Tai Chi

photo of stefan in white crane posture Tai Chi Chuan is an ancient Chinese form of martial art/exercise that anyone can learn regardless of age or physical condition.

Tai Chi is based on ancient Chinese martial arts movements that are linked together like a dance routine.

This course teaches the 24 and 48-movement Yang Style form that is the internationally recognized standard of the World Wu Shu Federation.

Benefits of Tai Chi practice include:

Cardio-vascular improvement,
Greater balance and stability
Increased leg, hip, waist, and back strength,
Improved flexibility
Better posture
Relaxation and a counter to anxiety and panic attacks
Greater self-confidence and self-esteem

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Fee Schedule

For information on how you can book this workshop for your students e-mail sverstappen@yahoo.com

Class curriculum

Meditation and Breathing
Warm up Drills
Stretching Exercises
Balance Exercises
Walking and Posture Exercises
Hand Movements
Linking Movements
Applications
Q & A

Function of Tai Chi

Tai Chi, (Supreme Energy Fist) like all Kung Fu styles, works on four different levels: as physical exercise, as an intellectual exercise, as spiritual exercise, and as combat exercise.

On a physical level Tai Chi develops flexibility and coordination, increases circulation and metabolism, and when practiced more quickly, cardio vascular improvement. It is ideally suited for physical rehabilitation and physiotherapy since it is low impact and non stressful. Because of these aspects it is very popular among the elderly and disabled, while the younger and fitter practitioners can practice the routines more vigorously.

On an intellectual level Tai Chi promotes relaxation, awareness, and focus. Practice at this level requires intense concentration in order to split and focus awareness in two areas. One area of concentration is the body. Careful attention must be placed on posture, relaxation, movement, balance, weight distribution, and precise coordination of the waist, arms and legs. The second area of concentration is on ones breathing to insure that it is deep, regular, and rhythmic.

The breathing exercise promotes what the Chinese call `Chi'. Chi is the universal life energy that is identical in concept to yoga's `prana', and the accumulation of which is said to bestow long life, health, and even supernatural abilities. It is believed that early in the morning is when the air is the most highly charged with Chi and therefore Tai Chi is usually practiced in the morning.

After years of practice the body learns to perform the movements automatically and this frees the attention normally placed on the body to focus instead on the Zen practice called "Here and Now". At this stage Tai Chi becomes a dance of the spirit where the player communes directly and intuitively with nature. It is said that at this stage wild animals lose their fear of man and will calmly graze nearby and birds will perch in the branches overhead. For these reasons Tai Chi is usually practiced outdoors close to lakes and mountains.

Surprisingly the least known aspect of Tai Chi is as a system of hand-to-hand combat. The slow dance-like movements are actually based on techniques designed to break and dislocate the body's joints and strikes that are intended to cause internal bleeding.

At first it may seem contradictory that an exercise that is so gentle and spiritual could also contain violence but it is precisely this dichotomy the makes Tai Chi complete. Tai Chi uniquely incorporates both the Yin and the Yang, the positive and negative of Chinese cosmology. For these reasons Tai Chi has been called the iron fist inside the velvet glove, the combat application is the thorn on the rose.

Read Stefan's Article:

The Shamanic Origins of Tai Chi

In Jade Dragon Online

Origin of Tai Chi

The legendary founder of Tai Chi is said to have been a mountain hermit by the name of Chang San Feng who lived during the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368). He wandered throughout the mountains and learned secret Taoist breathing techniques that made him nearly immortal (legend has him living well past 200) In addition he learned Shaolin Temple fighting from other wandering monks.

There are numerous stories about Chang and the super human abilities he possessed but since they are largely myth I will not recount them here. There are also numerous stories on how Chang came to invent Tai Chi the most popular being the following.

One day while living on Wu Tang Mountain, Chang heard a hawk screeching and went outside to see what was happening. What he discovered was a hawk attacking and doing battle with a snake. Although the hawk was stronger, faster, and had superior weapons in the form of a beak and talons, the snake was successful in driving off the hawk’s attacks. The snake's soft and circular movements where able to evade and dissipate the hawks attacks. Chang realized that by adopting the gentle and yielding aspects of the snake's defense, the soft could neutralize the hard, the weak defeat the strong, and slow to overcome the fast, and thus Tai Chi was born.

The legends about Chang are probably fictional and there are indications that Tai Chi was practiced centuries before Chang's time, although it is impossible to say when and who really originated the art.

The modern origins begin with Chen Wang Ting who lived in northern Honan province during the 16th century. Chen was an army officer and probably learned Tai Chi at some time during his military career. After retirement he returned to his native Chen village (Chen being the family name of the village's dominant clan) where he taught his Tai Chi to other villagers. The style has been handed down for generations within the village and even to this day a few Tai Chi practitioners make the pilgrimage to Chen village in China to study the style firsthand from Chen's descendants. During this time the Chen style spawned three offshoot variations the most notable being the Sun style.

Later a young man by the name of Yang Lew Shan, heard about the Chen village's reputation for Tai Chi expertise and went there to learn what he could. The village elders at first refused to admit anyone who was not from the Chen clan, but Yang persisted and was finally allowed to study. After several years Yang returned to his village to teach the art to his relatives and neighbors. Yang's reputation grew and since his village was close to the capital of Beijing his reputation reached the imperial palace and Yang was eventually invited to instruct the imperial family. Endorsed by the imperial family, Yang's Tai Chi became increasingly popular and today the Yang style is the most well known of all the styles.

Yang Lew Shan had a student by the name of Wu Yu Hsing who, after studying under Yang for several years, also set off to study Tai Chi at the Chen village. Along the way he met another master, Chen Chang Hsin, who taught Wu yet another variation of Tai Chi. In addition, Chen's brother found a copy of an ancient treatise on Taoist philosophy and sent him a copy to study. Wu combined the knowledge of Tai Chi and philosophy to form another variation known today as Wu style Tai Chi.

Today there are five major branches of Tai Chi; Old Chen, Ne Chen, Sun, Yang, and Wu. In addition each major branch has numerous different routines (forms) and slight variations, which form sub styles. The result is confusing to the beginning Tai Chi student since you may learn to perform Tai Chi a certain way from one instructor and a different way from another even though both instructors claim to teach the same style. Regardless of the variations, all Tai Chi styles share the same principles and it is the skill of the practitioner, not the style, which is important.

You can e-mail Stefan with questions and comments to sverstappen@yahoo.com