Browsing Archive: March, 2014
Posted by Fiona Anderson. on Tuesday, March 25, 2014,
Many people are surprised to learn there can be gradings and belts in tai chi. This is because many clubs don't do them, but instead focus on the health aspects of tai chi. Then again some clubs which do include the martial aspects, don't do gradings either, but have their own systems of encouraging progress.
Those clubs that do do gradings don't necessarily use the same colours for each stage, but instead can arbitrarily decide on whatever colours they like and whatever stages they like. T...
Continue reading ...
Posted by Fiona Anderson. on Tuesday, March 25, 2014,
Having a goal is entirely the wrong way to approach tai chi. Just coming along and doing the lesson, then working on whatever little section you're at, is a much better approach.
Having goals leads to frustration if you don't achieve them quickly. When you abandon goals and instead just work on having a process, you make much more solid progress. Approaching tai chi as a process, means you learn to work in the moment, doing what you're doing, and you learn to relax as part of that process.
The...
Continue reading ...
Posted by Fiona Anderson. on Tuesday, March 25, 2014,
Talking to one of my friends, it came up in the conversation that we'd both been to physios and been given loads of exercises. That might sound like a good thing, but it's actually unrealistic for most people: Most people are out of the habit of doing any exercise, let alone loads of them. My take on it, is to pick a couple off the list and work on those - otherwise having so many exercises is daunting and people will probably drop the lot.
With tai chi, it's a way into exercise for those of u...
Continue reading ...
Posted by Fiona Anderson. on Tuesday, March 25, 2014,
A friend of mine in hospital asked me if tai chi could be done without standing up. Although asked as a joke, this is actually what I do with some of my clients.... Certain clients have mobility issues and others feel like sitting down is where they're at.
For such clients, I've devised a routine that's a combination of tai chi breathing exercises (chi kung) and tai chi massage, which they feel happy to try out and persevere at. With one such group, I've been doing this for 3 months or so and...
Continue reading ...
Posted by Fiona Anderson. on Monday, March 24, 2014,
This article appeared in Anxious Times, the magazine of Anxiety UK. The link to their site is on our Links page.
Most
people have heard of tai chi's benefits for physical health, but what
you may not have heard is that it can also be beneficial for
improving mental health too.
I
used to suffer from such severe anxiety that when I first started tai
chi, it was six months before I could speak to the chief instructor.
At that time I used to find it hard to practise anything because I
was so stre...
Continue reading ...
Posted by Fiona Anderson. on Friday, March 14, 2014,
This is so common - people are worried about their hands and arms, when really these are just the icing on the cake. The cake is your feet and where your weight is. Once you really get in touch with feeling your weight and where that is in your feet, then the arms become much easier.
So by all means follow and copy the arm movements, but don't stress about them. If you concentrate your attention in your feet, that is 90% of the job done. The arms will come in time....
It's especially useful fo...
Continue reading ...
Posted by Fiona Anderson. on Sunday, March 2, 2014,
I've finally finished the draft text for my book on teaching children tai chi. Now to get others to read and comment on it, then to have more photos of kids taken, then finally to have my webmeister (see links page) turn it into the format needed for an ebook.
Having an extended support team has made the process all much easier - people to take photos, people to read through, people to webify it, etc etc. Indeed this whole website relies on their very practical support and encouragement - t...
Continue reading ...
