I remember studying with Master Jou Tsung Hwa at Tai Chi Farm outdoors almost every day, even in the extreme heat. And as is in most of China, on Tai Chi Farm we did not have air conditioning either. So you can imagine how that felt on a hot, humid August day in...
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Tai Chi Principles and Power
If you want powerful effects, you need to drive your tai chi from special principles. Learn what they are and how to make them work.
Tai Chi Form and Techniques
Here you find details and greater explanation.
Specific Physical & Mental Health Issues
Address specific problems with tai chi, qigong, daoyin, acupoints, massage, TCM, etc.
Internal Energy Training (Nei Gong)
The qigong, meditation, daoyin, and other Taoist jibengong you can use to develop yourself.
Taoist Philosophy and Metaphysics
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Taoist, and traditional Chinese recipes; including regular, vegan, and gluten-free. World-fusion and unique ones included too.
Tai Chi Farm and GM Jou, Tsung Hwa
For everyone, as well as specific to Sf. Loretta Wollering.
Shifu’s Misc. Treasure Chest
Miscellaneous projects and personal musings are welcome for you to enjoy too.
How-To Tai Chi – Move from the Waist. But most don’t understand what this means!
Classic writings on tai chi tell us to relax and move from the waist. But most people don't interpret "the waist" properly from the Chinese. This will mess up your tai chi! The tai chi waist, or "yao" refers to a very large area of the body - the lower transverse...
The Most Educated Medical Doctors and Physicians Recommend Tai Chi – See What Harvard Univ. Says About It
Harvard University Medical School is among the most prestigious. Their doctors recommend tai chi. Does yours? See what Harvard Univ. professors and doctors had to say about tai chi exercises in this video clip. Source quoted on Internal Gardens...
“How to” Tai Chi or Qigong Clearing – The Overlooked Physical and Metaphysical Aspects
Tai chi exercises or qigong are often concluded with a "clearing" move by many masters. Most people think of it as a way of calming down and sealing the energy. Also, it gives a sense of closure. But there is SO much more you can get out of a clearing if...
Tai Chi: How to Transition Between Grasp Sparrow’s Tail in Yang 24 Short Form (Postures 7&8)
How do you transition between tai chi moves? If this is your question, you are not alone. Remembering transitions in tai chi moves is the hardest thing for the tai chi beginner. But it's actually easier than you think, if you know how to look for patterns to help you...
Wearing Glasses or Bifocals Can Mess Up Your Tai Chi – Here’s How to Turn it Around and Make Progress Instead!
Think that a good pair of eyeglasses helps you learn tai chi better? Guess again! You may be surprised to know that simple things - like wearing bifocals or trifocals - can train your body and energy to cause more harm than good! Find out how you may actually improve...
Why are acupuncture charts labeled differently with acupoints “mislabled” or inconsistent?
No, you are not imagining it. YES, there are acupuncture charts that label points differently. This happened to me several times while teaching acupressure self-help to my tai chi NJ students. I use a textbook that is used in Chinese and in American acupuncture...
How to Add More Whole-Body Power to Your Tai Chi Opening Posture – Yang Tai Chi Example
Your tai chi is like garden soil - the more balanced nutrients it contains, the more nourishing will be your harvest. So learn ways to "power up" your tai chi so that you can get all the good health, wisdom, qi and self-defense (both physical and "psychic") training...
4+ Tips to Easily Learn Tai Chi from Video or Tai Chi Book Sketches
Tai chi videos and tai chi books seem like good tools to help you learn. Sadly, the opposite often happens: people realize they can't follow the videos/books, so they quit. This does not need to happen! I'm going to share with you, 4 tips on video, and one extra...
Tai Chi How To: Knee Exercise to Quickly Release Knee Pain and Stiffness
Tai chi exercise is powerful way to gently release knee stiffness, knee pain and injury. But as teaching was passed on in the Chinese healing arts & martial arts, many tai chi and qigong exercises got misunderstood or lost important details. One...
How to Do a Tai Chi Twine Step – Too Many Get This Wrong. Do it right and get health & martial benefits.
Are you sure you're doing your tai chi moves as best as possible? Proper twine steps will load a tremendous amount of energy into your kua. You can use that energy for effortless and speedy change of direction, invigorating and powerful tai chi kicks, or...
Master Jou’s Secret of Tai Chi Flexibility – Multiple Health & Rejuvenation Benefits
Grandmaster Jou was famous for his uncanny youthfulness at an advanced age and after conquering a history of illness. Here we go over his special daoyin taiji diagram stretch that he only taught in his chan si jin workshop. This stretch works very fast to...
In Tai Chi, Avoid the Misapplication of “Relax” (w/ video)
A typical tai chi class: the instructor admonishes his students, “Relax!” They go ahead and do what they think is “relax.” And here's where the trouble begins. Ask a roomful of people what the opposite of tension is and you’ll get the unanimous reply,...
Avoid This Tai Chi Warmup Exercise To Loosen Your Knees!
There is a tai chi, qigong and daoyin exercise that people often teach and do to "warm up" or "loosen" the knees. And it is the absolute worst thing you can do to your knees. It will "loosen" them alright - to the point that you may need surgery in a few...
Tai Chi Martial Arts Application for Yang Tai Chi & Chen Tai Chi Opening Move
Here is a very basic look at how you might use the opening tai chi move for self-defense. Very few people understand that not every single move of the tai chi form is used in application exactly as it is in form practice. For example, you might add an...
What are the “5 Elements in the Feet” of Tai Chi Chuan (Taijiquan)?
The Tai Chi Classics mention that their are “Five Elements in the feet,” and are referred to as the “Five Steps.” What does that mean? Let’s first examine the Taoist five elements, and then we’ll discuss how they are used to symbolize the five steps, or...
When You Have No Time to Practice Tai Chi, Here’s What to Do Instead
I constantly remind my students that real tai chi chuan practice is not about being fixated on memorizing the postures of the form. Sadly, a lot of people will never understand this fact of traditional tai chi. But the ones that do, soar like eagles. Their...
What are the Eight Gates of Tai Chi Chuan (Taijiquan), and How Are They Used?
Every posture of tai chi chuan has at least one of the eight gates (or, bamen) dominating the movement. This is how tai chi was originally constructed, as stated in the Tai Chi Classics. Each of the 8 gates has a certain martial "energy." Each of these martial...
Oriental Culture Has Has the Concept of Qi, Chi Or Ki Energy for Thousands of Years- But What Is Qi?
Qi is a concept unique to the East Perhaps the first time the masses of the western world got a thorough exposure to this concept was in the movie “Star Wars,” in which it was referred to as “The Force.” It’s an elusive, though not too difficult concept. If you are...
What is the Silk Reeling Energy of Tai Chi (Taijiquan), or Chan Si Jing?
The traditional schools of tai chi chuan (taijiquan), along with the other Chinese internal arts, emphasize the development of "silk reeling energy," or "chansijing," in Chinese. The oldest documented and codified style of tai chi chuan known to man is Chen style....
“Kua Turning” – Protect & Heal Your Knees in Tai Chi, While Strengthening Your Tai Chi Moves
Your tai chi moves are only as good as you can direct your internal energy (qi) and vector the energy of gravity. The secret to healing and protecting your knees (which also empowers the martial applications of tai chi) requires that you learn to move from your...
How to Do Dantian Compression/Expansions for Strengthening Internal Organs, Qi and Vitality
In Master Jou Tsung Hwa's last edition of "The Dao of Taijiquan" he emphasized special use of the dantian for tai chi (taijiquan), qigong, and Taoist meditation. But most people have trouble with it and do it wrong. Doing it wrong will deviate the qi instead of...
Internal Gardens Tai Chi Is All About Good Energy – Our Sash Graduations are No-Stress
When people hear "Sash Graduation" at a tai chi school, they fear that they will have to get up in front of a group of people and perform while under intense scrutiny. Nothing is further from this than a Typical Sash Graduation at Internal Gardens Tai Chi...
