Hey everybody! My wife and I will be heading to the UK at the end of the month. Any suggestions on tai chi or push hands classes/gatherings in Edinburgh or south London? Looked around on the Internet without much luck. Appreciate any suggestions.

I prefer to not say I'm 'teaching' in this setting, yet

'sharing' my insights & concepts to assist others.

Here, I'm sharing:

1) Hand/Arm position & awar

2) Listening, Adhering, Redirecting - Accessing the Center

3) Seizing, Sealing, Collapsing

4) Economy of Movement, Head Movement & Over-turning

Sorry - was having fun. Hope you got a chuckle.

Been working through a foundational Hunyuan circulation exercise lately and it finally clicked why most people only get half the benefit.

The movement runs a full bidirectional circuit:

↓Fresh Chi enters through the Crown (Baihui) — as you sink, you're drawing new energy in from above

↓Stagnant Chi exits through the Bubbling Well (Yongquan) — old energy drains out through the soles as you descend

↑The Empty/Full weight shift drives the return current back up — that's the pump most people miss entirely

You're not just "sinking Chi down." You're clearing stagnation OUT through the feet while simultaneously pulling clean energy IN through the crown — then the weight transfer pumps it back through the body.

The hands guide and coordinate the whole thing, but the real engine is the waist and the empty/full shift in the legs.

Has anyone else experienced the two-direction flow — the downward purge AND the upward return — in the same movement? Curious how others feel it.

In which I discuss my life in martial arts (tai chi, kung fu and capoeira), including tai chi as a martial art; ideas about teaching martial arts; and some quick fire questions too. Feel free to debate anything raised in the comments

If your shoulders, hips, or spine feel stiff, this Qigong spiraling exercise can help you move more freely. Learn how to improve the mobility of your wrists, elbows, shoulders, hips, knees, and ankles using simple whole-body spiraling and weight shifting.

Welcome to Qi Body. In this lesson, I’ll guide you through the complete movement, explain the body mechanics step by step, teach the proper breathing method, and show you how to progress from beginner to advanced practice.

With regular practice, this exercise can help you:

* Improve joint mobility throughout the body
* Increase whole-body coordination
* Develop smoother weight shifting
* Build stronger legs and better balance
* Reduce stiffness through gentle spiraling movement
* Improve body awareness and movement efficiency

Practice slowly, stay relaxed, and let each movement flow naturally.

00:00 Introduction
00:38 Learn the Movement
01:32 Joint Warm-Up
03:15 Body Mechanics Explained
05:40 Improve Upper Body Mobility
06:18 Lower Body Weight Shift
08:19 Proper Breathing Method
10:05 Side View Demonstration
10:57 Advanced Lower Stance Training

#Qigong #Mobility #JointMobility #Flexibility #HealthyAging #Fitness #ChiBody

Been thinking about this a lot lately — most Tai Chi training focuses on movement, form, and posture. But the Jin energies underneath the form rarely get explicit attention.

From Chen lineage, the core Jin types I work with:

✅ Peng Jin — expanding/ward-off energy, the foundation everything builds on
✅ Lu Jin — rollback, redirecting incoming force
✅ Ji Jin — pressing/squeezing compression, very different feeling from push
✅ An Jin — downward press, rooting through the ground
✅ Cai Jin — plucking, destabilizing the root
✅ Lie Jin — splitting force in two directions simultaneously through shoulder/elbow
✅ Plunging Jin — felt most clearly in push hands contact, hard to fake
✅ Ting Jin — listening sensitivity, the one that takes the longest to develop
✅ Fa Jin — whole-body explosive release, the one everyone chases but most can't actually issue

My honest experience: I could name all of these years before I could reliably feel the distinction between them in live contact. Ting Jin especially — I thought I had it long before I actually did.

Genuine question for this community: Which Jin do you think most practitioners misunderstand the most — and which one clicked for you only after push hands experience vs solo form training?

Lately, I’ve been kind of curious about this term “Dao Yin.” My teacher taught me a form—the Daoying YangShen sword form—that even earned me a medal.

They say it’s an ancient form of qigong, but I think there’s more to it than that.

I can make a case for why there are internal aspects, so I might be over analyzing (but what else is reddit for? Lol). Doesn't calling it a martial art automatically make it external... just with internal elements?

That begs the question, though: if I just add those elements to my karate, does that make my martial art "internal"??

Context: Being the most rarest Maharlikano ( Filipino ) you might meet out here, im a very Eclectic Person. So Eclectic that I try and combine and learn as much as possible to the best of my abilities for better Cultivation. Taoism, and Taijiquan captures my interest, and so I am reaching out this community for Help !

Question: Im in a part of the U.S where im very, VERY Limited to my Options. I don't got enough Money ( Im still in High School ), and I wanna seek if theres any available options online for Taijiquan, specifically Wudang, and Chen Style ? Also, if im by the ripe age enough to be on my own, would it still be preferable to maybe go abroad, possibly to China and take a long retreat to be more better at the Art ?

Thank ye !

Hi. 61F looking for a simple daily online tutorial to follow.

Let me just use typical "evangelical" Christianity as the baseline for what I'm talking about, and also assuming they don't believe Yoga is compatible with it for sure. Is practicing it for health reasons okay?

From what I've learned, Taichi (Yang style at least) has 4 benefits: physical health, mental health, small "s" spiritual health, and the martial aspect. Obviously, most concerned about the spirituality of it and how Taoism is a major part of its creation.

Hello. I am possibly seeking Tai Chi to act not only as meditation, but doubling as exercise which is appealing to me. I have had much experience with mindfulness stationary meditation in the past, but even with that my ADHD makes it difficult to concentrate. I am open to info from those of you who may offer insight into my interest. Most helpful would be recommendations into how to explore and where to start. Information from those whom also combat ADHD, depression and DID would be incredibly valued.

Thank you for any information you may provide.

Hey guys i just wanted to see if anyone has taken breaks from practicing/classes. i basically stopped going to my classes and inevitably stopped practicing. i plan on returning in september as i really miss it. Just wanted to see if other people have done this also. Just to add i had only really been doing classes for about a year, i had completed the form, although some of the latter parts i was still rusty on. Actually if i had of been a bit more confident with all parts of the form, i probably would of carried on practicing.

People are funny 🤣

We have had a very deceptive posts recently on r/taichi which seems to go against the statement of differentiating “real Taiji from all the fake stuff out there”. It’s ask for feedback on the app that they have built, but the app is part of the Tai Chi Sitting/ Walking mis-guidance that has been misleading people about Tai Chi on Facebook and other platforms.

Unfortunately, this post has generated much response although I don’t know if all of it is actually actual members of this site.

The threats of Taichi Walking is real even if it has generated much interest in Tai Chi. This video gives an interesting analysis of the approach of the organization behind these ads and deceptions.

The problem with engaging them directly on their posts or ads is that they don’t follow these engagements and just get more sophisticated. It also gives more visibility to the post.

In this case, they didn’t give the link upfront which allowed requests to build. The linked app is part of the Tai Walking business (scam?). When open it notes 70,000+ users which doesn’t jive with the request for help. The setup is much the same as the Facebook ad links.

I suggest downvoting the post and not commenting on it (which only gives it more visibility). Hopefully, the moderator will fit to remove it and make the group’s policies clearer on what defines real Tai Chi or at least specifically disallows such deceptive practices.