There is an old Taoist saying, “The teacher leads you to the gate, but only you, by your own effort, can pass through.” I would like to talk about what it means to ‘master’ tai chi and if that is even possible. Chi (qi) practices are as important and...
Tai chi can be used as a powerful form of Taoist moving meditation, which starts with balancing the emotions—that is, the emotional energy body. Tai chi can also be practiced to acquire martial arts skill and as a health system. The latter is what you might see people...
How do you go from Tai Chi student to Tai Chi teacher? The transition from being a tai chi practitioner to a tai chi teacher or certified instructor can take lots of time and practice. Anything that has any depth usually does. Add to that the esoteric or spiritual...
Traditionally, Tai Chi and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) were connected and used in tandem in order to treat patients in China. From the perspective of Traditional Chinese Medicine you can say there are two levels of healing injury, illness and diseases. The...
There is no Western equivalent to the master/disciple system in China that provides students with the achievement levels of their teachers and teachers with criteria for advancing their students. We have instituted our own rigorous certification system to fill that...
By Brian Cooper I began teaching in 1989 and still have many students who started with me back then. These long-term students have not found any problem practicing on a regular basis and that’s probably why they are long-term students. In more recent times many...
