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!

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!

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.

“What builds muscle? Your body builds muscle. Training is a stimulus. Food and rest are the building supplies that make the remodelling, adaptation and replenishing possible.

This will take you about 5 minutes and jack you up so you’re running in high gear for a couple of hours, enjoy. This one’s a mini commando home workout and you should do it non-stop!

• Pushups continuous for one minute, hold the top position if you cannot continue.
• Sit-ups continuous for one minute, hold the top position if you cannot continue.
• Body weight squats 1 min. No resting in the standing position.
• Pushups 20 repetitions (reps)
• Sit-ups 20 reps
• Pushups 15 reps
• Sit-ups 15 reps
• Pushups 12 reps
• Sit-ups 12 reps
• Bodyweight V-ups 30 seconds (sec) This is a sit up where both the lower and upper body come off the ground to meet at a point above your stomach.
• Alternate forward lunges 1 minute (min)
• Bodyweight V-ups 30 sec
• Burpee’s 30 seconds From the standing position, squat down and shoot your legs back so that you are now in the push up position. From there pull your legs back in stand up and jump with your arms overhead.
• Side lunge – hold the bottom position of the lunge and do mini pulses for 30 each leg and do that only once.

Awesome. Now wipe off your forehead and get back to what you were doing The cool thing about using only your bodyweight and hitting it at home is that you’re never more than 20 feet from your shower!”