Tai Chi Chuan

A community portal about Tai Chi Chuan with blogs, videos, and photos. According to Wikipedia.org: Tai Chi Chuan, T'ai Chi Ch'üan or Taijiquan, commonly known as Tai Chi, T'ai Chi, or Taiji, is an internal Chinese martial art. There are different styles of T'ai Chi Ch'üan, although most agree they are all based on the system originally taught by the Chen family to the Yang family starting in 1820. It is often promoted and practiced as a martial arts therapy for the purposes of health and longevity, sometimes even to the point of being taught exclusively as an exercise technique ignoring martial applications entirely. T'ai Chi Ch'üan is considered a soft style martial art, an art applied with deep relaxation or "softness" in the musculature as possible, to distinguish its theory and application from that of the hard martial art styles which use a degree of tension in the muscles.

Write an Article

RSS

Michael Gilman: Taiji Inner Secrets

Written by dojorat on

From: dojorat.blogspot.com

I just got back from another great weekend workshop with our Tai Chi Chuan instructor Michael Gilman. This class was on what he calls "The Inner Journey", and delves into the hidden ways of movement that make for really great Tai Chi Chuan.
Michael explains things in great detail, and this is the second of an eight-part series.
In Tai Chi Chuan, the power is generated from "the root". In this video, Michael explains the importance of "gathering" to the inside of the foot and "releasing"(energy) from the outside of the foot and the heel. This is the key to success in rooting and stability in grappling arts. Taiji players that push hands (and other arts) will benefit from this series.
So many people mindlessly practice their forms with no clue to proper structure, let alone proper application. A good instructor that can explain the subtleties of a complex art like Tai Chi Chuan is a rare find, and our Dojo has a lot to thank for Michael's patient instruction and deep knowledge of the art.

You can see Michael Gilman's website at this link

Previous Article Next Article