Название: Open the Door to Tai Chi . . Tai Chi for the Everyday PersonАвтор: Dianne Bailey CSCS
Издательство: LifeLong Conditioning, LLC
Год: 2016
Страниц: 106
Язык: английский
Формат: pdf (true)
Размер: 14.2 MB
The benefits of Tai Chi are numerous and should be available to the Everyday Person. Dianne Bailey will help you "open the door" and begin to understand the basics of Tai Chi and how learning it can help you improve the quality of your everyday life. This simple, easy to read book focuses on the basics and underlying principles of the Yang Style 24 short form and highlights the personal stories of "everyday people" who have benefited from Tai Chi.
In short, Tai Chi is a martial art. It began as a fighting style just like what you think of when you see movies with ninjas and Kung Fu fighters. The history of Tai Chi goes back hundreds of years to the 5th century as a Buddhist monk observed that Shaolin priests were neglecting their bodies through too much meditation and fasting. He taught them simple moves to strengthen their physical bodies. Move forward several centuries and several figures who may be more legend than reality, to Chen Wangting who lived from 1580-1660. Chen was trained in the military and developed a fighting style from his observations of the Shaolin. The Chen family developed and practiced Tai Chi as a fighting martial art for another hundred years.
For the everyday person, learning the 24 or Short Form is perfect because you can join in when you see people practicing Tai Chi in a park. It also doesn’t take long to understand the individual moves. But don’t underestimate this martial art! As you learn the 24 form, remember that it is based in the Yang long form and is much more complex than you might think. It is not a horizontal learning event, but rather a vertical learning event. What I mean by this is that you don’t continue to learn more and more different moves. Instead, you learn 24 moves and then begin to learn how to incorporate different principles such as rotation, grounding and energy flow to those 24 moves. Studying Tai Chi can be a lifetime pursuit!
Learning the moves is the first level of learning. You must figure out where your hands go and your feet move. That’s okay! The basis of Tai Chi is regulating the body. You must learn how to do the moves first. Then you can move on to understanding how to incorporate the principles of columns, rotation, being rooted and grounded, relaxation, substantial and insubstantial, and others. You will also begin to understand the martial arts application of these moves and how to breathe with each one. We will discuss each of these principles and how to incorporate them into your practice later.
Tai Chi is a flow of moves, or postures. In contrast, the practice of Qigong involves performing individual moves, usually to accomplish healing of some kind. Tai Chi, as a martial art, was used as self-defense. In its current “movement meditation” form, it can also be considered a subset of the healing art of Qigong. The benefits of practicing Tai Chi are many and are certainly healing for much of our stress-induced illness patterns that exist today. It is, however, in its origins, a martial art, so the flow of the movements should be considered a choreographed fight. There are additional studies in Tai Chi that introduce weapons and “push hands” that you learn to do with a partner. We will confine ourselves in this book to the Yang style 24 form. The benefits to the everyday person will certainly occur just with this simple form! If, after learning this simple form, you are interested in learning some of the other styles, I encourage you to seek out local instructors who can help you.
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