Taichi chuan is an art so profound

Saturday 6 Mar 2010 by Soon Teo | 1 Comment
Filed under: how to learn, tai chi, tai chi chuan Tags: , ,

Taichi chuan is an art so profound, you're unlikely to 'graduate' even after a lifelong pursuit.

And yet, you can benefit from practising it from day one.

It is such a vast discipline. While the physical elements alone will require tremendous amount of time and efforts from you to grasp, there are also the spiritual and mental aspects that requires strong commitment to develop and internalize.

Be patient, therefore, when you are learning tai chi chuan.

It is not uncommon for people to have practiced the martial art form for 10 years, and still find that he's still a 'beginner'.

On the other hand, the essence of tai chi is the same, whether you are a beginner of tai chi or advanced practitioner.

This is exciting!

This will mean that you do not need 10 years of leaning to benefit from tai chi.

Chances are that you would be doing similar or even the same movements and applying the same principles. The main difference is in the depth and refinement of the mastery.

So even when you are new, and practice just a little, you will enjoy benefits of the art.

... tai chi for beginners ...


Taichi chuan is not only for the elderly

Friday 5 Mar 2010 by Soon Teo | No Comments
Filed under: Health, tai chi, who should learn Tags: , ,

Taichi is often associated with old men and women doing the exercise in parks.

This biased stereotype has projected a wrong image, and deprived many younger people from benefiting from it.

Taichi chuan is an exercise that promotes the circulation of our internal energy. It tones our body. It promotes bodily balance. It improves flexibility. It prevents illnesses. It brings forth many benefits!

Such benefits are not only needed by the elderly, but the younger people as well.

I started practising the art in my twenties, and have not regreted a bit for doing so. It has helped me overcome some early health problems, and made me so much stronger phisically and mentally.

I am sure you will enjoy the tai chi exercises too!


Using tai chi to fight

Monday 1 Mar 2010 by Soon Teo | No Comments
Filed under: Uncategorized

Most people regard tai chi as an exercise for health, forgetting that it is a form of martial arts.

Tai chi is originally meant for self-denfence. Underlying every taichi movement is an intent for combat application.

You can see how the basic movements are being applied in combat in the video below. It does not matter if you don't know Mandarin. The movements are self-explanatory.


Making tai chi work

Saturday 27 Feb 2010 by Soon Teo | No Comments
Filed under: chi, movements, tai chi Tags: ,

You need patience to enjoy the benefits of tai chi.

The movements of tai chi are slow, relaxed and fluid.  If you do not do it in such a measured manner, your tai chi may end up an uncontrolled dance. It may not, as a result, be able to help you achieve the tai chi health benefits that you want, such as healing and body strengthening effects.

Thinking you body as if a plant.  It needs time and patience to nurture.  The 'tai chi chih' generated as a result of the measured movements are the water and fertilizer that make you strong.


A Bit Everyday & Tai Chi will work for you

Saturday 30 Jan 2010 by Soon Teo | No Comments
Filed under: Health, tai chi Tags: ,

Imbalances in our body may not be obvious.  They can, however, develop into something serious, from discomfort to illnesses.  Tai chi can help overcome many of such imbalances.

Unfortunately, most of us start tai chi only too late in life.

It's better be late than never.

The beauty of thai chi is that it takes the whole system of mind, body, and spirit into one.  Even if you are doing it only a small amount a day, so long as you can do it regularly, you will see improvement somehow pretty soon.


You can be fit, but NOT healthy

Saturday 7 Nov 2009 by Soon Teo | 1 Comment
Filed under: Health, Internal energy, chi, chi kung, fitness, movements, qi, qigong, tai chi chuan Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Something every health enthusiast needs to know is that you can be fit, but NOT healthy.

In other words, being fit does not necessarily mean being healthy.

Of course, if you're fit, chances are that you are healthy as well. The two statuses, nevertheless, are not equivalent.

You can be a weight lifter who boast muscular physiques, or marathon runners with excellent stamina, and yet, at the same time, suffer from heart problems, joint damage, sexual dysfunction, or inability to handle stress. For the same token, a healthy person may not be fit -- he may not have the muscular strength, and can even look frail -- but enjoys a clean bill of health and is emotionally balanced.

While being fit is not necessary being healthy, it of course does not mean you cannot stay fit and healthy all at the same time.

You can be fit and also healthy.

The question is: which comes first? Health or fitness?

Many people tend to work on the fitness first, giving little thoughts to the importance of health. They do push-ups, jog and swim; but eat unhealthily, slouch in sofa, and do nothing to control their emotions.

In the Chinese health systems like tai chi and chi kung (qigong), nevertheless, the body is built in a reverse order.

They make you cultivate a healthy body first. Only then that you would work on the physique if you choose to. The process can be insipid. You stand motionless and perform slow-moving movements. When you massage your internal organs from the intestines to the kidneys by visualizing your chi, people may not know that you are performing an exercise at all.

The system, nevertheless, ensure that you are healthy, before you add fitness as a bonus. The fitness, when you work on later, is always a happy complement to good health.

This explains why embedding in tai chi chuan and qigong are secrets of happiness and longevity.

Even if you're not practicing taiji and qigong, I'm sure you will benefit from this approach to health and fitness.


Am I doing 'Tai Chi' or 'Tai Chi Chuan'?

Friday 6 Nov 2009 by Soon Teo | No Comments
Filed under: Internal energy, definition, self-defense, tai chi, tai chi chuan Tags: , , , , , ,

Are you practicing 'tai chi' (taiji) or 'tai chi chuan' (taijiquan)?

Even in the Chinese language, the two descriptions are often thought to be identical. In other words, 'tai chi' is 'tai chi chuan'.

