It’s so  rewarding to see my students make such good progresses! Now “Cloud Hands” look much smoother and natural, and the walk as well!

This morning I was talking with a friend I practice Tai Chi with and she told me that she feels now that she got to a “plateau”, a place where nothing seems to happen, no matter if you keep on practicing. That may sound harsh but Tai Chi really challenges you, asking for so much perseverance and discipline and humbleness!

It’s not true, though, that nothing happens: the body is storing memories of the moves in its muscles and these memories wil be permanent. Your body, as a whole, physically and mentally, will remember the form, even if you don’t consciously think about it.

It occurred to me that I found myself ending the form without being mentally present at that time, my body did it: I think this is a real integration of body and mind.

After this phase, during which you store the sequence of the moves, a second one comes: the phase in which your body understands how the energy circulates. During this phase you build up your internal energy dramatically.

Third phase: you are suppose to be able to show your real true, your spirit…!

Reminder of the last lesson

We broke down “Cloud Hands”, studying the arms’ moves separately from the legs’ move. The  effect of chest rotation on arms’ moves was stressed out.

We talked about the importance of having the tongue against the roof of the palate, so that everything flows more natural and smooth. This happens actually because , accordingly to the principles of Chinese Traditional Medicine, the tongue creates the bridge between the Tu Mo (Channel of control)  and the Jen Mo (channel of function), perhaps the two most important psychic channels.

We reviewed the beginning of 24 Yang and we studied “White Crane Spreads Its Wings”.

Next lesson

We’ll go further on on 24 Yang: “Brush Knee” and “Playing The Lute”.