Four Ways to Find Your Piece of Time for Tai Chi

Even students with high interest in Tai Chi who attend class regularly don’t always find time to practice at home. Practice is essential for following up on the skills learned in class, leading to overall progress. But how can you find time for  Tai Chi  in today’s busy world? 
The key involves using your time more efficiently and creatively. 

First, you need to determine your priorities. Next, I recommend creating a log to figure out what you spend time on every day. Take special note of time wasters, such as excessive TV watching, playing video games or use of social media. Lastly, you should plan to remove or reduce these time wasters from your life and concentrate on the important things you want achieve. I suggest the following: 

1. Prioritize tai chi. 
What is the purpose of  Tai Chi  in your life? Are the benefits important enough to prioritize it? Some students want to gain balance from Tai Chi; others aim for correct body structure to reduce joint pain; yet others want to relax and clear their minds. Some of my elderly students attend class to achieve slow, gentle exercise to maintain their flexibility and mobility. Some of my college students want to learn Tai Chi for self-defense. Find your purpose in tai chi will give you motivation to move forward and keep up practice. 

2. Determine your time wasters.

Next, try to record a few days’ activities in a log to find out what the big time wasters are in your life. The top time wasters in mine are listed below with ways I have overcome them:

• Watching TV.  I watch a movie or two once a while using a DVD player. I don’t subscribe to cable.
• Playing computer games. I don’t play computer games. I play chess or the Chinese game “go” once a while with friends.
• Social media. This one is hard since I use social media for my  Tai Chi  class, as well as connecting with friends. However, I still try to reduce my time spent on social media by checking only once or twice a day.
• Waiting for water to boil. I use an electric boiler called Zojirushi CV-DSC40 VE Hybrid Water Boiler and Warmer, which has three different temperatures for different teas. When you have that, hot water is always ready when you need it.
• Finding the right CD and book. I converted all my music so that I could store it on my phone. I also use a Kindle.
• Cleaning and organizing things. I reduced the amount of stuff in my house, so I don’t have to clean as much. 
• Cooking and eating at restaurants. I cook more easy, healthy dishes and occasionally I go to a nearby restaurant (that doesn’t have long lines!) I also use an automatic rice maker called the Zojirushi NS-LAC05XT Micom 3-Cup Rice Cooker and Warmer
• Running fewer errands. I generally create a plan and run all my errands in one trip. One example is checking my mail once a week rather than every day.

3. Follow my father’s advice!
My father held a PhD in mathematics and taught university level math. For this reason, I’ve always trusted his sense of time efficiency. His top three suggestions (from what I remember) are:

• Muti-task in some situations

In general, I’m not a proponent of multi-tasking. Focusing on one task at a time leads to a better outcome. However, there are exceptions. One idea is try to stand on one leg while brushing your teeth to practice balance. Another is to do tai chi breathing exercises while waiting for the bus.

• Don't stay in bed when you are awake

I remember when I was a child, my father always told me, “When your eyes are open and you are already awake, don’t delay. Get up immediately and use your time to do something meaningful. Wasting time is a shame.” 

• Get up early

No time for Tai Chi? My father would suggest waking one hour earlier in the morning and going to bed one hour later at night.

4. Try the 6 mini forms from The Zhang System
If you don’t have time to finish all of the 85 traditional forms, you can try the 6 mini forms that I have created, each of which has 6 new movements or less. They are conclusions, or culminations, of the traditional form without sacrificing or eliminating important moves like the simplified tai chi form. You can finish each form in a few minutes. If you only have few minutes in the morning, that will be plenty of time to fit one in!

One of the mini forms is listed below:
 The brush peacock’s tail form
1.      Preparing form
2.      Opening form
3.      Brush peacock’s tail
4.      Single Whip
5.      Cross hands
6.      Closing form

I hope this article was helpful for you to tame the “time” tiger in  Tai Chi . If so, please pass on the link to this article to help more  Tai Chi practitioners. 

2016 Copyright by Huan's Tai Chi

Keep the essentials in Tai Chi

Sometimes when I teach Tai Chi, the Chinese proverb “Qu Wu Cun Jing” comes to mind. In Chinese, Qu means get rid of; Wu means weeds; Cun means keep; and Jing means chives. Essentially, we should get rid of the weeds and keep the chives. Figuratively, the whole sentence means “Keep the essentials and get rid of the things which are not necessary.” 

Anytime we learn something new, we may unknowingly transfer bad habits from our daily postures, in other words, the weeds. However, many of us are not able to distinguish the weeds from the chives on our own because they look very similar. A good teacher can tell the difference and give you advice accordingly. For example, sometimes I tell my beginner students to relax their shoulders and keep their body vertical because new students are not aware that they have raised their shoulders and they are leaning forward or backward, causing bad form. In many cases, the job of the Tai Chi teacher is to help you discard such habits. The following is a list of these habits. Removing them from your form can help you develop better Tai Chi skills. 

