Real Combat Tai Chi

T'ai Chi without intention is just an exercise. In this video Jake Mace teaches some Tai Chi or Taiji Fighting Applications which help the student understand the intention of the movement. Even if the student does not have the intention of fighting, understanding the application helps him or her execute the movement more correctly. This demonstration is very helpful.

Real Combat Tai Chi

Little Monk with Tea Cup

Little Monk with Tea Cup, a photo by viwehei on Flickr.

Time for tea

A colourful display of tea kettles top a wall near the car park.

Time for Tea - Tea Room near to Dolgellau, Gwynedd, Great Britain

This image was taken from the Geograph project collection.
See this photograph's page on the Geograph website for the photographer's contact details

This image is owned by Penny Mayes and is licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons

Shanghai Picture - Tai Chi Photo - National Geographic Photo of the Day

Click this link to see the photo:
Shanghai Picture - Tai Chi Photo - National Geographic Photo of the Day

Tai Chi, Shanghai
Photograph by Edward Graham
JUNE 27, 2012

Edward Graham writes in this caption that he was jet-lagged after a 16-hour flight from Chicago. Since he was awake anyway, he figured he would walk along the Bund for some photo shooting. He writes that there was a lot of activity, and that he got lucky—he caught this image of a man "doing" [playing] tai chi as the sun rose among the skyscrapers of Shanghai.
(This photo and caption were submitted to the 2012 National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest.)

Gift of Tea Time Celebration

 "Perhaps that is the true gift of a teatime celebration: It fills our cups with joy and warmth and friendship. May the echo of the teacups' message be heard not only at Christmas, not only on special occasions, but anytime friends come together." 

~Emilie Barnes, 
"A Cozy Christmas Tea" 

I love this photo of Lisa and I enjoying High Tea during the Holidays in Honolulu. What a wonderful memory of a girls day out. 

Why We Train

"In true budo there is no enemy or opponent. True budo is to become one with the universe, not train to become powerful or to throw down some opponent. Rather we train in hopes of being of some use, however small our role may be, in the task of bringing peace to mankind around the world." - Morihei Ueshiba

Tai Chi - Yang Simplified 24 Gracefully Performed

Meditating on this Yellow Liquor

Meditating on this Yellow Liquor
pale and shimmering in a porcelain cup,
I become liquid myself,
poised on nothingness,
a quiet monk in a forgotten valley.
~~Marc E. Hofstadter
Monkey-Picked Oolong

Happiness in a simple cup of tea

From The O Exclusive Interview
...the freedom and happiness to be found in a simple cup of tea.

Nhat Hanh: Suppose you are drinking a cup of tea. When you hold your cup, you may like to breathe in, to bring your mind back to your body, and you become fully present. And when you are truly there, something else is also there—life, represented by the cup of tea. In that moment you are real, and the cup of tea is real. You are not lost in the past, in the future, in your projects, in your worries. You are free from all of these afflictions. And in that state of being free, you enjoy your tea. That is the moment of happiness, and of peace. When you brush your teeth, you may have just two minutes, but according to this practice, it is possible to produce freedom and joy during that time, because you are established in the here and now. If you are capable of brushing your teeth in mindfulness, then you will be able to enjoy the time when you take a shower, cook your breakfast, sip your tea.

Oprah: So from this point of view, there are endless conditions of happiness.

Nhat Hanh: Yes. Mindfulness helps you go home to the present. And every time you go there and recognize a condition of happiness that you have, happiness comes.

Oprah: With you, the tea is real.

Nhat Hanh: I am real, and the tea is real. I am in the present. I don't think of the past. I don't think of the future. There is a real encounter between me and the tea, and peace, happiness and joy are possible during the time I drink.

Oprah: I never had that much thought about a cup of tea.

The O Exclusive Interview

More info about Thick Nhat Hanh

Tai Chi Duck

Tai Chi Duck
Originally uploaded by Michael Guntsche

10 Year Old Playing Taiji

Ten year old kid performing Chen Style Taiji in a park. Amazing!

