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T'ai Chi Ch'üan
T'ai Chi Ch'üan Form T'ai Chi Dance T'ai Chi Sword T'ai Chi Stick T'ai Chi Silk Tao Yin and Yang Chi
T'ai Chi Ch'üan Form
The main emphasis in Lee style T'ai Chi is on relaxation
and health. The student is taken through a process with nine distinct stages,
each level can only be accessed once the previous one has been completed.
The class begins with some warming up exercises followed by deep breathing
which starts to activate the internal energy. You then learn some movements
from the T'ai Chi Dance which is a flowing form designed to stimulate
the energy at the start of the session. This may be followed by a variety
of exercises which help you to learn how to apply the energy and Taoist
principles to everyday situations. One such exercise called sticky hands
encourages people to interact with each other in a non aggressive way even
when under pressure. As you develop you will also learn the T'ai Chi
Form which is a more concentrated and meditative series of flowing movements.
T'ai Chi Dance
T'ai Chi Dance is not a dance as most Westerners would imagine it. It is not normally performed to music but it can be. Unlike T'ai Chi Sword which is
based on the 'order of the universe' and the phenomena within it, T'ai Chi Dance has its foundations in the Five Elements and Li energy, the general directions of the flow
of these, and their respective colours.
Foot, leg and body movements, balance and graceful flow take first priority in T'ai Chi Dance. Concentration on the complete harmony of movement is absolutely essential if the subtlety
of the postures and stances are to be achieved correctly.
T'ai Chi Dance is a beautiful tapestry of motion, gentle in its flow, graceful in its execution, and creating an air of complete tranquility. Motion and
stillness are a wonderful balance to each other.
T'ai Chi Sword
T'ai Chi Sword (T'ai Chi Chien) is an extension of T'ai Chi. Greater mental concentration is required to retain complete
control of the arms, wrists and hands, while maintaining perfect balance, especially in a few sequences where the whole body makes a complete whirl to demonstrate
the 'order of the universe'.
The sword form consists of 216 movements and has no straight lines. Movements are performed in circular motion, with excellent
balance and perfect uyilisation of the body in the movement from one stance to the next in a gentle and continuous flow.
These movements enrich bodily health, and can eventually eliminate all stress and strain. Whilst outwardly there is great
physical activity, inwardly there is peace and tranquility, a perfect balance of Yin and Yang. This balance enables us to become one
with ourselves, and such an integral part of our everyday life, that this harmony can also protect us like a shield.
T'ai Chi Stick
Like the other components of T'ai Chi, T'ai Chi Stick, which comprises 270 movements, is an integral part of a complete art. It
can only be mastered after long and dedicated practice with expert guidance, for it too contains deep essences.
Very few schools teach T'ai Chi Sword, T'ai Chi Stick and T'ai Chi Dance, but all of these are taught in our Taoist Arts, for they represent our
links with Taoist antiquity, and keep us in touch with our ancient Masters.
T'ai Chi Silk
T'ai Chi Silk is another sequence of movements carried out using a long piece of silk. It is a beautiful
'dance', yet contains the practicalities of a defensive art.
Tao
The Way that can be named is not the real Way."
'Nuf said
Yin and Yang
Yin and Yang are the 2 aspects of the Tao. Like 2 complementary opposites, they are an intrinsic part of
each other and cannot exist without each other. As aspects of the Tao, they can be thought of as archetypes, or the 2 basic properties of the Tao.
Yin represents femininity, dark, cold, softness, withdrawal, internal and night. Yang represents masculinity, light, heat, hardness, external and day. Yin is not better than Yang and Yang is
not better than Yin. They are interdependent. Furthermore, there is always some Yin in Yang, and some Yang in Yin. Yang can easily become Yin, Yin can easily
become Yang. Deep, huh?
Yin and Yang literally mean "dark side" and "sunny side" of a hill. They are mentioned for the first time in the Hsi tz'u, or "Appended Explanations"
(c. 4th century BC), an appendix to the I Ching (Classic of Changes): "One [time] Yin, one [time] Yang, this is the Tao." Yin and Yang are two
complementary, interdependent principles or phases alternating in space and time; they are emblems evoking the harmonious interplay of all pairs
of opposites in the universe. First conceived by musicians, astronomers, or diviners and then propagated by a school that came to be named after
them, Yin and Yang became the common stock of all Chinese philosophy. The Taoist treatise, The Huai-nan-tzu (book of "Master Huai-nan")
describes how the one "Primordial Breath" (yüan ch'i) split into the light ethereal Yang breath, which formed Heaven; and the heavier, cruder
Yin breath, which formed Earth. The diversifications and interactions of Yin and Yang produced the Ten Thousand Beings.
The warm breath of Yang accumulated to produce fire, the essence of which formed the sun. The cold breath of Yin accumulated to produce
water, the essence of which became the moon.
Chi
Chi is the life force, an intrinsic energy built into the universe.
Yin and Yang are often referred to as two "breaths". Ch'i means air, breath, or vapour--originally the vapour arising from cooking cereals. It also
came to mean a cosmic energy. The Primordial Breath is a name of the chaos (state of Unity) in which the original life force is not yet diversified
into the phases that the concepts Yin and Yang describe.
There are many types of Chi, but they are essentially
one and the same. It is this energy we generate and utilise in T'ai Chi. It is the stuff that keeps us alive.
Chi is stimulated through the energy meridians and it can be stored in
the Tan Tien which is a region in the lower abdomen just below the
navel. With more practise this store of energy overflows and starts to work
its way through the whole body right down to the bones. This process helps
to regenerate any damaged tissues in the body and so it can aid recovery
from disease and slow down the aging process.
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