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1st May, 2010
Josianne Facchetti
In China at around 6am every morning, in every city, every square and every garden, small groups of Chinese gather to practise Tai Chi. I used to join one of these groups, while living in the city of Dalian, to learn this ancient martial art. However, the Tai Chi master spoke only Chinese which I only had a basic knowledge of. He thought that as a Westerner I could not understand the deeper meaning of this art. I would have believed him had I not later have found a good Tai Chi school in Malta. When I came back 2 years ago, I was as much a beginner then as ever before. One day while on campus, I saw a small group of people practising Tai Chi just as they used to in China. The difference was that everyone spoke my language and although the sessions were tough and intense, the teachers –Richard Galea Debono and Conrad Laus – joked and made us laugh at intervals. Learning a tough discipline in a fun and easy atmosphere made a big difference to my progress. The sessions include Qigong exercises as a warm up, learning the ‘form’ which is a set of Tai Chi movements, exercises designed to learn how to generate energy from within and what is called ‘push hands’ which is a gentle form of sparring. Tai Chi is principally an internal martial art which does not involve pushing, kicking, falling and flying in the air as is done in other external martial arts. Tai Chi is based on the Chinese principle of Yin and Yang where the soft and the hard although opposites are complementary forces. The movements are done quite slowly, with one posture flowing into the next without interruption. These soft flowing movements are at times interspersed by hard explosive movements.
Mental and physical balance – being assertive and attacking, as well as yielding and defending – is needed to achieve Yin Yang balance not only in the practice, but also in everyday life. Conrad says that first of all the mind has to be still. He says that Tai Chi is not purely physical but its principles can also be used outside the practice. Yin and Yang balance help him in his work where he applies the yielding and fighting back technique – he yields but at the opportune moment he is assertive when least expected, thus achieving his aim with minimal effort. While practising Tai Chi, the mind has to be totally attentive as losing focus means making mistakes in the ‘form.’ This attention is a form of meditation – an undivided awareness of the present moment thus developing calmness within.
The Chinese believe that intrinsic energy or life force (Qi) flows through meridians in the body. Illness is a result of imbalance and blockage of Qi. By practising the form which on seeing for the first time may look like a dance, Qi is channelled through the meridians restoring Yin and Yang balance thus ensuring health and a feeling of well being. By combining calmness with the flow of Qi we gradually learn to generate more energy. This is called ‘spiral energy’ because it starts from the centre of the body (below the navel) to the extremities and back again. This is done by a number of Tai Chi exercises to learn to instigate this energy. Since Tai Chi is not as strenuous as other aerobic exercises, such as running, the body is not depleted of energy at the end of a session but, on the contrary, energy is renewed.
Exertion is equally distributed without causing prolonged tension on a particular part of the body. Even muscles we did not realise existed are gently exercised and according to the Chinese the internal organs are massaged. Richard and Conrad say that Tai Chi is a journey of continuous learning and discovery which lasts a whole life time. Each time I practise I discover something new about the art and about myself which motivates me to practise more as I develop a passion for this art. After the practice I too feel what Richard describes as “a general feeling of well being, a buzzing glow.” Tai Chi is probably the only holistic form of exercise. It benefits the mental aspect as I learn to empty my mind of all the noise that obstructs clear thinking and calmness. It also benefits the physical aspecut making me fitter, healthier and full of energy.
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12th April, 2009 Colette Caruana
I started Taiji during the summer course mainly because my mother wanted someone to go with her to the lessons but also out of curiosity, and I was immediately struck by how claming it is. In the end my mother stopped while I have continued!
I am quite an active person as I dance, so I did not find the exercise stressful in the least. Rather I found it relaxing, although still a little difficult because many of the positions go against everything I have ever trained my body to do in dancing. That being said, the whole aim of Taiji is that the movements and positions are as natural and logical as possible, so anyone worried about finding difficulty in the movements need not worry too much. In fact when I was in China a few years ago I was impressed to see many elderly people doing taiji and stretching as if they were still a child!
One of the amazing things about Taiji is that, even though all the movements are so slow and calm, when you are really doing it properly it can be a real workout! Another fascinating thing is that every single thing you do has a purpose and an application; there is always something new to learn! (Also, now I have learned to punch properly, which is always an added bonus!)
As I am a student with a lot of extra curricular activities, finding time to relax is always hard but I found that Tai Chi is really good for that purpose! Between the peace of being outside and the slowness of the movements I find my mind completely clearing of all other things and just concentrating on the co-ordination of all the actions, which has one of the most amazing calming effects. I always find myself looking forward to that little bit of peace when I can forget everything else and just relax.
12th April, 2009
Elise Billiard
When I started taiji classes I quickly understood that if I did not commit myself to exercize at least 3 times a week I would not be able to progress and as a consequence I would quickly get bored. Taiji is not very demanding, not like classic dance for instance, or at least it seems so, because Taiji looks simple and easy, as much as the circus trapeze artists’ graceful jumps. Taiji does not require from you to be a great athlete but it requires commitment. To stand up and make hands movements on the roof of your house, or to complete the 74 form on the beach in the morning is very simple to do and soon it becomes addictive.
Doing a Taiji form always helps me to calm down when I have bad feelings, and gives me the concentration and the serenity to work efficiently when I am stressed. After repeating Taiji exercises for some months, you will want to find even just 10 minutes in your day to forget all about your worries and to concentrate on the movements of your body. And there is
always room to improve!
To conclude I won’t tell you how much I love taiji because I encounter another way of thinking, another way of looking at truth for instance, but I will tell you my experience as a young mother. I know that Taiji and maybe especially Chen style is a martial art, and surely the mother of all martial arts, but for me it was mostly a precious help to live my pregnancy and to give birth to my wonderful baby. I tried to keep up exercising as much as I could almost every morning during my pregnancy, even with a big 8 months belly. This time I was not really trying to
improve my movements, but it helped me to keep fit even at the point when you have difficulty to walk. Taiji moves are made to increase the blood flow and to bend smoothly your joints so that after ten minutes I felt always a bit tired but also relaxed and less stiff. I am convinced that Taiji influenced my happy pregnancy but I believe also that it made the delivery a lot easier. When most of my friends took at least 12 hours to give birth, I had my baby after only 4 hours of labour!
Everyone has his specific reason to like Taiji.
8th April 2009
Leon Mario Camilleri
I am enjoying the lessons big time and I find them to be very informative indeed. I am looking forward to start learning the sword form and having some fun with push hands. It is a very nice way of keeping fit as well :-)
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