world. It originated from China where it became popular when it was promoted as a way to help the people stay healthy throughout life and well into old age. The Chinese approach to health care starts with prevention so having a form of exercise to help people maintain a high quality of life while aging was the key to looking after the people.

Today, Tai Chi is practiced by millions of people worldwide. Some people start as young as 5 years old but there are also many people who are 85 years old and older who are continually practicing. Tai Chi spans the generations found in many Asian as well as other families.

Tai Chi for the Whole Family

Tai chi is appropriate for the whole family and people of all ages because of its intentionally focused and slow movement. The numerous health benefits of tai chi have been vetted by extensive research. The multitude of benefits that come from Tai Chi practice is so wide ranging that it benefits people at every age and over time as each of our body’s needs evolve with the different stages at different ages.

Here are some of the key benefits:

Improves balance and reduces incidences of falling
Improves posture for better body alignment and reduced muscle imbalances or pain
Low impact work out that provides cardio benefits
Increases mental and physical engagement
Reduces stress with slow movements and the focused mental engagement

Tai Chi for the Younger Family Members

Whether you have little ones interested in martial arts or a young person who finds it difficult to get into highly physical activities, Tai Chi offers some amazing benefits for young people.

For those who start out young, tai chi classes focus on the physical challenges and athletic development. Having had two boys who grew up learning wushu (Chinese martial art), Sifu May is well versed in what young people need to learn and remain interested in tai chi.

Younger participants are typically encouraged to engage in the Chen Style Tai Chi form. It is more dynamic and physically challenging with its low squats, powerful bursts and large robust limb movements. This form encourages increased strengthening and stretching of the lower limbs as well as the dantian or core strength. This demanding form is ideal for the growing and active bodies of young people while keeping them engaged and interested.

Maintaining the 5 bows stance of the body allows the tai chi martial artist to maintain the strongest stance possible while minimizing the chance of being knocked over by external forces or by a tai chi partner during an interactive exchange in class. Not only does this improve the balance of the person practicing tai chi but it also reinforces proper postural habits. Proper posture is key for young people to establish at an early age.

Of course, any type of martial arts training requires a discipline to learn movements but also to control the mind and body through the fluid and flawless execution of these movements. For many young people, this is a great way to improve awareness of their physical bodies and the movements. So, whether your child is a burgeoning athlete or a child who is clumsy and could use a better awareness of their own bodies, tai chi is a great way for them to strengthen as well as grow confidence in their own body.

And, of course, there’s the appeal of learning tai chi because it is a martial art. For many young kids, there is a huge appeal in becoming a martial arts expert and learning to handle a weapon safely as well as adeptly.

Tai Chi for the Adult Family Members

As the parent, participating in your own class while waiting on a younger family member is a great way to address some of our own adult concerns such as reducing stress from day to day life. Unlike other forms of exercise, it’s impossible to practice tai chi without being fully engaged in thinking about your entire body and where your hands, feet, legs and head will be moving next as well as the final direction that they’ll face. There is no room for the mind to wander while participating in tai chi

It is this demand for complete attention that gives tai chi the nickname as being the “moving meditation” of exercises. It is practiced slowly so that it forces people to think of all the details of each movement but the slowness also provides part of its meditative qualities.

When we approach middle age, we constantly have to balance our family as well as work lives. Our focus moves to deeper and more mindful aspects of tai chi such as the concept of Yin and Yang and what it means to have balance. Not just the kind of balance that prevents us from falling but in the use of our bodies to push or pull. In the advanced Push Hands class, your awareness of balance extends beyond your own body and includes your partner’s physical space. You are therefore actively listening and constantly adjusting to maintain the Yin/ Yang of the partnership.

Ultimately, learning how to move from an internal intention is a very important part of the tai chi growth path. Where children learn to mimic the movements with amazing results, when we advance as adults, we learn the internal intention behind the advance concepts of tai chi movements. We learn to practice how controlling our internal intention affects our external movements. We focus on what’s important about intention and we don’t let the smaller external or unimportant stuff distract us from intention.

Tai Chi for Family Members Beyond Middle Age

As we reach our 40’s and 50’s and beyond, our concern starts to shift towards aging gracefully and avoiding illnesses typically developed later in life. We want to remain physically capable and fit instead of aging prematurely. Tai chi is well known for preventing and alleviating the symptoms of diabetes, high blood pressure, Parkinson’s, osteoarthritis and other pathologies.

