It is not what the teacher says that is important, but to experience the skill first hand.  is defined as a neurological process that allows you to remember certain motor skills and perform them without conscious effort. Muscle memory is achieved when you reach the autonomous stage. It means that whole of your performance, all your movements, are smooth and accurate, as your brain’s main activity switches to the  , is the key to be able to access the muscle memory and let your accumulated knowledge work by itself. The more you practice, the more hours you spend working with a partner ..read more

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The Brilliance of the Chinese Longsword ..read more

Vintage Wu Family Style Taijiquan and Taiji Sword ..read more

was posted in two parts. Mr Huang helped promote taijiquan as a part of the in the 70's and 80's. The first part is below. The second part may be ..read more

So what does this mean for us studying Tai Chi and similar “stuff”? Well, it means that the philosophy and concepts we use in our own practice were never meant to exist in a vacuum or as an autonomous system of thought. Instead, this terminology, or what we call “philosophy”, was meant to be used together with, and as tools for, a scientific approach. And for many hundreds of years ago, it was used in science. So why is all this important? Well, because the philosophy around is influenced by this time era as well. A lot of concepts, terms and ideas are found in different kinds of practice and ..read more

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Thoughts on Tai Chi had an interested article on developing rhythm and flow in taijiquan practice, which I think applies to all martial arts. The full post may be teacher used to say that it’s the internal movements that are important, not external movement. How true, isn’t it?  But it can be hard to understand what is actually meant by internal movements. On one level we do have more tangible things such as the breath work, movements of the spine, opening and closing of the ribs, the internal movement of the dantian and more. Those are things you can feel and coordinate, but they are hid ..read more

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