• Raising your shoulders
• Raising your elbows
• Leaning your body backwards or forwards
• Allowing your stomach to protrude, thus not observing the proper position of the acupuncture points called dantian 
• Tilting your shoulders while moving
• Not transferring weight properly from one leg to the other 
• Not placing your foot lightly on ground
• Not turning your waist while moving
• Moving your body up and down too much
• Tilting your head
• Not leaving enough space between your arms and body
• Not coordinating the movement of your upper body and lower body 
• Stiffening your waist
• Using force

Find this article helpful? Please pass the link around and spread the word to more Tai Chi practitioners.

2016 Copyright by Huan's Tai Chi

TV Interview on Huan's Tai Chi on Channel 5 WCVB

Watch Joe's Tai Chi interview last Tuesday, September 13th on on WCVB Channel 5.  Enjoy!

It Baguazhang the Best Exercise Ever? 6 Benefits of Baguazhang Walking over Brisk Walking

Swimming, Tai Chi, Walking, Strength training, and Kegel exercises are listed as five of the best exercises you can do by Harvard Medical School’s Healthbeat report. The Authors probably do not know about a Chinese martial art called Baguazhang which concentrates on circular walking and has many benefits beyond simple Brisk Walking.

Baguazhang does not require a lot of space.
Bagua only requires a small circle to walk around. It can be done at home during bad weather outside.

Baguazhang requires precise body alignments which can reduce joint pain.
Many elderly people develop joint pain because they do not have good body alignments especially while walking. Bagua develops precise alignments while lifting and planting  feet.


Baguazhang is a total body exercise.
Bagua is a whole body exercise; you need to coordinate many different arm and waist movements with the walk. You not only exercise your legs but your whole body.

Baguazhang familiarizes you with orientation.
Bagua does both the Yang and Yin circle walking. It walks two different directions with a special tuck in step to change directions. It gives you more flexibility of walking in different directions.

 
Baguazhang is suitable for both young and old
You can adjust your body height while doing Bagua walk.  Normally elders walk in a higher stance while younger practitioners practice in a lower stance to help strengthen the legs more.

Mud Stance allows you to train your balance
Bagua's special Mud Stance allows holding a leg in the air for short period of time to train balancing on one leg.

For people want go beyond, you can also learn the martial arts application for Bagua. Want to try out a class to see if you will enjoy this ancient exercise from China? You can visit our studio every Saturday morning at 10am at 7 Temple Street, Cambridge MA.

2016 Copyright by Huan's Tai Chi

Smart learning: Practicing is not the only key to learning Tai Chi

Many of my students have commented that learning to do Tai Chi correctly is not an easy task. Some of them have learned simplified form from other teachers found difficult learning the detailed traditional 85 forms. By simply repeating what the teacher has shown you, you are not improving your skills to their fullest potential. How can we really learn form and improve our Tai Chi skills? Here are some suggestions that you could benefit from. 

Set an approachable goal

When some beginners first come to our studio, they use the instructor’s performance and other intermediate students’ performance as a model. They feel that they will perform at this level within a month or two. This seems like a reasonable goal, but looks can be deceiving!  Of course, the form of the instructor and other intermediate students required years of practice and learning.

As a beginner, your goal is not to be able to have the same form and moves as the instructor. Rather, I recommend that you learn the first few moves and do them well. Only with an approachable goal will you conquer the fear of learning and ease the pressure of not learning enough movements so that you may move forward. 

Remember, learning every skill takes effort. It may take a short time to learn some skills; for others it may take longer. Your own ability and the method used by the instructor are two important factors in determining how long it will you take to learn your form. 

The correct way

While some students don’t practice often and others practice quite a bit, the ones who practice often don’t always seem to improve their form significantly. Why is this the case?  You might think that those who practice more should have better form and more advanced skills. However, the fact is this is not true.

We know that if you want to remember something, it needs to enter your long-term memory. In order for this to happen, you first need to enter the movements in your short-term memory. Naturally, this requires practice. This is common knowledge. This logic is sound if you are doing the right movements. If your movements are not correct, then you are repeating the wrong movements and you are entering the wrong information into your short and long-term memories, thus not spending your time wisely. 

That’s why when my father was teaching private students, he didn’t want someone to go to the next step if the current move had not been mastered. In a large class, when a teacher can’t correct every detail of every student’s movements, the best approach is to try to just learn one or two movements at a time and to learn them correctly. Ask questions or just ask teacher to come correct you in person. For this reason many students also book private lessons to master some movements. 

