The scissor stance (also known as the crossover stance) is one of the most useful stances in kung fu. It is often not the fastest or strongest fighter that wins the day but the one with the best footwork. Good footwork gets you quickly out of danger and puts you in a position where you can move from a position of strength into one where your opponent is weak. The […]
The tiger stance is another great stance to develop leg strength. Most of the weight is on the back leg so it enables you to move forward with power. It is also great practice to move from a tiger stance forward into a dragon stance and back to tiger. The tiger stance is one of the most challenging although it looks easy. It stretches some muscles while holding others in […]
The dragon stance (sometimes called the forward stance or bow and arrow stance) is one of the most fundamental stances in the Chinese arts. It is the main stance used when receiving power from the front or delivering power to the front. If someone tries to push you backwards you just place one leg behind you and root down and they won’t be able to move you. Below is a […]
This move requires you to stay rooted and balanced on one leg while extending the other out in front of you. It also involves a twisting, circular movement that’s great for opening your hips and spine. This move also contains the most physically challenging move in the whole form but I will show you an easier version. How to do it Now for the really tricky part. You take both […]
Golden phoenix is a seemingly simple move that just requires you to stand on one leg with the fingers of one hand pointing up and the fingers of the other pointing down. Practice your crane stance first and the heaven and earth breathing practice as this combines both of those exercises. Standing on one leg requires some practice. It’s just a question of strengthening your legs and relaxing. How to […]
Snake creeps down (also known as descending single whip) is a move that develops leg strength, co-ordination, relaxation and awareness of your body weight. Your leading hand is the snake that retracts then slivers down the leg before turning upside down and extending forward. In the meantime your body moves back into a low stance then comes back forward. Don’t be put off by the low stance. Just keep within […]
This is an ancient qigong breathing exercise and part of the Jade Path Taoist School. It forms part of the 5 breaths of Tao which are a series of internal breathing exercises to develop the mind, body and energy of the practitioner. The main aim of Heaven and Earth breathing is to learn to create a feeling of yin or yang anywhere in the body. Internal power is expressed through […]
Back strength is a crucial component of tai chi and kung fu as it is of life. Most people have weak backs as we don’t use them for most of the day as we are resting them on the back of chairs. Even while standing the back muscles are only weakly engaged and cannot compete with the gradual shortening of the front of the body. The flying crane exercise strengthens […]
Whoever you are don’t neglect horse stance training. The horse stance is the most important skill new beginners should focus on. In some traditional schools in China new beginners would do nothing else but the horse stance for months on end until they could stand in a deep stance for half an hour without moving! We don’t need to go that far but never forget your horse stance is the […]
The crane stance is common in tai chi and kung fu so is important to master. It the easiest stance to understand but, perhaps the most demanding to perform. It simply requires you to stand on one leg with your raised foot pointing to the ground. Note: when we talk about a stance we are talking about the position of the entire body from head to feet but not including […]
Below is a video of the 3rd section of the form. This is one of the easiest sections to remember the order of movements. I just create a story – you see some monkeys, guard yourself against them, fight them off then fly away! The moves are:Fist under elbow (guard position)Repulse MonkeyDiagonal flyingCloud hands. Here’s the video Again it starts from single whip position. To view this post in full […]
Cloud hands is a beautiful movement that mimics the soft movement of clouds floating through the sky. It is a lovely movement to practice over and over again. Partly because it feels good to do and partly because there is so much it can teach you when it comes to relaxing down and connecting different parts of your body together. How to do it Start with just the arm movements […]