“Can Tai Chi Really Improve My Health?” YES! Master Liao said it all along — the key to good health is strengthening and balancing your life energy through authentic and traditional Tai Chi practice. Below you’ll find proof that Tai Chi works! The following links are to just some of the many published research studies and press releases from the National Institutes of Health on the health benefits of Tai Chi: Improves Bone HealthThe first study shows Tai Chi improved bone density in older women. A second study shows that Tai Chi brought even greater improvement than resist ..read more

Master Waysun Liao recently appeared in an interview with Rodney Bhally, host of Wudang Principles – Taichi and Kung Fu, about the importance of internal work, the guidance of a master, and perspectives through the history of Taichi. Master Liao explains how to read the Taichi Classics, the seriousness of going deeply into each concept and putting it into your practice. He pulls out several quotes from the Classics, giving insights and analogies. Later, they discuss the opposites in Taichi – something/nothing, Yin/Yang, and what these really mean in practice. Enjoy and share! The post ..read more

Learn more about life energy and how Taichi moving meditation can help bring us back into harmony with the universe. This interview by Dr. Laurel Trujillo featuring Master Waysun Liao, explores the benefits of Taichi, the role of Yin and Yang, and parallels between prana and chi. Additionally, Master Liao offers subtle wisdom on the role of breathing in Taichi and the difference between following and controlling your breath. “I really enjoyed the conversation with Master Liao about Tai Chi and how it can help us to reconnect with the power of our life energy and help us build the ability ..read more

The Lunar New Year begins this Saturday, February 10th. 2024 is the Year of the Wood Dragon. But did you know that the Taichi Tao Center has a dragon in its own history? Here’s the story first-hand from Master Bob Krzemienski and Master Nancy Grizzle, who were both students back in 1976: In October of 1976, the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago invited a group of Master Waysun Liao’s students to perform a dragon dance. The dragon—given to the group after their exhibition—was originally part of a display at the museum. The performance started outside the front of the museum, with Mast ..read more

Today on social media, you can find hundreds of influencers talking about minimalism, simple lifestyles, slow living, and self-care. These are great tools for staying healthy and sane in a turbulent world. The world that ancient Taoists lived in was also turbulent in many ways. They, too, knew and practiced these things. But those old Taoists weren’t keeping their lives simple for any moral reason, or out of any sense of fashion, or even the conventional health benefits that result from less stress. They wanted to quiet the influence of human affairs and, in turn, the accompanying c ..read more

Many people are feeling stressed and a little lost these days. We’re bombarded with information, but we don’t know who and what to trust. We want to relax and de-stress, but there are so many pressures, distractions, and alarms, that it seems impossible. Taichi offers a solution: Stop, slow down, and center ourselves by getting back to what is real. Centering in on What’s Close at Hand Taichi begins by putting us back in touch with what is most real in our lives – our feeling, our breath, our bodies. It gives us simple, easy-to-learn-and-do ways to rest and restore ourselves through focusin ..read more

Another reason we move so slowly when we practice Taichi is that we are very vigilant in feeling each part of our body to spot any point of tension. Physical tension blocks Chi flow and keeps us tethered to a reliance on physical strength and mechanical motion. When you find a place in your body that feels tight or tense, try to relax even more and continue practicing while you deliberately relax that point of tension. “Tensing-up with strength is no good. If you tense up you are game to be hunted. A buffalo is very strong, but what’s he going to do when a lion comes? A lion can take him ..read more

In our Taichi classes, we talk a lot about following and flow. What do those really mean? In the beginning, we follow our instructor. We follow a Taichi video. We follow directions for how to move – where our feet go, how high we should lift our arms. But beyond following our instructor from form to form, or following a pre-set long-form sequence as they do in other styles, at some point we will be able to feel our own Chi and learn to follow that feeling. It’s at that point when we can really flow. When you can feel and follow your own feeling of life energy, single-form practice really ..read more

Taichi self-defense goes far beyond the physical martial arts. Taichi, by strengthening our sense of center, and our sense of connection to the universe around us also offers benefits in defending our emotional and psychological well-being. It makes sense to keep Taichi in your toolbox for mental health, especially in helping to heal depression. It offers a gentle and calming physical exercise, woven together with abdominal breathing and meditation. Meanwhile, it strengthens our “Chi,” or life energy, for overall healing and balance. Taichi also offers mental and spiritual exercise that can ..read more

In Master Waysun Liao’s book, T’ai Chi Classics, he says: “The high speed of the mind can alter the experience of time and space…The ancient Chinese used the idea of the immeasurably high speed of mind in their philosophy of energy transformation, particularly in their theory of Jing.”  T’ai Chi Classics: Illuminating the Ancient Teachings on the Art of Moving Meditation  pg. 59 To ultimately reach this high speed of mind in Taichi practice, we teach our students that their first step is to “quiet routine thoughts.” Our routine thoughts aren’t the key to the ..read more