In terms of health and longevity, tai chi is a non-impact, physical exercise without any notion of energy. Tai chi’s physical movements serve as effective sensitivity and awareness exercises that keep the body flexible, reduce stress, and tone and strengthen muscles. Staying grounded in the body tends to keep any self-perceived experiences of energy from being pure fantasy or overly exaggerated. Although at its advanced levels tai chi’s primary goal is to grow and balance your chi, in the beginning, approaching your practice only from the perspective of chi is neither necessary nor desirable.
Consequently, one group’s idea of what constitutes an advanced technique, by another group’s standards may be considered something only marginally more advanced than the basic level.ĭuring the first year, unless you are exceptionally sensitive, it is unreasonable to expect to feel a lot of chi (qi). Some teachers have a larger, more complete knowledge of the tradition than others. Criteria and standards of what constitute beginning, intermediate or advanced methods, vary widely between individual teachers and entire schools of tai chi. Tai chi’s beginning, intermediate and advanced practices are like a continuum without exact, defining landmarks. Even after 20 years of practice, many students genuinely consider themselves beginners, especially after watching a high-level tai chi master at work. In tai chi (taiji), who is the beginner? This is truly a trick question. The skill of your teacher and his/her ability to impart their knowledge is invaluable to your personal progress and safety. Knowing where you’re at on the map will help you overcome obstacles and personal setbacks to reap the deeper benefits that tai chi has to offer from ongoing practice.Ĭhi development progresses from gross to subtle, and the process cannot be rushed. There are seven basic stages in learning tai chi. The other 95 percent is concerned with how you get the chi in your tai chi by integrating the 16 neigong (components of internal power).ģ. The physical movements of tai chi comprise about five percent of the art of tai chi. Choose the best tai chi style to achieve your goals.Įach tai chi style has specific benefits associated with it, e.g., Wu style tai chi is the only tai chi style associated with meditation.Ģ.
Here are five useful tips that I wish I had known before I started tai chi as a beginner:ġ.
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