The Taijiquan & Qi Gong Dictionary

Angelika Fritz , Taijiquan practitioner and Blogger at qialance has compiled a Taijiquan & Qi Gong Dictionary.

It is the result of a lot of research into terminology and meaning. It is, as she says, by no means a definitive work. Rather it is a work in progress. And isn't that just true of our own Tai Chi practise?

There are lots of terms I wasn't familiar with but I was delighted to find He Gu (Hu Kou) included. My late teacher John Kells taught that this was linked to the Root and was important in pushing hands.

It would be interesting if in a future edition there were also illustrations. All in all this is a nice little reference volume and I enjoyed reading through it.

It's available in the UK on Amazon - click here

John's Walking Meditation

John Kells spent a lot of time doing, for want of a better word, meditation whilst walking. He repeated a number of phrases or "blessings" as he called them.

This is one that he and I did. Although he changed it later I have found this one beneficial for me in terms of energy. You visualise the area for each phrase.

Walk in a circle. You move from the Sacrum. The hands are held with some life in them, not limp.

1/ Ancestors merge with destiny  ( Here the energy is visualised entering at the ming men point and connecting to the area of the temples.

2/ Thymus   ( attention on the Thymus chakra)

3/ Soul     ( the lingtai point between the shoulder blades )

4/ Sacred Bowl  ( the Throat chakra )

5/ Spleen   (awareness to the spleen )

6/ Liver (awareness to the Liver )

7/ Kidneys  (awareness tot he Kidneys )

8/ Heel (awareness to the heel )

9/ Aum or Om Say x 3 -three steps for this ( this is the Xiphoid process at the lower part of the sternum)


This will seem odd at first but after a while it becomes very energising.

Its Not Magic, its True”: Cheng Man Ching And His Method

This is a very interesting article by Don Ethan Miller about Cheng Man Ching's Tai Chi.

The article can be read here

Micromastery

Micromastery and learning the correct way is a pertinent post from the author Robert Twigger's blog. I've mentioned him before as the author of Angry White Pyjamas as part of my favourite books.

It is about learning your way as opposed to what he terms the "Official Way" by remaining relaxed, open and experimental.

The full post can be read here and his book on Micromastery should be out this month.

Back to Basics PT.2.

This is a great clip with some good training exercises by my friend Bob Fermor, a real martial artist with whom I've enjoyed some great pushing hands sessions.