Disclaimer: The Qigong Institute makes no suggestions, claims, or recommendations regarding any medical therapy, treatments, exercise program, or medical practitioners. For medical advice or before embarking on any exercise program, we recommend that members of the public consult with a qualified physician.

Although Qigong can be learned from books combined with videos or videos alone, Tai Chi should be learned in person with a teacher.

A Short introduction on How to Practice Tai Chi for Health. Dr. Shin Lin of University of California Irvine discusses how to practice Tai Chi in this short (2:19) introductory video.

Overview of Best Practices in Tai Chi. Dr. Yang Yang describes the benefits of Tai Chi, best practices, and the foundation of Qigong that is required for Tai Chi practice.

The Art of the Straight Line by Lou Reed. This short video documents the story of Lou Reed's 30-plus year study and mastery of tai chi and the martial arts. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qa7DgDPqxRA

Plateaus In Learning Taiji. When people begin learning something new, they often learn quickly. Their minds become engaged in the learning. However, when learning taiji, learning quickly is not necessarily better than learning slowly and deeply. Taiji has many subtle details that take time to learn. It takes time for it to get into your body and your mind. With each lesson, it is important to practice regularly until that lesson becomes part of you.

Sinking the Qi. Sinking the qi is a common term in taiji, but many people find it very confusing. Sinking the qi simply refers to using your breath to help relax and calm the mind and body. A big part of sinking is developing "soong", or relax and loosen; and jing or mental quietness, in your practice.

Why Tai Chi Works So Well For Pain Relief. Time Magazine. Mar 2018.

Internal Gong Fu Blog contains extensive information on practicing Tai Chi, including text and videos on gongfu, zhan zhuang, tai chi, and silk reeling.

Tai Chi Farm Newsletters - Historical information and advice for students from Master Jou, Tsung-Hwa.

Go Slow To Go Fast—And More: A Rationale For Slow T’ai Chi Practice.

 If It’s a Martial Art, Why is it So Slow?! – Exploring the Similarities Between Feldenkrais Method Teachings and Taiji Quan.

Lineage Holder Bruce Frantzis on Practicing Tai Chi

Common Mistakes When Practicing Tai Chi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UNqfeC9fjo

Tai Chi for Martial Arts. Tai Chi Master Bruce Frantzis discusses what it takes to learn Tai Chi as a martial art. 

Protecting Your Knees When Practicing Tai Chi. 

How to Cultivate and Integrate Yi, Qi and Jing. Dr. Paul Lam. 

Yi, Qi and Jing are the three most essential internal components in the practice of tai chi. Yi is the mind, Qi the vital life energy and Jing (not to be confused with Jing which is the internal force or strength and Jing which means serenity) the sexual energy. These components constitute the internal power of tai chi. Improving them will enhance your level of tai chi. More. 

Folding Hip Joints in Tai Chi Chuan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oz-HdX3DnQ0

How to practice Tai Chi in a safe and yet profound way. 

Chungliang Al Huang "Ah - Ha!" - the essence of Tai Chi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHqEwyhqQTI

"This is how I teach Taiji (Tai Chi). Taiji doesn't have to be Chinese. Taiji is you, learning how to relax, learning how to open yourself. Enjoy your release, your liberated self"

The Tai Chi Space Book

A brilliant introduction to the fundamentals of Tai Chi for beginners to expert practitioners.

From the author Paul Cavel: “I have encountered too many practitioners who have put in immense effort, some over many years, in great earnest, yet their forms cannot really be considered internal. Maybe they trained a weak system, did not have a teacher who could perform or communicate internal techniques that are virtually invisible to the untrained eye, or they did not spend enough time on component practices. Whatever the case, this situation is incredibly unfortunate, and, with my book, my aim is to show you how to develop quality and depth in the fundamentals, which not only unlock health and power-generating benefits but also more advanced and extraordinary levels of practice”.

The Tai Chi Space: How to Move in Tai Chi and Qi Gong

paulcavel.com

9 Guidelines to get the most benefit out of tai chi breathing

If you are overwhelmed with the intricacies of tai chi then this topic is going to be refreshing for you.  For the ultra-beginners, tai chi breathing is one area that you don’t need to focus too much on.  Your job is to learn the movements of the form.  Breathing will improve just from learning the form and practicing. Once you complete the form and have been practicing for a while, questions always arise as to how you should breathe, when you should breathe, if you should breathe… More.

