pjunderwood Art of Qi taijiquan qigong fitness

General information

Taijiquan Qigong Fitness Wellbeing

Our primary training is qigong. This is the ancient practice that Taiji originates from and is essentially Taoist yoga. These movements provide a mostly light form of exercise with occasional fast explosive movements designed to work on specific areas of the body such as the heart or lungs and balance yinyang energy. Most qigong exercises can be practised by anyone. Additionally, the classes are structured to get you fitter, more flexible, stronger and mentally happier.

From day one we learn 'three circle standing Zen'. A powerful qigong posture/meditation, where we hold a position for a certain length of time - it should be difficult.

Qigong allows us to get the great benefits of the internal arts while we are still in the learning phase of our Taiji practice. Once we know all the choreography, we start practising the form with our subconscious mind, in meditation.

Tai Chi

We believe that Tai Chi improves the flow of energy through the body, leading to better wellness and a wide range of potential benefits. Those benefits include:

Improved strength, conditioning, coordination and flexibility
Reduced pain and stiffness
Better balance and lower risk of falls
Enhanced sleep
Greater awareness, calmness and overall sense of well being.
Tai Chi is not as ancient as most people believe. The founder of the Old Yang style, Yang Lu-Ch'an, was born in 1799, creating his form in the early 19th century. His form wasn't even referred to as Tai Chi back then! However, Qigong, the exercises that this form of internal art was based off, does date back thousands of years. This training will take the practitioner through the self healing, martial and eventually medical levels of Tai Chi practice.

Self Defence

The Tai Chi form and training methods are designed to help us learn about natural body movement. Through practice, teaching us about balance, timing and coordination. An understanding of Yin and Yang through various slow moving and explosive postures. These postures in the form all have various martial applications hidden within them, which teach us some of the most deadly point striking methods, known as 'Dim Mak point strikes'.

Training Methods we will cover in class:

Push Hands Single/Double
Wudang Hand Weapons
Small San Sau
Dragon Prawn Boxing
Mitt Work

We also teach Yang Cheng Fu's form for our elderly clients or for those wanting a simpler and gentler system of Tai Chi focusing just on the qigong healing aspact.