No Time to Practice Tai Chi? No Problem! Here’s 5 Things You Can Do Instead:
I try to remind my students that real tai chi chuan (taijiquan) practice is not about fixating on memorizing the form. A lot of people will never understand this. But the ones that do, soar like eagles. My teacher, Master Jou Tsung Hwa, always emphasized that the...
What Does “Tai Chi Chuan” Mean, and Why is It Also Spelled as “Taijiquan?”
"Tai chi chuan" 太極拳 - casually referred to as "tai chi" - is a deep, meditative, internal Chinese practice. At its original core, it is a martial art, but is nowadays commonly practiced and taught in a manner that strengthens and promotes the mind/body health of...
3 Easy Ways to Understand Yin & Yang in all Your Tai Chi Moves
One of the great old founding masters of tai chi chuan (taijiquan), Wang Zong Yue, stated in his tai chi classic, known as the Taijiquan Jing: "Yin cannot be separated from yang and vice-versa. When yin and yang complement each other, you will interpret the...
Master Jou on: “All Tai Chi Chuan (taijiquan) is a Torso Method Art”
What is meant by the phrase, "All tai chi chuan (taijiquan) is to be done as a Torso Method?" The old masters of the traditional Chinese internal arts - such as tai chi chuan (taijiquan, baguazhang, xingyiquan, etc) mentioned the crucial skill of using the body as a...
Master Jou’s 3 Taoist Rules for Making Progress in Tai Chi (or anything else for that matter!)
Master Jou taught mentioned three Taoist rules of success that helped him develop an incredible life, despite having survived a brutal war and experiencing the resulting deaths of family and friends. He lost everything he had in his homeland China in World War II. He...
Tai Chi Has Withstood the Test of Time as an Effective Stress Management Program
The ancient art of tai chi neutralizes the number one destroyer of your health and lifespan - stress. All the money in the world can’t buy you a peaceful mind and more years of your life. So tai chi may be the wisest investment you’ll ever make, as for centuries it’s...
How to Properly Do a Twist Step, Like in Yang Tai Chi Brush Knee Twist Step – No More Hurt Knees!
Too many people hurt their knees in tai chi. I never could understand this, as I took up tai chi to CURE a knee injury! One day I finally understood why people were getting hurt. The culprit was improper execution of "twist steps." When you twist-step, you need to...
Treat Nausea, Vertigo, Motion Sickness, Morning Sickness and Dizziness Naturally with This Acupoint
For millennia, the Chinese have relied on natural methods of healthcare, like acupuncture, to treat a vast array of health complaints. But you don't need needles to gently stimulate the points yourself with acupressure (instead of acupuncture). A common acupoint to...
How to Structure Your Ribs and Energy in Tai Chi (taijiquan)
Few practitioners nowadays abide by the Tai Chi Classics - the founding principles of the art of tai chi chuan (taijiquan). One such principle is the first of WuYuXiang's "13 Torso Methods" of traditional taijiquan. It is the principle of "han xiong."...
The Biography of Jou Tsung Hwa – The Root of Internal Gardens’ Traditional Tai Chi Lineage
In the year of 1917, China was going through a tumultuous transition. With the last emperor of the Manchu Dynasty ousted 6 years prior, China saw the end of its 2000 year old imperial system. In the following years, Japan would make demands for special...
Is This Missing In Today’s Tai Chi Chuan?
For centuries, tai chi has been rumored to be an exceptional "therapy" of rejuvenation, anti-aging, pain cure/relief... and its deep meditative and qigong characteristics are said to cause almost unbelievable transformation in dedicated practitioners. Although...
4 Previously Unheard of Ways You Can Use Music to Seriously Enhance Your Tai Chi Practice
The first thing you must consider is: Should you play music while practicing tai chi or not? As long as any music or sound is not the main focus, or a distraction, to your practice it doesn't matter. You just need to make certain that you don't get dependent on...