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With instructor Ling Zili from Daqingshan

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NegativeCircle_KelvinHo
Negative circle is likely the second thing one learns in Practical Method.  The following are some starter instructions for a right-side negative circle:

  1. The right side is considered the front side, and the left side is consider the rear side.
  2. Find a line that is parallel to your chest on the ground.
  3. Put your right foot at 45 degrees to the line with the heel touch the line.
  4. Put your left foot at 90 degrees to the line with the toes touch the line.
  5. Read more

The Edmonton Academy will be closing Monday and Tuesday classes from Dec. 14, 2015 until Jan. 12, 2016 inclusive as the instructor for those days is on medical leave and I will be in Japan. Wednesday am and pm, Thursday, and Friday classes will all run as per our usual schedule. I encourage those who attend our Monday and Tuesday classes to move temporarily to one or more of the Wednesday to Friday classes. Sword Thursday is particularly fun. Sorry for the short notice and wishing Yen Gee a speedy recovery.

Monday and Tuesday classes will resume Jan. 18, 2016.

Our Academy holidays will start Dec. 19 and we will reopen Jan. 6, 2016.

Wishing all an interesting Holiday and keep doing Taiji and Qigong – practice makes perfect especially as probably too much food is coming.

PositiveCircle_KelvinHo
Positive circle is likely the first thing one learns in Practical Method.  The following are some starter instructions for a right-side positive circle:

  1. The right side is considered the front side, and the left side is consider the rear side.
  2. Find a line that is parallel to your chest on the ground.
  3. Put your right foot at 45 degrees to the line with the heel touch the line.
  4. Put your left foot at 90 degrees to the line with the toes touch the line.
  5. Read more

Toronto Chen Style Taijiquan Practical Method Chen Style Taijiquan Practical Method Toronto

Read more

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Camille from Port Alberni, and Phil from California joined us.

Four days focused on yilu correction. Master Chen went around while we did yilu and gave lessons based on our errors.

For me, this experience pushed my envelope of what is required from yilu, and I feel a difference on the last day, how my body is more stable in doing it. Master Chen reminded me to keep practicing correctly otherwise I will revert to my old habit.

Some points from my notes:

  • keep the head not moving (this engages the core)
  • keep the arm shoulder level, while adjusting below
    I noticed this kind of motion before from Master Chen but only starting to feel the effect of it in my stability.

In a way Yilu is a progressive system, I only notice the higher difficulty requirement if my body can perform it  and can tell the difference when I do it correctly.

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Calgary class 3

by Steven Cheng on 2015/10/20

Calgary Class

Hello,

We have a weekly class at 7pm downtown Calgary.

For more information please contact stevechy at gmail.com

 

Kelvin Ho Fist Drape Over Body

When I first studied practical method in Nov. 2009, there were a few things that made a long lasting impression. They were:

  1. In with elbow no hand, out with hand no elbow.
  2. Don’t move
  3. Yilu, which is made up of only positive and negative circles.

Many beginners including myself usually ask the following questions:

  1. How did you (Master Chen) know to do that?
  2. How can I not move?
  3. What can I do that myself?
  4. How do I train that?

Read more


Read more

Already some time ago now I had an interesting discussion with another person from Germany. There was one aspect showing up, which in principle could be very interessting for all of us who want to learn Taiji.

Here and there Master Chen did point out that in Taijiquan (or at least our style of Taijiquan ..) there is nothing which is related to anything we know from normal life, to the contrary, in general things are totally opposite. Right? Read more

KelvinHoBlockTouchingCoat

We had 19 people attending the Toronto workshop this time. 5 of them were first timers. We started off with Master Chen talking about the positive circle, and continuously focusing on its various aspects.

Here are my notes:

  1. Only move your foot forward towards the opponent, everything else does not go towards the opponent. Read more

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Daqinshan with infants i

by Sarah on 2015/09/28

20150826_191800 -scalTo all parents hesiting if to go with their baby or infant to DQS, we collected some informations and impressions.

At the moment we, that is me with my husband Michael and 2 1/2 year old boy Lukas, are on Daqingshan, Shandong Province in China for Taiji Fulltime Training.

The three of us have been here together already last year, so here are our experiences with our little boy on the mountain.
Read more

2015 workshop dates Dec 12th & 13th contact: michaelkoh@practicalmethod.sg


Kewei Sun has started learning Practical Method since May 23, 2015.
Read more

Practical Method Iowa Workshop 2015

I attended the Practical Method Iowa Workshop 2015. Officially, the workshop was on Sep 12-13, 2015. I spent a total of 6 days there from Sep 10-15, 2015. It was the best workshop I had ever attended. We had a lot of dedicated Practical Method people there. Thanks to Levi and Christina who let a number of us stay at their place the whole time, and gave us the opportunity to immerse in taiji with Master Chen Zhonghua. Thanks to Levi and John for taking care and arranging food, as well as driving us around. We woke up early at 4:20 am to start doing yilus before breakfast, and we often pushed hands till 10:30 pm at night. It was just wonderful being around my taiji brothers.

The following are the notes I took:

Day 1
– Keeping the back straight at all times
– Always have an aim at the centre, every movement should result back to the centre (don’t deviate from it)
– Keep the movement small, otherwise it is wasteful, and there won’t be any left.
-Separation: When the hands have power, move in the waist. Have power in the waist, the hands can become free. Nudge in bit by bit.
Read more

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New disciple: Jeff Clevenger and Chris Christopher Thomas Dusek

New disciple: Jeff Clevenger and Chris Christopher Thomas Dusek

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Notes by Aaron from September 12th and 13th Iowa workshop:

Drills:
stepping foundation drills: power is constant, speed determines the appearance of more force.
Positive circles, negative circles, mixed circles, 6 sealing 4 closing

Read more

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New 10-week course

Starting Sept. 24 2015

Thursdays 5-6:30 pm

J.B. O’Keefe Centre
St. Thomas University
(Register on site)

Learn the fundamentals (jibengong), the first form ( Yilu ) and push hands (tuishou).

For more information, email: jphranger@gmail.com

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10541065_10153075243415369_4300548899028004126_oJohn Dahms and I will be opening a studio beginning September 1, 2015. We are located on the 3rd floor at 111A Rideau Street in Centretown by the Rideau Centre. Class schedules and pricing are to be determined. Let us know if you have an interest in participating in the classes either here, or through private messages. Look forward to seeing you all later!

Contact info: we can be reached at johndahms2@gmail.com or brennan.toh@gmail.com.

8-16-2015 8-16-34 AM

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DQS 2015 - Practical Method Germany 2Since Aug, 1st we are here on Daqingshan for Fulltime Training with Master Chen and all fellow students and disciples. Below some more pictures of these days.

We had plenty of opportunities  to improve our Taiji, there were lots of lessons with Master Chen, sceduled ones but also the “little things” in between – just as I was used to experience it on DQS. Very nice, that though the whole thing here is getting bigger, the main spirit did stay the same. Read more

Calligraphy Lesson, Rizhao Beach trips

Meeting with Rizhao PracticalMethod group

Meeting with Rizhao PracticalMethod group

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