This was the blog for Great River T'ai Chi and The T'ai Chi Centre from 2006-2023. This is now archive-only. You can find the schools at www.thetaichicentre.co.uk and www.greatrivertaichi.com
03 June 2005
Weekend workshop.
5 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Whoops - leaning back a bit despite my attempts to keep my plates stacked & be suspended from the crown of the head ;-)
Thanks, Peace & Love to Mark and Caroline and everyone else who shared a great weekend.
Nothing wrong with that posture (in fact there are a disproportionately large number of very good postures in these photographs!) Head suspension isn't really correct, especially when working with another person: imagine instead a snake rearing up from the crown of the head and rearing to strike forward (an S-shape). Suspending the head may give a feeling of peace & serenity but it wont help you connect with other energies, and it wont really draw the spirit up.
Have I thrown the cat amongst the pigeons here?
I like the blog Caroline. The pics could be larger though.
This pigeon (aiming to develop into a cat though !) would suggest that the number of "very good postures" is proportionate to the interest, curiousity, and enthusiasm of the students and teachers involved ;-)
Davina, I assume you're the one in the top left picture working with the guy in the blue top? Having looked at the pictures more closely it looks like you're the only one with what I would call an engaged posture, i.e. one that engages with the person in front of you rather than just the earth & the heavens. Notice how your tail cuts under him & rises up his back. Also the same with your crown, it loops over him & down his back. You've embraced him on a vertical plane. Is all you need do now is develop a stronger ward-off (hollow chest, rounded shoulders) in order to be able to embrace him on the horizontal plane as well. To do this you must try not to get stuck in the back foot. Don't take single-weighted so literally. It is more a dissociation of the two sides, like a pianist being able to play different things with each hand. He'd be a limited musician if he only played one hand at a time.
Good luck on the transformation from pigeon to cat (passive to active, victim to warrior). I've been at that one now for 20 years!
5 comments:
Whoops - leaning back a bit despite my attempts to keep my plates stacked & be suspended from the crown of the head ;-)
Thanks, Peace & Love to Mark and Caroline and everyone else who shared a great weekend.
Nothing wrong with that posture (in fact there are a disproportionately large number of very good postures in these photographs!)
Head suspension isn't really correct, especially when working with another person: imagine instead a snake rearing up from the crown of the head and rearing to strike forward (an S-shape).
Suspending the head may give a feeling of peace & serenity but it wont help you connect with other energies, and it wont really draw the spirit up.
Have I thrown the cat amongst the pigeons here?
I like the blog Caroline.
The pics could be larger though.
This pigeon (aiming to develop into a cat though !) would suggest that the number of "very good postures" is proportionate to the interest, curiousity, and enthusiasm of the students and teachers involved ;-)
Thank you Steven for the insightful snake image.
L&P, D
I will try to imagine the snake when I practice later. Comments and suggestions are great, no worries ;)
Also, I will be reuploading the pictures of Mark and sword form this week, they needed tweaking, and will be much larger when you click on them!
cx
Davina, I assume you're the one in the top left picture working with the guy in the blue top?
Having looked at the pictures more closely it looks like you're the only one with what I would call an engaged posture, i.e. one that engages with the person in front of you rather than just the earth & the heavens.
Notice how your tail cuts under him & rises up his back.
Also the same with your crown, it loops over him & down his back.
You've embraced him on a vertical plane.
Is all you need do now is develop a stronger ward-off (hollow chest, rounded shoulders) in order to be able to embrace him on the horizontal plane as well.
To do this you must try not to get stuck in the back foot.
Don't take single-weighted so literally.
It is more a dissociation of the two sides, like a pianist being able to play different things with each hand. He'd be a limited musician if he only played one hand at a time.
Good luck on the transformation from pigeon to cat (passive to active, victim to warrior).
I've been at that one now for 20 years!
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