Part vs. Whole

As I often mention in class, everyone focuses on different aspects of the instructor’s teaching. It’s like the story of “the blind men and an elephant,” in which every one thinks the part they touch is the shape of the whole elephant.  Essentially, everyone’s focus and take-aways from class are different. Most beginners will pay more attention to the instructor’s hand movements instead of body movements. However, as I often say, “Tai Chi is a whole body exercise. We want to concentrate on whole body movements instead of partial body movements.” 

Visual Vs.  Real

As I mentioned above, even students who pay attention and try to concentrate on the whole body movements might not be repeating the movements correctly. As Tai Chi is considered an internal martial art, what you appear to be may not be what is happening in reality. In Karate, an external martial art, a hand block and punch is a hand block and punch. In Tai Chi, it can be a twist of the whole body linked to your arm which rotates to form a block. Pay attention to your instructor's movements and ask questions to figure out how to make this special move. 

Steps

Steps determine the success of your learning. If you made the wrong first step, the second step could be wrong as well. For example, in Tai Chi if you haven’t transferred weight to one leg, then you can’t lift the other leg. Making sure you have the right sequence will make your Tai Chi smooth. 

Repetition

Finally, let’s return to the topic of repetition. If we take all the suggestions above into consideration, we can now talk about repetition. Practice makes perfect! That’s why I always tell my students at end of the class, “Please go home and practice!”

2016 Copyright by Huan's Tai Chi

8 Ways to Memorize Your Tai Chi Form

Tai Chi does not just improve health; practicing and learning the forms also helps improve your memory. New students often ask me how to memorize the forms, so I share some of my experiences below.

1.   Facing of the Palms

My late father, Master Zhang Lu Ping, taught me various memory aids for placement of the palms. Consider Peng as used in Brush Peacock’s Tail; it is like holding a mirror with the palm facing in. If Peng is used with the hand facing out, you are pushing open a door. If the hand faces in, you are holding a baby. When the palm faces up, you are lifting a plate. When the palm faces down, you are bouncing a ball.


2.   Circles
There are many circles in Tai Chi form and considering them all could be complicated. I suggest you consider only two circles; clockwise and counterclockwise.

3. Stances
There are only four major stances.
-Opening Stance (Opening form)
-Bow Stance
-Horse Stance
-Empty Stance (heel OR toes on the ground)


4.   Arm Transitions: Peng and Lu ( or Ward Off and Roll Back)

If you perform Peng, you must next perform Lu. If you perform Lu, you must next perform Peng. If you open you must next close, if you close you must next open. You cannot perform Peng-Peng or Lu-Lu; it must be Peng-Lu or Lu-Peng. Understanding this will prevent mistakes and help you memorize the arm

5.   Foot Transitions: Weight Transfers

There is always a weight transition between movements. If all your weight is on one leg, it is not empty and you cannot lift it. You must transfer weight to the other leg to make the first leg empty; then you may lift the first leg. Always transfer weight between forms; from full to empty, empty to full.

6.   Associate the Movement with the Name

Whether Single Whip or White Crane Spreads its Wings, connect the form name with the moves that link it together.


7.   Use in Application

Although some students are most interested in the health benefits of Tai Chi, it is often easier to remember forms if you learn their applications. You might not want to learn how to fight, but the martial applications will help you visualize movements and memorize the forms.

8. Repeating single movements in the forms is the best way to remember.

Continued practice, learning a little at a time, will move your forms from short-term memory to long-term memory.

2015 Copyright by Huan's Tai Chi

The door to Tai Chi: Stages and Steps of Learning Tai Chi

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step - Lao Tzu
but how? and where should we start in the world of Tai Chi?

When I give lectures and seminars, I often hear students saying they have already learned Tai Chi or have been doing it a long time. Most of them have only reached the first or second stage of the following four stages: Xing/Shape, Sheng/Feel, Yi/Meaning, and Jue/Song. The students have not really completed all four stages.

Yang Cheng Fu (the founder of Yang style Tai Chi) wrote a book whose full title is The Complete Body and Usage Book of Yang Style Tai Chi. It is divided into two parts; one is for your own body, to understand if your body can adapt to the tai chi forms, the other is for usage, to understand how to apply the forms to others. Shape and Feel are part of the body; Meaning and Song are part of the usage.

Shape(Xing): Includes understanding the basic principles, movements and positions, and the transitions between them. Are you familiar with all of the movements and can you do them yourself? 

Feel(Sheng): Coordinating the whole body with proper weight transitions. Are you able to move smoothly and feel relaxed during each movement? Moving through the forms should ultimately be automatic, without thinking. 

