Being in the Present "Scene of Deluge" (1826) by Jospeh Desire Court "In the biblical book of Genesis God flooded the earth, sparing only Noah and his family who had been instructed to build an ark. All others perished in the great deluge. Instead of illustrating the life of Noah, Court gives us a scene from the other side of the story. " (https://narrativepainting.net/joseph-desire-court-scene-of-deluge-1826/) In the painting The Man has chosen to focus on and save his drowning father who has already drifted beyond his reach. at the expense of saving his own Son and Wife, who are clos ..read more

Patrick Kelly is a free-thinker, well-known and respected amongst true Master Huang circles, he was one of the few Westerners to be accepted as a personal student of Master Huang Xingxian (as well as being a student of Gnostic Inner Knowledge and Raja Yoga) and since the Master's death has followed his own original path & established a worldwide network of teachers who primarily use Master Huang's Taiji method of energy cultivation, self-refinement and meditation to achieve Internal Development instead of the usual health, traditional art, and martial art orientation of most Taiji sc ..read more

"Working on Yourself" Unknown artist but picture from the Facebook Page "Civil Engineering". This picture to me captures how I feel about the constant struggle & work I have to put in in order to work on myself. Not just the physical (although the physical oftentimes reflects the totality of where we are), the mental, psychological/ emotional/ behavioural, social & spiritual work. The starts, stops, distractions, loss and regaining of will/vision/motivation/energy/belief. The work involved in studying the methods and practices of "working on yourself" and for me Tai Chi and meditatio ..read more

Glenn Blythe Book Review: “Yi Chi Li of Opening & Closing and the Five Loosening Exercises of Tai Chi” by Glenn Blythe For those of us who have already seriously invested in the Art of Tai Chi Chuan (or aspire to), do you dare to take the red pill and have your understanding of Taiji challenged and deepened? If so then get Glenn Blythe’s book: “Yi Chi Li of Opening and Closing and the Five Loosening Exercises of Tai Chi”. For those of us who have felt secure in having our identities connected to our years>decades of Taiji “expertise” - this book will challenge ..read more

My friend and expert Qigong practitioner Kwai Chee Low  broadens our minds again with his two-part practical methods on Qi Emission.   ​ This is a continuation of the Qi Emission Methods taught by China's Qigong Master Chen Linfeng 陳林峯​ Qi Emission Methods 外气發放法: Second Set This set requires the practitioner to be able to emit qi or at least able to use mind intent to move qi. Basically you use your mind intent to send/transmit qi from one palm to the other palm, which receives the qi which then travels up the hand, go across the shoulders and come down to the transmitti ..read more

Lately I haven't blogged much but I'm so glad that I have the habit and motivation to maintain my daily Taiji practice and I really feel its benefits. I'm not saying that you have to be a Type-A, iron-willed, ambitious, obsessive type of person - I'm not. But I have established a habit of daily Taiji practice in one way or another despite how lazy or distracted I get. I'm so glad I always overcome any initial negativity to tentatively begin. Immediate Benefits  Once I begin it doesn't take me long to feel the immediate benefits, I begin to enjoy the movements -  my mood changes fr ..read more

"Equinox" from friend and photographer David Eunice As we enter this Christmas and New Year period after such a strange, tumultuous, fearful and divisive year, what we need is more peace of mind, mindful gratitude and resilience to recharge to better face whatever may happen in 2021. Was 2020 a crazy year or what? Many of us suddenly had a barrage of stresses thrust upon us on multiple fronts. Many of us lost the financial security of our jobs and income, had to deal with adapting to school closures, social isolation for ourselves and our children and the difficulties of online learnin ..read more

Normally I'm against playing "relaxing" or other music in the background when I practice or teach my Taiji classes, we should be consciously paying attention to what is occurring within our own bodies as our postures change, and not be distracted by what is happening externally. That is, unless it is music specifically designed to enhance your Taiji meditation, and that can be difficult to find.  Also given that we should be moving into and out of each posture in the Taiji form according to our own individual speeds, to me it's inappropriate to use music set to a certain tempo or beat wh ..read more

Image from the TeachMeSeries. Qigong and Taiji can help maintain the healthy function of your adrenal glands and reduce the chances of ageing-related degenerative diseases and adrenal fatigue.      Proper adrenal function (the adrenal glands which sit on top of our kidneys - see pic above) is important for the production of many of our critical hormones, which are in turn, are released at different points in our daily cycle. In particular our adrenal glands produce cortisol which is at its highest production in the morning. This is responsible for our "get ..read more

My previous blog post "how-to-train-for-and-apply-taijis-practical-martial-techniques-in-free-push-hands"  got a severe reply from one of my subscribers - Graham who has little belief or faith in the age old Tai Chi adage "It's all in the Tai Chi form." He says: "You are simply repeating what all the bullshit fake teachers have palmed off for years worldwide. No, practice does not make perfect. Simply banging one's head against the wall in the hope of finding the secret solution to Fa Jin is only the means of spending another twenty-years of Tai Ji futility while being led up the ga ..read more