Tai Chi Program

---

     The Internal Arts refers to the side of martial arts that focuses on healing and internal (body, mind, soul) cultivation.  Tai Chi is most commonly known in the west, but it is only a part of everything the "Yin" or softer side encompasses.  Chi or Qi is the energy flow through our body that communicates, repairs, and gives energy to our organs, mind, and body.  

Mindfulness  - The first level is mindfulness or cultivating awareness of our bodies, our minds, and our environment.  We do this in all aspects of martial arts but on the most important and basic level is through Meditation and Qi Gong.  You may have felt this awareness when you have practiced Tai Chi or felt threatened and even in a flow state of mind when everything works and you feel truly inspired.  Several breathing and meditation techniques were designed to cultivate this on the most basic level so that you may practice this with ease and comfort.  Mindfulness improves everything you do from improving health to relationships to enjoying your everyday life.

Meditation and Qi Gong - Meditation can be practiced sitting with simple breathing and mind exercises and gradullay added to standing, walking, and eventually doing forms.  Qi Gong adds these mind and breathing techniques to simple movements designed to work indifferent areas of the body for different healing and cultivation techniques.  Eventually meditation and qi gong are a part of every movement you do including the Tai Chi forms to weapons, to sparring.

Tai Chi - Tai Chi has become known in the West as slow moving forms that improve mobility and strength for the elderly.  It is true that Tai Chi is medicine but that is because the young don't often understand the power of Tai Chi.  Tai Chi is more than the simple forms you know.  There are many different styles of Tai Chi as well as hundreds of forms, weapons, and even sparring.  Tai Chi is  "Meditation in Motion" as it takes the foundations of Qi Gong and Meditation to be adapted into healing and qi cultivation.  It directly translates to "Grand Ultimate Fist" and is thought to be the most healing and yet, most deadly art in the world.  

I Chin Ching - means "Classic Muscle Tendon Change" and it is a series of exercises designed to strengthen the the tendons and ligaments within the growth of your musculature.  This is taught as a specialty class in our schools as it provides a workout that is very specific to each student.  Many students enjoy this class repetitively as they learn how to grow and improve their bodies with balance.  Much like some of the postures in Yoga, I Chin Ching was brought to the temples by Bodhidharma centuries ago and taught to the monks because they kept falling asleep during meditation.  Though meditation is the foundation of the Internal Arts, it is very hard to master is the body is not strong enough to handle it.  The mind works directly with the body and cannot be separated.  Just as overworking the body can lead to injury, the mind is not strong with a weak body.   We often add many of these postures in our regular  Tai Chi classes but watch out for the full class when it comes around.

Ba Gua - This style used to be taught later on in a students journey, and it is hard to find, but Grandmaster decided that it was important to learn earlier on in the students journey.  This is most often done in a circle and uses the twisting motion of the body to strengthen and cultivate this internal body power source.  These forms are very beautiful and the footwork is veryhelpful with balance, posture, and joint health.

Hsing I Chuan - Hsing I can often be mistaken for an External Art as it strengthens muscles and has explosive power.   Done correctly, Hsing I works with the alignment of the skeleton with the Earth and harnesses power without large movements of the big muscle groups.  It mimics the elements of metal, fire, water, earth, and wood as well as. many animal movements.  Legend says that the Hsing I masters were imprisoned in chains and had to find ways to train their bodies with small movements that generated a great deal of power.  These forms can generate a lot of energy and internal power.