Meaning(Yi): Understanding what each movement is for. What is the martial application for each movement? Are you able to apply the form for self-defense against different types of opponents?

Song(Jue): Synthesizing, understanding, and applying the written, philosophical, and martial material that prior and current Tai Chi Masters have offered. 

"In the Song Dynasty, there was a farmer who thought his crops grew too slow. He went and pulled up all the crops, just a little bit. After a day, he found all the crops were dead. This is a famous story that everyone in China knows. It tells us we have to realize our goals step-by-step, not in a hurry." 

“Follow in order and advance step-by-step; advance gradually in due order; follow in proper sequence and make steady progress.” – Zhu Xi’s (famous comment on Confucius’ book)

Here I list the steps to practice the above four stages:

Preparing and Opening Forms

Prepare your Tai Chi and understand balance while in a still position.

Brush Peacock’s Tail

Understand the four major movements of Tai Chi; Peng, Lu, Ji, and An.

Post Standing

Practice a steady form for the various stances, e.g., Horse Stance, Bow Stance, and Empty Stance.

Practicing the Steps

Practice your footwork for the various stances, e.g., Advancing Steps, Retreating Steps, and Side Steps.

Practicing Single Form

Practice the major forms individually, e.g., Single Whip, Knee Brush, Waving Hands Like Clouds, and Jade Lady Moves the Shuttles.

Practicing Whole Form

Go through the whole form smoothly.

Push Hands, Basic Forms - Steady

Understand the basic forms of push hands while not moving your feet.

Push Hands, Basic Forms - Walking

Understand the basic forms of push hands while walking.

Push Hands - Feeding and Understanding Energy

Learn to identify your own energy as well as the energy of a partner.

Push Hands - Applying the Forms You Have Learned

Apply the Tai Chi forms you have learned in during push hands.

Applying Each Form

Understand how to apply each form not just during formal push hands, but in informal martial arts applications.

Tai Chi – The Best Exercise to Make Friends

While Tai Chi can certainly be practiced in solitude, it also contains a special exercise performed in pairs called “pushing hands.”  This routine involves two people, each with unique movements in a circle while interacting with another person at the same time. Tai Chi practitioners use pushing hands to work on their form and improve their overall understanding of Tai Chi. Here are some benefits:

1. Pushing hands promotes a healthier lifestyle because it encourages people to go out and enjoy this natural exercise with friends.  They breathe, stretch, and enjoy the sequence and rhythm of the movements. Afterwards, they feel satisfied and build stronger friendships through mutual help.

2. People who do pushing hands have a positive attitude because they know they will improve and grow every day within the form. As I tell my students, “Even the slightest improvement should be a motivation to continue your Tai Chi.”

3. They are also better team players because they work in pairs and enjoy helping each other to understand the form and movements.

4. Pushing hands promotes moving with careful consideration and sensitivity. With slow and light movements, participants improve their listening power as they tune in to their partners’ movements.

5. This exercise helps improve balance and encourages interaction with others. Someone may have good balance individually, but it can be thrown off when that person is suddenly pushed by someone else.  Pushing hands teaches us to relax in this situation rather than panic. It’s a great way to root our feet to the ground and strengthen our posture in order to keep our balance.

6. People who do pushing hands build trust and form stronger friendships. A person who has mastered this exercise won’t want to be alone all the time or be a couch potato. With time, the partners will practice more and more, thus building trust. 

No wonder Tai Chi is called the “supreme ultimate” exercise (literal translation from Chinese.)

2014 Copyright by Huan's Tai Chi

Tai Chi Improves human body by applying The Law of Use and Disuse

The French scientist Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck (1744-1829) is famous for one of his laws which summarizes his evolutionary thought. It’s called the The Law of Use and Disuse - The parts of an organism's body that are used become more developed; parts that are not used become smaller and may disappear. Charles Darwin (1809-1882) made extensive use of this special Lamarck's law.

I found many things I benefited from Tai Chi may not happen to any regular person. I used them often. I gain it to let it become part of my life. With people who never do it, they may lose the ability to do so. Here are some examples:

1. Walk backwards and sideways
Without learning the movements repulse monkey and waving hands like moving clouds, you will probably never walk backward and sideways as easily. You will also lose this ability as you grow older. When you need it in a sudden situation, you could easily fall.

2. Open and relax your shoulder
Regular exercise such as lifting weights won't train you to open shoulder joints such as “Jian Jin”( The well of shoulder) acupuncture point. With Jian Jin opened, you will have less shoulder pain and less tight shoulders as you get older.

3. Quiet down at the beginning
In modern lifestyle, people tend to catch one thing after another and have a “Go, go, go” lifestyle. Tai Chi teaches you to quiet down and relax at first before you take a task. This is one thing I benefit most from Tai Chi.

