I am really so passionate about Tai Chi that I’d like everyone I meet to give it a try! And sometimes I need to tell my students so many details so that they don’t miss too much of the depth of Tai Chi; this can be overwhelming but I keep repeating they don’t need to remember every detail right now,  just be aware of that.

Reminder of what we reviewed in this lesson

I emphasized the differences in arms’ moves between “Parting The Wild Horse’s Mane” and “Ward Off” stances and reviewed the martial applications involved.

We then broke down “Grasp the Bird’s Tail” stance into any single move, standing on a half stance  until our thighs soared!

This stance is a very good example of how the moves of the arms raise the chi from its original  position in the tan-t’ien up to the navel and back down to tan-t’ien, and this happens several times, having the chi circulate your whole body and increase internal energy. This is believed also to prevent many illnesses, accordingly to the main principles of traditional Chinese medicine.

We reviewed “Brush Knee”, practiced “Eight Style” and introduced “Playing the Lute” in “24 Yang Style”.

At the end of the lesson my students were willing to practice a very short Kung Fu form, accompanied by a very martial Chinese music! We had a lot fun, punching and shouting and releasing so much energy!

We’ll keep practicing some Kung Fu, that helps in keeping in mind that Tai Chi is the internalization of Kung Fu.