In this exchange, I was reminded of teacher Yang Yang when he spoke of the subtle, profound, and mysterious experiences of tai chi. I also wanted to remind people that what looks magical or mysterious is often just subtle, and not even profound. The mind can be easily deceived by preconceptions about Newtonian mechanics and . . . read more

While touring the city, we found some young people doing what looked like tuishou. They invited me to join them. It was impressive to see this young man improve in a short time.

Mastering the mechanical principles is far more important than practising technique. But one can lead to the other. Peng and Lu (aka bump and roll-back) are two well-known tai chi techniques. But they are best used as archetypal representatives of a mechanical principle. Peng is the centripetal tensile geodesic, while Lu is the low shear . . . read more

This lesson started with a funny story about a student who went to get checked for a possible stroke. Part of the assessment was a test for muscle strength and symmetry. The student’s training kicked in automatically. The “stupid master tricks” of tai chi can seem “so niche” and so specific to particular aspects of . . . read more

Internal martial arts, like tai chi, explore the tiny changes that have the greatest effect. This is done while exposing the disadvantages of depending on great effort. This is not to say that size, power and great speed do not have their place. I am saying that those big movements are made of much smaller . . . read more

I will be in Europe this May and June. Does anyone there want to go for coffee. ( I will be in UK, France, Belgium, Sweden, Germany, and more…. ) seeing the sights, making videos, attending conferences, visiting old friends making new friends, and possibly teaching. If you want to host me, (on your couch, . . . read more

Tai chi has a unique training method that includes a set of exercises called tuishou (pushing hands). It is a cooperative training method that allows the development of high level martial skill while minimizing the risk of injury. There are competitive variations of this exercise, and other martial arts might practice something that looks vaguely . . . read more

There are principles, techniques and methods that can only be learned slowly, gently, and carefully. When mastered, they make other techniques and methods so effortless that they seem incidental. But discovering these principles can be counterintuitive, to say the least.   You cannot learn these skills in competitive sparring, wrestling, or mma. But they can . . . read more

Stillness provides several mechanical advantages, as well as tactical and strategic possibilities. “Stillness” refers to the internal structure, the location of the fulcra, the state of the mind, and the non-attachment to any particular reference frame. “Not needing to do anything saves a lot of time.” Ian Sinclair

Tai chi is more scrappy than you might think. But the scrappiness is about the frequency of subtle changes, not the velocity of the movement.