4. Elbow and Knee move together
With your elbow and knee moving together, your body parts are supporting each other. It makes you move with ease. Without doing Tai Chi, it's hard for you to understand how body parts coordinate with each other.

5. Take a deep breathe
Herbert Benson MD from Mass General Hospital mentioned that when you breathe deeply, the air coming in through your nose fully fills your lungs, and you will notice that your lower belly rises. The ability to breathe so deeply and powerfully is not limited to a select few. This skill is inborn but often lies dormant. Reawakening it allows you to tap one of your body’s strongest self-healing mechanisms.(Harvard Health Publications in consultation with Herbert Benson, M.D.)

If you are always in hurry, your breathe are not deep enough. While doing slow movements in Tai Chi , it will enhance your breathe to a better deep breathe. A deep  breathe involves relaxation, quietness, with slow and gentle approach, and continues with concentration and many other techniques while doing Tai Chi. 

Use or disuse? They are all in Tai Chi.


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If you like this article, you may also want to read Lao Tzu's Secret to Extend your Life
 
Copyright Huan's Tai Chi 2014

Basic way to Balance with Tai Chi

I had a lecture at Brandeis University on "Balance and Flexibility"on November 9th, Here is a small clip of this lecture on the very basic way to balance in Tai Chi. enjoy!

5 Suggestions To Improve Your Tai Chi

Many people take my Tai Chi classes. Some of them improve significantly from class to class, but others show little improvement. Why, when they all have the same teacher and have learned the same things in class, is there such a difference in their performance? Here are five suggestions that can make a difference in how quickly you improve.

1. Develop an interest in Tai Chi

If you truly love what you are learning, you will put in more time and effort to learn and you will become better. Now you have decided to take a Tai Chi class, spent the money and time, and told all your family and friends about it. Can you make sure to make it worth your time, money and effort? Learn some facts and become knowledgeable about Tai Chi. Learn the benefits, history, and stories which will inspire you to learn better. Participate in more activities with your Tai Chi classmates and teacher. Feel positive and confident that you will learn well.

2. Have a goal with a detailed plan

I know your goal is to learn Tai Chi, but that’s a general goal. You need to have a specific, detailed plan to reach your goal. For example, you might decide to spend one hour every morning to practice one move, such as Brush Peacock’s Tail. Spend another hour in the evening before bed doing the whole form. Spend another hour after each class to review the day’s practice and be prepared with questions for the teacher at the next class.

3. Don’t hesitate to ask questions and ask for help

When your teacher asks if you have questions regarding the move he or she just demonstrated, be sure to ask if you do have any. It’s your opportunity to get things cleared up and make sure you understand what you are doing. Be proactive and ask for help and correction when needed. Don’t wait for the teacher to tell you to do everything or for your classmates to redirect the focus if you’re in a large class.

4. Bring the principle to practice

Don’t just practice the movements. Think about the principles your teacher has taught you and bring them into practice. For example, I always ask students to pay attention to four basic principles while doing each movement: stay vertical, keep it round, stay relaxed, and be flexible. Are you following all four of these basic principles when you’re doing your Tai Chi movements?

5. Practice a lot both in and outside of class

Can you swim far if you only swim during a swim class? Can you play your guitar well if you only play in class once a week? Practicing in class is not enough; you also need to practice at home as well. Students who do well are not only practicing a lot at home but are also asking a lot of questions and practicing a lot in class. When the teacher stops to correct other students’ forms, some students also stop and just watch. These are also the students who don’t practice at home. The students who really improve are those who keep moving or who watch and move at the same time. Remember, your goal is to learn the form, not socialize in class.

Do you have any ideas to improve your Tai Chi? Please feel free to give any comments and suggestions to help our students and fans.

Copyright Huan's Tai Chi 2012

How to Learn Tai Chi: Video versus Classroom Instruction

Every so often, a student is bound to ask if there is a a Tai Chi video or DVD that can help him learn Tai Chi. Of course, there are many Tai Chi videos out there, but how much can a video really help? Let’s take a look at the advantages and disadvantages of a Tai Chi video versus a real Tai Chi class.

Advantages of a video or DVD:

1.  A video costs less than real classes, thus saving you money.

2.  If you have a video, you don’t have to travel to a classroom, which saves you time.

3.  You can play a video over and over, so you might use it as a reminder to help you refresh your memory of some of the movements.

4.  Watching a video can encourage and motivate you to practice more.


However, there are some disadvantages:

1.  A video is not three dimensional; you can only view the pre-recorded angles, and can’t walk around the teacher to see the front and back, thus limiting your view.

