Tai Chi and IT
I count myself incredibly lucky that I can dedicate my time to teaching and learning tai chi. Before I became a full time instructor, I had a career in IT and computing for well over a decade. Now, there aren’t many links between tai chi and IT but I do …
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How to Improve Quickly at Tai Chi
When giving advice to my students about how often they should train, I usually recommend a ‘little and often’ approach. If I enjoy something, I want to do it everyday – fortunately this is the best way to improve at tai chi. Let’s say you’ve just started a class or …
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Winter in Chinese Medicine
Winter is the most Yin time of year in Chinese medicine. The darker months are a time of looking inward, slowing down, resting, wrapping up, keeping warm, and eating nourishing foods. It is a time when looking after our kidneys is important. In Chinese medicine each season is associated …
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Tai Chi and Bad Backs
I imagine everyone has experienced it to some degree, that aching discomfort and slightly sickening pain of a bad back. Unable to get comfortable in any position, popping medication just to be able to get through the basic functions of the day, to sit pain free at your desk, or …
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Everyone Should Practice Qigong
I believe that everyone should do qigong. Young, old, and everyone in between. It’s the perfect activity and here I offer three all encompassing reasons why: Mind “You have power over your mind, not outside events. Realise this and you will find strength” Marcus Aurelius, Meditations. Whilst social …
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More thoughts on balance
A central concept in Buddhism is that of the middle way, which leads you on the Noble Eightfold Path to enlightenment. In Taoism we find that harmony between the two polarities of yin and yang will see the equilibrium of life restored. The Bible tells us that, “For everything there …
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4 Tips for Better Balance
I have many students who have sought out tai chi training specifically to improve their balance. A decline in the body’s stability can be incredibly unsettling, whether it’s from an injury, a health condition, or the ageing process, it can really knock your confidence. However, with practice and determination, it’s …
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Three Treasures
In my late teens I spent a few months working in a book warehouse, saving up to go away on another travelling adventure. I wasn’t interested in much else at that age, other than books, so compared to some other mind numbing temporary jobs I had grafted away at in …
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On Emptiness
Emptiness Emptiness is a core theme throughout the Tao Te Ching, it is the eternal and inexhaustible wellspring from which everything is derived. In Taoism, emptiness (Wuji) is represented by a circle. From Wuji the Taiji is derived and the polarities of Yin and Yang come into being. …
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Martial Arts for Stress, Balance, and Happiness
During the 15 years that I had a career in the corporate world, I was often asked how I was able to not display signs of stress when everything seemed to be going wrong – as it very often does when you work in IT! My standard answer was, …
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