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.
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.
Tai Chi's Single Whip - Silk-Reeling and Connected Internal Strength
Single Whip is a common movement in all styles of Tai Chi (Taijiquan) and, like all Taiji movements, it depends on some key internal body mechanics that give you relaxed strength. The body mechanics include:
-- Establishing and maintaining the ground path through all movement, including stepping.
-- Establishing and maintaining peng jin, an expansive force that is a physical skill (not mystical).
-- Whole-body movement -- when one part moves, all parts move, and they are connected through the body from the ground.
-- Silk-Reeling energy -- not actual "energy," but a spiraling movement that is another physical skill.
-- Dan T'ien rotation that is the center of all movement.
-- Opening and closing the kua.
There are many other skills and principles, but if you don't have these basic concepts, you aren't going to get very far in Taiji.
I'll show you a self-defense technique that you can practice with a partner using the opening part of the Single Whip movement, when you spiral ...
Is Tai Chi Really Supposed to Be Moving Meditation?
Is Tai Chi really "moving meditation?" This may be a controversial topic. Fasten your seat belts.
Is the purpose of Tai Chi Chuan to detach your mind, relax and become One with the Universe?
No. It isn't.
It can be used that way, and certainly millions of people do. But it was created as a martial art, and the "intent" of each movement is to develop body mechanics and structure that will help you break an opponent and put them on the ground.
Should you practice Tai Chi with "no mind?"
No way.
Each movement should be done with the body mechanics of the fighting applications in mind. That can be slowly as you work the body mechanics and try to get better at the flow of relaxed power through the body, and it can be done very fast, with strong fa-jing movements.
If you disengage the mind, you lose the intent of the movement.
Is Tai Chi good for exercise and health?
Of course it is. When done the way it was intended, Tai Chi is an amazing workout.
I've told the story before of th...
With the Internal Martial Arts It Has To Be Shown
I've studied several arts since 1973 -- Shaolin, wushu, taekwondo, boxing -- and attained ranks in Shaolin (brown belt) and TKD (green belt) before finding the internal arts.
The internal arts that I practice -- Hsing-I, Chen Tai Chi, and Bagua -- are the most difficult arts I've encountered. For a beginner, it's impossible to learn them properly from books, photos, or videos.
It Has To Be Shown (IHTBS).
My first encounter with top-level internal arts instructors (those with training in actual internal body mechanics) was Jim and Angela Criscimagna in Rockford, Illinois. They also introduced me to the Chen way of training and masters such as Chen Xiaowang and Ren Guangyi.
I met Jim and Angela after reading internal arts posts on the Internet that I didn't understand, using terms I'd never been taught. One hour after training with Jim for the first time, I drove away from Rockford realizing that I had to start over.
Not everyone can make that decision. We invest a lot of time, mo...
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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