2. A video does not provided as much detailed instruction as a teacher; in fact videos are often even less detailed than books.

3. A video is made for a general audience, not specialized just for you to help you with the specifics of your form.

4.  A video cannot correct your form if you have it wrong. It can’t provide you with a hands-on experience.

5.  A video is not interactive. It doesn’t allow you to feel the movements and interact with other students in the class.

6.  You can’t ask a question to a video and expect an answer.

7.   A video can’t monitor your progress and give you suggestions and homework. It can’t tell you that your single whip needs more practice and you need to go home and practice it 300 times.


Choosing the right Tai Chi class and teacher are important. If you decide to go with a teacher, you can read my article on perfecting your Tai Chi practice to help you pick the right teacher.   Good luck with your Tai Chi practice! If you have any thoughts, please feel free to send us your comments.

Copyright Huan's Tai Chi 2012

Are You Really Prepared for Tai Chi?

The martial art form, Hsing-I, has a core standing posture called “santi.” In Tai Chi, the equivalent is Wu Chi, the preparing stance. In Chinese, Wu Chi means “void” or “emptiness.” It is the beginning, the void from which everything evolves. The universe is said to have evolved from Wu Chi, and it is the mother of yin and yang, the harmonious polar opposites. (To understand more about the origins of Tai Chi, read my article on How to Understand the Tai Chi Diagram.)

Why is the Wu Chi stance so important in Tai Chi? After we begin a regular day, we begin moving around. Since 80 percent of our body is water, we can think of it as a big fish tank. The water is not always clear because we have been walking, and moving around. Our qi (energy) is like the sand at the bottom of the fish tank. It has been floating around as we move through our daily activities.

The Wu Chi stance allows this sand to sink to the bottom of the fish tank and clear the water. In other words, sink and relax your body. As I tell my students, “if you start your Tai Chi with tension in your muscles,  you can’t be relaxed during the whole form.”

In addition, the Wu Chi stance helps you quiet your mind, so you are able to concentrate on all the movements that come after. Since often we have so many thoughts on our minds, it’s good to set aside a few minutes to clear our minds before beginning.

What else does the Wu Chi stance help you with?  A good Wu Chi stance will give you balanced form, which comes from having a powerful and rooted stance at the beginning, followed by well-circled qi to maintain the whole form.

To get your Wu Chi stance right, read my article on 13 Points to Relax Your Body

To further relax your body after you’ve achieved a proper Wu Chi stance, read Relax your body, Understand 8 Sections and 9 Joints

Copyright Huan's Tai Chi 2012

Lao Tzu’s Secret Passage of Relaxation

The softest substance of the world

Goes through the hardest.

That-which-is-without-form penetrates that-which-has-no-crevice;

Through this I know the benefit of taking no action.

The teaching without words

And the benefit of taking no action

Are without comparison in the universe.

— The Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu

Translated by Lin Yutang

It’s normal not to be relaxed
Relaxation is not a normal state. We are trained to use force to do everything in our daily lives. We use force every day, from pushing a door, lifting a chair, stepping up stairs, or grabbing a handrail while taking the train. These actions tighten our shoulders, knees, and our whole body. Because we are not used to being in a relaxed state, it is often hard for beginners to relax easily in a Tai Chi class.

Methods of relaxation
When talking about relaxation, your teacher might tell you to relax your shoulder, elbow, or even your mind. But how do we know when we are really relaxed? How do we measure that?
When you go shopping with your friends, you can often feel tension in your shoulders if you are carrying many shopping bags. But once you put these shopping bags down, you feel your shoulders relaxing. When your shoulders feel relaxed, they sink down. Here, sinking is a measure of relaxation.

When you are sitting in a tight seat in an airplane, you may bend your knees and feel tight. But after your neighbor gets up to use the lavatory and you extend your legs, you feel your knees relaxing. In this case, stretching and extension is a measure of relaxation.

When you are stressed with too many things on your to-do list and in on your mind, you may go to the park, and watch the swans swimming in the pond. In this moment, you feel relaxed. Your mind quiets down and for this moment, you can focus on the swans, and your mind lets go of the million other things you were worrying about. This ability to let go, even for a few moments, is a measure of relaxation.

Taking no action
Sinking, stretching, and quieting your mind are some methods to relax.  Despite their differences, they can all be described in one phrase, “taking no action.” When you’re not lifting shopping bags, you are relaxed. When you’re not trying to make space for others in a tight airplane, you are relaxed. When you’re not thinking about the million things you have to do, you are relaxed.

