Tai ji Life

Whether you are new to Tai Chi or want to refresh your skills, you will find something here for you.

What we teach - and why

I had my first experience with Tai Chi in the early '90s. I quickly learned the "108 moves" and loved it. However, knowing what I know now, I would recommend a different approach.

Starting off with shorter tai chi sequences, or "forms," can help you develop good habits and a solid foundation. It took me a long time to correct years of poor knee positioning and posture. Focus on quality over quantity, and you can apply that mindset to many other areas of your life!

In 2012, I attended my first workshop with Master Sam Masich, and it was an eye-opener! I loved his development of the "5 Section Taijiquan." It provides practical, short Tai Chi forms that are excellent for beginners and for those who want to add deep, core fundamentals and understanding to their practice.

Wendy

Beginners

You will learn:

10-Form Tai Chi (Yang Style)

Warm-ups (neigong)

Standing meditation (zhan zhuang)
Introduction to 5 Section Taijiquan Solo Bare-hand form (Yang Style)

Brief introductions to the philosophy underlying Tai Chi (Taoism)

BONUS: Video resources are available to help you remember what you learned in each class.

You can apply fundamental Tai Chi principles to each movement to improve your ability to shift your weight, relax your shoulders, maintain proper alignment, and experience a more natural flow of movement.

Level 1

You will continue learning the 5 Section Taijiquan program including:

Solo Bare-hand form to the left and right (mirrored)
Solo Bare-hand (24 Form)
Partner Bare-hand form (sanshou)
Solo Sword Form (taijijian)
Sensing Hands (jue-shou)

Core principles
5-Section Brocade (Wuduanjin)
Conditioning (Louhan forms)

10 Form Tai Chi

You will learn ten key movements that you can apply to longer forms later on. Learning these movements will increase your stability, strength, and coordination.

For Beginners

This is an excellent place to start! It can easily be adjusted to suit your level of ability, ranging from gentle to very challenging.

For Level 1

Focus on core principles while practicing familiar movements. This approach utilizes both sides of the body and will help you with the mirrored form.

What is

5 Section Taijiquan?

5 Section: 5 (Wu) is a significant number in this program. Each form is divided into five sections and they correspond to each other across the forms. It's quite brilliant!

Taijiquan: Most of us are not used to the spelling "taijiquan" but it means the same thing as "tai chi" . Watch the video to learn more.

Where you'll begin: