T\u2019ai Chi Chuan is a Chinese martial art that many people practice primarily for health and fitness. \u00a0The curriculum includes empty handed and weapons forms that are practiced slowly and smoothly.<\/strong> It feels really good and is very centering.<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

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In the first stages of practice, the benefits enjoyed by the student include improvements in balance and coordination as well as an overall reduction of stress. This first stage, of memorizing a 12 minute sequence of movements, typically involves 24 \u2013 40 hours of instruction and 30 \u2013 40 hours of practice. Individual pace, of course, is impacted by the variables of prior experience with movement arts, commitment and innate ability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once the form is memorized, the student deepens into his or her understanding of the fundamental principles of T\u2019ai Chi. These include the practice of dynamic relaxation (using the minimum amount of effort required to achieve the desired result) and the Taoist principle of following the natural flow. At this stage, students typically notice an increase in the harmony enjoyed in their relationships with themselves and others.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Ongoing T\u2019ai Chi practice includes the study of \u201cpush-hands\u201d, a two person practice\u00a0involving sensing the other person\u2019s center of gravity and balance while staying solidly in one\u2019s own. This practice is profoundly psychological in its impact, offering the student an opportunity to study his\/her comfort with experiencing his\/her own vulnerability in interaction with another. Push-hands provides a forum for the psychological work of studying boundaries, aggression and yielding while also doing the spiritual work of building profound sensitivity to self and other, refining the ego, and cultivating honest humility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

T\u2019ai Chi\u2019s roots extend thousands of years to the philosophies of ancient China although the modern version of the Yang style is only a couple hundred years old. United in the T\u2019ai Chi form are threads from ancient shamanic and Taoist tradition, and Chinese medicine, as well as the more martially oriented material. There are several different styles of T\u2019ai Chi, all sharing the same philosophical roots. Each teacher also has his or her orientation to the material. Since practicing T\u2019ai Chi can serve many purposes, I want to discuss some of these aspects to clarify what is available and my particular orientation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

T\u2019ai Chi Chuan is a Chinese martial art that many people practice primarily for health and fitness. \u00a0The curriculum includes empty handed and weapons forms that are practiced slowly and smoothly. It feels really good and is very centering. In the first stages of practice, the benefits enjoyed by the student include improvements in balance… Read More »T’ai Chi<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-148","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nandor.jraynolds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nandor.jraynolds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nandor.jraynolds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nandor.jraynolds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nandor.jraynolds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/nandor.jraynolds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/148\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":165,"href":"https:\/\/nandor.jraynolds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/148\/revisions\/165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nandor.jraynolds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}