These instructions are guidelines to help you remember what we did in class.
Warm up.
Stand with feet shoulder distance and parallel, knees slightly bent, bum tucked in, head erect and the weight inclined slightly onto the balls of the feet . Keep your head up as if suspended to the heavens by a string and keep your back straight. Keep the tongue lightly touching the palate behind the front teeth. Relax and let the tension in your body, especially in your shoulders, sink down into the ground. Breath deep into the lower belly through the nose and exhale through the nose. Still your mind and try to put attention into each movement.
1. Swing your arms in front and behind as you open and close the hands. Turn the head from side to side and shift the weight from one foot to the other. Breathe deeply.
2. Place the left arm in front of the body turn the head completely to the right and rotate the right arm ten times in both directions. Open and close the hands simultaneously.
Repeat with the right arm extended.
3. Qi Gong Swings. Swing from side to side gently slapping your kidneys as you rotate. Imagine that your hands are gliding through water.
4. Continue the swing but let one arm swing over the shoulder.
5. Clasp your hands behindyour back. Left and right.
6. Bring your left elbow to your right shoulder and stretch. Repeat on the other side.
7. Open your arms and rotate your neck clockwise then anti clockwise.
8. Keep your arms open and move your head up and down.
9. Keeping the arms open turn your head from side to side touching your shoulder with your chin.
10. Turn your palms upwards and imagine that you are a receptacle for the chi that you are about to collect and store during these exercises.
11. Hands on your hips and rotate your hips.
12. Palm facing the ceiling, rotate and swing your arm above your head and scoop the
the chi back into your Dan Tien which is located 1.5 inches below your navel.
13.Stretch your legs by holding your foot behind your back. Then feet together, knees together and rotate your knees.
14.Feet together, interlock your fingers and stretch upwards. Inhale as you go up. Fold your arms and bend down while exhaling and touch your toes. Repeat 10 times rubbing you your hands together as you come up.
15. Move feet back to shoulder distance and continue rubbing hands.
16. Rub each finger separately.
17. Place palms over eyes and imagine that you are breathing through your eyes.
18. Wash your face downwards with your fingertips.
19. Massage your temples.
20. Press your first finger to the centre of your eyebrows.
Second finger under your nostrils.
Third finger under your ear lobes.
Fourth fingers on your upper lip.
21. Massage your neck.
22. Massage your shoulders. [Relax with your feet at shoulder distance etc. [
The next exercise involves raising your hands above your head until they meet above your head then bringing them down as if in prayer, bringing them behind your back and then scooping the chi back in front of the dan tien. After this exercise just continue scooping the chi into the dan tien in a continuous motion and then after about ten times pull the chi up and push down in front of the dan tien.
Then there are the 8 Qi Gong Exercises called the Eight pieces of Brocade, also known as Eight pieces of Silk or Eight pieces of Embroidery.
1. Feet shoulder distance. Push the hands palm upwards to the heavens and then push back down turning the palms at face level.
2. Draw the bowstring and release the arrow moving the weight to the back leg as you release the arrow. Try to imagine you have a beam of light coming from the palm of your hand and this is shooting out forever.
3. Right hand palm up and left hand palm down, weight on the left leg. Then left hand palm up and right hand palm down weight on the right leg
4. This is similar to number 3 but this time turn the waist and look behind. Keep the arm and the hand in one continuous line for these two exercises i.e. do not bend the wrist.
5. Turn the feet 45 degrees, exhale as you bend down, inhale as you come up and join the hands behind your back.
6. Massage the lower Dan tien and the middle Dan tien. Place your hands on your hips, bend backwards and then as you come forwards bring the arms behind and let your palms open to the sky. After this exercise massage your kidneys.
7. Make fists and punch ahead while rotating the waist.
8. Interlock fingers, feet together and stretch upwards inhaling as you go up on your toes and exhaling as you come down and bang your heels on the floor to send a shock up the spine and activate the body.
Practice Daily for up to an hour or even 15 minutes at a time. It is better to practice a little often than a lot not so often. The best time is early morning or an hour before sunset. Don’t practice on a full stomach. Breath deep and ENJOY!
The style of Tai Chi we are practicing is called “Yang Style Short Form, 24 movements”
