I felt so rewarded today when I saw all my students at the studio, willing to practice Tai chi, despite the gorgeous weather outside! That motivated me even more!

Today lesson’s reminder

We warmed up and stretched as usually doing some Qi Kong exercises and “Tenzan Lenko” style.

After that we practiced the walk, emphasizing how hips’ and heels’ moves are interrelated when you shift body weight and step forward. Also  spine moves were examined when stepping forward and  shifting body weight on the back leg.

A question had been asked: “Will we keep always this speed? Are we going to be faster?”. Actually we will be a little bit faster, so far we kept the current speed on purpose, to better understand all the moves and the transitions involved.

We reviewed the opening of the form (“Lifting Water”) and “Clouds hands”, together with the martial applications.

After that we practiced “Eight Style” twice and then we ended the lesson meditating and breathing in and out on a horse stance.

Next lesson

We’ll be reviewing “Eight Style,  “Heel Kick” stance and “Embrace The Tiger” stance (closing of the form).

At the end of the lesson I will be performing “24 Yang Style” wich will be the next form we are going to study.

“The breath is the most powerful tool for gathering, circulating, purifying and directing Qi” (The healing promise of Qi”, Roger Jahnke, 2002).

See you in two weeks!

Today everyone was very committed and focused. I could perceived a higher degree of relaxation and awareness! The class is beginning to feel how the energy moves through the body and to breathe correctly.

Today’s lesson remainder

After the preliminary stretch and warm up, we reviewed the basic concepts about the Tai Chi’s walk: how to switch the weight from one leg to the other, how to move the upper body, following  straight and diagonal directions, how to coordinate back and front leg, how to align feet.

Then we examined “Grasp Sparrow’s Tail” step by step, focusing on the martial meaning of arms’ and hands’ moves: we talked about “yin” and “yang” palm and how effective the coordination between the pushing hands and the back leg is for body stability.

After that we practiced “Eighteen Style” twice and we stretched at the end of the lesson.

Next lesson

We’ll be reviewing “Cloud Hands” and the opening of the form.

I look forward to seeing you all next lesson!

Today’lesson was really active and interesting, some of you made interesting questions and I believe this creates a more interactive and aware attitude towards the practice. Please, keep on asking questions!

Reminder for this lesson

We warmed up and stretched. Afterword we practiced the Tai Chi walk emphasizing the breathing: inhaling and exhaling properly helps to release stress and increases focusing skills.

“…Breathe slowly through the nose, directing the mind and breath and vitality back down to the abdomen. As the body resumes a calmer state, the mind experiences uncommon serenity…” (Da Liu, Tai Chi Ch’uan and Meditation).

The martial application of “Brush Knee” was examined, as well as the “Yin and Yang palm”, as a tool to apply leverage on the opponent’s arm.

Next lesson

We’ll keep on practicing “Eight style’ and the “Grasp the Sparrow”s Tail” stance will be examined step by step.

Looking forward to practicing together next Friday!