Below are our posts on the beautiful and beneficial art of tai chi. There are also posts on tai chi’s sister art baguazhang and on the practices of qigong, meditation, postural exercises and so forth.
More are being added all the time. Keep checking back.
If you’re new to tai chi begin here.
To learn the form see our tai chi form pathway or our courses. I am gradually organising all the content into courses to make it easier for you to learn. .
Sink Weight and Crane Spreads Wings
There is no fixed way of doing any movement in tai chi. Different schools teach different variations of them and this move is a good example. In many schools that teach this form the move we call sink weight is known as shoulder barge or shoulder strike. The body is…
Squeeze and Pull Down
Squeeze and pull down is a surprisingly challenging move. This is because all your weight needs to be on your back leg throughout. From a defensive perspective it is most commonly used to seize your opponent’s arms and pull them down onto your unweighted right knee. .From an energy perspective…
Single Whip
Single whip is one of the best known moves in tai chi I have seen single whip performed in many different ways. I use a variety of ways myself. Any of the four main arm circles can be used in single whip. The way I teach it here uses your…
Push
Push is a movement that looks easy but can take years to get right. It is used several times in the tai chi form but is also essential study for kung fu practitioners. The principles of push can be applied to a wide range of other techniques. Push is actually…
Roll Back and Press
In tai chi we use all kinds of imagery to help us understand the movements and concepts and change the way a movement feels. To understand roll back imagine trying to push a ball under water. Unless your hand is directly on top of the ball’s centre it will sink…
Ward Off
After the initial opening movements of raising and lowering the arms ward off is the next move. We ward off to the North then to the East. Ward off is a fascinating movement and an excellent demonstration of how yin and yang work to create power. Essentially one half of…
Holding the ball
Holding the ball refers to any hand position where the palms are facing each other. This is very common throughout the tai chi form. Holding the ball is about creating an energy connection between your hands – a circuit that energy can travel through. It helps sensitise your hands to…
Possibly the most important move in Tai Chi – Raising and lowering arms
Raising and lowering your arms Find out how to keep the tension our of your shoulders Discover the true opening of the tai chi form Create effortlessly powerful arm movements Every day we raise and lower our arms hundreds of times. Whether we’re picking thingsup, drinking a cup of tea…
Bagua 5 – Single Palm Change
The single palm change is the most famous movement in baguazhang. It is the signature move of the system. The way you do the single palm change defines you as a bagua stylist. Over time the way you do it will change as your understanding of it deepens. This is…
Bagua 4 – Gaining Power
Bagua is an internal martial art and a form of moving meditation. It teaches you how to generate and store power in your body and how to express it in different ways. This post and video teach you four new ways of developing power through the bagua circle walking practice…
Gain leg strength
Understand why leg strength is so important for your overall physical and mental health Discover different ways to train your legs As anyone who comes to my classes will know I talk a lot about leg strength. Basically, without strong legs you have no real support so your upper body…
Making Waves – Extraordinary power that flows through the body
Learn to move with the fluid power of an animal Relax your body and keep it relaxed as you move Use this power in a wide range of movement skills In the Jade Dragon tradition we separate yin training and yang training. Yin training teaches you to develop power inside…
Principle Two – Move from the centre
Discover why most movements we make are inherently weak and unbalanced Understand how to move your body with power and purpose Generate real power from the inside out In kung fu and tai chi, we always aim to make our movements balanced, efficient and powerful. A balanced movement is one…
Relax Deeper with Progressive Muscle Expansion
Learn to relax every part of your body more and more deeply Discover a faster version you can do anytime to keep tensions at bay As mentioned in my book ‘Stress Proof Your Body’, one of the most popular relaxation exercises is called progressive muscle relaxation. A more efficient and…
Principle One – Relax Down
Drain the tension out of your posture Stay relaxed even under stressful conditions Gain a stable root to protect you from physical or emotional pressure Everybody carries far too much tension around with them. This tension drains them ofenergy, pulls their body apart and resists every move they make. We…