How to step. It’s a much more conscious process than walking: Feet together Bend knees slightly Bending even more, start to extend a...

Intention. Nothing much happens without intention. Creation ceases.  The driving force is lost. Our entire lives are directed by our...

The headache. I awoke with a headache a few months ago.  Still lying in bed, I tried to relax the area where I could feel the tension...

You breathe (hopefully).  Maybe you breathe efficiently, maybe you don’t, but in order to live you obviously need both an ‘in’ and an...

In both in taiji and in qigong there is often the need to raise the knee, either to kick, or perhaps as an exercise for the pelvis, or...

Don’t think about it…  Try lifting your arm sideways. ‘Recruiting’ Almost everyone will have involved both the shoulder & neck....

Whilst teaching, I’ve noticed that people do a number of unusual things when turning their heads. Some tilt one ear nearer the shoulder...

Energy Energy is flow; without flow there is no energy.  A shortage of energy is therefore partly about a lack of flow … i.e. partial...

In the majority of my classes I teach some qigong as a warm-up. I do this for a number of reasons:- to introduce the various different...

Continuing … the next point from Blog 1 … Partner-work explains the differing uses of the torso and limbs – i.e. the ‘units’ of...

Continuing … the next point from Blog 1 … What’s the point of 2-person work? To understand our own stability is obvious when we’re...

Continuing … from the previous blog … What’s the point of 2-person work? We are taught that tai chi should be comfortable and relaxed ,...

Two-person exercises cause a problem for many tai chi practitioners. Some don’t like touching other people, some get frustrated because...

From a standing position: 1) Suck in your abdominal muscles, (thereby connecting the upper thigh to the torso). 2) When you can, draw...

Balancing the body When performing tai chi and qigong, you need to organise your body so that it feels as though all aspects of the body...

I first started teaching tai chi & qigong in about 1990.  Back then, not so many people knew what tai chi was, and even fewer knew...

The Balance Problem in Certain Tai Chi & Qigong Moves I’ve often noticed when teaching the Yang 24 that balance in certain movements...

Sinking to Move (1) was about sinking the qi from the waist downwards. Sinking to Move (2) is about connecting the upper body to the...

The classics say: “ Head upright to let the shen [spirit of vitality] rise to the top of the head. Don’t use Li [external strength], or...

‘Balance’ in taiji One of the aspect of taiji is to allow ‘freedom of movement’, so that the body never inhibits itself. ‘Freedom of...