Your videos are great mate. I’ve been doing taijiquan for about 5 years and you’re one of the best I’ve seen online at breaking things down and explaining in a friendly no nonsense way that’s super easy to understand. You’ve helped fix a couple of things for me as well as confirmed I’m on the right path with various technical details. Cheers again!
Thanks for the guide. A few questions on Preparation Stance: 1. Stepping out. When placing left toes onto ground, how do we best 'feel'/know if feet are aligned horizontally without looking? Or is this something that will just come with practice as we get better sense of if our body alignment? 2. Stepping out. After left toes are placed onto ground - when/how do you shift ~50% of the body weight into left side? Is it like a two part movement, foot down first, then shift? Or is it done together (shifting weight progressively as foot goes down)? 3. Hands up & shoulders sinking down. Does this include sinking of centre and knees slightly as well? Or is just the shoulders? 4. Hands sinking down. Are hands going down straight vertically or is this a slightly circular inwards towards the body? 5. Sinking with the knees / whole body. Is this initiated from the centre/waist area which results in the knees sinking or is it initiated from the knees? Cheers, Week 1 Beginner
Hi Victor. RE horizontal alignment this comes only with time and practice. As the heel come down weight is already beginning to transfer as it must. Weight continues to transfer after foot is flat but basically no stopping. The body should always be sunk, but shoulder sinking down as hands come up is something I found helpful to avoid shoulders coming up, but it is not important. Use the idea of it helps you stay relaxed. Arms must begin to bend as and with the bending knees, otherwise we will be out of proportion. Center leads always. This is a principle. Along with the principe of relaxation these are the only 2 principles you will need to improve your taiji. How correct is any movement? Run it through these principles.. ie have I maintained relaxation in the movement? Is my Center leading the movement or at least is my Center included in the movement. I think this will help you. 🙏
@@CenterLifeBalance Thanks Colin. Reinforcing the principles with examples like you gave really help. There's so much information out there that sometimes I find it difficult to distil (a) what's important and (b) how to apply the principles in practice. For beginners, do you recommend we focus on application of the principles on a small set of postures (say the first 5) and do our best to get these down first with good principles or learn as much of the rough choreography quickly and practice principles as we go along? So question is to focus on depth (applying principles) or breath (learning form)?
@@CenterLifeBalance Hey Colin. I've been practicing the first movement of this posture a fair bit (the horizontal alignment with the toes when stepping out). What seemed to help me a lot in terms of getting a sense of where my foot will land and if my feet will align is separating the step into two components (down and then across) and then practicing again in one movement (diagonally across).
Thanks for sharing this. I was looking into Tai Chi for my 90 year old father as a form of exercise/balance/falls prevention - this helps & also inspired me too! Cheers & keep up the good work!
One of the things we develop in tai chi is called rooting . It is connection to the ground through balance and relaxation. Tai Chi strengthens the legs more than anything else . Tai chi is excellent for fall protection. Standing meditation is good. Thank you for sharing.
Great to see all the new videos! I hadn't checked your videos for a couple of months; I love that you're breaking the tai chi down step by step. By the way, the title of the video is spelled correctly, except that the thumbnail reads "Preperation".
You can breath in before you step out and breath out as you transfer weight. Breath in and out a couple of times if you like, then breath in as the hands come up and breath out as you press down, then keep that pace through the from. This is not a position to be "held" rather the movements should continue one into another in a continuous flowing motion.
Hi thank you for sharing. Like any type of resistance training it is advisable to warm up the joints that you are going to be using before you train. After that I would recommend not going too deep in the beginning. I've been doing tai chi for about 13 years and it has taken a long time for me to progress to lower stances. There are also other factors to consider such as correct hip knee foot alignment, if the alignment is out this can result in pain. Another issue can be tension in the knees which stop the weight from sinking into the foot, you should feel the balance spread evenly across the sole of both feet. Stiffness in the body (tension) of course results in pain after training. You need to be able to discern between good pain and damaging pain. Tai chi is hard on the knees, but it makes them strong, if trained correctly. It's difficult to give specific advice without seeing your movements for myself. You could practice with wall squats to increase leg strength in a controlled way. This is also a good way to warm up the legs. I hope some of this helps. Take care with your training. 🙏
For me its not a kind of pressing into the ground, but a kind of torsion, you screw force into the ground… spiralled in and out. If you screw in, your knee-joint cannot drift out. Sorry, I‘m german. My english….
Yes for sure. I used to have anxiety and panic attacks. Tai chi and qigong complete removed these symptoms from my life. Try these exercises to help get the energy flowing and to encourage relaxation- th-cam.com/video/d7DyiB9iMyY/w-d-xo.html And after you warm up do this qigong set to help calm the body and mind. th-cam.com/video/MH3KVjnlly8/w-d-xo.html - how often you practice makes a big difference. I did both of these routines about twice a day for around 6 months, not only did my symptoms disappear, but I began to experience many pleasant sensation throughout the body. To get heat into the body will take time and practice. The breathing issues should resolve first. Try to find a local teacher if you can they will help guide you. Hope that serves you and thanks for reaching out 🙏
I never learned this on another channel….you are a great teacher!
Your videos are great mate. I’ve been doing taijiquan for about 5 years and you’re one of the best I’ve seen online at breaking things down and explaining in a friendly no nonsense way that’s super easy to understand. You’ve helped fix a couple of things for me as well as confirmed I’m on the right path with various technical details. Cheers again!
