by Rick Barrett | Dec 9, 2019 | Consciousness, Integration, Taiji
Wikipedia: Wu wei (Chinese: 無爲; pinyin: wú wéi) is a concept literally meaning “inexertion”, “inaction”, or “effortless action”.[1][2] Wu wei emerged in the Spring and Autumn period, and from Confucianism, to become an important...
by Rick Barrett | Nov 16, 2019 | Integration, Meditation, Taiji
“Push. No push.” “Punch. No punch.” In my many years studying with him, Grandmaster William C. C. Chen would often exhort us to let go of excessive effort with paradoxical words like that. Taijiquan is filled with paradox, which can be...
by Rick Barrett | Aug 7, 2019 | Jade Pillow Gate, Taiji
In my last few posts I have been emphasizing “Opening the Jade Pillow Gate” (yu zhen) at the base of the skull. Doing so unleashes the “spirit of vitality” (jingshen) and allows for whole-brain coherence and body-mind-spirit integration. It is located at the...
by Rick Barrett | May 28, 2019 | Consciousness, Taiji
Next weekend I will be giving a presentation at the Society for Consciousness Studies Conference at Yale Divinity School. This will be the third time I have been asked to present at the Conference, and I always look forward to sharing my empirical martial arts...
by Rick Barrett | Apr 22, 2019 | Event Recaps
Many thanks to Sifu David Shaver and the Peaceful Wolf gang in Connecticut for a wonderful seminar last weekend, “Brain Coherence in the Internal Arts.” The venue shifted from David’s studio in East Haddam to the beautiful lake-front Senior...