They, however, can have different implications.

Let's first find out what tai chi is, before we try to understand what it has to do with the word 'chuan'.

Tai chi is a concept derived from the Chinese cosmology.

In the Chinese cosmology, the origin of Universe is an undifferentiated void, known as 'wuji' (无极)-- which literally means 'boundless, infinite'.  Wuji is nothing and everything.  It, however, has no form. Tai chi, which means 'supreme ultimate force, or ultimate energy', is a creative force that turns wuji into form, creations and existence.

In this sense, everything you see in this Universe is a tai chi (太极). The Universe itself is a tai chi, so is the house you stay in, and the body in which your soul resides. Tai chi ultimately is an energy. In itself, it consists of opposite forces, known as yin and yang. When it interacts with others, it is interacting with another tai chi, and therefore, another set of yin and yang. The yin and yang energies -- either within a creation like your body, or between creations -- are opposite and yet complementary.

When you are practicing tai chi the exercise, you learn to regulate the yingyang energies within and around you, making them into and interconnected continuum. This is achieved through the fluid movements of the exercise. In the process, it balances and integrates the energies within you, taking your physical and mental capacities to a higher level.

So much about tai chi. What about 'chuan' （拳)?

'Chuan' is a much easier concept. The Chinese character it uses means 'fist, or boxing'. Tai chi chuan, therefore, means the martial arts that employs the philosophy of tai chi. Here, the implication of self-defense is obvious.

We may, therefore, distinguish between tai chi and chuan tai chi in the following manner:

  • If you are practicing the martial art simply to cultivate internal strengths, rather than using it as a tool for self defense, then you are practicing tai chi.
  • If you are practicing the martial art for combat, you are practicing tai chi chuan.

The purpose of knowing the minute difference is purely for you to have a better understanding of the exercise. In fact, the two concepts are highly integrated. You cannot practice the martial art effectively without an understanding how the movements are employed in self-defense. On the other hand, your grasp of the art is superficial, if you see it only as a system for combat.


Chi Kung can be Motionless

Friday 6 Nov 2009 by Soon Teo | No Comments
Filed under: chi, chi kung, qi, qigong Tags: , , ,

The first thing that you have to learn about chi kung (qigong) is the use of mind, not the physical movements.

There are many forms of chi kung in existence.  All of them, without fail, involve the control of the vital energy, known as chi (qi), in your body.

When you are performing the exercises, you learn to use your mind to control the flow of chi.  Your arms, legs and other parts of the body may be used to help in the process, but they play only the complementary roles.  It is for this reason that, in fact, while many forms chi kung are performed with physical movements, some are motionless.

You can also do it by using a variety of postures -- standing, sitting, or lying on your back.

Tai chi is a form of chi kung, so is Taoist sitting meditation.

Since the performance of chi kung hinges on the use of mind, its improvement on the vital energy is reflected not only in better physical health, but also clarity of mind and spiritual enlightenment.  If you practice the exercise regularly, it will enable your body and mind become functionally younger.  In this aspect, chi kung has been used as a means in the East to stay healthy and achieve longevity.

So when you're seeing someone doing chi kung motionless, do not assume that he's 'resting'.  His body could be working very hard without your knowing.


Marvel of Life in Slow-Motion

Monday 2 Nov 2009 by Soon Teo | No Comments
Filed under: definition, movements, tai chi Tags: , , , , ,

Imagine the days when you truly slow down.

You see the sun slowly rising, listen to water cascading and birds chirping.

You appreciate the life in slow motion!

This is a time that you are thoroughly relaxed; a time when you can visualize life from a different perspective; a time when you get closer and closer to the real you.

It is refreshing!

How you wish you could do this again and again, day after day?

The good news is:  you can, if you practice tai chi.

Tai chi chuan, through its slow, steady and balanced movements, slows you down.

It brings you the moments of truth, even only a few minutes a day.

It leads you to become aware of many things in your body that you have not thought material.  You feel the subtle changes in your arms, legs, joints, tendon and internal organs.  You are glad that the fleeting mind jumping about no more, which bring you ever closer to you subconscious minds, shedding lights on nuances you are yet to realize.

Physically you get healthier.  Emotionally, you enjoy life with more depth.

How delightful – the slow motion of life!


Help! I can't feel the chi!

Sunday 1 Nov 2009 by Soon Teo | No Comments
Filed under: chi, qi, tai chi Tags: , , , ,

One of the common complaints from beginners of tai chi chuan is that they cannot feel the chi (qi).

Chi is the life energy in our body. Without it, we are dead. When you're full of chi, you are energized. It makes you more alive, more cheerful. When your chi is weak, you feel tired and get sick easily.

Tai chi helps you to regulate chi in your body, so that it can move around smoothly in your entire body. Without chi, it is difficult to perform the tai chi effectively, as your movements would be no difference from movements of any dances.

What happen, nevertheless, if you simply cannot feel the presence of chi?

The answer is, "Do not worry about it!"

In the first place, chi is in your body anyway, even if you do not feel it. It is a product of the air that we inhale and the food that we eat. So long as you continue with your chuan tai chi movements, you are working on your chi.

What is even more important -- chi can move smoothly only when your body is not tensed up!   The meridians and channels through which your chi travels in your body are like a network of highways. Whenever there is tension, there is a traffic jam. So the more you worry about not having chi in your body, the more you can't feel it. It is blocked by your worries.

There are some simple way to feel the qi. May be you should try them out first. One of them is to put your two palms pararel to each other before your lower abdomen. If you can be truly relaxed, you will feel current of your chi moving in the empty space between the two palms, which can turn your two palms warm, and something give them a tingling sensation.


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