The Importance of Tai Chi Principles for Health – Ji Hong Tai Chi Mississauga

Tai Chi provides many health benefits.  In fact, there is a lot of research about the health benefits of tai chi which has been done in China and in other countries. Overall, the findings show that tai chi is a good sport and activity for people of all ages. Every man or women whether young or old, regardless of their current health condition and physical ability, will benefit from practicing tai chi.

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One Tai Chi Student’s Perspective – Ji Hong Tai Chi Mississauga

I’ve been practicing Tai Chi for many years under Sifu Bao Sen Liang’s wise guidance. I have learnt and keep learning that beyond the mechanical form, his teachings help me relate better with my body, with my mind and with my surroundings. I find this extremely helpful for my physical health, my psychological well-being and my effectiveness at work. If you’re curious about tai chi and how it could help you, I would encourage you to try one of the school’s trial classes.

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Vital Energy Focused 神聚 – Ji Hong Tai Chi Mississauga

We start by practicing OPEN and CLOSE internal force by leveraging the predictable tai chi movements of forms.  Becoming proficient and achieving the focused surging of vital energy provides exponential health benefits for the mind, body and spirit when practicing tai chi.  When we can do this instantaneously at will and with gentle or subtle effort, we begin our journey to becoming one with nature and a spiritual master of tai chi.

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Energy is Whole 劲整 – Ji Hong Tai Chi Mississauga

Typically a practitioner who has acquired this skill will prove to be very stable and strong. When the release of energy is executed, the person can easily takeout a physically bigger and stronger opponent. When practitioners become proficient at using the whole body to store and release Jin, they reach new levels of understanding on how to access and engage the internal martial art aspects of tai chi.

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Internal Force Converged 气敛 – Ji Hong Tai Chi Mississauga

Tai Chi Masters quickly gather converged internal force and use it in all their movements.  We all start with a first step though.  We all start by learning and experiencing the gathering of internal force or pressure at our dantian. Tai chi practitioners know this to be our qi or internal force. When we start learning how to converge our internal force, we experience an internal pressure.  We aim to converge the internal force to our dantian as the first step. 

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Body Awareness 身灵 – Ji Hong Tai Chi Mississauga

The essence of the second characteristic of Body Awareness prepares the body to be agile. Achieving an agile body requires firstly that we become able to maintain a Five Bows framework. This framework enables an efficiency of movement and prevents any part of our body from becoming locked. When we have an awareness of our body’s framework and we can maintain it while moving then we can begin to effectively use our internal force to guide the body.

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Heart is Calm 心静 – Ji Hong Tai Chi Mississauga

Regardless of your skill level as a beginner, intermediate or advanced tai chi practitioner or whether you’re practicing forms or push hands, “Go with your heart”. Start with your mind paying attention to the principle, then learn it as feeling that your body will always remember. Your ability to learn this principle is enhanced when you rid your body of tension to make room for calmness to settle into the body instead.  When this happens, your goal is achieved.

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FIVE CHARACTER TACTICS (五字訣) – Ji Hong Tai Chi Mississauga

FIVE CHARACTER TACTICS (五字訣) – Ji Hong Tai Chi Mississauga

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FIVE CHARACTER TACTICS (五字訣)

The five words that represent the five tactics are: Calmness Awareness Convergence Wholeness Focus

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The Taijiquan Treatise Explained: Part 3 of 3 – Ji Hong Tai Chi Mississauga

In the final two paragraphs of the treatise, it describes the end result of practicing tai chi correctly when following the principles which we’ve discussed in Parts 1 and 2 of this blog series. In these paragraphs tai chi as an internal art is compared to other martial arts which are based on external skills development. It lists some of the skills we want to refine and the common mistakes one makes on the journey of learning tai chi.

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The Taijiquan Treatise Explained: Part 3 of 3

This first step is extremely important. An error at the beginning can become an error of a thousand miles. Tai chi students who make this mistake find it impossible to achieve their goal of mastering tai chi. Tai chi practitioners must study the art diligently and patiently while paying attention to the fine details. These fine details allow the tai chi practitioner to become proficient with each foundational concept. This is the path to mastering tai chi.  This is the Taijiquan Treatise.

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The Taijiquan Treatise Explained: Part 2 of 3 – Ji Hong Tai Chi Mississauga

The second and third paragraphs from the treatise describe the Tai Chi learning stages and objectives. It is a good summary of the training goals. It helps to guide the student from a novice practitioner progressing all the way to a tai chi master. Learning is broadly categorized into 3 stages: familiarity with the moves; feeling or knowing the energy and spiritual illumination. Let\'s explore how these stages work.

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The Taijiquan Treatise Explained: Part 2 of 3

由著熟而漸悟懂勁，由懂勁而階及神明。然非用力之久，不能豁然貫通焉。虛領頂勁，氣沉丹田，不偏不倚，忽隱忽現。左重則左虛，右重則右杳。仰之則彌高，俯之則彌深。進之則愈長，退之則愈促。一羽不能加，蠅蟲不能落。人不知我，我獨知人。英雄所向無敵，蓋皆由此而及也 “To practice taijiquan one must learn to first manage the form in order to understand the principles and meanings of the art. Then know the energy and development of one’s capabilities. Then comes the highest levels of spiritual illumination, after which the free use of taijiquan will have been achieved. One cannot suddenly understand […]

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2020 Ji Hong Tai Chi Spring Dinner

2020 Ji Hong Tai Chi Spring Dinner – Ji Hong Tai Chi Mississauga

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The Taijiquan Treatise Explained – Ji Hong Tai Chi Mississauga

The Taijiquan Treatise written by Wang Zong Yue is by far the most accurate and well written piece of literature which describes and explains the founding principles of Tai Chi. The above quote is the first paragraph in the 360 Chinese character literature piece succinctly capturing the essence of tai chi. In this blog, I will make an attempt to explore the meanings behind this well-known piece of tai chi literature.

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The Taijiquan Treatise Explained

  太極者，無極而生，陰陽之母也。動之則分，靜之則合。無過不及，隨曲就伸。人剛我柔謂之走，我順人背謂之黏。動急則急應，動緩則緩隨。雖變化萬端，而理唯一貫。 “Tai Chi (taiji) is born of endlessness, the mother of yin and yang. Tai Chi in motion divides; and in stillness unites. Tai Chi in flexion and extension does not go too far nor fall short. When the opponent is hard, I am soft to neutralize; when the opponent is soft, I follow […]

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Our Teaching System, Tai Chi Mississauga – Ji Hong Tai Chi Mississauga

At our school, we teach the traditional tai chi forms with over 80 moves that take approximately 25 to 30 minutes to perform. To help students remember what might seem like an overwhelming number of movements, we have a strategic learning experience. People can enjoy learning in steps and progress at a manageable pace. 

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