Zhan Zhuang
(Standing Meditation)

Practicing Qigong for Tai Chi

Zhan Zhuang - The Hidden Essential of Tai Chi Training (summary). The Art and practice of Tai Chi is built upon fundamenal principles of Qigong that can be learned through the practice of standing meditation, also referred to as Zhan Zhuang (“jan jong”), Wuji Qigong, or (sometimes) Primordial Qigong. There are thousands of different types of Qigong. Arguably the most popular type of Qigong for martial arts is Zhan Zhuang. This is also known as “stake standing”. The practitioner stands motionless in a particular posture to develop internal strength. Zhan Zhuang is very easy to practice yet is said to be difficult to master.

Standing Qigong practice develops integrated, relaxed body/mind awareness and focus, called “soong” in Chinese. Some masters train only using this form of Qigong. As Author Mark Cohen explains, "Whether we practice Tai Chi for health or martial arts, the inclusion of Zhan Zhuang (Standing Meditation) at the beginning of our daily training session becomes essential if we are to gain many of the greatest benefits spoken of in the Tai Chi Classics and historical anecdotes. For health, Zhan Zhuang training initiates the body’s internal healing, strengthening, unification and enhanced Qi flow which is then amplified by proper Tai Chi practice. In this case Zhan Zhuang becomes the Yin to Tai Chi’s Yang. While Tai Chi is often thought of in terms of ‘stillness within movement,’ Zhan Zhuang may be considered as ‘movement within stillness.’ Simply put, they are a perfect compliment to one another." Inside Zhan Zhuang.

Mark Cohen

INSIDE ZHAN ZHUANG The Nuts and Bolts of Standing Meditation. Part 1a.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uV9SAvG0VU

INSIDE ZHAN ZHUANG The Nuts and Bolts of Standing Meditation. Part 1b.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqa_C-LImss

INSIDE ZHAN ZHUANG The Nuts and Bolts of Standing Meditation. Part 1c.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPOHB6WYY68

Chen style Tai Chi Grandmaster Chen Qingzhou demonstrating one of many possible Zhan Zhaung postures.

Secrets of the Pelvis for Martial Arts: A Practical Guide for Improving Your Wujifa, Taiji, Xingyi, Bagua and Everyday Life. Many martial arts and Qigong practices speak of the need to move from the center, to 'round the crotch', to open the Huiyin point, and to relax the waist and hips. Due to the "private" nature of this area of the body, there are few if any martial art teachers who publicly describe methods regarding how to achieve these results. And so the pelvic area (a.k.a. dan-tian or hara) remains the most difficult area of the body for many practitioners to understand, feel, relax, and open. This is the first and only book dedicated to the topic of developing the pelvic area for the martial arts.

Zhan Zhuang Journal. This is the only collection of standing meditation, zhan zhuang Qigong training journal notes to be made freely available anywhere! Nearly 150 entries spanning over fifteen years! 

Tai Chi Demonstrations

Tai Chi Easy 5 Form with Dr. Roger Jahnke, founder of the Institute of Integral Qigong and Tai Chi and Tai Chi Easy™.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUFQqiKy1gM

Tai Chi for Beginners Video | Dr Paul Lam | Free Lesson and Introduction

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIOHGrYCEJ4

Knees hurt?

"From time to time, we may hear people complain that practicing Tai Chi (Taiji) chuan makes their knees hurt. This is ironic since Tai Chi is supposed to help people with various health issues, including knee problems, to be better. Grandmaster Chen Zhenglei addressed this topic during a public speech in Toronto, Canada on June 18, 2017." Posted on July 18, 2017 by violet.li@tadi.com.

Tai Chi Chuan as Physical Therapy for Knee Pain. 

The Kwa Squat

https://www.paulcavel.com/blog/kwa-squat

How to Do a Tai Chi Twist Step - Brush Knee Twist Step

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5PrevKUPGg

Tai Chi How to: Avoid the Deadliest Tai Chi Exercise for the Knees!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PKX0E52erc

How to get the best from your Tai Chi

The most obvious advice is….practice. No practice, no improvement. Simple as that. More.

