TAIJI ESSENTIALS

 Beginner's Guide to Taiji

Experience the Transformative Power of Taiji

This 12-session course is beginner-friendly and is designed to give you the foundation from which to begin and build your taiji practice. Over these 12 lessons, we will explore the important building blocks and philosophy of this art in a clear, concise and gentle fashion.

Some things you will learn --

Proper body alignment to strengthen your legs and joints and release tension in the upper body.

How to root and ground yourself by sinking through your feet into the ground. This is important for maintaining balance.

Deep abdominal breathing to promote relaxation and strengthen your internal organs.

How to move gracefully so that you can accomplish more with less effort and maintain a sense of inner calm and peace in your life.

Introduction to the philosophy of Tao, the order of nature and the philosophy behind Taiji. 

Achieving harmony through the complementary polarities of Yin and Yang.

How our Taiji practice helps us maintain balance through change

Introduction to the dantian and the mingmen (don't worry, this will make sense later)

Learn proper body alignment through Standing Like A Tree Posture (Zhan Zhuang). Standing Like a Tree Posture also helps release tension from the shoulders and spine, strengthens the muscles of the legs and arms, the core muscles of the abdomen and the back and activates important energy points to allow the smooth flow of Qi.

Holding the taiji ball to sense and feel qi

Introduction to Bow Stance. Transferring the Root.

Learn the first movement of the 13 Taiji Form - Tracing the Yin Yang Symbol & Embracing the Taiji Ball. 

This movement activates the Yin and Yang energies of the body.

Review movements covered in Module 1

Learn Single Arm Silk Reeling Exercise - a door to exploring the spiraling energy within the body

Explore the feeling of peng. Peng is an important energetic skill that allows the body to feel strong and solid yet flexible and energized.

Learn about the importance of the movement of your torso and waist area

Learn the gentle stepping pattern of taiji

Review Bow Stance

Explore the diagonal movement in the body

You will learn the second movement in the form called Parting the Wild Horses Mane. This movement is known for its open and expansive energy and for coordinating the upper and lower parts of the body.

Review movements covered in Modules 1 and 2

Learn reverse single arm silk reeling

Introduction to Empty Stance

Learn the third movement of the form called White Crane Spreads Its Wings

We will explore the essence of the White Crane - longevity and patience - and the element of wind. The crane can stand on one leg in complete stillness, waiting for almost an eternity until the perfect moment to strike. This posture helps bring clarity and calmness to the mind

Review movements covered in prior Modules

Learn Wave Hands Like Clouds exercise

Learn the fourth movement in the form called Brush Knee and Push

Explore same side movements and the importance of timing. In this posture there is the element of not being excessive or deficient, signifying how to keep balance and harmony in your life.

This movement cultivates the Yang meridians and builds strong Yang Qi in the body.

Further exploration of Bow Stance

Contemplate the idea of impeccable timing in your practice.

Review movements covered in prior Modules

Learn Threading the Needle silk reeling exercise. This exercise helps to connect both the upper and lower parts of the body and the right and left sides of the body, all together, creating movement that is a unified whole.

Learn 7 Star Stance

Learn the fifth movement of the form called Play the Lute

Play the Lute resembles playing a musical instrument and the feeling and timing in order to do so. As in music, movement has timing and expression. This is explored further.

Review movements covered in prior Modules

Learn sixth movement of the form called Roll Back & Press

We will explore the nature of peng - the structural expanding power in taiji

Roll Back & Press demonstrates “opening and closing” and helps promote the smooth circulation of Qi in the spine, Governing Vessel meridian, and out through the arms. We will further explore the timing of movement and the connection of the hands to the feet through the waist.

Learn about Jia Ji, an important energy gate located between your shoulder blades and how it can be opened to achieve energy circulation in the spine and out through the arms.

Learn about Roll Back, a downward and sideways energy used for yielding and redirecting an opposing force. This movement is a good analogy for various situations in life. Learn about Press, a penetrative energy that can correspond to accomplishing things in life. These two movements together demonstrate yin and yang transforming and working together.

Review movements covered in prior Modules

Learn Releasing the Shoulders silk reeling exercise

Learn seventh movement in form called Step Forward to Deflect, Parry & Punch

This movement contains two important stepping patterns and principles - Look to the Left and Glance to the Right - that are two of the thirteen energies of Taiji. We will explore how this movement balances the left and right sides of your body’s energies.

Review movements covered in prior Modules

Learn eighth movement in form called Grasp Sparrow’s Tail - Ward Off, Roll Back, Press & Push.

Deepen your understanding of this classic taiji sequence that brings together four important components of Taiji - Peng (Ward Off), Lu (Roll Back), Ji (Press) and An (Push). 

Learn to direct your movements from your waist and to use your internal energy to move, rather than just moving your arms. Cultivate your ability to adapt and change to different situations in life. through the different energies of this movement. For example, An (Push) uses a downward, upward and forward energy and is based on the principle of connecting to nature so that we can adapt and take advantage of any situation that may arise in the moment. 

Review movements covered in prior Modules

Learn the ninth and tenth movements of the form - Cloud Hands and Single Whip

Cloud Hands can be practiced alone, as we did earlier in the course, as well as within the sequence. Cloud Hands is a continuous circular, spiraling movement that promotes the free flow of Qi and helps us to see that all parts of the body move in unison - when one part of the body moves, all parts of the body move. No part moves on its own independent from the rest. Cloud Hands lets you feel how to relax deeply by sinking your “root” into the ground, developing strength in your root and legs while remaining fluid and free flowing in your upper body as you wave your hands like the clouds.

Through the movement of Single Whip, you will learn how this posture activates the heart and lung meridians, strengthens the arms and increases circulation to the fingers.

Review movements covered in prior Modules

Learn the eleventh and twelfth movements of the set - Snake Creeps Down and Cross Punch

Explore how we move from the inside and express it to the outside.

You will learn about the biggest joint in the body, the Kua, The Snake Creeps Down movement helps to open and strengthen the Kua,, the legs, and the entire lower body.  Through Cross Punch you will learn how to harmonize, unify and align the body.

You will learn about the three internal unifications and the three external unifications that are essential to Taiji. You will explore the three internal unifications - how the heart unifies with the mind, how the mind unifies with the Qi, and how the Qi unifies with force and power; and the three External Unifications - how the shoulders align with the hips, the elbows align with the knees, and the hands align with the feet.

Review movements covered in prior Modules

Learn the first part of the thirteenth movement of the form - Pluck. Split.

In this movement, you will be introduced to Fa Jin or emitting power and learn how suppleness and relaxation is the source of power and strength. You will experience how Fa Jin builds strength of the legs, arms and core and how it promotes the smooth flow of Qi and blood.

You will explore the technique of Cai, a downward energy that cultivates grounding and rooting. You will explore  Lie, a split energy that demonstrates the importance of the power of the waist that is essential to Taiji.

Review the silk reeling exercises.

Learn the second half of the thirteenth Movement - Elbow & Strike as well as the Closing Posture.

In these movements, you will explore Zou (Elbow Strike) and Kao (Body Strike). These movements demonstrate two distinct kinds of power to cultivate a calm, grounded, centered feeling.

We will explore different ways you can practice these movements and bring joy to your practice.

We will review the entire set you just learned and practice together, feeling the flow and grace of the movements together.

Celebration - You did it!

 More than just a course ... It's a lifestyle.

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