We are fortunate this summer that Wayne Qian who’s taught us Tai Chi for the past three summers will be doing so again. He will teach us techniques to ease our tension and stress, and improve our balance and breathing. Sessions are scheduled for Saturday Mornings at 10:00. The first will be on 6/15 and the last on 8/10. Please feel free to join us for any session.
The instructor provides us with some information about the characteristics of Tai chi quan…
- Slow and graceful movement which goes on and on. It is “like the clouds scurrying across the sky and the water flowing down a river or stream.” It does not stop until the whole exercise comes to a peaceful end. Choppy movements are anathema to tai chi practitioners.
- Natural and unblocked flow of ch’i, meaning vital energy, in the whole body at all times. To do that, the tai chi practitioner must focus their mind on their movement, trying in every way to keep themselves from being distracted by a medley of ideas.
- A perfect combination of action and quietness. The body of the practitioner is moving all the time, but his mind is dominated by a peacefulness that comes only with a lot of exercise. In appearance, he is sort of restless, at heart, he experiences a serenity which onlookers find difficult to comprehend. Ultimately, he finds himself at one with the universe.
The instructor also provides eight basic rules to follow:
- Keeping the upper part of the body straight. One must not slant forward or backward. This will ensure the flexibility of the waist, which is the axis of the human body, the starting point of almost every bodily movement.
- Keeping one’s gravity low. This might be difficult for first-time learners, but it is highly important because probably more than anything else it contributes to a good bodily balance.
- When moving forward or backward, do not place one’s feet in the same line. Only then can one be “as steady and firm as a mountain.” Placing both feet in the same line would most likely lead to the loss of balance.
- Not moving a foot when the body’s weight is on it. To move the right foot requires shifting the weight away from it to the left foot; to move the left foot requires shifting the weight away from it to the right.
- Allowing the shoulders and elbows to hang down naturally. The term “hand down naturally” means the total relaxation of the muscles in the neck and arms. Raising the shoulders is a sin. And even when the arms are moving, the elbows must not unfold like a bird’s wings.
- Every movement must “round out” in the end, not in an angular fashion. This applies especially to the movement of the hands. Slow, continuous, and elegant, it has nothing to do with what is short, sudden and rough. It is this feature that gives the practice of tai chi a look of elegance.
- Matching one’s breathing with movement. As one will find out, tai chi quan consists of open and closed movements. “when open, breathe in; when closed, breathe out,” that is what one has to remember. The effort to match breathing with movement will naturally slow down the movement.
- Control deep breath by the diaphragm, allowing ch’i to go deep into the abdomen instead of the lungs. While doing this occasionally is easy; it takes all the focused attention that one can give to do it continually. However, the effort to do it will be amply rewarded. This is also the secret of an opera singer’s powerful voice.
