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Six Levels of Song
Within the traditional teachings of the Yang family, Song is divided into 6 levels. Each level dependent on the one before it and inclusive of all before it. It’s important to understand that Song i...
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The Creation of Taijiquan
The past and unfortunately “history” is something that cannot be empirically known. When it comes to kung fu history this is even more so. Nevertheless, I will share my view on the creation of Taijiqu...
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3 Aspects of Training in Yang family Taijiquan
We have all read and heard stories about the near magical skills achieved by some Taijiquan masters of the past. Many people find the skills for which the art became famous illusive. Nonetheless we st...
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Cheng Man Ching's
Many of us have heard time and time again the famous saying of the late Prof. Cheng Man Ching to “invest in loss”. What does this mean? What did the professor mean when he said it? It is not easy to k...
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Confused About Unification?
Just recently while conversing with a group of martial artists on Facebook, I began to think about my current understanding of “unification”. More specifically, realizing how much I have taken this un...Date:
What is “Internal” Anyway?
For as long as I have been an enthusiast of the “internal arts,” a passionate debate has been raging on, as to what exactly qualifies as an “internal art.” With no consensus in sight! And often accomp...
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Interview with Sifu Adam Mizner - Tai Chi Chuan Magazine
Adam Mizner recently appeared on the taiji scene, predominantly via a few well-placed videos and links to websites containing minimal information other than video film. The films seemed to focus on pu...
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Timing, Placement and Power
When I am teaching classes or workshops on taijiquan I always emphasize the three principles of timing, placement and power. These three skills are not only fundamental to acquiring real world taijiqu...
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Basics of Double Heavy in Taijiquan
No concept in Yang Taijiquan has more confusion surrounding it than the concept of Double-Heavy. Much can be read about Double-Heavy in the classic Taiji writings. Much can be read but little understo...
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Relax the shoulders in Taiji and Qigong
One of the fundamental principles of Taijiquan for martial arts and Taiji for health is to relax and sink the shoulders. It is so fundamental that it is listed in Yang Cheng Fu’s famous ten points and...
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Yang Family Fajin
The idea of fajin is highly debated in Taijiquan circles, where some consider it the be all and end all of taiji quan skill, while others who have never experienced it, consider it a fallacy. In truth...
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Interview with Sifu Adam Mizner for Taichimag
A return to the source After the simplification of the form by Yang Chengfu and Wu Jianquan during the 30’s, Taijiquan has mostly become known to the public as a health exercise. Today, few teachers o...
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Years of experience
I seem to make it pretty clear that there isn't a single aspect of standing post practice that I enjoy. I would say that perhaps I enjoy the end of standing, but that's not true. I'm merely relieved a...
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The Workshop Works!
Last month I was fortunate enough to participate in Sifu Adam Mizner’s workshop in Athens, Alabama. This was the third workshop I’ve attended with Sifu Mizner, and once again, his teachings left me (a...
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The good, the bad and the bitter standing
The following is an observation of a daily internal dialogue that often rambles its way through my mind (I never get lonely). I remember a guy wanting to learn taijiquan once when I was in Miami. We ...
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Qi Gong, breathing for a positive life
It is an undeniable fact that the most powerful tool we posses is our mind. The mind can give us pleasure or pain, stress or peace. Often life unfolds in ways that we cannot control, yet even in such ...
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Taijiquan - Finding the right teacher
You shall know them by their fruits When a new student of taijiquan is searching for a teacher, it can be a daunting and confusing time. There are many claims by students and teachers alike, so who sh...
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Self Defense
Defense against the self Self defense in modern times: is it practical? In ancient times, before the invention of firearms, the practicality of being skilled in hand to hand combat was very clear. The...
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Will the Real Slim Shady Please Stand Up?
After trying some hard styles and suffering inevitable knee injuries from poor teaching, I was left no choice but to learn taijiquan if I wanted to stay in the kung fu domain. Slow, stability-based mo...
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The Three Hands of Taijiquan
Within my training and teaching of Tàijíquán, I emphasize two primary areas that must be developed and balanced. On the one side we have technical skills or ‘Quan’ – born from ting, timing and having ...
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