Laughing Monk Tai Chi

Visiting the Terracotta Army, ascending Mount Huashan (given the weather terrible view) and then watching a Chen Taiji school practicing beside the Xian City Museum. I can highly recommend the experience, though all the better by using a private tour. Then on to Hong Kong and Thailand making more wonderful memories.

There’s that famous quote ‘I know all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order’. One of the great things about learning different forms is that they make you approach the same postures but from a different angle or perspective, thus challenging your ability to really transition into those postures.

Finding a great place to practice only to suffer the noise when the local circuit training class starts to set up. Hence the music. It was so nice though to practice brush the knee and push it such a picturesque location.

I’m not a professional Taiji practitioner, I do have a day life, including ‘full time’ grandpa one day a week. So when it gets to time for a nap? That doesn’t include me. Now I can practice with my imaginary sword.

In the last couple of years I’ve become a grandfather, got married (second time) and moved house. Scope then (you’d think) for plenty of stress and anxiety. Not wrong there! And at times, as we all know, anxiety can become overwhelming.

Recently I’d lost my focus due to a particular issue. And it wasn’t one that was going to fix itself quickly. I felt the need to practice my Taiji. It wasn’t going to fix my problem but I needed a break from my ‘monkey mind’.

Fortunately I know the Yang long form, which takes me around 20 minutes. I know that Taiji requires discipline and mental focus. I know that Taiji binds the body and mind.

All I can say is that after three rotations of the form my worries hadn’t gone and were no less challenging, but I’d found my balance. I couldn’t escape the idea that Taiji had reordered my mind and settled my perspective.

Selecting a specific move and working on it. Thinking through how all parts of the body move, synchronising, and never forgetting to ‘lift the crown’, ‘relax the shoulders’ and ‘release the tension’.

Refine your practice by building a repeating training routine. Being in that space allows you to work on each part of the body until everything becomes instinct.

Even though you think you are practicing slowly, take your time to be in the moment of each step. No matter how slow you step it is control that maters, shifting your weight and balance at the right moment. Never forget, it may only be the one step, but there’s an awful lot going on in that step. So take the time to get it right!!

qigong