3 Aspects of Training in Yang family Taijiquan

We have all read and heard stories about the near magical skills achieved by some Taijiquan masters of the past. Many people find the skills for which the art became famous illusive. Nonetheless we strive to achieve the best we can and keep the art alive.

It is safe to say that there are many causes for such a lack of true skill development in Taijiquan, ...

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The Three Hands of Taijiquan

Within my training and teaching of Tàijíquán, I emphasize two primary areas that must be developed and balanced. On the one side we have technical skills or ‘Quan’ – born from ting, timing and having trained the correct responses to different situations. The other side of the coin is power or the development of Gong Li. In practical application, these two aspects m...

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Confused About Unification?

Just recently while conversing with a group of martial artists on Facebook, I began to think about my current understanding of “unification”. More specifically, realizing how much I have taken this understanding for granted. Of course my understanding ...

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Timing, Placement and Power

When I am teaching classes or workshops on taijiquan I always emphasize the three principles of timing, placement and power. These three skills are not only fundamental to acquiring real world taijiquan skills but are fundamental to the successful application of any martial arts technique.

Timing

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Tai Chi internal stretching

Dui La 对拉 meaning something like “to stretch between”. It’s one of those fundamental principles of taiji quan that are all too often forgotten or misunderstood. When I travel to give taiji, qigong or meditation workshops in Asia, the USA, Australia and Europe I find that this taiji principle is mostly ignored. Most people attempt to use their body as one piece, co...

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Basics of Double Heavy in Taijiquan

No concept in Yang Taijiquan has more confusion surrounding it than the concept of Double-Heavy. Much can be read about Double-Heavy in the classic Taiji writings. Much can be read but little understood. As with all Taiji concepts and principles, one must understand it before reading about it in the Taiji classics. Reading the Taiji classics without prior understan...

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