Ten Principles Tai Chi http://blog.stuartherbert.com/tenprinciples The Diary of A T'ai Chi Ch'uan Student Tue, 29 Sep 2009 21:30:31 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7.1 en hourly 1 My Weight Disappears http://blog.stuartherbert.com/tenprinciples/2009/09/29/my-weight-disappears/ http://blog.stuartherbert.com/tenprinciples/2009/09/29/my-weight-disappears/#comments Tue, 29 Sep 2009 21:30:31 +0000 Stuart Herbert http://blog.stuartherbert.com/tenprinciples/?p=113 We (my Improvers group and I) were half-way through our second stab at playing the form tonight, and the weirdest thing happened.  There was a shift in my single weight, and for a few moments, all I could feel was the contact I was making with the floor (which I’m normally aware of) … and nothing else.

My single weight’s not bad normally (it certainly stands up to scrutiny during class, which is a good start), but this was different.  This was a connection with the ground that I’ve not come to before.  I don’t know what it was, or how really to describe it, but I’m going to be looking out for it in future and seeing if I can achieve it again and study it further.

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]]> http://blog.stuartherbert.com/tenprinciples/2009/09/29/my-weight-disappears/feed/ September Tai Chi Podcasts http://blog.stuartherbert.com/tenprinciples/2009/09/29/september-tai-chi-podcasts/ http://blog.stuartherbert.com/tenprinciples/2009/09/29/september-tai-chi-podcasts/#comments Tue, 29 Sep 2009 21:22:51 +0000 Stuart Herbert http://blog.stuartherbert.com/tenprinciples/?p=111 Every September is a new academic year, which means I’m back teaching twice a week (three times if you count Saturday mornings, although those aren’t really classes as such) … and that means regular podcasts once again.  I hope you find them interesting and informative.

I don’t get a lot of feedback on the podcasts, so I’m not sure whether they’re really of any interest to anyone.  If you enjoy them, let me know in the comments.

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]]> http://blog.stuartherbert.com/tenprinciples/2009/09/29/september-tai-chi-podcasts/feed/ Open Source T’ai Chi :) http://blog.stuartherbert.com/tenprinciples/2009/09/21/open-source-tai-chi/ http://blog.stuartherbert.com/tenprinciples/2009/09/21/open-source-tai-chi/#comments Mon, 21 Sep 2009 21:07:52 +0000 Stuart Herbert http://blog.stuartherbert.com/tenprinciples/?p=100 Over the past two years, I’ve been working on a set of notes for my Beginners’ class.  With the help of feedback from my students, the notes have been polished, tried and tested, and I’m now happy enough with them to share them online for anyone else who is interested in reading them.

To make my notes easy to find, I’ve added a new Class Notes page to the website which lists all of the notes I’ve uploaded.  I still need to finish off and publish my T’ai Chi for Improvers notes, plus the notes I’m scribbling away about my own practice!

And, to make my notes as free as possible, I’m licensing them under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike 2.0 (UK) license.  This license allows you to re-use my notes, and to make your own version of these notes, provided you give the original author (me) credit and that you also distribute your own version of the notes under the same license.

This makes our T’ai Chi notes a Free Cultural Work.

Why am I doing this?

  • Our art has a tradition going back at least to Yang Cheng’fu in the 1930’s of sharing everything we know.  This means you don’t have to take any modern teacher’s word on T’ai Chi; you can go and track down a translation of Yang Cheng’fu’s book and see for yourself.
  • When my teacher died, his surviving family chose to withdraw the two instructional aids he had made during his lifetime (videos of both himself and his teacher playing the form).  This sadly means that my students (and, in time, their students) cannot compare their own understanding and practice to that of the teachers who went before me.  My own work, such as it is, is now a Free Cultural Work and can never be withdrawn from my students when I die.

I hope you find these notes helpful, and I’m always keen to receive feedback to help me improve them still further.

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]]> http://blog.stuartherbert.com/tenprinciples/2009/09/21/open-source-tai-chi/feed/ July Tai Chi Podcast Round-up http://blog.stuartherbert.com/tenprinciples/2009/09/21/july-tai-chi-podcast-round-up/ http://blog.stuartherbert.com/tenprinciples/2009/09/21/july-tai-chi-podcast-round-up/#comments Mon, 21 Sep 2009 20:12:57 +0000 Stuart Herbert http://blog.stuartherbert.com/tenprinciples/?p=90 Here’s a list of the Tai Chi podcasts that I published in July through AudioBoo, before heading off on my summer vacation.  I hope you find them interesting and informative.

