Tai Chi Canada

Who should be taking Tai Chi?

If we look at the numerous benefits of Tai Chi, we can better understand who should be looking into taking a Tai Chi class and why.

Anyone interested in improving their physical fitness. This includes improving overall fitness, calorie burning/weight loss, core strengthening, slimming and toning, tummy tightening, leg strengthening and toning. The Tai chi exercises also aid the digestive system and respiratory systems.

Anyone interested in stress reduction. The focus required in Tai Chi practice lowers the heart rate, decreases blood pressure, calms the nervous system and creates a state of calm, similar in benefit to meditation practice. This applies to anyone looking for an escape from the everyday grind.

Anyone interested in self defense. The movements of Tai Chi are performed in such a way that they are quite literally self defense moves performed at slow motion speed to aid in kinesthetic memory, better known as muscle memory.

Anyone interested in improving their performance in any other sport. Any sport performance can be enhanced by improved balance, coordination, suppleness and leg strength.

Anyone looking for some fun. Tai Chi is an integral part of Traditional Chinese Medicine, which teaches that illness is a result of blocked or restricted Chi flow. The movements of Tai Chi free the flow of Chi, another interesting aspect is that laughter also frees the flow of Chi. Any Tai Chi class that involves laughter is extremely beneficial to your overall health.

Anyone concerned about the numerous aches and pains associated with not only getting older, but also anyone employed with an overly physical job. The slow, gentle movements of Tai Chi move every joint in the entire body through their complete range of motion.

Anyone who has ever suffered from lower back pain, knee pain and/or rotator cuff issues.  The slow, gentle movements of Tai Chi move every joint in the entire body through their complete range of motion in a safe and controlled manner. The emphasis on correct form improves joint mobility in a safe way. This greatly aids arthritis sufferers.

Check with your Doctor to see if Tai Chi is right for you. Heart disease, crohns, colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, osteoarthritis, ADHD, high blood pressure, rehabilitation after an accident or injury, hypertension, anxiety and damage to the nervous system have all been treated with both Tai Chi and medical attention. Tai Chi complements, not replaces, many modern medical practices.

David Hughes at

www.midwesttaichi.com

Self defense and Tai Chi

There are certain attributes to self defense which greatly increase your chances of prevailing that are taught repeatedly within the art of Tai Chi.

The first attribute needed within any self defense encounter is of course tools or weapons at your disposal. This refers to any and all strikes employed by the defender to subdue the aggressor. Tiger claws, chin jabs, shin scrapes and head butts are but a few of the tools used in self defense and taught in Tai Chi.

The second attribute we will look at is the principle of moving forward into your attacker. The entire sequence of Tai Chi is designed to move forward, arming the Tai Chi practitioner with the correct mindset and attitude to prevail in a violent encounter.

The third attribute is balance. In any self defense situation, slipping or falling can have devastating effects on your chance of survival. Tai Chi emphasizes balance as a key component of the movements. Tai Chi consists of slow, deliberate weight transfers from one foot to the other with an emphasis on controlled balance.

The fourth attribute is suppleness or looseness. This means having a soft, pliable body that can twist, turn and maneuver in and around your attacker’s strikes and defenses. Tai Chi focuses on ‘softness’ and pliability which makes suppleness a natural by-product of any good Tai Chi practice.

The fifth attribute is what I will call body unity. This means striking with all your body weight in a controlled and balanced manner This enables a 100 pound girl to topple a 300 pound attacker by using all her body weight behind each strike. In this manner the defender is not just striking with a push or a kick, but driving through her attacker. The movements of Tai Chi are all initiated by the legs, so moving your entire body in a coordinated way becomes natural.

The sixth attribute in any self defense situation is awareness, not only situational awareness but also awareness of your body. Some would also call this hand eye coordination, and this is a natural by-product of regular Tai Chi practice. Each movement in the Tai Chi sequence is performed slow, controlled and relaxed with a focus on correct body alignment and posture. This teaches the practitioner to know exactly where each body part is in space without having to look which is hand eye coordination or body awareness.

