This is a famous photo the Taiwan Tai Chi Chuan Association started in 1949 by Cheng Man Ching. In this photo are many famous tai chi teachers, including my grand teacher Tchoung Ta-Chen who is sitting in the second row. Although spelled differently when their names were translated to English, Tchoung and Cheng share the same family name and were occasional training partners in Tai Wan. They sometimes were referred to as "Big Cheng" and "Little Cheng" because they both were skilled in push hands. More history of Tchoung Ta-Chen can be found in the book "Seattle Tai Ji History Explained". He lived a fascinating life. He spent time in the nationalist military and then as a bodyguard for Chiang Kai Shek. After living in Taiwan for sometime he immigrated to South Africa to teach Tai Ji and open a business. His success there paved the way for him to immigrate to North America.

The Qualities of the breath. The breath is something that is intrinsically linked to our practice and something that is often overlooked in other physical practices. You can look up and google many different kinds of breath work and even become a certified master of breathing;). So how does qi gong view breathing? Well first, let’s not over worry about breathing wrong or incorrectly. If you are currently alive then your breath is doing a great job of keeping you functioning and thinking, especially since the brain uses way more oxygen than almost any other part of the body, so thank your breath for all those good ideas:). Rather than think that we need to control our breath, instead look to become a student of your breath. Listen and observe for how it is already working alongside your movement and posture doing a great job without you ever having had to do a thing. To quote Sun Tzu, “The breath sets the strategy”, and how we connect to our breath is directly related to our concept of ‘song’. By taking the mental posture of a student, we can then relax into the deeper systems that bring stabilization and ease into our state. It is also good to know that the air we breath and exchange with the environment is an aspect of environmental Qi, which is something different from the qi we are observing within our system. The beauty of the breath is that it is something we can use to ‘shine a flashlight’ or “create resonance” within our entire body, but the respiratory process is contained within some very specific spaces and uses logical mechanics. Overtime, there is an integration of sensory inputs that will help support and benefit the system. It is as simple as beginning to learn more about the breath and how to interact and perceive it. Below are a list of qualities we can learn to observe and look for in our breath. These are intentions that we can carry with us to gently influence the nature and quality of our breath over time. Remember, intention is like a rock you cast into a pool. We are looking and listening for the splash and ripples and feeling for the change in current. They are also guides for further study as we can begin to learn what other aspects of our practice need to be present and cultivated to draw out these qualities more easily.

I was reminded of the School House Rock song the other day and wanted to share a simple concept you can use to help remember and organize the principles you are learning. I was taught this technique by one of my teachers and it is closely related to how we also apply the Tai Ji tree method. Simply put, we use numerical organization to remember, categorize and organize material. When done correctly it can significantly improve how we interact with and understand our practices. It is a very simple and universal system that can be interacted with in individual ways. Here’s how we do it. First we have our most fundamental aspects represented by 0- Wu Ji/Song This is also the seed and root of the tai ji tree. 1-Tai Ji / Zheng This is like the trunk of our tree that supports the whole. 2-Liang Yi/Yin Yang Liang Yi means “paired or double intention’ which is basically like saying Yin Yang. This is almost like binary and can act as a complete system. The core of Tai Ji comes from these concepts. When we move past these then we can add in other core principles and methods as well as supporting concepts. Here is an example. 3-Three Treasures of qi, jing & Shen 4- Four Directions 5-Five Elements 6 - Six Harmonies 7-Seven Stars 8-8 Facets 9-9 Palaces Some of the above refer to specific principles while others are more general areas of study. For example, the 4 directions is a specific principle, the 5 Elements is a system of study. The numbering can also be used to ‘collect’ and ‘organize’ principles for further study. Getting back to the “Three is a Magic Number” theme here are some different principles and concepts that can be placed under that umbrella. Three Treasures of qi, jing, & shen The Three Bows of the body The Three Powers of Li, Gong & Jin The Three Methods of Qi Gong (posture, breath, mind) The Three States( San Ti in Chinese, also translated as three body, or diamond body) How is this helpful? It makes it really easy to remember and organize all the different concepts. It also helps us remember the proper flow of intention. It is no problem to place our intention and study all over the tai ji landscape, but it important to understand the logical and simple elegance of returning back to the simple construct of song & zheng as an integrating tool.

Cheers! Gan Bei! Empty your cup! The empty cup analogy is one that I thoroughly enjoy and is universal to so many practices and experiences. I can remember my teacher in Beijing explaining his personal relationship to this concept and how it gave him the motivation and focus he needed to be the type of person, martial artist, teacher and friend he wanted to be for those around him. The empty cup tells us that if we go into a situation with our mind and thoughts full of expectations we will often miss the the part that we should really be present for and looking to take away with us. I have always felt there is an intention present we when contemplate analogies and metaphors such as this, one that can be felt in context with our own personal experience. Coming into our practice with the intention of becoming a student rather than a master, studying rather than memorizing and simply looking to be more present with our practice helps us look to our own cup. Both how we are crafting it and with what we want to fill it. In a practice such as tai ji and qi gong we are bound to have expectations, yet we can use these expectations to help shape our intention and practice as we learn more about the method and the study. The famous tai ji teacher Cheng Man Ching was once asked how long it would take to learn the long form. He replied, “two years”. The student then asked him how long it would take if he trained really hard. Without much hesitation Professor Cheng said, “three years”. He of course knew that if the student thought that training harder would somehow “hack” the method, his cup was definitely not empty, and probably had a few cracks in it. My teacher in Beijing had a great way of looking at it. He said of course you have to empty your cup, but then what:). In the beginning you don’t actually have a cup, it is more like a teaspoon you empty to fill a cup. Then when the cup is full use your cup to fill a pitcher. When the pitcher is full you use the pitcher to fill your reservoir digging deeper until you find an endless spring so that when those around you need a drink, you will have the strength and energy you need to be there for them.

Attached you will find a document I created several years ago for my students on the concept of interception. It is something I wrote several years ago so please allow me to add some more context and connect it to our shared practice more intentionally. Interoception is now becoming the more common scientific term to refer to the internal sensations of the body. You will hear it come up in conversations about nervous system regulation and poly-vagal theory. I first learned of this term and the associated concepts when I was working as a behavioral therapist for autistic children in my 20's. Each child I worked with had a 'sensory diet' of activities that would help them regulate their nervous system. I had just begun training martial arts and yoga and I immediately could see(feel) the parallels. I was blown away by how much focus and energy could be harnessed when working with these populations simply by taking these concepts into consideration and working them into your understanding of the method. How I apply them in the practices of tai ji and qi gong are very much the same. Our practice is about integration and awareness so leveraging new concepts such as these, which are really just describing a universal, timeless experience, are an important part of the process. The first line of the Tao Te Jing states, "The dao that can be spoken is not the eternal dao, and the name that can be named is not the eternal name". From this perspective we can say, "what's in a name anyway?" and give ourselves permission to broaden are understanding of concepts as new information becomes present. It also important to remember that the early Taoists were notorious jokesters and the Chinese language with its classical writing style sometimes at odds with the common tongue is uniquely suited to expressing this concept. From a purely, orally spoken perspective, someone without the knowledge of classically written Chinese may simply hear the saying as, “The dao that we can talk about is better than nothing, so don’t get caught up in names.” Place these two interpretations at odds and they create a humorous balance that creates more space in our practice to explore and study.