By Paul Cavel, Posted June 2009
Many people who practice the internal arts completely focus on forward, up/down and left/right because that is what is in their field of vision. Rarely do practitioners place their consciousness behind them. This is a speciality of Gods Playing in the Clouds and bagua because each requires that you really work the sphere. However, becoming conscious of what is behind you is also implemented in tai chi. And, when you have it, you can use it anywhere.
By Paul Cavel, Posted May 2009
Taoist breathing is extremely versatile. It can be used in many ways: to open up the insides of your body, increase blood flow and cultivate chi, and as an internal organ massage, doorway into meditation and vehicle for making the body conscious—along with many more health benefits. One of the most practical functions is releasing the nerves to prepare your body for your regular practice, which will optimise your training time. If you do not have a regular qigong, bagua or tai chi practice, you can gain a great deal from learning and practicing whole-body breathing.
By Paul Cavel, Posted April 2009
Although bagua and tai chi use the same continuum to generate chi, they come from opposite ends of the spectrum. The most common breakdown I’ve noticed in both tai chi and bagua practitioners is the stopping and starting versus flowing quality in their forms. Many tai chi practitioners stop at the end of each posture, breaking both the external form and internal content. In bagua it happens when practitioners Walk the Circle, stop walking while they do some form with their arms and then turnaround to walk in the opposite direction. You can watch plenty of examples on YouTube.
By Paul Cavel, Posted March 2009
You can begin your practice well, stay present throughout opening and nourishing your body, generate a lot of chi and, then, throw most of the benefits away by finishing badly.
By Paul Cavel, Posted February 2009
In order to prevent knee damage, you first need to obtain the correct height of the body. Stand with feet parallel, shoulder width apart, lock your knees, then bend the knees just enough to feel the thighs engage to hold the body’s weight. Make sure that your knees are not forward of your toes.
By Paul Cavel, Posted January 2009
Separate and combine is a Taoist principle for deep learning that has been used for millennia. The principle states that once a basic movement, set or form has been absorbed or established the practitioner seeks to tease out the individual components before moving on to study that movement, set or form as it is practised with all its other components. Taoists found that this was the most effective and efficient method for learning any new skill and stabilizing it in the body.