The seventh attribute is what I call ‘not being there’. Having the flexibility and looseness in the spine to deflect and evade any incoming force. In any self defense situation you always assume your attacker is bigger, stronger and faster than you. Never meet force with force, but rather evade and move your body out of the line of attack by employing the Tai Chi principles of deflecting.

When you combine these attributes-understanding your natural weapons, correct mindset, balance, suppleness, body unity, awareness and evasion, you can see that the study of Tai Chi can be incredibly beneficial to your self defense study. When you combine these with the added benefits of stress reduction, calorie burning, leg strengthening, toning, core conditioning, increased flexibility and increased joint  mobility in every joint in the body you can see why Tai Chi has become so popular world-wide. According to a study conducted in the United States Tai Chi burns more calories than surfing or downhill skiing.

Regardless of where you decide to study Tai Chi, please be sure to ask if the self defense applications are taught. Unfortunately today most students are not interested in the self defense aspects of Tai Chi so many schools do not bother to teach them. This has caused true Tai Chi to deteriorate to a system of exercises for seniors. Although Tai Chi is an excellent system of exercise for seniors it has so much more to offer.

Due to the style of my teaching which teaches both the movements and self defense aspects of Tai Chi, one of my students joked that it is like getting a “two for one deal.” Although I do appreciate his endorsement I feel that the way I teach is more in line with the masters of old, teaching authentic Tai Chi the way it was meant to be taught and practiced, as a martial art that incorporates stress reduction with physical fitness.

David Hughes

Midwest Tai Chi

A warrior is not just a person who has learned some moves, is able to kick at 90 miles per hour or who has won the world championships at kick-boxing. A warrior must earn his title. The martial artist is a person who knows things that go far deeper than just self defence, he is someone who walks into a room full of people and an immediate calm falls upon that room, he is a person who can touch a person’s head, or arm, or hand and cause an inner stillness and peace to fall upon that person. You know a warrior not from the way he looks, his big biceps, or his rolled up sleeves revealing a row of tattoos, or his shaven head or the fact that he wears his full gi (karate uniform) to parties!

The warrior looks upon the earth in a different way than those who are not warriors, everything, from the smallest insect to the largest mammal, and the most insignificant rock or tree is important and has life, the grass he walks upon, he thanks for softening the rough path he walks upon, the trees, he thanks for giving him shade and oxygen. Everything has importance because it was put there by mother earth for some reason.

Sure, he has to live in modern times, he must drive a motor car and go to the supermarket and mow his lawns, but always, he never loses sight of what he is, and more importantly, where he is. He knows that what he is, is not only what he has made himself to be, but also what is handed down to him and what is an accumulation right inside the very cells that he is made of, from his ancestors. Everything that they were, is now him, every bit of information that his fathers and mothers gathered is now inside of him, this is how we live on in our children, we literally, and I mean literally, pass on our knowledge, along with eons of knowledge accumulated since the beginning of time, to our children. Everything that we are at the conception of our children is passed on to them. We think that we have certain talents, but the warrior knows that all that he is, has come from the beginning of time, he knows that he is made up of the same stuff that a rock is made of, or a tree or a blade of grass, the difference is only physical. He knows that he owns nothing, and that all animals are free, his animals chose him to be with, he does not go to the pet shop to chose a new dog, he knows that the dog has chosen him to come to that pet shop to chose it.

The warrior communicates with the earth, he talks to the dogs, to the cats and owls, to the snakes, not so much verbally, but simply by being. This is the one thing that everything on earth has in common, being. He knows that there are forces at work on this earth, forces that he must learn to go with and to live with, otherwise he will surely perish. The energy within the warrior has the power to join with these forces, and then he has the power to change. But this comes not without payment, for he also knows that we cannot receive without first having paid for it. The whole of the universe is based upon this giving and taking, it is called yin & yang. For every up there must be a down, for every happiness, there must be a sadness, for every full tummy, there must be an empty one. The warrior knows that he must lose in order to gain, and so he sacrifices. He sacrifices his food, he sacrifices his sexual longings, his every day comforts, in order that he has the power to change and to help others to change. Not in going out specifically to help others, but to have the internal power always there to automatically help others to be peaceful, and in doing so, they too will be able to see where they are, and who they are. We are not only someone’s son or daughter, we are the sons and daughters of an infinite amount of people, those who have passed on to us their cells inside of which is hidden the very substance of creation and everything that has happened. Not ‘since time began’, because there is no beginning or ending.

