If we don’t have points of reference, it’s easy to get lost. We have to know where we’ve been in order to plan where we’re going.

Learning is a journey and a process of growth.  There are many levels or steps that we have to go through before we can say, “I understood”.

Everything is in a state of constant change and that makes us constantly have to adjust our balance.

Only when we can see in our mind that our body moves in a three-dimensional spherical rotation, then the body will become alive. 

... most important is to use the heart to hear.

Right now, we need to practice at home, so we are using new methods to find better balance and make needed corrections to our form.

Moving with Taiji energy is more like aiming a satellite. Its path can only be calculated in a curved line. In Yang-style Taiji, we...

When we practice Taiji, we are seeking understanding of the energies of Yin 阴and Yang 阳, so clearing the mind is the first step to entering

We can never forget that we are practicing Taiji with this goal of achieving a good spirit.

Crisis = wéi jī  危 机 In English, crisis means a time of intense difficulty or danger. In Chinese, the first character, wéi 危, means “dangerous”, but the second character, jī 机, means “opportunity”. So, at the same time as there is a dangerous or crisis situation, there is also an opportunity to make a change, to create more space, to learn in a different way. Although we may be limited in our physical practice of Taiji (Tai Chi) right now, we can use this opportunity to make

In Chinese, the first character, sheng 生, pertains to anything that is alive. The second character, cún 存, means to store something precious

Heart = xīn 心 The meaning of “heart” is not just about the physical body part, but also about the emotions. News is changing like the wind right now, we have no idea what will happen in the next 30 minutes or 90 days. Uncertainty can bring up many negative emotions, but it is important at times like these to do what we can to calm the chaos. Keeping a regular schedule can help with that. It is important that we keep our emotions calm and our minds clear to help make the right

When it comes to martial arts competitions, the "US Challenge Tai Chi Event" stands out in a unique and meaningful way.

In August of 1998 Christopher Pei and his wife Zhang Guifeng, senior instructors at the U.S. Wushu Academy in Falls Church, Virginia, took a group of students to Beijing to study at the Beijing Sports Academy. Some of us studied Wushu and others studied traditional Yang family Taiji with Yang Zhenji and his wife Pei Xiurong. The Taiji group included Charles Peters, Pat Wilson, Richard Carnes, Mark Walters, Carol Breitner, and Mark Waldman.

"Let me see your neck," Coach Pei instructed, as we prepared to do the form in our Saturday morning class. I thought to myself, my neck, see my neck, this is not one of the Ten Essences Coach had talked about and it definitely was not part of what I thought I needed to work on today.

If you are going to travel to a new city, and all you know is your destination is westward, so you hop into your car and just start to drive toward the west. You probably will reach where you wanted to go with a lot of mistakes, and wasted time with the wrong roads. It is the same, if you study Tai Chi without a detailed road map. It will take you a lot longer to reach your goal. The traditional Yang Style Tai Chi originally evolved from the Chen Style Tai Chi. Every time a c

When an architect designs a high rise building, the first stage, and the most important, is in the designing of the foundation. For the building to be structurally sound, all the beams in the building will have to be interlocked and support each other. If the architect wants the building to be a skyscraper, then the foundation has to be dug deeper and the structural detail and every aspect of weight distribution has to be examined even more carefully.

The most memorable impression I have of England is the passion everyone has for gardening. Everywhere I go, I can see gorgeous, lovely gardens. I enjoy the refreshing view and appreciate the energy the planter provided. For the plants to grow well, we need to provide proper water, fertilizer and plenty of sunlight. The plant itself also must have a strong root. Without a strong root, the flower will discolor, the life of the plant will not last.

To understand the energy of Taijiquan (T'ai Chi Ch'uan), one must first understand the principle of how energy is created. Yin and Yang are two opposite forces that exist because of each other. One force cannot exist without the other and yet they are totally opposite of each other.

As a student of Taijiquan, you are probably familiar with the Ten Essences, or guiding principles, of this martial art. You may be less familiar with Taijiquan's five levels of attainment, or skill levels. You cannot successfully practice the Ten Essences without knowledge of the five skill levels, or without understanding the level that you have reached. Knowing what the skill levels are helps to guide your training. Below, I describe the five levels with the hope that you w