I get some version of this question constantly. Someone has watched videos for months, maybe tried a local class or two, and they want to know how to find a real teacher, someone who can take them further than they can take themselves. It is one of the most important questions a serious student can
Common Tai Chi Mistakes Beginners Make
In 57 years of practicing Tai Chi, and several decades of teaching it, I have watched thousands of beginners walk through the same handful of doors that lead nowhere. Not because they lack discipline. Not because they lack ability. Almost always because nobody told them what the actual mistakes look like from the inside. Most
How to Build a Daily Tai Chi Practice: What Actually Makes the Habit Stick
The gap between someone who knows Tai Chi and someone who practices Tai Chi is not a gap in knowledge or skill. It is a gap in habit. I have met many people over the years who studied Tai Chi seriously for a period, learned the form, understood the principles, and then gradually stopped practicing
How to Practice Tai Chi at Home: Structure, Space, and What Actually Develops You
The question of how to practice Tai Chi at home comes up constantly, and it deserves a direct, practical answer rather than a vague encouragement to simply practice more. In 57 years of daily Tai Chi practice, I have practiced in studios, in parks, on beaches, in living rooms, in hotel rooms, and in spaces
Silk Reeling and Joint Health: What 57 Years of Practice Reveals
In 35 years of chiropractic practice, joint health was central to almost everything I treated. Backs, knees, hips, shoulders, necks, the joints of the spine and extremities were where my patients’ pain lived and where my clinical attention was focused daily. I learned a great deal about joints through that work, about how they fail,
Silk Reeling Exercises for Beginners: The Foundation of Chen Style Tai Chi
Most people who come to Chen style Tai Chi for the first time encounter silk reeling before they know what it is. They watch an experienced practitioner move through a basic exercise, the arms spiraling, the waist turning, the weight shifting from foot to foot in a continuous flowing cycle, and they think it looks
Wuji for Stress and Anxiety: The Standing Practice That Resets the Nervous System
Stress management is one of the most crowded categories in wellness. There are apps, breathing techniques, supplements, therapy modalities, exercise protocols, and an endless supply of advice about what to do when anxiety rises or stress accumulates. Most of it has some value. Most of it also misses the central problem. The central problem is
Tai Chi for Balance and Fall Prevention: What the Research and 50+ Years of Practice Show
In 35 years of chiropractic practice, fall-related injuries were among the most serious cases I saw. Not always because of the physical damage, though hip fractures in older adults are genuinely life-altering, but because of what happens after. A fall produces fear. Fear produces guarded movement. Guarded movement reduces the proprioceptive feedback the nervous system
Tai Chi for High Blood Pressure: What 57 Years of Practice Taught Me
I have been a chiropractor for 35 years. During that time I have seen thousands of patients, and the number of them who were managing high blood pressure, who were on medication for it, who had been told to watch it and come back in three months, is extraordinary. It is one of the most
Wuji Standing: The Complete Method
Can you remain still until the right action arises by itself? — Tao Te Ching Standing quietly doing nothing. That is the entire instruction. And it may be the most valuable exercise you ever learn in your entire lifetime. I have practiced Tai Chi every day since 1970. I have studied under Grandmaster Wang Xi’an