My Favourite Books

Not a Tai Chi book but I like to read widely and this one caught my interest.

Ki and the Way of the Martial Arts by Kenji Tokitsu is about cultivating inner strength.

The book looks at the importance of developing Ki ( Qi or Chi), capturing the opponents mind and understanding the spatial relationship in combat. Whilst written from a Japanese Budo perspective there is a lot of useful information for the Tai Chi practitioner.

Never Be a Teacher

This is a good quote from " The Art of Life and Death"

"Never be a teacher. When you are a teacher, your budo dies. Always be a student and never think you are good."

I always try to keep this in mind.

Running Thunder Fist

Spiritual Progress

I remember talking to John Kells, my late teacher, about spiritual progress. This must have been around 1983 and we were sitting in the basement room in the Tai Chi centre in Upper Wimpole Street.

He told me that whilst many talk about spiritual progress and comparing it to going up a mountain, in fact, we are all already at the top of the mountain.

To make spiritual progress, we just need to take a step off the top of the mountain peak.

Can you?

What makes practice, Practice?

Lovely article from Embrace the Moon website, embracethemoon

Read about what makes practice, practice here

Excellent Preparation Exercises

Open Close

A little bit about Open /Close or Kai / He from traditional Sun style Taijiquan.  You find this 13 times in the form. It feels as if it gives you a moment to gather your energy amidst the form. All errors are mine!