Being a martial artist is only one hundredth of what a warrior is, it is only a part of the whole, it is what gives us the confidence to become a healer, the internal energy to make changes.

A warrior knows that we do not have teachers, but guides, the people we meet who are able to give us something internal, that something extra to cause us to become our own greatest teachers. Just by simply being, a guide helps us to realize that it is we, ourselves who teach us, because the warrior also knows that locked away inside of everything, is that primordial cell that contains all information. He learns to read this information which comes in the form of ‘flashes’ at first, and this is too much for his feeble human brain to handle, he shuts off as soon as the flash arrives. But soon he learns to read these flashes, and they become longer in duration than just a moment. This is when the warrior knows that he is reading time.

He learns to communicate other than speaking, he knows that his physical needs are being looked after, and needs not worry about where the next mortgage payment will come from.

The warrior finds his place on the earth and stays there, where the power is. It is not a physical searching, but rather the warrior is ‘taken’ to where he must be, and there he stays, and the whole world will pass by, he needs not to travel, because the universe is there within him, and those who will in turn need to seek him out, will do so when their time is right, in just the same way that he did when he had to travel the world searching for his own guides. They then will learn to teach themselves from within, and also then go and find their own place, and he may never see them again, but this does not worry the warrior, he is in contact.

The warrior is not the master, he is not the sifu nor the sensei, these are just physical words that we put upon ourselves to make us seem important, or better than those who we guide. The warrior is a friend to his students, and so cannot be our master. He does not wish to gather students as they will search him out, and those who need to have a master or a sensei will not stay, they will keep searching until they realize that what they search is within them, and who they search, can only be their guide.

Chapter 4 – Vision Quest (excerpt from the book – Be Still and Know Your Gypsy Soul by David Hughes)

 The shadows grow long as I wander the sidewalks of this sleepy mountain town. As the sun begins to dip below the mountain tops the air begins to cool, evenings come early and fast when you are surrounded by the Rocky Mountains. I wander aimlessly and silently as my mind wanders to what lies ahead for me. A mixture of excitement and uncertainty fill my thoughts as I brush past tourists snapping pictures and scurrying off to the next souvenir shop.

For me there is no shopping and no scurrying. I have been preparing for this event for the past year now, or maybe I have been preparing for this my whole life, and didn’t realize it. You see tomorrow I begin my quest. The North American Natives call it a Vision Quest. Seems to me an apt name, for that is what I seek. A vision, offering me direction and guidance, a clearer understanding of where I am and an understanding of where I should be going.

Many Indigenous peoples share a similar belief, spending time alone in nature to gain enlightenment or an awakening. Of course names are not important, what is important is the end result, as all these names describe what I seek direction, guidance, understanding, enlightenment. One common thread they all share though is the need to be alone. No one to tell you what this or that means or what you should or should not be doing. No one to interpret your vision for you. Each vision is unique to the individual and can only be interpreted by the individual.

Tomorrow I begin my vision quest. Tomorrow I shall wander up into that beautiful Rocky Mountain range and return a different person.  Tomorrow I begin a new leg of my journey, one in which I travel with nothing more than a sleeping roll and a wish. Armed with a box of matches, the clothes on my back and a desire to understand more clearly, I shall face whatever Mother Nature throws at me. And I shall stay as long as it takes. The Natives believed you should stay until you have a vision, sometimes taking 7 – 10 days. As for me, I shall stay, even if it takes 10 or more days, because this is something I know I must do.

