Is it time to shake up your t’ai chi practice?
Or maybe time to start one?
Press from YCF13
Have you been coasting for a while, in a comfort zone but feeling like there is much more you could get from the time you spend training?
Or maybe you’ve become bored with what you have been doing and don’t find yourself inspired to do the daily practice that you know will be so beneficial to not just future-you, but present-you as well.
Or maybe you have been doing the same forms for years, or even decades, and it’s time to check out what else is happening.
Or maybe it’s been a long time since you had your mind REALLY BLOWN by learning something shockingly new, something that immediately changes your relationships to your body, your mind, the world, and other people.
Yeah, that’s what this seminar is about. Like coming home to your studio apartment, and as you open doors you become aware that you were living in a triplex all along.
Whether you have been studying for decades, or are just now getting around to it, this is the seminar you should consider.
It’s March 17-22 at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, five days of opening doors to body-mind-spirit integration. And an opportunity like this doesn’t come often.
Here’s the deal:
1. I’ll be teaching a dynamite short form called Yang Cheng Fu’s 13 Original Postures. (See video below.) I learned it from Master Yang Fukui a few years ago and was smitten. It’s a large-frame form that complements my William C. C. Chen’s 60 Movements, which is a compact small-frame form. It’s big, and open, and powerful. It’s really short (did I mention the 13 postures?) and easy to learn, so I can share it in a weekend seminar, or a little more leisurely in a 5-day like this one. (We get a lot done in a weekend seminar. Even more in a 5-day.) You are not going to spend all your time and energy memorizing movements, because the real fun is the serious ju ju that goes into the doing.
2.Three Pillars: Energetic Coherence, Central Equilibrium, and Song Kua. These three elements are the foundation for all my qigong, neigong, and internal martial arts. Immediate transformation when you employ the Three Pillars: instant root, effortless power, and a calm, clear mind. I have been teaching these elements for years, but they have gotten a huge upgrade in the past year and they are simpler and more powerful than ever. Learning the YCF13 with the Three Pillars turbocharges an already powerful form. And you will be shocked how easy it is!
Effortless Power
3.Hemispheric Sychronization and Whole-brain Coherence: Don’t be daunted by the title. What it means is that there is a simple way to access and use more of your brain power, which makes learning new stuff a whole lot more fun. I have been invited to do a presentation at the Society for Consciousness Studies Conference at Yale Divinity School in May and will talk about this. (Also scheduled to present are Ken Wilber, Deepak Chopra, Ervin Laszlo, Allan Combs, Jonathan Bricklin, and others. Here’s a talk I gave at the conference in 2017. )
4.T’ai Chi as a spiritual path. Opening the Eye of Spirit. Beyond its health benefits, beyond its kick-ass martial applications, beyond the calming effect of “meditation in action,” t’ai chi can open you to expanded spiritual awareness. This is done by engaging life, not transcending it. And all the while making you happier, healthier, and better able to deal with the challenges of life.
So get a cat-sitter for the week, tell the boss you’re not coming in, book a cheap flight, and get ready for a passionate exploration into some really cool stuff. If you’re already doing a t’ai chi form, great! This stuff will take you deeper. Or if you tried t’ai chi in college or at the Y and let it go, it’s time to do it for real. One week could open the doors of discovery to a new and beautiful world.
And most important, contact Kripalu and register early. Here’s the link: Taijiquan Immersion at Kripalu.
Here’s the YCF13 done by Master Yang Fukui. As he performs it, he notes the Chinese elements that are activated by the various movements.
