A Tai Chi Mistake to Avoid - "Swimming Knees"
Taijiquan (Tai Chi Chuan) is a lifelong journey. It can take years to develop skill. That's why it helps to have a teacher who has skill and will coach you in a constructive way.
One of my goals as a teacher is to save time for my students and help them discover information that took me many years to learn.
Here is a video I made last week about a common mistake we all make until a good teacher tells us to stop doing it.
It's the problem of swimming knees. I encourage you to watch this video, then watch yourself in a mirror or record your own movement to see if it is something you need to work on.
Four Takedowns from Four Tai Chi Movements
Here is a short video showing and explaining some of the body mechanics to four takedowns in four different movements from Chen style Taijiquan.
I am fascinated at all the self-defense applications in movements that often appear slow and gentle. Taiji (Tai Chi) is practiced slowly to develop proper internal body mechanics. There is a method of developing skill that later involves push hands, then flowing with a partner in unscripted ways, and then incorporating joint locks, sweeps, takedowns, elbow and shoulder strikes and other fighting techniques.
The takedowns come from these four movements:
- Lazy About Tying the Coat
- Walking Obliquely
- Punch the Ground
- Single Whip
Enjoy this video. We shot in on Sunday and I edited it today. Let me know if you have questions.
Dial Down the Paranoia about Defending Yourself "On the Street"
Have you been in a physical fight with anyone since you turned 18 years old?
Here's another question: In your adult life, have you ever been in a "street fight?"
Have you ever been in a situation when another grown-up was trying to damage you physically?
The truth about most adults is that they have never been in a real fight at all. But self-defense instructors and MMA enthusiasts are obsessed with the need to protect yourself "on the street."
When I hear the term "defending yourself on the street" I think of two gangs colliding for a brawl with sticks, chains and brass knuckles. Like "West Side Story" without all the dancing and singing. Let's face it, if your gang runs around singing and dancing, you might deserve to be beaten up.
I saw an interesting graphic online recently and it showed the main martial art practiced by UFC champions who fought matches in the ring.
The top martial art for ring fighting was wrestling. That's right. A college wrestling champ would have a good...
A Vision of the Final Moments of Life and the Two Questions on My Mind
I received some tough news from my pulmonologist last week. Dr. Wong showed me the CT scan taken in December, when I spent four nights in the hospital because of a large blood clot in my left lung. The blood thinners I had been taking since June, when the clots developed, had not worked in this one case, and the clot was so big, it was threatening the blood supply to the left lung. Just a trickle of blood was getting in.
After we looked at the scan, he said this is major. If the blood clot is not reduced through the use of the blood thinners during the next six weeks, he will refer me to the Mayo Clinic, where I will be evaluated and it is possible they will put my heart on a bypass machine, go into the lung and clean out the clot. The evaluation will tell Mayo whether my heart is likely to withstand the operation.
"This is major," the doctor said. "But you have been through major things before."
These are the times when the practice of centering is not just theory. This is when it ...
I am a Guest on the Talking Fists Podcast - Talking Chen Taijiquan
I was asked by Ryan Patrick St. George to appear on his "Talking Fists" podcast. I said, "Sure. When?" And he replied, "How about now?"
So we got on Zoom and talked for a while about training in two different "branches" of Chen style Taijiquan -- the Chen Village branch and the Chen Yu branch under Nabil Ranne.
Listen to the Talking Fists podcast episode via this link. It's also available through your favorite podcast distributor.
Top 10 Chen Style Taiji Movements to Practice in the Hospital
A few months ago, I developed several blood clots in my left lung. I spent five days in the hospital and was put on blood thinners.
I used to think that blood thinners dissolve blood clots, but they don't. Instead, they keep the clots from getting larger and then the body breaks down and absorbs the clot over time.
So I have been on warfarin for the past five months and I went in last Thursday for a follow-up CT scan to see if they had gone away.
Instead, a clot had grown larger and it was threatening the blood flow to the left lung. Because of past bleeding issues, my doctors and I had been too conservative on the level of warfarin in my system, so the warfarin did not stop this clot from growing. It's strange because I have been teaching all along and taught two classes on Wednesday with no unusual problems. But due to the CT scan results, I was told to go to the hospital...again. It's a serious health situation.
In the past few days, I have been stuck with needles every few ho...
Interactive Video - You Choose the Tai Chi Fighting Application
I am experimenting with interactive videos. Here is my first one. Please watch it and let me know what you think. It allows you to choose which application you will see for the opening movement in a Taiji form.
Connecting is a Skill and Philosophy from Martial Arts You Can Use in Daily Life
Silk-Reeling Exercises Can Help You Develop Internal Body Mechanics
Silk-Reeling exercises are forgotten by some Chen style Taiji students after they practice forms, but I believe these exercises should be included in everyone's training routine.
I first learned Silk-Reeling exercises from Chen Xiaowang and my first Chen Taiji teachers, Jim and Angie Criscimagna. Silk-reeling is known in China as chan ssu chin. As I understand it, the exercises were created in recent decades. They are not part of the traditional training in the Chen Village. I went through a silk-reeling workshop with Chen Xiaowang back in 2000 but was already working on them at that time.
When I began teaching, I tried to organize material in easy-to-understand pieces for my students (and for me). For the past 23 years, I have taught six key principles of body mechanics to beginning students:
1. The ground path
2. Establishing and maintaining peng jin
3. Opening and closing the kua
4. Dan T'ien rotation
5. Whole-body connected movement
6. Silk-Reeling energy
New student...
How Often Do You Meditate?
I was in a class yesterday when another student asked the teacher a question about how often you should meditate.
It was an interesting question but my answer might be different than some.
One of the martial arts books that I bought back in the 1970s was "Man of Contrasts," by Hee Il Cho. It was a book about Taekwondo, but at the beginning of the book was a remarkable poem that has stayed with me ever since. Here is the poem:
I can find peace
amidst the cities roar
before the dry, frayed face of confusion,
the exhausted hour.
My peace is cradled within.
This poem came back to me around 1999 when I found myself walking through the crowded sidewalks of Times Square in New York City. People were almost shoulder-to-shoulder, walking in all directions, and instead of being stressed, I found that I was calm, centered, with a feeling of being connected to each person who rushed by -- peace amidst the city's roar.
I began doing qigong in 1987. My goal was to recreate the feeling of in...
Author - Instructor
Ken Gullette
I have practiced martial arts since 1973 and began studying the internal arts in 1987. My goal is to cut years off your development time by coaching you in the real skills for high-quality Tai Chi, Xingyi, Bagua. To see more about my bio, click the "About Ken" link on the menu at the top of this page.
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