Tai Chi
Benefits of Tai Chi

  • Reduces blood pressure
  • Improves balance and co-ordination
  • Improves joint mobility and flexibility
  • Relieves stress and helps relaxation
  • Improves respiratory function
  • Keeps the mind active and it's fun

What is Tai Chi?

Tai Chi is an extremely efficient martial art developed in China, it’s full name is Tai Chi Chuan (spelt as Taijiquan in Romanised Chinese) can be translated as Supreme Ultimate Fist. It is a soft or internal martial art, unlike karate which is classed as a hard or external martial art. Its power is not obvious to the casual observer. It emphasises yielding and flowing with an attack rather then meeting it with brute force. That does not mean that there is no hard and fast techniques within Tai Chi, there can not be soft without hard, or slow without fast, that is the nature of the universe and Tai Chi as expressed by Ying and Yang and the Tai Chi symbol everyone knows.

Although thought to be thousands of years old the oldest written record was created in 1820 (Wile, Douglas (1995). Lost T'ai-chi Classics from the Late Ch'ing Dynasty (Chinese Philosophy and Culture). State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0791426548). It is around 1930 that a man named Yang Chengfu developed the form that we know today without the explosive movements, making it suitable for everyone to learn. He did this because he believed the people of China were growing weaker and needed a means of exercise to make them strong again. The form that Steve teaches is the Yang Chengfu Long Form.

What is Chi Kung?

Chi means breath and Kung means work so Chi Kung (also written as Qigung), which can be translated as "breath work" or "energy work". Chi Kung is a form of standing meditation in which posture is extremely important as the Chinese believe that there are a number of energy channels running through the body in a similar way that veins and arteries run around the body but instead of blood an electrical energy force called Chi (Qi) flows. The Chi channels or Meridians flow through the organs of the body. These are the same Meridians that acupuncturist use to insert their needles. This flow of Chi bathes the organs with a life giving force which helps to repair and strengthen the organs. If it is impeded by poor posture then illness or disease results, if it is totally blocked the Chinese believe that you die. Chi Kung provides the benefits to good health that you will derive from performing the Tai Chi form when you have mastered it.

What is the class format? What can I expect?

The class format is to start with 20 minutes of standing Chi Kung. Followed by a set of eight exercises which are thought to be over three thousand years old known as The Eight Pieces of Silk Brocade Qigong or Ba Duan Jin. This is followed by some gentle stretching exercises before moving on to explanation of movements contained within the form. Finally the last 30 minutes concentrate on the form itself.

Here is the form taught at the Academy, the Yang Cheng-Fu Form, sections one and two on You Tube. Please click on the link below to view.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSlQlfSCoW8

The Basic Principles or 10 Guiding Points of Tai Chi Chuan

 

1.    Relax

Sung in Chinese can be translated as relax, release the tension in the muscles, not so they are floppy but soft, pliable and alive.

2.    Sink

The body is relaxed so that the weight is low and not high in the chest. This makes you more stable and balanced.

3. The chest should be relaxed, the back straightened, the shoulders sunk, and the elbows lowered.

Upper body tension should be eliminated, posture is extremely important for protecting the integrity of the body, allowing fast reactions and movements. Not the posture of a soldier on parade but that of a powerful big cat relaxed and ready to spring into action. 

4. The head is held as though suspended from above by a silken cord.  The lower back is relaxed, with the hips rolled forward reducing the curve of the spine.

Good posture is the key to good health; we have evolved to stand erect, with the skeleton supporting the body, allowing the organs to function efficiently. Modern life makes sitting not standing the predominant posture of our daily working life. 

5. Let the mind direct your actions not muscular strength. 

Try not to direct your movements with thought, your sub conscious mind manages your body all day perfectly, do not be a back seat driver and try to control it. Relax and let the movement happen, power and strength come from using the right muscles with just the right amount of muscle control. That’s the difference between internal and external strength. 

6. Upper and lower body connected. The body acts as one unit.

Movement starts from the ground and moves like a wave through the body, every piece connect and working together. When fitness experts talk about core conditioning they are talking about the muscles that protect the alignment of the spine, we can move the shoulders independently of the hips at the waist; this is due to the spine flexing. The spine, and our posture, is weakest when it is bent and twisted. By fixing the hips and shoulders so they are in alignment and move as a unit with a strong stable inner core, the body is incredibly strong and can withstand great pressures. The Tai Chi Classics say:

"It is rooted in the feet, develops in the legs, is directed by the waist, and functions through the fingers.  The feet, legs, and waist must act as one unit.  When one moves, every part of the body is moving, and when one stops, every part of the body is tranquil so that in advancing and retreating you can find the opponent's defects and establish your own superior position." 

7. Insubstantial (apparent) and substantial (solid) must be clearly differentiated.

Balance is of the utmost importance when moving or transferring energy such as walking, running, punching or kicking. As movement takes place weight is transferred from one part of the body to another, with the upper body being supported by the legs and the feet which are it’s base. This rule is describing the transfer of weight between the feet, which is only equal at the start and finish of the form, during the form weight is constantly being transferred back and forth between the legs, when the weight is on one foot it is said to be substantial (solid) and the other foot is insubstantial (apparent).

8. Concentrate on the line of vision.

Your eyes must look forward at your own eye level. When your shoulders move your head moves as well and so remains looking at 90 degrees to your shoulders.  The head and body (shoulders and hips) should be considered as one unit.  

9. All the movements must be connected without severance. 

The movements and postures are performed slowly, effortlessly and continuously. There are no pauses, each posture is completed and then the next one begins, this movement is combined with breathing, it to never pauses or stops and is like the sea breaking on a beach it continuously moves in and out. The Classics say:

"Tai Chi Chuan is also called 'Chang Chuan' (Long Boxing) because it flows unceasingly like the great river." It also mentions the application of force is like weaving silk (long and continuous).  

10. Meditation in action

In the external martial arts, there is use of tremendous external muscular force.  This results in the expansion of veins and blood vessels, impediment of the ch'i, exhaustion, and panting, all of which are bad for health.  When practising Tai Chi Chuan you must control your movements by tranquillity and direct the movements by mind-intent rather than by external muscular force.  Then the movements will be effortless, continuous, and slow.  The slower one practices (without stopping or jerking) the better.  Gradually the above mentioned defects will be eliminated. 

 

 

 

 

 




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