I continue my walk down the main street of one of the most beautiful places on the earth. People travel from all over the world to walk these very same sidewalks. I feel alive with excitement and maybe a sense of fear for my future, but still I walk on, heart beating faster with every passing moment, still lost in my thoughts.

I look ahead to the future with excitement mixed with uncertainty, for I know that every tomorrow is an opportunity. And this really is what life is all about, eagerly anticipating our next tomorrow, and our next opportunity. Looking ahead to a future, uncertain of what lies ahead, but also an anticipation of future opportunities.

Many fear the unknown, and to be honest with you, to a certain extent, so do I. But still I walk on, moving forward, because the alternative scares me more. Not moving ahead means I am moving backwards, regressing. In science they say that every living organism is either growing or dying. There are no other choices. So I choose growing. Even though the future is uncertain, I still choose growing.

I also know that my whole life has brought me to this place at this very moment and I meditate on that thought, celebrating the fact that I am right where I am supposed to be. Just the acceptance of that fact, I am exactly where I am supposed to be, right here, right now, fills me with a sense of wonder and even creates more questions and uncertainty. How do I know I am exactly where I am supposed to be? The answer that I keep telling myself is this – Well, I am here now, so I may as well accept it. There is no point in wondering where I could be or should be, this is just a waste of time and energy. I am here now so accepting that this is where I should be gives me time to ponder a more important question – Where am I going? Where will I be in a month, a year, in five years?

It seems to me that the quest for direction and guidance are the common threads that unite all seekers. For I believe this is what we all seek, a clearer understanding of where we should be going, an acceptance that we are right where we should be in life and an eager anticipation of our future, and this usually requires some quiet time alone in nature. Many people dislike and some even fear being alone, but in order to find direction and guidance, it seems we need alone time.

I also share your concerns. It is not always easy to accept my  present circumstances. It is also not always easy to look ahead with eager anticipation. But I have spent much time in thought and worked hard to develop an awareness of the correct path for myself. Now, I would be lying to you if I said it was easy. There are good days and bad days. And just like tomorrow when I wander alone up into the mountains, unsure of what lies in store for me or what possible pitfalls lay ahead, I walk on, because I want to continue to move forward in life. I refuse to be disappointed with myself. And although my heart beats faster with every passing moment, I walk on because I know it is the best thing for me at this point in life.

I encourage you to Vision Quest. You may not be as fortunate as I to be able to Quest in the Rocky Mountains, but you can still quest. Any quiet time you can manage in nature, can be a quest. All that is needed is a wish and a desire for guidance. Couple this with an open mind and some open air, and you are on a Vision Quest. What is needed is silence, creation and an open mind.

 Traveling with a wish, a desire and an eager anticipation of the future, there truly is no better way to journey through life.

The 10 Human Regrets (As discussed by Robin Sharma in his book THE LEADER WHO HAD NO TITLE.

You reach your last day with the brilliant song that your life was meant to sing still silent within you.

You reach your last day without ever having experienced the natural power that inhabits you to do great work and achieve great things.

You reach your last day realizing that you never inspired anyone else by the example that you set.

You reach your last day full of pain at the realization that you never took any bold risks and so you never received any bright rewards.

You reach your last day understanding that you missed the opportunity to catch a glimpse of mastery because you bought into the lie that you had to be resigned to mediocrity.

You reach your last day and feel heart broken that you never learned the skill of transforming adversity into victory and lead into gold.

You reach your last day regretting that you forgot that work is about being radically helpful to others rather than being helpful only to yourself.

You reach your last day with the awareness that you ended up living the life that society trained you to want versus leading the life you truly wanted to have.

You reached your last day and awaken to the fact that you never realized your absolute best nor touched the special genius that you were built to become.

You reach your last day and discover you could have been a leader and left this world so much better than you found it. But you refused to accept that mission because you were just too scared. And so you failed. And wasted a life.

