Laughing Monk Tai Chi

Seiza sitting posture. A few years ago I attended a yoga class and was horrified to find I couldn’t sit back in my heels. Whilst I knew this w as a common sitting posture in the far east I was unaware that it had a name and good postural benefits.

At the time, I corrected my flexibility in this area and now frequently sit, and comfortably for a good period of time.

As we age, “Seiza” is one of those things we can do to protect and work on our postural strength and flexibility.

Friendship and enthusiasm for life.
I recently asked what one word might summarise your practice of Tai Chi. I received an amazing variety of replies including Harmony, Peace, Calmness, Freedom, Flow, Completeness, amongst many others.

I’d like to add Friendship and enthusiasm. One of the great joys of practicing Taiji is the opportunity to meet so many friendly people. That in itself leads me to add one more word….Joy!

If you could sum up the benefits of practicing Taiji into one word, what would that word be?

For me it would be ‘mobility’

I don’t know about you, but you cannot learn Taiji from a video. The best advice to anyone wanting to learn is to find a good teacher, which isn’t easy because they are not readily available in every town or city. But don’t give up, keep looking.

I saw the beautiful tree and thought what a great backdrop for my Taiji practice. And then when I thought I had space the crowd arrived. Aaaarrrgghhh timing is everything.

An ambition achieved. So there I was in an early Spring day outside the city Museum in Xian, China. Not particularly expecting anything when one of my group shouted ‘they’re practicing Taiji in the park’. Well, you couldn’t hold me back. Not my family style, but watching them practice outdoors with wonderful, calming music was just immense. Totally made my day.

Visiting the Terracotta Army, ascending Mount Huashan (given the weather terrible view) and then watching a Chen Taiji school practicing beside the Xian City Museum. I can highly recommend the experience, though all the better by using a private tour. Then on to Hong Kong and Thailand making more wonderful memories.

There’s that famous quote ‘I know all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order’. One of the great things about learning different forms is that they make you approach the same postures but from a different angle or perspective, thus challenging your ability to really transition into those postures.

Finding a great place to practice only to suffer the noise when the local circuit training class starts to set up. Hence the music. It was so nice though to practice brush the knee and push it such a picturesque location.