Ba Fa Wu Bu Tai Chi

According to unofficial and unscientific observations, only 1 in 5 people who try Tai Chi Chuan continue learning. The high dropout rate is largely due to the difficulty of learning the form. Surprising? Despite its seemingly effortless, flowing movements, Tai Chi is actually quite complex. It is both a physical and mental exercise, often compared to learning a new language. Many attempts have been made to simplify it. In the West, styles such as Tai Chi Easy, Tai Chi Chih, and Tai Chi for Health have been developed and gained many followers. Ba Fa Wu Bu is the latest effort by the Chinese government to make Tai Chi more accessible. In 2018, the Chinese National Sports Bureau created the form by further simplifying Yang Style Tai Chi movements and actively promotes it as a key health exercise. Ba Fa Wu Bu: The Latest And Simplest Tai Chi Form.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dR169x_jB00

Bafa Wubu (aka "Eight Methods and Five Steps") Tai Chi was very recently created by the General Administration of Sport in China as an introductory Tai Chi form and simple health practice. It is based on Tai Chi fundamentals common to the five schools of Tai Chi, namely, the Eight Energies: Peng, Lu, Ji, An, Cai, Lie, Zhou, and Kao. This is the second research paper featuring the new Bafa Wubu Tai Chi, and indicates an effort by the Chinese government to promote and standardize it. PMCID: PMC10019341. 

Fall Prevention: Why Every Aging Adult Should Learn Tai Chi

Read article.

Tai Chi Principles

The Kwa Squat

https://www.paulcavel.com/blog/kwa-squat

Elevate the Crown and Lift the Spirit

Elevate the crown and lift the spirit. This means that the head should be upright so the Shen or (spirit) can reach the top of your head. We don’t use Li (force), or the neck will be too stiff and the chi (breath) and blood cannot flow through to the head. (always remember that stiffness is the discipline of death) The feeling in your body should be light, buoyant, and natural .

Excerpt from article by Julie Paler: Interesting new fact: Science is now discovering that our brain has a system of lymphatic vessels located in the dura mater, the covering of the brain. The major arteries and veins that are within the dura mater contain a lymphatic system that the brain uses together with the Immune system to get rid of waste from the head. (see video below). This is essentially Drain Pipes in Our Brains. Unfortunately, so many people have bad posture, a...See More

Tai Chi and Its Effect on the Body’s Lymphatic System

"Tai Chi Chuan movements, when done correctly, will act as a tool to help manually flush the body’s lymph system.  This doesn’t just happen by chance. These movements were intelligently designed to work with the three largest cluster of lymph nodes in the human body: 1) the Armpit (Heart-1 Ji Quan), shoulder nest area axillary fold (Lung -1 Zhong Fu), 2) the Groin (kua, stomach-30 Qi Chong), and 3) the Back of the Knees (Bladder-40 Wei Zhong).

The lymphatic system plays a vital supporting role to both our Cardiovascular and Immune systems.  They are responsible for keeping our blood volume levels where they need to be. They keep you from collapsing from low blood pressure. And they also prevent you from getting infections." More....

Peripheral Visual Awareness in Taijiquan

The ability to have a wide field of visual awareness, without becoming distracted, is something that needs practice. Peripheral vision is what we can see "at a glance," or everything we see that we are not looking at directly. Peripheral vision is about movement and process, and it is involved with deteting and understanding the big picture -- the context and changes in our environment. More...

Complete Idiots Guide to
Tai Chi

A video supplement link is available to purchasers of the acclaimed The Complete Idiot's Guide to T'ai Chi & QiGong Illustrated, Fourth Edition. The following video is one of the nearly 150 web-video support videos that are designed to augment the 300 illustrated instructions in Bill Douglas and Angela Wong Douglas's world acclaimed Tai Chi and Qigong instructional book. Without the CIG to T'ai Chi and Qigong (fourth edition) these video clips usage cannot be fully realized, but with your CIG to T'ai Chi and Qigong book these clips will profoundly expand on the book's world acclaimed text and illustrated instructions.

Example of What Class Instruction May Look Like

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pX1GDR2w67U

Masters and Methods

2nd International Tai Chi Chuan Symposium Preview