When you were a little baby, you didn’t have to lift bags, make space for others, or think about the million things you have to do. You were relaxed and soft. You learned to un-relax once you grew older. Society taught you how to do more, think more, and become more civilized. That’s why Daoists like to stay in the mountains far from civilization, so they don’t have to deal with tons of things. They can lead simple lives. Lao Tzu believed that taking no action is the key to relaxation.

Taking no action in Tai Chi

Use less effort
Sometimes I see a younger man doing Tai Chi who is more stiff than the oldest man in the class. Because this young man has a lot of energy, he really tries to forcefully lift his legs and move his arms. Meanwhile, the older man doesn’t have as much energy, so he uses the minimum effort to lift his legs and move his arms. He is more relaxed than the younger man. That’s the benefit of less effort which is close to the meaning of taking no action.

Keep the structure
When you’re practicing Tai Chi, keep in mind that when you relax one body part too much, it might create tightness in another body part. For example, when you drop down your head to relax it, your neck is bent and stiff. As my father, Master Zhang Lu Ping said, “be relaxed, but relaxed with structure.” Without a good structure, you can’t relax your whole body. For an example of a good structure of the body, check out my blog article, “13 Points To Relax Your Body.”

Connect the whole body
How should your body should feel when it’s totally relaxed? When you try to relax your shoulder, you should feel it sinking down to the ground. If that happens, it means your whole body is connected and relaxed. To minimize the effort, as Lao Tzu suggested, you need to connect your whole body. Once one part of body makes a move, other parts follow. By connecting the body and letting the parts work together, you won’t end up using only one muscle, which can create tension. For a more detailed explanation of how to relax with the whole body, including parts and joints, check out my blog article, “Understanding the  8 Sections and 9 Joints.”

You have spent so much time of your life learning to un-relax. Now it’s time to learn how to take no action. Imagine you could be that same baby you were in your childhood: soft, balanced, free from worry, relaxed, and young. That’s Lao Tzu’s way of relaxation. He called it “化繁为简, 返璞归真: transforming the complicated to simple is to regain one’s true self.”

Copyright Huan's Tai Chi 2012

City Life and Tai Chi: Friends and Foes for Life

Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful. - Buddha

Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference. - Winston Churchill

In contemporary life, we like to have everything fast. Getting quick information right from your smartphone, eating fast food, and going from one event to another while thinking about the next event, is a way of life for many busy city people. Tai Chi requires the opposite mindset. Quit thinking and quiet your mind. Slow down and relax. Separate yourself from your busy life for a while.

In traditional Chinese philosophy, life balancing requires mixing yin and yang. If you do something too much, you will get hurt. Instead, you should incorporate some of its opposite to balance. For example, if you eat too much meat, it will hurt your health. You need to eat some vegetables to balance. If your life is always on the go and tense and with stress then you need to spend some time stopping, slowing down, and relaxing. That’s the way to balance your body and soul.

A good attitude is a good friend for beginner students. For many of our beginner students, seeing progress is very important for them. Many of them are in a hurry and need to see the progress quickly. However, a focus on quick results goes against the purpose of Tai Chi. In fact, often the more hurried you are, the slower your progress. If you haven’t taken the time to understand and get familiar with the current Tai Chi movement and are in a hurry to move to the next one, you may end up learning a bunch of movements, but none of them are right or good enough. As I often tell my beginner class, you can’t eat a lot of food and become fat in one night. Tai Chi is just like gaining or losing weight; it takes slow progress at beginning.

As we have mentioned, learning Tai Chi is also a way to practice patience. We do each movement slowly to feel the relaxation. Traditionally, it takes weeks to just learn one movement in detail. But on the contrary, every time you learn one movement completely and correctly, it will help you learn the next movement more quickly, because they share similar fundamental theories. Having a good attitude, believing in yourself, and learning and taking things slowly are the keys to improving your Tai Chi.

To help you learn efficiently, I suggest the 3Rs: Review, Repeat, and Review Again. To review, read our online notes before the upcoming class to know what will we be teaching in the class. Once you get home, repeat and review the movements you learned in class. To review again, I also suggest you to read my blog post on “How to Better Remember your Tai Chi Moves.”

Distraction is a common foe of Tai Chi beginners. Research shows that doing more than one thing at a time has a negative effect on memory and learning and is a major cause of premature aging. Doing Tai Chi requires concentration which will help you relax while doing one thing at a time. Getting distracted by other matters while doing Tai Chi defeats the purpose of Tai Chi. That’s why I tell my students, when you are doing Tai Chi, you shouldn’t have anything else in mind but Tai Chi. You shouldn’t even think about the next or past Tai Chi movement while you are doing the current movement. Happiness comes from enjoying the current moment. If you want to feel relaxed and happy while enjoying Tai Chi, concentrate on the current movement in the current moment.

