What Does the Term "Tai Chi Energies" Really Mean?
You read and hear about different types of "energies" or "jin" in the internal arts. For example, people talk about the "Eight Energies" or the "Thirteen Energies."
Four primary energies (jin) of Taijiquan are:
1. Peng (Ward Off)
2. Liu (Roll Back)
3. Ji (Press)
4. An (Push)
Rounding Out the Rest of the 13 Energies are:
5. Cai (Pluck-Pull Down)
6. Lie (Split - often pronounced like the name Leah)
7. Zhou - (Elbow)
8. Kao - (Shoulder - often called Bump)
9. Teng (striking at an upward angle from the bottom to the top)
10. Zhe (winding, spinning to the ground)
11. Kong (Empty)
12. Huo (lively and active while maintaining internal principles)Â
13. Five Moving Directions: Front (Forward), Back (Backward), Left, Right, and Middle (maintaining your balance - your Center)
 It's important to remember -- despite what some teachers will tell you -- the Taiji "energies" do not involve some invisible energy in your body called Peng, or Liu, or whatever.
It's a lot more accurate ...
What Does "Double-Weighted" Mean in Tai Chi?
You have heard people say that being "double-weighted" is bad in Taijiquan.
But if you ask 10 different Taiji folks what that means, you will get 10 different answers.
Some say it is when your weight is distributed 50-50 between the legs.
Some say it's a mental thing. Others say something completely different.
This video shows what I learned about double-weighting from training with Chen Xiaowang, Chen Xiaoxing and their students and disciples.Â
Join Me in Madison This Weekend to Study Taijiquan with Chen Huixian Nov 1-3
I will be in Madison, Wisconsin starting this Friday, Nov. 1 through Sunday, Nov. 3 to study with Chen Huixian. If you live within driving distance, I hope you'll join me and train with one of the best.
Chen Huixian is an in-door disciple of her uncle, Grandmaster Chen Zhenglei. Other uncles include Chen Xiaowang and Chen Xiaoxing.
She grew up in the Chen Village and is highly skilled. Each time I train with her, I come away with deeper insights because of the personal corrections and coaching that she gives me.
She is teaching a workshop that will include the following:
Friday Night 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.
** Zhan Zhuang (Standing Stake)
** Silk-Reeling
Saturday 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (with a 2-hour lunch break)
** Chen Straight Sword Form (1st half)
Sunday 9:00 a.m. to Noon
** Chen Straight Sword Form (1st half)
Sunday 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Laojia Erlu ("Cannon Fist") Review and Corrections
Chen Huixian's workshops are punctuated with laughter. It is very refreshing to have a...
Ken Gullette Interviewed by David Roth-Lindberg for Thoughts on Tai Chi Blog
David Roth-Lindberg interviewed me for his blog, "Thoughts on Tai Chi."Â
The Q&A was published today. Here is a link.
https://taichithoughts.wordpress.com/2018/12/21/qa-with-ken-gullette/
Suck It Up, Buttercup: Success Requires You to Be Uncomfortable
Last October, I offered a free tai chi class for people aged 40 and over. I stopped teaching older students a decade ago because I wanted to focus on the martial-oriented side of the internal arts. But we used to have a lot of fun with the older friends we made, so I started this new, free class to make new friends, have fun, and teach the Chen 19 form. Some of the students were nearly 80 years old. The oldest student was 83.
When you have practiced a form for 20 years, it seems easy. It was clear the very first night that even a beginning, short form like the Chen 19 appears like a deep, yawning abyss in front of someone who has not studied it before. The idea of actually getting through the thing seems impossible when you are learning the first movement.
As we went through the opening movement, I began coaching them through the simple stepping out and raising the arms, then dropping the energy while lowering the arms.
We practiced it a few times and then I said, "Okay, practice th...
Tai Chi Chuan or Taijiquan - Pinyin versus Wade Giles
I'm making the switch.
When I began teaching the internal arts, I considered whether to write "Tai Chi" or "Taiji."
On mainland China, Taiji (or Taijiquan) is the accepted translation style, known as pinyin.
Tai Chi (or T'ai Chi Ch'uan) is the Wade-Giles method of translation, developed by two men (Wade and Giles).
In 1997, I chose to use Tai Chi because that is the spelling most commonly known. That's the spelling you saw in newspapers and magazines such as T'ai Chi magazine. When I advertised my classes, I wanted the general public to see the ad and understand what "Tai Chi" meant. I didn't think they would understand that "Taiji" was the same thing.
It was purely a marketing decision, even though I knew that "serious" practitioners of the art used the term Taiji.
In recent months, I've started using both terms in my writing, and you might still see a Tai Chi pop up for search engine reasons, but for the most part, I'm changing the way I spell the art to Taijiquan, or Taiji.
...There is No Such Thing as Easy Tai Chi
Grandmaster Chen Xiaowang was teaching a workshop in the U.S. when one of the students commented about how difficult tai chi is.
If you've ever attended a workshop by a member of the Chen family, you understand why the comment would be made. Students hold postures while the instructor walks around the room, correcting each student individually. By the time he gets to you, your legs are often shaking with fatigue, and if he puts you into the correct posture, you may just collapse to the floor (photo at left shows Chen Xiaowang correcting me during a private lesson a few years ago).
This is one of the reasons I get annoyed when I see online ads that promise "easy tai chi." I'm sorry, my friends, there is no such thing. Fake tai chi might be easy. The health type of tai chi for "moving meditation" might be easy. Tai Chi for senior citizens might be easy.
Real tai chi is very difficult and takes years of practice to even begin to see proper body mechanics.
So when the comment was made ...
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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