In Taiji, the waist is a key body part that controls and move the entire body. The waist turns which in turn move the hands. As the waist turns, the body weight shift between the legs. All these comes together as one movement. Imagine the waist is like a steering wheel.
When you start to use the waist to move the hands in your Taiji practice, you begin to feel the flow and the joy of doing Taiji. Chan Si Jin or known as Silk Reeling provide the practice needed to use the waist to move the hands and shift the weigh. Constantly practicing the Silk Reeling helps one to improve their Taiji. Here's an example of the Chan Si Jin practice
I have seen many students who gave up after one or two months of learning. Reasons given such as no time to learn, too slow and could not remember the steps. The book was writeen in 1990's and the author must have seen the same problem. So if you are just starting Taiji, be patient, focus and have a good time.
Recently I came across a forum on Taiji. There was an interesting discussion on whether the use of music during Taiji practice is appropriate. Some felt that the use of music was distracting and they could not focus on their steps while other found that it helps them to relax and enjoy the Taiji movement.
Each has their own preferences and I personally feel that using of music in Taiji practice is good. Why? Here's my thoughts.
- Music provides relaxation to the mind. With the right music played during practice, I felt my movement is more graceful and beautiful.
- Yes music can be a distraction but that what Taiji is all about – Concentration. Music acts as a background enhancer to our movement but the mind must not be distracted by it. Doing Taiji requires concentration to execute all the movement steps. I find this a very good practice to focus my mind and concentrate.
- Music brings in the joy and fun factor to learn Taiji. With music, I find doing Taiji with the just hands or weapons fun, enjoyable and relaxing. It becomes very interesting trying to find for music to match the type of Taiji you are doing.
Well, as I said, each has their own preferences and reasons. So what’s yours? :-)
Taiji also strengthen muscles around the body and this helps my wife to have less ankle sprain. The Taiji movement requires the foot to move from left to right which exercise the ankle and increase the muscle strength around the ankle.
Recently I have been traveling quite a lot, working late and doing little Taiji. Well, back to my regular Taiji practice.... :-)
I started to learn Taiji by chance. My wife was enrolling for a Yoga class but happens that the class was full. At that same time, she saw a banner advertising enrolment for Traditional Yang Style 108 steps Taiji class and she got interested. I was asked to join her but I did not really wanted as I always thought that Taiji was more for the elderly and the exercise was too slow to break any sweat. In the end I enrolled, learned and became an avid practitioner for the last seven years. Why the sudden change?
Secondly from health aspect, I found that I fall sick less and healthier. I thought that Taiji don’t break sweat and I was proven wrong. When I finished the 108 steps movement, my shirt was drenched. My wife health has also improved especially her weak ankle. She used to sprain her ankle but after going through Taiji, she had strengthened her ankle. Taiji improve health and I began to read, search and understand how and why Taiji can improve health.
Lastly, the class itself was a fun where the students became friends, and teacher becomes our mentor and friend. Every Sunday in the morning, we will gather at the Sports Centre, do our Taiji and have an enjoyable breakfast after that. This is life… :-)
Welcome to my blog. This is the first time I am creating and posting in blog and hence wanted to focus on a topic that I have lots of interest in – which is Yang style Taiji. I hope to share with everyone in the area of how Taiji can improve health, for self-defence and just general information about Yang style Taiji.