Category Archives: martial arts
Centering
Centering, like other combat training exercises in Taijiquan, should not be practiced as though it were an end in itself. Always keep in mind that it is a step in a progression to building skills in Taijiquan fighting. When I … Continue reading
Who controls your life?
Master Yang often asks, “Do you control your life or does your life control you?” I think that for most people the answer isn’t either or but a question of degree. I think that there are some people that have … Continue reading
Taiji Cane
During the past two years I have been developing a Taiji Cane program for Qi Elements Taijiquan curriculum. We have been teaching Taiji Saber for a while, but our saber lacked foundation. I have to admit to a serious prejudice … Continue reading
Regulating the Spirit: Moderation in attachments
If you want to build up and maintain a calm and steady spirit, it is a common tenet of philosophy that you have to avoid attachment to the things of the world. This is why monks retreat from society and … Continue reading
Regulating the Spirit
If you wish to maintain a calm and steady spirit, you must embrace the fact that the world moves in cycles of growth and decay. The cycles may last days, years, centuries or millennia, but they are inevitable and unavoidable. … Continue reading
Alertness and Awareness
My master often mentions the principles of alertness and awareness when he talks about martial spirit. As an assistant Scoutmaster, I stressed the same ideas to the Scouts. What I observe, however, is that many of us in the human … Continue reading
Who are you?
Some people want to gain others’ respect, so they take out a mortgage and buy a big house. Since they can’t take their big house with them when they step outside, they take out another loan and buy a fancy … Continue reading
Mutual Resistance and Double Weighting
The Taiji classics warn against creating a situation of mutual resistance, also called, less clearly, double weighting. What is mutual resistance? A simple illustration would be when in pushing hands one partner is pushing and the other is responding with … Continue reading
Change in Second Sunday Class Format
We tried something new with our 2-3 PM Sunday class today. Instead of devoting the whole hour to Qin Na, we worked on techniques from all four categories of applications: Qin Na (joint locking), Da (hand and elbow strikes), Ti … Continue reading
Comparison and Competition
American culture can be very competitive. Advertising media, to take just one example, constantly entice you to compare yourself to others and to acquire newer, flashier or more expensive things to catch up and get ahead of others. There … Continue reading
