Tai Chi
Training to your own specifications
When i first realised the shape of my legs (see bow-legged article in “Choosing a tai chi style that suits you“), i had to change my perception of what’s correct. Recently, i found another body structure difference.
My teacher noted that when my palm presses forward, one of my elbows are higher than the other. He [...]
Time-saving training
I’m reading a book called Time-Saving Training for Multisport Athletes - How to fit Workouts into Work Days, by Rick Niles. I definitely qualify as someone who do multisports, but I won’t say I’m an athlete. There’s one tip in the book though, which can be quite useful. It’s called intensity training.
It’s not how [...]
Avoid imitation
It’s back to the book on Maria Montessori. It’s quite amazing what she’s actually saying about kids, essentially about us when we were much younger. We unconsciously learn from the environment around us, be it from parents, siblings, uncles, granmas, friends, insects, trees, grass, bugs, stone, leaves, branches, bicycles, streets, neighbours, and the list goes [...]
Fatigue
I’m watching Friends, and laughing as though I haven’t seen the episode before (the one where Chandler is moving in with Monica). Friends are just such a mind relaxant. Kudos to the people who made it such a joy. And then my wife made a comment…
“You must be really stressed…”
I think she’s right, as usual.
I’m [...]
Action, then label
I’m currently reading a biography on Maria Montessori - an educator among other roles. When she teaches kids, one of the features of her method is to let them learn through their senses first, before labeling what their senses tell them. For instance, the children will learn to listen as they explore the different pitch [...]
unShake your booty
Nowadays, when I thought I am doing the Tai Ji form properly, I had a rude awakening when one day my teacher shouted “stop shaking your butt!”. And from then on, I’m very conscious about it. Of course, I always smile too whenever I realise I’m doing it. It’s just a funny thought, to think [...]
Drawing small circles
The smaller the circle, the smaller the mind. 圈子小，人生圈子也小。
When doing Tai Ji, or when pushing hands, it reflects the way you see life itself. When we are afraid of making mistakes, when we are not confident in ourselves, these feelings will show in your Tai Chi, even to the untrained eye. For instance, the hands [...]
When you push, just push
A common habit when practising, is to make the adjustments while carrying out an action. In the context of Tai Chi, you might have seen people bobbing up and down, or pushing forward with various hand gestures, looking very awkward as though their clothes just don’t fit them. Then one day, my teacher said,
“When you [...]
When the learning gets tough… relax!!
It’s that word again… relax!! When faced with a steep learning curve, it’s always made worse if you force yourself through the curve rather than ride on it. The materials would seem more difficult, the retention would seem more difficult, and you might end up hating the subject so much that you will never touch [...]
On giving and receiving advice
I was recently in a class full of students, as oppose to my individual training with my teacher. We were trying to correct the very first step of all Tai Ji forms - the “raise your hands and put it down”. I met a student who was really passionate about Tai Ji, and who started [...]