There were no podcasts in August, as unfortunately I’ve been recovering from a car crash.  However, the academic year starts again in September, so expect plenty of podcasts once more :)

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]]> http://blog.stuartherbert.com/tenprinciples/2009/09/21/july-tai-chi-podcast-round-up/feed/ Tai Chi Classes: Enrolment Dates http://blog.stuartherbert.com/tenprinciples/2009/08/30/tai-chi-classes-enrolment-dates/ http://blog.stuartherbert.com/tenprinciples/2009/08/30/tai-chi-classes-enrolment-dates/#comments Sun, 30 Aug 2009 18:54:20 +0000 Stuart Herbert http://blog.stuartherbert.com/tenprinciples/?p=84 If you live in Cardiff, the Vale of Glamorgan or the surrounding area and would like to learn Tai Chi, why not come along to one of our enrolment events in September?

  • Saturday 5th September 2009: 10am to 1pm, at Palmerston Adult Education Centre, Barry.
  • Wednesday 9th September 2009: 6:30pm to 8:30pm, at Barry Comprehensive.

I’ll be there to answer any of your questions about Tai Chi or the course, and hopefully to convince you to join our classes.  The classes themselves start later in September, and will be on Thursday nights at the Barry Island Community Centre.

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]]> http://blog.stuartherbert.com/tenprinciples/2009/08/30/tai-chi-classes-enrolment-dates/feed/ Teaching Tuesday Night http://blog.stuartherbert.com/tenprinciples/2009/08/24/teaching-tuesday-night/ http://blog.stuartherbert.com/tenprinciples/2009/08/24/teaching-tuesday-night/#comments Mon, 24 Aug 2009 16:01:10 +0000 Stuart Herbert http://blog.stuartherbert.com/tenprinciples/?p=82 Just a quick note to tell everyone that there will be a class on Tuesday night (25th August), 7pm, Barry Island Community Centre as previously arranged.

My banged-up knee came through my first full practice on Saturday, so I’m up for testing it for a full two-hour class on Tuesday.  Hope to see all my students there!

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]]> http://blog.stuartherbert.com/tenprinciples/2009/08/24/teaching-tuesday-night/feed/ Back To Classes On Saturday http://blog.stuartherbert.com/tenprinciples/2009/08/16/back-to-classes-on-saturday/ http://blog.stuartherbert.com/tenprinciples/2009/08/16/back-to-classes-on-saturday/#comments Sun, 16 Aug 2009 23:14:15 +0000 Stuart Herbert http://blog.stuartherbert.com/tenprinciples/?p=79 I’m planning to be back down the Knapp on Saturday 22nd August as normal.  I’ve got some ligament damage in my knee from the car accident, so I’ve got to take it a bit easy, but I’m looking forward getting back to training :)

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]]> http://blog.stuartherbert.com/tenprinciples/2009/08/16/back-to-classes-on-saturday/feed/ Tonight’s Class Cancelled http://blog.stuartherbert.com/tenprinciples/2009/08/04/tonights-class-cancelled/ http://blog.stuartherbert.com/tenprinciples/2009/08/04/tonights-class-cancelled/#comments Tue, 04 Aug 2009 14:04:53 +0000 Stuart Herbert http://blog.stuartherbert.com/tenprinciples/?p=75 Apologies for the short notice, but I’ve had to cancel tonight’s class at Barry Island Community Centre.  My wife and I were in a car accident last week, and unfortunately I’m not able to travel to tonight’s class.

I hope the next Tuesday class (planned for 25th August) will go ahead.  I don’t know yet whether or not I’ll be at the Knapp on Saturday morning.

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]]> http://blog.stuartherbert.com/tenprinciples/2009/08/04/tonights-class-cancelled/feed/ Summer Class Schedule http://blog.stuartherbert.com/tenprinciples/2009/07/11/summer-class-schedule/ http://blog.stuartherbert.com/tenprinciples/2009/07/11/summer-class-schedule/#comments Sat, 11 Jul 2009 15:09:03 +0000 Stuart Herbert http://blog.stuartherbert.com/tenprinciples/?p=73 Now that the academic year is over (congrats to everyone who completed my Tai Chi for Beginners and Tai Chi for Improvers classes, btw!), we’re now on the summer schedule for classes.

  1. Tuesday 14th July, 7pm, Barry Island Community Centre
  2. Tuesday 4th August, 7pm, Barry Island Community Centre
  3. Tuesday 25th August, 7pm, Barry Island Community Centre

All of my students are welcome, regardless of whether you’re returning next academic year or not.

And if you’re curious about Tai Chi and would like to find out what it is and what our classes are like, you’re very welcome to come too!

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]]> http://blog.stuartherbert.com/tenprinciples/2009/07/11/summer-class-schedule/feed/ June Tai Chi Podcast Round-up http://blog.stuartherbert.com/tenprinciples/2009/07/11/june-tai-chi-podcast-round-up/ http://blog.stuartherbert.com/tenprinciples/2009/07/11/june-tai-chi-podcast-round-up/#comments Sat, 11 Jul 2009 15:04:43 +0000 Stuart Herbert http://blog.stuartherbert.com/tenprinciples/?p=71 Here’’s a list of the Tai Chi podcasts that I published in June through AudioBoo.  I hope you find them interesting and informative.

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