In addition, many people recovering from heart surgery or other injuries are still able to practice tai chi when other high impact work outs wouldn’t be appropriate. So, whether we are limited in what we can do and need to progress towards an ability to perform more intensive activities or we are looking for other ways to return balance to our bodies, tai chi has proven to be effective.

Tai chi helps people remain fit and maintain their core strength without the kind of high impact activities which may cause backs, knees, hips and other joints to deteriorate prematurely. At this age, our bodies are not able to recover seemingly instantaneously as our bodies did when we were in our 20’s. Tai chi is a slower moving and gentle practice which raises our heart rates giving us a good cardio work out as well. It seems counterintuitive that a slow moving activity can raise our heart rate but tai chi does improve our circulation significantly and people feel their core temperature rise after just a one hour class.

Tai Chi for Elderly Family Members

As we age further, it becomes difficult to find an activity that we can continue to do well and consistently. For people in their senior years, there are many benefits of learning and participating in tai chi. After a fall, seniors tend to continue to experience a wide variety of physical ailments from which they are slow to recover. After a single fall, many seniors find their health deteriorates significantly. However, maintaining good health, a strong core and posture as well as an ability to re-balance their bodies quickly allows elderly people to avoid a fall. This makes a huge difference in the upcoming quality of life in a senior.

Tai chi is not only physically beneficial but the mental challenges and the social nature of practicing tai chi helps to alleviate some of the top mental conditions seniors face today. The conditions of most concern to seniors include depression and dementia. Research shows that the people who practice tai chi tend to avoid these conditions or reduce their symptoms. Part of the reason is that tai chi helps improve the social aspects of our seniors’ lives because tai chi is practiced in groups with friends, families and people of all ages.

Finally, tai chi offers physical and mental challenges for seniors while giving them a sense of accomplishment. We all need goals and objectives which is the same for the elderly where a sense of accomplishment and purpose helps the mental state and well-being of all our grandmothers and grandfathers everywhere.

Celebrate Family Day with a Visit to Our Mississauga Tai Chi Studio

So, if you’re still not sure that tai chi is for the whole family, we invite you to come down to our Mississauga tai chi studio to experience it for yourself and meet people who are having a fun and challenging experience with tai chi.

Looking forward to seeing you soon!

The Tai Chi Learning Path – Part 2 of 2

January 22, 2018 by May Rahnema Leave a Comment

While in the Basics classes, people are learning basic movements and positions as well as much of the terminology. In the advanced classes, we go beyond. In the Basic classes, everyone is mostly just following and copying what they see.

In the advanced tai chi learning path, people start to understand why these basic concepts exist and how to leverage these concepts to be able to move fluently. They’re learning more complex series of movements which challenge their balance and ability to be centred or grounded even when the movements and postures become more intricate and complicated.

As we touched upon in the last blog, the next step in the learning path after the Basics class is choosing either a Yang Style or a Chen Style tai chi forms class.

Tai Chi Forms (or Taolu)

A Tai Chi form is a series of moves that are executed continuously from one move to the next, similar to a choreographed dance routine. A traditional tai chi form will take somewhere between 20 to 30 minutes to complete. At the beginning, you have to learn and remember the sequence of moves in the routine called a form.

Whether you’re good at memorizing or not, there’s more to being able to execute a form than just knowing the order of the movements. Being good at a form whether it’s the Yang Style or Chen Style form, it’s all in the little details of knowing how to shift your centre or dantian. And, at the same time, maintain optimal balance and postural strength with each upcoming movement or stance.

While you are achieving a certain amount of fluency with the moves, learning to apply tai chi concepts begins and continues to deepen with time. Using the choreography of the form, people learn to incorporate tai chi concepts into the movements, starting with the basic concepts then progressively layering on more difficult and complex tai chi principles into the movements. It may take 3 seasons to learn the basic movements of the form but a lifetime to learn and master tai chi concepts and principles.

A form is much like a dance. We can all learn how to achieve a level of competency so we can enjoy the basic form. To master a tai chi form takes years of practice to unleash and have our bodies understand both the art and science of fluid yet powerful movement concepts. The consistent long term practice makes it easier for us to remember movements while staying active and physically fit. And, some people enjoy perfecting a single form as a way of learning and achieving this understanding.

