Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti exercises and practices yoga maneuvers by NASA Johnson is licensed under CC-BY-NC-ND 2.0 I really enjoyed the latest Martial Arts Studies podcast by Paul Bowman on Portable practices - Yoga and Tai Chi. (That's not Paul Bowman in the picture, but I thought it illustrated the point nicely - Yoga is so … Continue reading Portable practices – Yoga and Tai Chi
Tai Chi / Taijiquan
How much practice is enough?
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com I remember reading in a Zen book that I enjoyed that you should not practice for yourself, but just practice for the sake of practice. I like that. There’s a kind of grim realism to it but it raises the issue of how exactly are you supposed to approach … Continue reading How much practice is enough?
Are you going to review Lou Reed’s Tai Chi book?
I was asked recently if I'm going to review Lou Reed's book "The art of the straight line", which, as you can see below, is his book about Tai Chi, released a few years after his death. No. I'm not. Lou was a practitioner of Chen style Tai Chi under Ren Guang-Yi. By all accounts … Continue reading Are you going to review Lou Reed’s Tai Chi book?
The puzzle of learning Tai Chi
Photo by Brett Sayles on Pexels.com This new article in The Guardian about learning Tai Chi made me smile. "It feels like my brain is solving a Rubik's Cube", says the author Jennifer Wong. From my recent experience in teaching Tai Chi to beginners, that sounds about right. After their first class all of them … Continue reading The puzzle of learning Tai Chi
Looking back at The Tao of Pooh all these years later, I can’t believe what’s happened to its author, Benjamin Hoff
Things have not worked out well for the author of the book that got me started with Tai Chi... The reason I got interested in Tai Chi in the first place was a combination of watching Kung Fu, the classic TV series starting David Carradine, in my early childhood, which primed to be receptive towards … Continue reading Looking back at The Tao of Pooh all these years later, I can’t believe what’s happened to its author, Benjamin Hoff
Tai Chi Notebook Podcast Episode 30: Nabil Ranné on Chen style Tai Chi training
Nabil Ranné is a Chen style teacher living in Berlin who offers classes and online training at CTN Academy Nabil is a student of Chen Yu, who is the only son of Chen ZhaoKui and grandson of the famous Chen Fake. Listen here. Here’s what we talk about: Timestamps: 1.00: Nabil’s background in martial arts … Continue reading Tai Chi Notebook Podcast Episode 30: Nabil Ranné on Chen style Tai Chi training
Retreat to Ride Tiger
There are lots of tigers in Yang style Tai Chi. There's 'Bend Bow to shoot Tiger', which is a pretty obvious punch, and each section of the forms ends with the classic 'Carry Tiger to Mountain'. Today we want to look at 'Retreat to Ride Tiger'. Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com In Yang Cheng-Fu-like forms … Continue reading Retreat to Ride Tiger
“I tried Tai Chi and it’s not what I expected”
This is a nicely made video about Tai Chi Push Hands: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0ZSTWEYihA Some quick observations: 1) I quite like the emphasis on feeling where the opponent is during push hands instruction - I think this is bang on. 2) "Sensei Seth" correctly identifies very quickly that push hands competitions are very, very, similar to Sumo. … Continue reading “I tried Tai Chi and it’s not what I expected”
Possible origins of the Tai Chi Single Whip (Dan Bian) posture name
This post is going to start somewhere you don’t expect - over 1,000 years ago in Song Dynasty China during which we find the legendary founder of Xing Yi, Yue Fei, a general in the Song Dynasty army, mulling over the advancing (heavily armoured) Jin cavalry, and wondering how his foot soldiers are going to … Continue reading Possible origins of the Tai Chi Single Whip (Dan Bian) posture name
The whole body is a fist
There is a phrase in Tai Chi that the whole body is a fist. I think it actually comes from Chen style, but applies to all styles of Tai Chi. Now, you can interpret that in different ways, but I think all of them are valid. Let's look at a couple. Photo by NEOSiAM 2024+ … Continue reading The whole body is a fist
The Tai Chi Notebook 