When Yang Chengfu was teaching in Shanghai in the 1930’s, he taught his students ten essential principles needed to perform taiji properly. I’m going to describe these ‘Ten Commandments’ and talk about how to practice them. First, though, it’s important to know that incorporating these instructions and internalizing them takes time and attention. Holding all
I would have missed this year’s Scottish Parkinson’s Table Tennis Open were it not for an entertaining radio interview with gold medalist Gillian Lacey-Solmar. She is one of a group of Parkinson’s patients, the “Movers and Shakers”, who undertake various activities to keep in shape and slow the progress of the disease. She says that
I’ve just returned from Hong Kong. The Netherlands Radio Chorus was there for two concerts and a recording of Wagner’s “Der Fliegende Holländer” with the Hong Kong Philharmonic and their conductor, a true flying Dutchman, Jaap van Zweden. On our first morning I set out for Kowloon Park, to find the group I had trained
A fighting Shaolin monk called Cheng Te had heard about Yang Luchan’s great abilities and wrote to ask for a challenge match. Yang Luchan received the monk at his home. As he opened the door, Cheng Te suddenly charged at him with both fists. Yang Luchan easily repelled the attack, and with a tap of
Today it’s a whole year since I put out my notice on a digital bulletin board about giving free, daily taiji lessons in our local park. After a full year of taijiquan in the park, we have a great group of people together and a steady trickle of new people. People hear of the group
In June of 2020 I put up a notice on a local digital bulletin board, offering free taijiquan sessions every weekday morning. There was a lot of interest, and there are now 28 people in the Whatsapp group. After a while we started meeting on the weekends as well. Not everyone comes every day. Usually
The slow sequence of postures is called the form, or taolu in Chinese. There can be up to 108 postures in the form. It can take quite a while to learn the whole taolu, especially the detailed transitions from one posture to the next. Even seemingly small things, like the direction of the gaze in
Song is ‘active release’. It is more than just relaxation: it means letting go in ways that take some practice. Active relaxation and release – song – causes qi to move inside the body. The first thing we notice when we song properly is that our weight reaches the soles of our feet. It may
A qigong, or energy exercise, does not have to be complicated to be effective. One of the most popular and effective qigongs is also the simplest. Zhan Zhuang is a qigong in which we simply stand still for a period of time. Here is a Zhan Zhuang posture which is called “embrace the tree”. Try