In Tai Chi and in Qigong, it is not uncommon to have to turn and step at 90º to the left or right. This is where balance, good posture, and leg strength become very important. Falling into a step. What tends to happen when stepping to the left or right is that people tend to 'fall' into the new step, they do not step under control. This means that, for the briefest of moments, just before the stepping foot arrives on the ground, they are falling and therefore unable to sto

"The relationship between sōng (松, release/relaxation) and qì (氣, vital energy) is one of the most fundamental principles in Taijiquan. They aren’t separate—sōng is the condition that allows qì to manifest, circulate, and be directed." (Courtesy of AI). To put it into more tangible terms, if you are tense either physically, mentally, or emotionally, or all three, your tissues contract. When you've been outside in very cold weather and you come indoors. Your bo

I have recently had plantar fasciitis – the second time I’ve experienced it. The first time, the acupuncturist managed to get rid of it in 3 weeks, and the current version seems to be taking longer, but now seems to be disappearing very slowly after about 6 weeks. This time was a bit worse, but I’ve found the unpleasant experience to be a good learning curve, and I’ve gleaned some good ways of dealing with the problem. Plantar Fasciitis seems to be very common, so if you ha

When pushed, you have a choice: 1) Do you allow the energy of that push to meet its target (in this case probably the point on your spine that is level with the arms of the person pushing)? 2) Do you redirect that energy to where YOU want it to go? If the latter, then how do you do it?

Everything is energy Everything is Energy. There is nothing other than energy, and it vibrates at different rates to form different shapes, but whatever shape it creates, it is still energy. A stone will vibrate slower than anything mobile, and the rate of vibration in mobile objects will be determined by its state of consciousness. Every part of us consists of energy vibrating at different rates; the bones will be slower than the skin, the skin will be slower than the body

It’s impossible to jump off the floor without first of all bending your knees and sinking into the ground. The implication of this is that

I've noticed that, when I have a 'plan' -  I'm in one place and I want to drive somewhere else several miles away, I feel as though ...

I come across a large percentage of people who suffer from cold hands and/or cold feet.  This doesn’t seem to be restricted to any age group

We could describe an ‘unpleasant event’ as something that happens to us that we perceive that we don’t want. There are many correlations ...

I know a lot of people who, when they hurt themselves, just wait for the problem to get better.  Sometimes this will work, but often it sets

Nowadays I find it strange that, when I was first learning in the 70s and 80s, no one ever explained this; but maybe I just didn't hear it..