I Believe in the Yin and Yang

In traditional Chinese arts, including medicine and the martial arts, there are two opposite but complementary polarities, the yin and the yang. This is seen in the symbol of the Yin and Yang, sometimes called the Tai Chi symbol. It is a circle divided in two by a wavy line through its center, dividing the circle into two equal halves. One half is black and the other white. In the black half a smaller white circle is present and conversely in the white half a smaller black circle is present. This represents the Yin and Yang.

The Yin, represented traditionally by the black half of the circle, is also representative of night, softness, yielding, feminine, and nurturing. The white half would therefore be Yang, representing day, strong, masculine. Just as you cannot have day without having its corresponding night, you cannot have Yin without Yang and Yang without Yin. With the smaller black circle contained in the white half, this teaches us that within all Yang there is also some Yin and vice versa. The wavy line through the center signifies that the change between the two is constant; night is always turning into day and day turning into night, a never ending cycle of night and day.

Many are under the assumption that life is a delicate balance between the two, trying without ceasing to walk the fine line down the center. Walking this fine line becomes a never ending walk of frustration, as balancing the two is impossible. I believe this leads to an unbalanced approach to life. As day turns into night, so also Yin must turn into Yang.

Let’s get practical. In everyday life Yin, which traditionally represents feminine, softness, nurturing, should be applied when dealing with a loved one. A spouse, child, parent, should be treated with Yin. On the other side of the coin, pursuing our dreams, completing a task or exercising should be treated with Yang. We all know there are times when an aggressive approach, (Yang) is the right choice and when it is the worst possible choice. Therefore, trying to balance the two becomes a mistake.

I believe a more practical and realistic approach would be to experience the two rather than a balancing act.

A parent, raising and nurturing children could benefit from a self defense class or maybe a kick boxing course. When they are with their children, they should be predominantly Yin. A self defense class or kick boxing, (Yang), would be a tremendous benefit, not just the exercise element or the release, but both. This is an example of both. Conversely, someone in a workplace that involves any form of aggression would benefit tremendously from a meditation class, yoga or Tai Chi. All of these are predominantly Yin.

A simplification would be: anything that raises the blood pressure would be Yang; anything that calms the body would be Yin. Remember, stress raises blood pressure, so anything that lowers it would be beneficial. Exercise also raises blood pressure, but hopefully in a good way.

The goal is to experience both, Yin and Yang. For every 30 minutes of kick boxing, sparring, self defense training, counter that with 30 minutes of meditation, yoga or Tai Chi. This way you experience both polarities, both Yin and Yang. Experiencing both will naturally balance the individual. Rather than trying to walk the tight rope between the two, experiencing both will lead you to a balanced, more content life.

Try it for yourself, if you are a martial artist, for every minute you spend in the gym or dojo, spend an equal amount of time meditating. If you are a yoga practitioner or spend time meditating daily, try signing up for a self defense or kick boxing class. Then feel the benefits of experiencing the Yin and Yang. The benefits will surprise you.

Life is not a tight rope walk; life is all about the experiences.

David Hughes
midwesttaichi.com

Remake Your Life

“Every bamboo shoot knows to bend with the wind, but only man has the insight to put up a windmill”. This is an old Chinese saying. It illustrates very well the topic of this article, non-resistance to the natural order. I am always amazed at how nature does not resist or fight against itself. I sit beside a small stream and watch it wind its way down over and around rocks and branches. I laugh at the thought of the stream deciding to travel up the mountain, rather than down. I realize this is a ridiculous idea, and then I am humbled at the thought of how many times I have tried traveling against the natural current of life. And each time I recollect specific instances where I stood against the natural flow of life. As I remember those times it is as if I can feel the tension returning to my body.

Here is a simple but accurate test to determine if you too are fighting against the natural order of life. Do you have any stress, tension or worries? If you answered yes to the following question, you are fighting against the current. Do you know the source of your stress, tension and/or worries? Understanding the source will help you define where you are resisting the natural order.

