Traditional 108-posture Yang T'ai Chi Ch'uan and Push Hands Practice

As always, beginners are welcome. (Who isn't a beginner, really?) The session will run about 75 minutes or so. We do some warmup stuff, some traditional exercises like Standing Bear, YiJinJing and some Chi Kung. And, of course, T'ai Chi Ch'uan form. And as soon as we have enough interest and experience, some Push Hands practice.

My teacher, Master Yu Cheng Hsiang, held some very traditional Chinese views about exercise and attainment of excellence. For example, he felt most Westerners make things too complicated. For him, the simple way was the best. If you want to get good at something, you need to practice and practice diligently. His dictum was that one needs to practice something for 100 days, without interruption. So he broke things down to a few movements -- as a music teacher assigns a short piece to a student to practice until he/she "gets" it.

As the old saw puts it, a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step, followed by another, and another, and so on. Along the way, we should find that we are gathering personal force, balance and what the Chinese call "root." And, of course, have the fun of learning something new. We hope!

Best.

Mike