In this 7-part transformational intensive, Ken will guide you through the fundamental body-mind-spirit skills and competencies you’ll need to successfully create your own Tai Chi practice — to lower anxiety, increase your vitality, cultivate joy, and move through life with greater physical ease.
This course will feature teachings, training sessions, and experiential practices with Ken. Each session will build harmoniously upon the previous ones, so you’ll develop a complete holistic understanding of the practices, tools, and principles you’ll need to cultivate a Tai Chi mind and life.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. And as you begin your Tai Chi journey, this first step is important.
In this opening session, you’ll learn the foundational principles and first movements of Tai Chi.
You’ll discover the elements of Tai Chi posture — including simple ways to relax more deeply, the importance of bending your knees to put spring in your step, how to release constriction in your spine, and the role of your abdomen in deep breathing.
You’ll learn to step with the centered strength of a mountain, yet remain relaxed, balanced, and as supple as flowing water.
Most importantly, you’ll experience how meditative movement can empty the mind of worry and chatter.
For this opening class, the first 20 minutes will address frequently asked questions such as: What is Tai Chi? Is it a type of Qigong? What time of day should I practice? Does facing a certain direction enhance practice and enjoyment? Should I eat breakfast before or after practice? How can I combine Tai Chi with my workout at the gym?
Then you’ll move to the heart of the matter — practice. You’ll move through a Standing Meditation for grounding and building a reservoir of energy.
You’ll learn the first three movements of Tai Chi: Opening, Grasp the Sparrow’s Tail, and Ward-Off Left — and close class with a tranquil breath meditation.
In this session, you’ll discover:
For this class, you’ll enjoy a traditional practice-based teaching.
You’ll begin by reviewing the Standing Meditation, using it to go more deeply into the elements of Tai Chi posture — standing like a tree with deep roots and tall branches that reach toward the sun.
Ken will guide you to review the first three movements of the Tai Chi form: Opening, Grasp the Sparrow’s Tail, and Ward-Off Left.
After several repetitions and some gentle corrections, you’ll continue with Ward-Off Right, Roll-Back, Press, and Push.
You’ll delve into the important principle of Zheng Ti Jin, Whole-Body Power — that the body is used in an integrated, connected fashion. The gentle, whole-body workout of Tai Chi is based on this powerful truth.
Another tenet of Tai Chi is, When one part moves, all parts move. In Taoism, this is called wu wei, the power of effortless action, or what is popularly known as “going with the flow.” Ken will show you how to apply this principle in everyday life so you can move more efficiently, accomplishing more with less force.
In this session, you’ll:
During this class, you’ll review the Tai Chi techniques you’ve explored so far and learn details of the Single Whip, a posture noted for opening the joints and promoting free flow of Qi, life energy.
You’ll explore the Raise Hands movement, which may be held as a standing meditation to develop inner strength. From Raise Hands, you’ll flow into Kao, Shoulder Stroke, fine-tuning alignment so power moves through your whole body.
Then comes the beautiful White Crane Spreads Wing, inspired by everything the crane in nature and in Tai Chi teaches us about balance, alertness, and longevity.
In this session, you’ll:
During this class, you’ll move, as the Chinese say, from the skin to the bones, from surface to depth.
Ken will guide you to slowly and carefully review the Tai Chi form — with plenty of time devoted to the movements from the previous class.
You’ll continue with Brush Knee Twist Step, Play the Guitar, and a repetition of Brush Knee Twist Step. Brush Knee Twist step improves coordination and has a profound effect on brain health.
You’ll find a new level of inner balance by exploring the hidden dimensions of yin and yang in Tai Chi. And you’ll discover how some movements receive and store energy, putting you in a state of potential, or yin. Other movements, considered yang, give or release what’s been gathered.
Life requires both yin and yang. We can’t be always on, without a break or rest time. Nor can you find contentment if your resources and gifts are always held within and not expressed. Knowing how to store and release energy is the secret not only to Tai chi, but to a happy life.
In this session, you’ll:
Qi, life energy, develops naturally when you move in an aligned, relaxed, and fluid manner.
During this class, you’ll explore why Qi is linked with the breath, and you’ll learn the 4 Signs of Qi Activation: warmth, rootedness, vibration, and expansiveness.
As you’ll discover, healthy Tai Chi breathing moves both the diaphragm (lower abdomen) and the lower back, an area known as “the gate of life.”
Each breath massages the internal organs, reduces stress in the connective tissue, and helps restore balanced functioning.
Continuing with the Tai Chi form you’re building, you’ll review from the beginning as always — then add in new movements: Step, Parry, and Punch.
Ken will explain why Tai Chi includes slow-motion punches and is lauded as a superb martial art.
In this session, you’ll:
During this class, Ken will lead you to refine and correct all the movements you’ve learned in previous classes and add Withdraw and Push, as well as Cross Hands and Close.
You’ll discover how Tai Chi ends the way it began — with balance, stillness, and emptiness. The one produces the many, then the many return to the one.
After multiple repetitions, you’ll explore an essential, yet often-overlooked aspect of Tai Chi training, the Ba Shi, or 8 Core Skills.
As you’ll discover, every movement in every form of Tai Chi is based on the Ba Shi: Ward-Off, Roll-Back, Press, Push Down, Pluck, Split, Elbow, and Ram.
Once you understand these skills, you have an important key to improving your Tai Chi practice.
As you incorporate the Ba Shi into your practice, you take a significant step toward one of the goals of Tai Chi, called Dong Jin, or Comprehending Internal Energy. To Dong Jin is to become a more empowered and alive human being.
In this session, you’ll:
In this final class, Ken will lead you through a grand review of every movement and detail in your Tai Chi form.
You’ll feel the powerful truth that there’s never an end point, because there’s always room for improvement and greater enjoyment.
You’ll learn various ways of practicing the form: slowly and fluidly, like pulling a silk thread from a cocoon, or just a bit more quickly so you can feel the momentum generated by the shift of the weight and the turn of the waist.
Ken will guide you to feel the flow of Qi in your body as you practice. Or you might prefer to visualize your practice as being supple as water, rooted as a pine tree, and elegant as a crane.
He’ll also introduce and demonstrate how the various postures may be used in energy medicine to remove obstructions and transmit healing energy to a client… perhaps the most hidden aspect of Tai Chi.
In this session, you’ll:
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