Some people like to explore the different styles of tai chi and understand the unique characteristics of each style, hence learning multiple tai chi forms. There is no rule or set path to learning tai chi. Learn from various forms as well as other advanced classes to continue understanding how to apply the concepts. Follow your heart and take the path that feels right.

Depending on people’s personalities and personal preferences, some like to mix it up to add variety and different challenges which teach us the same concepts from a different perspective.

Push Hands (or Tuishou)

Push Hands is a sparring activity meant to teach us how tai chi principles are applied. Instead of learning a series of movements in a choreographed set, we learn to respond and react to an outside force or a partner. It is a practical application of tai chi skills taught in various forms practice and applying these skills and concepts to interactive live situations where your partner is constantly moving and shifting.

It is about learning to sense the outside forces and becoming aware of other people’s movements. In turn, we learn to become much more aware of our own movements. We’re challenging the practical application of movements we learned in tai chi forms. And, we’re learning new movements as a way to respond to forces applied on us from our classroom partners without losing our own centre of balance.

Most people do not learn tai chi for the purpose of martial arts, therefore learning push hands is not always the first thing that comes to mind. However, it can be an important aspect of the learning path and this class is another part of the path to understanding many of the tai chi principles. Without actual physical contact with another person, it may often be difficult to appreciate some of the nuances of tai chi concepts.

Push hands is a direct path to learning tai chi principles as opposed to learning movements. You can start push hands training after learning the basics but it`s recommended to practice at least one form prior to or concurrently with the push hands class. Alternatively, start by achieving some fluency with a form first before beginning Push Hands.

For those looking to learn the martial aspects of tai chi, push hands is an essential course on the martial arts path within tai chi. And, for those looking to master tai chi, push hands is a necessary practice to achieving a complete understanding of tai chi principles.

Weapons

Incorporating weapons into tai chi practice takes our training to a different dimension. It is difficult enough trying to control our own body to achieve the tai chi principles. Adding an inanimate object extends our physical awareness beyond the length of our arms. People learn to incorporate the movements of the weapons as an extension of our own bodies.

Weapons have a tendency to exaggerate and expose flaws in our posture, balance and other tai chi principles. So it is an excellent means to enhancing tai chi skills while conditioning the physical body and sharpening our mental focus.

Learning one of the tai chi open hand forms for a minimum of 2 years is a pre-requisite for any of the 4 types of weapons classes: spear, sword, broad sword and long pole. In order to extend tai chi principles to a weapon, it is necessary to be fluent with basic tai chi concepts for the physical body first. Without understanding how to access the dantian or how to maintain the physically sturdy bow stances, it becomes impossible to translate tai chi concepts of movement to the weapon being wielded during class.

Without the open hand forms experience, the movements used with the weapon in our hands becomes clumsy and dangerous to others in the class as well as to ourselves. Learning a weapon is both mentally and physically challenging. The physical challenge is obvious as the extra weight of the weapon adds a level of physical work not found in the open hand forms.

A couple of years of open hand form conditioning will ease the transition to the weapons classes. Even the mental focus that is required can be exhausting. Each person has to be vigilant and pay constant attention or the weapon will hurt us or someone else.

Once people are ready, they find that learning a weapon is a lot of fun. The child in us comes out to play all while we learn to master tai chi skills.

Weapons have a tendency to exaggerate and expose flaws in posture, balance and other tai chi principles. Weapons classes are an excellent means to enhancing tai chi skills, conditioning the physical body and sharpening mental focus. All of this while having a lot of fun learning to master tai chi.

The Tai Chi Learning Path

The rich philosophical roots of tai chi bring a wealth of knowledge and principles that can make learning tai chi a life long journey. Each person’s journey is different depending on what we each want to learn of tai chi.

Each person`s learning path is unique to them. After a couple of years of taking steps to master the basics followed by some open hand forms training, people keep it lively and interesting by mixing, matching and even re-learning with deeper perspectives and appreciation.

Regardless of the journey ahead, start with a visit to our studio to meet our tai chi community. And, we`ll help you get started in a Tai Chi Basics class so you`ll have the foundation needed to enjoy a lifelong journey in tai chi.