Today Micaela, my Italian friend, and I practiced at Yoyogi Park. This morning the sky was blue, the air crispy and the sun shining: the perfect day!
We went to our usual spot and started warming up. Then we practice the walk, the change of direction, back and forth, and “Eight Style”. We reviewed all the main stances breaking them down to the single moves.
The cherry trees are already blooming and it was beautiful to practice Tai Chi with the traditional Chinese music in this amazing scenery; I really felt connected with nature and with everything and everyone.
It’s incredible how Tai Chi can make a bond among people!
But the most ineffable thing for me was to feel the commitment and the motivation of my student Micaela!

I want to thank all my friends who came and watched my performance last Sunday at Sogo Sport Center, in Hamacho.
I want to thank also those ones who wanted to come but couldn’t.
I was happy about how I performed; a lot still needs to be refined but I feel my internal energy is getting better and better.
You can watch the performance, shot by my husband, in the video page.
The title of the video, “One move, one hundred moves“, describes the true essence of Tai Chi and is a traditional saying that tells a lot about the smoothness, the never ending motion and the roundness of each move in Tai Chi. My teacher, Master Gao, mentioned it to me for the first time, few years ago and I still remember it. It means that, in order to do a move correctly, you need to do 99 other moves!
Challenging, indeed!

Every Thursday, in the morning, I practice Tai Chi with my Italian friends in Yoyogi Park, central Tokyo. It’s a lot of fun, I love their very active attitude and their curiosity. Today I wanted to remind them the difference between “Ward Off” and “Parting The Wild Horse’s Mane” since both stances start holding the ball. I’ve been asked about the martial application of “Ward Off” and after I showed it we starting talking about Tai Chi and self defense. I mentioned “Push Hands” techniques as a gateway for students to undo a person’s natural instinct to resist force with force, teaching the body to yield to force and redirect it. “Push hands” is performed with a partner and allows to learn how to respond to external stimuli using techniques from their forms practice. Training with a partner allows a student to develop ting jing (listening power), the sensitivity to feel the direction and strength of a partner’s intention. In that sense “push hands” lets students to train in the defensive and offensive movement principles of their martial art: learning to generate, coordinate and deliver power to another and also how to effectively neutralize incoming forces, in other words, to be in control and defend oneself.
I found this video very interesting and I invite you to watch it.