I believe we have the choice of what to do with life’s circumstances; learning to flow and accept is a great tool to combat stress and tension in our lives, not surrender or ignore, but to accept and blend with the current of life.

. Dan Millman in his book The Natural Athlete outlined four ways to deal with the forces of life:

1. Surrender to them fatalistically, much like a rock.
2. Ignore them and in ignorance have accidents
3. Resist them and create stress and turmoil
4. Use them and blend with the natural order

Learning from past mistakes is an old rule, but it’s surprising how many people fail to heed it. If you can’t see the lesson in what went wrong, you’re just condemning yourself to making the same mistake again.

Develop non-resistance to the natural ebbs and flows of life and allow yourself to be relaxed and stress free during your day so you can begin to move along life’s path in much the same way, with a relaxed calmness, able to respond to life’s challenges freely and without prejudice.

There is a saying in Tai Chi: “Do not stand against the waves, or you will be swept away, but learn to blend and flow with the movement of the water, and you will maintain your footing”.

Much of our lives are spent trying to speed up or slow down the river of life. Ideally, we want to be as the birds of the air, not blown around by the wind but riding the currents and using them to get to where we need to go. Develop a non-resistance to life and its natural flow, and it will make your journey a lot less difficult and stressful.

David Hughes
midwesttaichi.com

Success Will Not Just Come to You – How to Go and Get It

“A man is but the product of his thoughts, what he thinks, he becomes.” – Mahatma Gandhi

So another day begins with the buzzing of the alarm clock. Shower, coffee, some toast and out the door in 20 minutes. It takes me another 20 minutes to drive to work and begin another work day. As my work day progresses my mind wanders to what I call “if only” land or sometimes my mind wanders to “what if” land. I cruise through my day on auto-pilot and then begin my drive home. Tonight is my Tai Chi class and this fills me with a sense of anticipation. My Tai Chi class is my sanctuary, a place to block out the noises of daily life and just focus on the moment. What if my entire day could be filled with that kind of satisfaction, anticipation and focus? Oops, there I go again, wandering off to “what if” land.

Well, what if? What if a day could be filled with satisfaction, focus, and fulfilling my dreams. Is it possible? I have discovered the answer to this question – YES. And do you want to know something else, I have discovered the how. Now prepare yourself, are you sitting down? This next revelation may shock you, probably because of its simplicity.

Tomorrow morning, set the alarm for 30 minutes earlier. What to do with that extra time? Think. Before you begin each day, take the time to think, not pray, not meditate, just think. There is nothing wrong with the disciplines of prayer and meditation, but for our purposes here thinking will have more value.

So what is it you should be thinking about? Well, I’m glad you asked. Here are a few suggestions: How can I make this day the first step to my best life? How can I make this day the start towards fulfilling my dreams and goals? Starting your day in this way will provide focus on what needs to be done. You know the old saying – “There is nothing worse than reaching the top of a mountain, only to find you climbed the wrong one”. Or how about – “there is nothing worse than being busy doing that which does not need to be done”.

There are only so many hours in the day and so many days in a life. Let’s not get busy doing that which does not need to be done and busy ourselves with those things which will lead us to our best life. Your days are your life in miniature, so make every day the best it can be. Living your days as you wish to live your life will ultimately lead you to a great life, and it all begins by spending time thinking How can I make this day great? How can I use every possible moment to create a great life?

Robin Sharma in his book The Greatness Guide wrote: “thinking leads to better awareness, better awareness leads to better decisions and better decisions lead to better results”. Optimum results can only come from correct action. Taking the time to think about possible contacts, relationships, dreams and goals will give you a heightened awareness when the universe offers an opportunity, seeing the opportunity with your eyes wide open. Taking the time to think before beginning each day will provide guidance, clarity, focus, direction and awareness. This discipline alone may be the single greatest practice you implement in your life, while at the same time the easiest to implement.

“Know your priorities. Know your goals. Know what needs to get done over the coming weeks, months and years for you to feel that you played your best game as a human being.” – Robin Sharma

David Hughes
midwesttaichi.com