Registration Forms from

TCAA Website www.taichiaustralia.com or

call Dennis Tel: 07-55451874  Mobile: 0419763360 

TCAA is pleased to announce that the 

Presenting Partner for this Competition 2012 

is the University of Sydney Confucius Institute.

http://sydney.edu.au/confucius_institute 
 

Closing Date: 10th April 2012. Please act now!  

Last year, 2011, I went to China to learn Tai Chi. I stayed in Wu Dang Mountain for about three months. It cost me about $350/week plus air fare.

I found out that Tai Chi was invented by a Daoist based on the philosophy of Yin and Yang going back to thousands of years ago.  Wu Dang Mountain is where the secret of Tai Chi is kept and passed on.

If Tai Chi can help me, it can help anyone.  I am thinking of Tai Chi Coaching as a career, so I think I need to know more, not just the forms, but also the philosophy behind. I hope one day I will be so good at Tai Chi that, I will never get sick, never get hurt, and my Qi goes a long way ... 

Thanks again to Tai Chi, to the Grand Master, to the people who passed on the knowledge, to the people who care...

I am planning to go again this year, from May to July. If anyone wants to go to China with me, please email: x_james45@yahoo.com.

If we can make a group of 10, there is a good chance to meet the Grand Master!

     James Xie, Member, QLD 

World Tai Chi and Qigong Day is recognized as a universal day by the United Nations.

At 10.00 am, beginning in New Zealand, practitioners from around the world will be out in the parks and on the beaches enjoying the friendship of other Tai Chi players and the benefits tai chi offers for health and well-being. 

TCAA South Australian Branch will celebrate World Tai Chi and Qigong Day in Adelaide.

Venue:     Peace Park

                 (off Sir Edwin Smith Ave. & opposite the Women's and Children's Hospital)

Date:        Saturday, 28th April, from 10.00 am.

We hope several of our Tai Chi schools will be joining us for this day and encourage members to come along with their families and enjoy a morning of Tai Chi and friendship.

After the park session there will be a meeting at the Immanuel Lutheran Hall in Archer Street, North Adelaide from 11.30 am.   Light refreshment will be available.

WET WEATHER

Should it be raining please don't let it deter you as we have organised with the Lutheran Church to use the venue from 10.00 am onwards if weather is not kind. 

For more information please 

Contact:     Rosemary Palmer,  Tel:  (08) 83817969
Email:          movingm@chariot.net.au    

It is the time of year to prepare for celebrating the world Tai Chi and Qi Gong day in April, and I was thinking of what can differentiate this year's celebration of such a special day, from all other years?

Well, the answer was simple. Since this is the year of the Dragon, it is nice to think of this unique creature, and what it has contributed to the arts we are so passionately practicing, as a way of life.


On that note, I would like to share with you a comment I quite often made in my Tai Chi Gong classes, that it has become a cliché': "If a modern emperor would have deported me to a deserted island with a command that I can practice only one movement, one exercise, from the repertoire of all that I have learnt from the Chinese Internal Martial arts, I would have chosen, without doubt the "Dragon Turns Head". A movement that I truly believe it is nothing short of a genius discovery of the Human mind, and it is credited to the Qi Gong that prepares the body for Shing Yi Chuan. I have learnt it from my Master, Sifu Kenny Gong in New York, during the 1980's, as a movement that loosens up all the joints, tendons and muscles at once, with spiral energy, and align the various body components to work as one, and to move as one.

Here is an article from my Book, the Key to Qi, about the Dragon Turns Head and how you can do it correctly and benefit from it:

This brilliant Qi Gong power-stretch will rotate twelve joints simultaneously, as an extension of your spiralling spine. It is an excellent and most important Practice for loosening up the tendons and muscles and teaching the body to 'move as one'. When the movement starts to flow, coordinate your breathing - exhale as you stretch, inhale as you change sides.
This is such a therapeutic exercise. At Sifu Gong's studio, in New York, I would usually spend about 3 to 4 hours of training. First, we would warm up with the legendary Dragon Turns Head, not just to loosen up the joints and make the body 'move as one', but also to bring calmness and tranquillity, to relieve stress and to silence the 'chattering' mind.
I think this profound kinetic exercise should make it into the 'Hall Of Fame' of Ancient Wisdom. I often say in my classes: "If a modern Emperor commanded me to choose only one exercise, from the repertoire I've done over the past twenty-seven years, and to practise only that for the rest of my life, it would have to be Dragon Turns Head."

Objectives
* To cultivate spiral-energy and clear blockage from energy channels
* To drain the Lymphatic system and strengthen the immune system
* To achieve proper alignment of the spine and adjacent bones of the upper body
* To loosen the body, warming up the joints
* To centre, balance and gather Qi, manifesting it smoothly and harmoniously
* To twist and stretch the rib cage in opposite directions
* To promote a deep relaxation and reduce stress    

Key Points
Alignment is crucial in this Practice. During the stretch, your weight shifts forward.
However, when lunging, never allow the bent knee to go beyond the line of your toes.
Don't forget to pivot on your heels when you untwist your body as you turn from side-to-side, otherwise you will leave the twist in your knee joints!    

STARTING POSITION
With feet shoulder-width apart and arms outstretched in front of you, at shoulder-level and palms facing up, you pivot on your heels to rotate your shoulders and hips to the left side.


MOTION
You keep your eyes on the hand that pulls backwards, all the time, as it folds under your armpit and stretches behind you - as a dragon turns its head to look at its tail. Remember to pivot on your heels in order to turn from side-to-side. Never let your bent front knee lunge beyond the line of your toes. The genius of the exercise lies in the fact that twelve joints learn to rotate simultaneously, whilst the spine twists. It stretches and rotates the ligaments and joint between the inner end of the clavicle [collar bone] and sternum, in opposite directions, forward and back, as well as the shoulder blade and shoulder joint. It's quite an extraordinary exercise which engages every bone, every joint, tendon and ligament in the upper body, upgrading your kinesthetic-learning abilities of spiral-energy and transforming your motion into a fluid flow. It also drains the lymph glands under the arms as you twist and release on each side.

THE INNER LANDSCAPE OF DRAGON TURNS HEAD
Your Central Equilibrium will attract energy from all extremities. Draw energy from the earth, through your legs and from the heavens, through the crown of your head. Energy is also drawn in through your perineum and from the Energy Gates in the centres of your palms. The three energy reservoirs - your lower Dantien between your hips, your middle Dantien at your solar plexus, and your upper Dantien at the crown of your head, will be filled. Concentrate and allow the spiralling Qi - which is fl  owing through you - to melt away any stress or anxiety, leaving you in a state of deep relaxation and contentment.

After you have danced as a dragon and have reached focus and clarity, write down your dreams, translating them to a life-plan. But keep it flexible. Sharpen your imagination by looking within, identifying with the spiral-energy that flows in your body.
Although you will not be aware of it, your Lymphatic system is being drained, detoxifying your body - excess water around tissue cells, infection, potential cancer, oxygen deficiency - and will help you absorb nutrients more readily for correct Lymphatic system functions, as you S-T-R-E-T-C-H.


Well, good luck with it and should you need further help with it, please do not hesitate to contact me. I can review your movement on Skype (My Skype account is: Gadi.Levy1)  and ensure you are on the Dragon's right tracks,

Love to all,

Gadi  

GAD LEVY-GOLAN