Staying Calm and Loving Yourself

Here is some great advice from Geoff Thompson. I've read quite a few of his books and I have found "Warrior" to be really helpful.

Sensitive and Soft

All too often pushing hands degenerates into some kind of wrestling match.

Just watch tournament clips on Youtube.

If you let the other person land their energy on you they can find your centre. The arms are like feelers, receptive, ready to guide.

This picture from John Kells' Heartwork blog embodies that quality.

Spidershed Guitars

On a different note one of my good Tai Chi friends has started up a business making resonator guitars.

If you are interested, checkout:  http://spidershedguitars.com/

They are brilliant!

Having Fun

Me and Andy Spragg messing about during a tai chi weekend.

See  www.re-vitalise.co.uk


I think I know the way out of this technique...........er.......:)

The Arms

When issuing energy, the arms are like wet towels.

The energy is issued from the body, not using local strength in the arms..

You work on this in your form. The arms follow the changes in the body and legs. They are like elephants trunks.

Relax into the Feet

Ch'eng Man Ch'ing writes in his Thirteen Chapters that the weight of the Body should rest on just one foot.

Otherwise you are double weighted (Although I think that double weightedness is also a state of mind).

But when practising my form I watch for tension and where it is being held, trying to let it dissolve so my energy can sink down to my feet.

When I first started learning Tai Chi one of the more advanced students also told me to relax the soles of the feet so there was no resistance to the ground.

How do you work on this?