Copyright Huan's Tai Chi 2012

8 More Benefits of Practicing Tai Chi in Slow Speed

1. Gain Tranquility
“The Solid is the root of the light;
The Quiescent is the master of the Hasty."

These are the words of the Taoist philosopher Lao Tzu in the famous Tao Te Ching. Tai Chi also emphasizes slowing down to stay relaxed. When you practice Tai Chi at a slower speed, you will defeat haste and gain quiescence, or tranquility at rest.

2. Become More Relaxed
If you move too quickly through the sets, you don’t know if you are relaxed or not because you don’t stay in each movement long enough. It’s easier to achieve relaxation when you slow down your movements.

3. Improve Stretching
You can stretch better and really open your joints when you move slower.

4. Challenge Yourself
You are challenging yourself when you go through each movement slower. For example, it’s easier to do a quick kick, but it’s harder to raise a leg slowly into the air and then slowly put it down.

5. Exercise Longer
You will exercise longer when you move slower. When you do movements faster, it’s easier to get tired. For example, if you run fast, you will get tired more quickly. Jogging slower will allow you to keep going longer. Exercising longer also means you can build more strength and endurance. That’s why Tai Chi is especially good for the elderly.

6. Reduce the Chance of Injury
Beginners often complain about hurting their knees when they do Tai Chi. Usually this situation happens because they move their knees over their toes when they form a bow stance (which means they have the wrong stance). If you are moving too fast, it’s easier to let your knee move over too far. But if you move slowly, you will move more carefully, and will be able to notice and readjust your position so as not to hurt yourself.

7. Fully Accomplish Each Movement
When people move quickly, they often don’t pay attention to details and sometimes don’t even complete the move. When you do it slowly, it will help you complete each individual move rather than hurrying to go to the next move.

8. Better Understand Yin & Yang
When Tai Chi master Yang Yu Ting was teaching students Tai Chi, he required them to pay attention to their relaxation, softness, roundness, and speed, and asked them to do it slower. He thought that slow speed would help students better experience and understand the changes of yin and yang, often understood as empty and solid the complimentary energies that work together to create balance.


If you like this article, you might want check out:
8 Benefits of Practicing Tai Chi in Slow Speed

Copyright Huan's Tai Chi 2012

Essentials of the Roots in Tai Chi

Photo by Pulpolux

When people get older, they start to feel it in their legs. Suddenly, balance becomes a problem. When walking, they can't land each foot precisely in the right place. They may experience lack of strength to lift their legs up to certain height. Or they may not be able to put weight on one leg for very long. They may feel numbness and stiffness in their thighs and feet. They may feel as if their entire bodies are hanging in the clouds because the whole lower part of the body is weak.

Legs are the major supporting tools of your body. Tai Chi Master Wu Yi Xiang once said, "Tai Chi's root comes from the feet, and its origins from legs. It is controlled by the waist and spreads to the hands and fingers. From the feet to the legs and extending to the waist, the body should unite as one. … If there are problems, the origin can always be found in the legs or waist.”

It's possible to train your roots (legs and feet) to prevent many problems. Legs and feet play very important roles in the 8 joints and 9 sections to unite and relax your whole body. Tai Chi requires the 8 joints and 9 sections to relax as one. If you do your Tai Chi well, you will know how to walk like a cat. You will also know how to support your body with your legs to form a good structure. Your legs will become very strong after practicing Tai Chi many times. You can train your legs in the following four ways:

1. Zhan Zhuan: Post Standing
Post standing allow you to hold one gesture for a period of time in order to build strength and endurance for your legs.

2. Strength and Leg Control
Strength exercises will flex your legs and allow your legs to turn, move, and reach more positions. Leg control, like standing on one leg and moving your other leg in different angles, will help with leg balance in different positions.

3. Leg Lifting and Landing
When we talk about Tai Chi steps, we often mention moving your feet like a cat. We want you to remember 3 points: Lift lightly and land lightly. Lift slowly and land slowly. Lift with one point and land with one point. For example, lift the heel first, keeping your toes on the ground. Then lift the toes up, and land with the heel first and then the whole foot.


4. How to Move your Legs Correctly
Tai Chi forms already include a full range of leg movements, so doing Tai Chi forms will strengthen your legs. When you move your legs, you want to pay attention to 3 points. One is to make sure you are stable. Once you are stable, then you can lift your foot. Once you lift up your foot, then you can move. Don't lift your foot if you are not stable. And don't move before you have lifted your foot up high enough off the ground.

Your roots (legs and feet) are important parts of your body and your Tai Chi. Having strong legs will definitely strengthen your body and your balance, keeping you healthy and powerful.

Copyrights Huan's Tai Chi 2011