True Gift of Tea Time

"Perhaps that is the true gift of a teatime celebration: It fills our cups with joy and warmth and friendship. May the echo of the teacups' message be heard not only at Christmas, not only on special occasions, but anytime friends come together."
Emilie Barnes, "A Cozy Christmas Tea"

A Small Garden

Over the balcony the cool moon shone bright
The fence gate was still ajar in this young night
Strolling lantern through the woods ushered my guest
Rising smokes from the bamboo bush responded to my tea request
Scattered dog barks accompanied falling meteors from the Autumn sky
Whiffs of wind carried melancholic tune from distant flute
We sat and talked long and deep till dawn crept upon us
The green moss was full with cold dew crimsoned by aurora of twilight
A poem by Zhen Ban Chiao
Painter & poet in the Ching Dynasty

Japanese Gardens

Elvis on T'ai Chi

"It's not just self defense, it's about...self control, body discipline, and mind discipline...and breath techniques. It involves yoga. It involves meditation. It's an art, not a sport."
~~Elvis Presley, Martial Artist

Brand New Day

Every morning, when we wake up, we have twenty-four brand-new hours to live. What a precious gift! We have the capacity to live in a way that these twenty-four hours will bring peace, joy, and happiness to ourselves and others.

Thich_Nhat_Hanh
Source: Peace Is Every Step : The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life

Portrait of a Lady

I smile, of course,
And go on drinking tea,
Yet with these April sunsets, that somehow recall
My buried life, and Paris in the Spring,
I feel immeasurably at peace, and find the world
To be wonderful and youthful, after all.
~~T.S. Elliot

A String of Pearls

Image by Mauro Cateb Creative Commons

May I suggest a great little book I really like,

108 INSIGHTS INTO T"AI CHI CHUAN
A String of Pearls
by Michael Gilman.

"It is a fact that every action of our body requires energy. Our basic metabolic rate is the base amount of energy our bodies require to exist. When we do work, a chemical reaction occurs using stored energy and leaving behind waste products. It is like burning a log in a fire. We end up with ash and heat. Or burning gas in an automobile leaves carbon monoxide and many other chemicals. There is nothing yet discovered that will use energy and not leave some waste.

Our bodies are the same. We use energy and have waste to deal with. If the chemical residue is not eliminated, the results range from a dull ache to complete shut down of the system. Rest allows the body to move the toxins out.

T'ai Chi is designed to allow for periods of rest following periods of work, usually half of the body works while the other half rests. There are also two very important periods of rest that I call the top and bottom of a roller coaster ride. It is the moment when up changes to down or down changes to up. When Yin changes to Yang and Yang changes to Yin. It is the moment between inhale and exhale. It is the crack between the wall to the infinite, it is the moment of enlightenment. Seek this moment out and gently stretch it with awareness. Your body and mind will find renewal."

I Saw Lu Yu off to Pick Tea at Tien Mu Mountain

025532-R3-21.jpg
Originally uploaded by emmolovestea

Thousand mountains greeted my departing friend
When spring tea flourishing again
His profound knowledge about picking tea
Through morning mist or twilight clouds
That solitary journey has being my envy
Rendezvous in a temple of a remote mountain
We enjoyed picnic by a clear pebble fountain
In this silent night
Lit a candle light
Knocked a marble bell for chime
While deep in thought for old time.

by Huang Pu Zhen--
Tang Dynasty poet,
friend of Tea Sage Lu Yu


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lu Yu, a Tang Dynasty Tea sage, and author of "Book of Tea," befriended many poets of his time. Many of them in turn, dedicated poems to him.

Tien Mu mountain is a mountain with lofty twin peaks located in northern Je Jiang province, with lakes of crystal clear water on each peak, hence the name "Tian Mu', meaning eyes of the sky. Tian Mu Mountain is famous for its Tea. During the time of the Ming Dynasty, Tian Mu Tea was already listed as "Imperial Tea.

Wishes for Christmas

Flickr Photo Deborah Swain
Used with pemission

Tai chi offers Groundedness

T'ai Chi offers a groundedness and body sense to people who have been intellectuals and spiritual aspirants all their lives. People tell me that for the first time in their lives, they are really aware of their feet and how they are connecting with the earth. They begin to notice the subtle shifts in their bodies from day to day and from moment to moment. And--they begin to become more accepting of these variabilities in their bodies and they begin to celebrate the subtle changes that herald new awareness and new flexibility.

Pam Kircher, MD