Thank you so much I appreciate the feedback! 🙏
Thanks for the guide. A few questions on Preparation Stance:
1. Stepping out. When placing left toes onto ground, how do we best 'feel'/know if feet are aligned horizontally without looking? Or is this something that will just come with practice as we get better sense of if our body alignment?
2. Stepping out. After left toes are placed onto ground - when/how do you shift ~50% of the body weight into left side? Is it like a two part movement, foot down first, then shift? Or is it done together (shifting weight progressively as foot goes down)?
3. Hands up & shoulders sinking down. Does this include sinking of centre and knees slightly as well? Or is just the shoulders?
4. Hands sinking down. Are hands going down straight vertically or is this a slightly circular inwards towards the body?
5. Sinking with the knees / whole body. Is this initiated from the centre/waist area which results in the knees sinking or is it initiated from the knees?
Cheers,
Week 1 Beginner
Hi Victor. RE horizontal alignment this comes only with time and practice. As the heel come down weight is already beginning to transfer as it must. Weight continues to transfer after foot is flat but basically no stopping. The body should always be sunk, but shoulder sinking down as hands come up is something I found helpful to avoid shoulders coming up, but it is not important. Use the idea of it helps you stay relaxed. Arms must begin to bend as and with the bending knees, otherwise we will be out of proportion. Center leads always. This is a principle. Along with the principe of relaxation these are the only 2 principles you will need to improve your taiji. How correct is any movement? Run it through these principles.. ie have I maintained relaxation in the movement? Is my Center leading the movement or at least is my Center included in the movement. I think this will help you. 🙏
@@CenterLifeBalance Thanks Colin. Reinforcing the principles with examples like you gave really help. There's so much information out there that sometimes I find it difficult to distil (a) what's important and (b) how to apply the principles in practice.
For beginners, do you recommend we focus on application of the principles on a small set of postures (say the first 5) and do our best to get these down first with good principles or learn as much of the rough choreography quickly and practice principles as we go along? So question is to focus on depth (applying principles) or breath (learning form)?
@@CenterLifeBalance Hey Colin. I've been practicing the first movement of this posture a fair bit (the horizontal alignment with the toes when stepping out). What seemed to help me a lot in terms of getting a sense of where my foot will land and if my feet will align is separating the step into two components (down and then across) and then practicing again in one movement (diagonally across).
Thanks for sharing this. I was looking into Tai Chi for my 90 year old father as a form of exercise/balance/falls prevention - this helps & also inspired me too! Cheers & keep up the good work!
One of the things we develop in tai chi is called rooting . It is connection to the ground through balance and relaxation. Tai Chi strengthens the legs more than anything else . Tai chi is excellent for fall protection. Standing meditation is good. Thank you for sharing.
Great to see all the new videos! I hadn't checked your videos for a couple of months; I love that you're breaking the tai chi down step by step. By the way, the title of the video is spelled correctly, except that the thumbnail reads "Preperation".
CathalBui thank you for checking in much appreciation for the feedback. Good pickup on the thumbnail I hadn’t noticed 🙏 thanks again for the support 😊
Super tq make more
I’m new and subscribed 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🇦🇺
How many seconds u need to keep this stance. Please tell me Breathing process from beginning.
Thank u
You can breath in before you step out and breath out as you transfer weight. Breath in and out a couple of times if you like, then breath in as the hands come up and breath out as you press down, then keep that pace through the from. This is not a position to be "held" rather the movements should continue one into another in a continuous flowing motion.
Hello, love your guides but i hurt my knees a bit after the bended leg position, anything can i do to ease that pain?
Hi thank you for sharing. Like any type of resistance training it is advisable to warm up the joints that you are going to be using before you train. After that I would recommend not going too deep in the beginning. I've been doing tai chi for about 13 years and it has taken a long time for me to progress to lower stances. There are also other factors to consider such as correct hip knee foot alignment, if the alignment is out this can result in pain. Another issue can be tension in the knees which stop the weight from sinking into the foot, you should feel the balance spread evenly across the sole of both feet. Stiffness in the body (tension) of course results in pain after training. You need to be able to discern between good pain and damaging pain. Tai chi is hard on the knees, but it makes them strong, if trained correctly. It's difficult to give specific advice without seeing your movements for myself. You could practice with wall squats to increase leg strength in a controlled way. This is also a good way to warm up the legs. I hope some of this helps. Take care with your training. 🙏
Yes. I was concerned about injuring my already achy knees.
For me its not a kind of pressing into the ground, but a kind of torsion, you screw force into the ground… spiralled in and out.
If you screw in, your knee-joint cannot drift out. Sorry, I‘m german. My english….
I have allergy problem that effects my breathing and I get the cold all the time,will any of this help?
Yes for sure. I used to have anxiety and panic attacks. Tai chi and qigong complete removed these symptoms from my life. Try these exercises to help get the energy flowing and to encourage relaxation-
th-cam.com/video/d7DyiB9iMyY/w-d-xo.html
And after you warm up do this qigong set to help calm the body and mind.
th-cam.com/video/MH3KVjnlly8/w-d-xo.html - how often you practice makes a big difference. I did both of these routines about twice a day for around 6 months, not only did my symptoms disappear, but I began to experience many pleasant sensation throughout the body. To get heat into the body will take time and practice. The breathing issues should resolve first. Try to find a local teacher if you can they will help guide you. Hope that serves you and thanks for reaching out 🙏
Moving hands down to the “ ????” what is that you are referring to? Should I know what the height of the Dante M or N ?
To the height of the Dan Tian/Center. It's the most important point in taiji to be aware of, to feel, and to move from. 🙏
❤
TNX :)