Qi Gong > Tai Ji · Rooted Alchemy

Qi Gong > Tai Ji

Okay, so this is my other question: how best to "transition" (perhaps not the quite word) from Qi Gong to Tai Ji. I don't mean "been there done that with QG! I mean how best to transition *within* a practice session, and, bigger picture, how to work from QG alone to gaining competence in full "flowing" sets of TJ forms.

So a bit of context: one thing I've hitherto felt a bit off-putting in the past about TJ training in live sessions and online has been an over-emphasis on "learning forms", especially the "need" to start learning a full set of forms (up to 35 in one class!).

One of the things I've found so different and so refreshing with Rooted Alchemy is the strong emphasis on QJ, and then on "Tai Ji Basics", awareness of the centre in relation to the four directions, advancing, retreating, and so on, then practicing forms in isolation quite rigorously, and only then linking initially a handful into a flowing session. This to me makes SO MUCH MORE SENSE then leaping straight into "learning" sets of forms. And of course, all this takes time, patience and plenty practice. To-date the rewards I've got from this in terms of my physical and mental wellbeing have hugely exceeded my expectations.

All that said, my difficulty at the moment is that I've developed such a respect for TJ that I almost feel a sense of nervousness when going beyond the basics, a subtly "butterflies in the gut" feeling of "okay, now it's starting to get serious!" that sometimes can interfere with my flow within and between movements. I don't mean nervousness that I haven't "learned the forms" "properly", I mean a kind of awe that unworthy me is being ushered into the court of Emperor Tai Ji. If that makes sense? I mean, if I'm not ready yet, I'm fine with continuing as I am. But I don't want my respect for the discipline to become an obstacle to practice.

My gut feeling is:

1) To stick with QG-based practice and repeating TJ basics to build up core competence and core physical strength and fluency (which of course has its own benefits and positive health outcomes), while:

2) Stepping ;-) into Tai Ji walking, but how to do that? When and where to start (bearing in mind I'm still working of knee strength); which of the videos might be best to start with?

3) Only then working in say 2-4 forms of the Beijing 24, perhaps listening to the background videos a few times, and practicing them in isolation at first.

How does this sound?

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