So, without further ado:

So far in the series (in order) we have:

• Rocking Motion
• Bird Flaps It’s Wings
• Around The Platter
• Carry Ball Around The Platter
• Bass Drum
• Princess On The Mountain Top

Some key points:

• Keep those shoulders loose!
• Make your motions even and steady.
• Don’t bend the knees too much as you get used to the form

As always, please check out my Teaching Gigs page.

Let me know how the videos are working for you in the comments! Cheers!

Here it is!

Sorry the sound quality is not so good.  ;)

Cheers!

One thing I failed to mention in the video – The hand position is gender specific.  For men it’s right hand passing in front of left. For women it’s left hand passing in front of right.  This does not change as you switch feet.  I am not going to defend the political correctness of such a tradition. The fact is that in my experience the thousands of years put into empirical research by both men & women in the development of Chi Kung practices is worthy of respect.  But, you are your own authority ultimately and I would enourage any and all to experiment to see what works best for themselves.

During my own initial practice of Tai Chi Chih, over the course of my 1.000 day vow I experimented with reversing the hand positioning.  I put left in front of with in the Yin formation for 3 solid months.  The results were less than pleasant.  I did not get girly, but I did get sick and was afflicted with odd pains in my joints which cleared up a week after the experiment ended.  So, in short: mover beware.

Some key points:

• Watch those shoulders!  Keep them relaxed, fight against the raise.
• Make your breaths deep.  It should feel like your breath is hitting your pelvis.

I hope you folks are enjoying this and finding the vids useful. I would love any, and all, feedback in the comments.

Cheers!

*drum roll*

(Get it?)

Some key points:

• Do what you can.  Push yourself, but not your limits.
• The hand flutter in the left hand comes usually after about two years of regular practice and is a confirming sign that chi is flowing.
• You may experience flushes of gentle warmth while practicing.  That is a good thing.

As always, I would love to get your comments on these exercises and their presentation.  Cheers!

This week we go over “Around the Platter.”  This is the first of the general set of motions after the two warm ups we went over, Rocking Motion, and Bird Flaps It’s Wings.

Some keypoints:

• The breathing pattern is not strictly one way, but should be consistent within a particular set.  I always exhale while moving forward and inhale when moving back, but the reverse works just as good.  Find what is comfortable with you, and remain open to changing it if your body seems to dictate doing so.
• Soreness in the knees is okay, sharp pains are not!
• Take your time, go slow, and let the movement show you what it can do for you.

As always, you can check my Teaching Gigs page and stop in if you are in the area.  I’d love to see you!

Happy Tai Chi!

A few points for this exercise:

• Build up the knee flex slowly(!!), and make sure the knee moves along a line guided by the inside edge of the bone process leading up to your big toe.  Take it nice and easy and work up to deeper bends.
• Raising the heels is more important to the Chi effect of the exercise  than bending the knees
• Breathe!

Any questions, feel free to comment below.  Let me know how you are doing with these moves!

Check out the first move in the series here, as well as my teaching schedule.

Until next time, happy Tai Chi!

In this video I demonstrate the first exercise in the series, a warm up called Rocking Motion.

A few points:

• Looking into the far distance, as if looking to the most distant horizon, helps with balance.
• Do not strain to lift the balls of the feet, or the heels, to high when starting.
• Try to keep the breathing consistent, but don’t worry about it too much at first. I tend to exhale as I raise my arms for the forward swing and inhale on the back swing, but any consistent pattern is fine.

Please feel free to hit me with any questions. I’ll be releasing these videos weekly until the series is done.

Please see my Teaching Gigs page for my current schedule!

Cheers!

A Good Morning

Ingredients-

• Programmable Alarm Clock
• Prayer Beads
• Exercise Space
• Wife
• Meditation Cushion
• A Good Book
• Coffee

For the Programmable Alarm Clock I use my iPhone.  I set three alarms, each to go off at 5 minute intervals.  I use the Bell Tower, Robot, and Marimba sounds, in that order.  After experimentation I’ve found that I cannot be trusted with a snooze function, so setting three consecutive alarms gives me a much better chance of getting up something like on time.

I set my alarm for 90 minutes before I have to leave the house, or get Daisy (the Wife) out the door, to give me ample time for the rest of the recipe.

Once I actually rise I pray on a mandala of Prayer Beads for 10 rounds.  There are 108 beads, so that’s 1,080 prayers.  Takes about 6 minutes.  The prayer is just a mental repetition of the name of God (for me that’s Ramanama.)  I let this be an expression of gratitude for being.

Then it’s time for exercises.  At this point I usually give Daisy a pat to let her know that the waking up ritual is beginning.  A little warning goes a long way for ease-making later.

My Exercise Space is just a 3′ x 3′ space in the living room that is kept clear.  My exercises ar as follows -

1. A set of 40 Penguin Flaps
2. A set of 40 forward arm raises
3. A set of 30 torso twists
4. Another set of 40 Penguin Flaps
5. 60 Hindu Squats
6. 100 hand grips

What the heck is a Penguin Flap, and what in Buddha’s name is a Hindu Squat?!? Well, I’ll tell ya in another post.

I do this routine and then another pat to Daisy to let her know I am meditating, at which point I hit the Meditation Cushion.   I set the timer on my iPhone (an app called Meditator by SimpleTouch) for 32 minutes. I have three alerts set.  The first is at 2 minutes.  That is the time I give myself to settle in on the cushion.  Once I here the Tibetan monk drone out an, “Ooooommmmmm…” it’s time to get focused.  My main practice these days is insight style, which means noting everything that happens as it happens.  At 29 minutes after the first alert a bell sounds to let me know I’m almost done.  Then the final bell and I bow and get up for three prostrations to the Buddha.

Then I get Daisy out of bed and on her way to her day with two good cups of Coffee and some breakfast (usually cold cereal with yogurt and fruit, or Cream ‘o Wheat with fruit.)  I get my beans from Rodger’s Coffee & Tea, just down the street.

Finally a bit of reading from whichever of the several Good Books, I am currently working through.

This dish works best served warm. 

My favorite bit:

I’ve not exactly being pushed to my limits, so in the interests of my bold journalistic endeavor, I select a “surprise” My Health Coach challenge: “Complete 15,000 steps in 24 hours,” the stick-man happily chirps.

One hour later, I find myself over a mile from my house, not even halfway to my target. As I walk home, zig-zagging across the road like a remarkably methodical drunk in order to push my step count that bit higher, it suddenly hits me why exercise and videogames are a perfect match …

… I’m grinding. I’m repeating the same mechanical task over and over again in the distant hope that I might one day accrue enough experience points to equip a six-pack.

And it’s boring in real life, too.

Instructed -

• Set 1: 22 reps
• Set 2: 22 reps
• Set 3: 30 reps
• Set 4: 30 reps
• Set 5: 24 reps
• Set 6: 24reps
• Set 7: 18 reps
• Set 8: 18 reps
• Set 9: 58 reps (minimum) to failure

45 seconds rest between sets.

Achieved-

• Set 1: 22 reps
• Set 2: 22 reps
• Set 3: 30 reps
• Set 4: 30 reps
• Set 5: 24 reps
• Set 6: 24 reps
• Set 7: 18 reps
• Set 8: 18 reps
• Set 8: 60 reps

Back to the endurance sets.  Did better at the finish today, although for the last 10, or so reps I forgot to keep breathing and a vein on the back of my head almost popped out.  Risks of being pretty, I suppose.

How you guys doing out there?