Tai Chi Association of Australia


DECEMBER 2011
In This Issue
Merry Christmas
TCAA Tai Chi Comp
Weekend Retreat
Push-Hands Workshop
Norfolk Island awaits
Breathing Technique
From the Editor
 
 
 
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Merry Christmas Members and a very Happy Tai Chi New Year.  Are you ready for it?  

 

Christmas BaublesThis year has been rushing forward since its start just like its name sake, the year of the Rabbit. Rather like the March Hair from Alice in Wonderland I think.

 

That said, I do trust you have had a good year and that your Tai Chi training or classes have been successful.

 

The TCAA AGM will be held Sunday June 10 after the TCAA competition in Sydney and all positions will be declared vacant. I will be stepping down after holding the position for so many years and the current Treasurer also will step down so these positions will need to be filled. More on the AGM as we go into the New Year.

 

TCAA Open Tai Chi Competition information is in the News Letter and we thank Lina He for coming on board and taking on the preparation side of the competition to be held at Sydney Uni. Look for her article.

 

I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a Happy Chinese New Year of the Black Water Dragon 2012 (4710) on January 23 - 25

 

Enjoy the festive season.

 

Dennis Watts

TCAA President

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TCAA Open Tai Chi Competition 2012   

 

Where: At Sydney Uni Sports & Aquatic Centre

 

When:   Saturday 9th June 2012
               Time: 8:30am to 5:00pm                

 

Plan now to take part in the 7th Open Competition organised by TCAA, which will be at this exciting venue, the first time in Sydney University, with full canteen and hall facilities. Look out for the entry forms and the full information on the website early in 2012. There will also be a special mail-out in early 2012 re the Competition.  Put this on your calendar.

Prepare !   To be There !

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"SPONSORED ARTICLE"

Taichi Weekend 

Date:    24 - 26 February, 2012

Time:    4:30 pm Friday to Sunday after lunch

Venue: Brahma Kumaris Retreat Centre 

             186 Mt Hay Road, Leura, Blue Mountains

Cost:     Early bird before 31 Dec, 2011: $320.00

             After 31 Dec, 2011: $370.00  TCAA members and regular students: $340.00

Please contact for further details: Lina He

Mobile:  0424 985838

Email:     linajane66@hotmail.com

  For more information click here >
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Push-Hands Workshop held in October

 

On the 1st October, we held the third Free Push-Hands workshop for our members at St John's Hall in Ashfield, Sydney.  Around 20 members attended the three hours workshop and again we shared an enjoyable time in further understanding the inner energy in push-hands. Thanks to our three experienced members Ken Goh, Roman Czerniawsky, and Todd Huang, who voluntarily shared their skills of push-hands in three aspects: "following"," grounding" and "fa-jin". Everyone had a great time and learnt new things there. Check out the pictures and see the Qi and fun.

We would welcome any suggestions in organising such workshops in future. If you have any ideas, please don't hesitate to let us know.  You can email Lina, the NSW Rep, at: linajane66@hotmail.com

  

     Ken Goh,  NSW 

Push Hands

  

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"SPONSORED ARTICLE"
 
Combine Tai Chi & Qigong with a Holiday on Norfolk Island

There is more to Norfolk Island than striking volcanic coastlines, picturesque scenery, and the faint scent of frangipanis. Who hides behind the Norfolk Island pines, moving gently with the breeze, quietly enjoying the sounds of the sea birds, as the waves ebb and flow into shore, and the sun sets golden out to sea?

 

Perhaps the most unlikely place to find the ancient Chinese art of Tai Chi and Qigong is Norfolk Island. Yet it is one of the most idyllic locations to partake in it, amongst the tranquility of the subtropical rain forests or along the shores of the many beaches or the cliff top vistas the Island has to offer. The pristine air andvibrant natural surroundings are the well spring of our energy - what better place to cultivate one's life force!  

 

A week of intensive Tai Chi & Qigong on Norfolk Island will be held from 8-15 April 2012 with Master Zhang Hao, founder of the Chi-Chinese Healing College in Sydney. He will offer daily tuition from 9:30 am to 11:30 am, focussing on detailed refinements of the simplified 24 Form Yang Style for those new to Tai Chi, and on the gentle and graceful Wild Goose Qigong for all participants. Informal gatherings with senior instructors will be organised to revise the teachings from Master Zhang Hao's classes.

There will be plenty of time for other gatherings whilst on holiday, including an island "fish-fry" at sunset on the first evening, and a celebratory dinner at the end of the week at an award winning Island style homestead restaurant.

For enquiries about the intensive classes, please email Piria Coleman at piriacoleman@ninet.nf or go to www.healthandhealing.nlk.nf.
 

Note: Tai Chi & Qigong training is $270. Travel and accommodation are separate; enquiries can be made to The Travel Centre, Norfolk Island (toll-free 1800 140 066 from Australia) or visit www.travelcentre.nf/qigong.htm for a package including return airfare, 7 nights' accommodation (twin share) and bonus car hire (est. $969 per person). 

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Breathing Technique

 

BreatheHow we co-ordinate our breathing allows us to regulate our body and lead chi efficiently. The two main ways of breathing are: normal abdominal breathing or 'Buddhist breathing' and reverse abdominal breathing or 'Taoist breathing'.

 

In normal breathing when you inhale the abdomen (or Tan Tien) expands, and when you exhale the abdomen withdraws. However in reverse abdominal breathing the abdomen (or Tan Tien) withdraws when you inhale, and expands when you exhale.

 

It is easier to keep your body relaxed and feeling comfortable with normal abdominal breathing and that is the method normally used for those who practice Tai Chi only for health.

 

As for reverse abdominal breathing, some Tai CHi practitioners today falsely believe that reverse breathing technique is against the way of the Tao. However this is not the case-- it is simply used for different purposes.

Try this simple experiment: place one hand on your abdomen and hold the other in front of you as if you are pushing something. Inhale deeply and as you exhale, imagine that you are pushing a heavy object. You will easily see that when you try to push as strongly as possible, you automatically use reverse breathing.

 

The rationale for reverse breathing is quite simple. You can lead a much stronger flow of chi to the limbs and manifest more power if you also simultaneously direct another flow of chi to the Tan Tien. This is in accordance with the basic law of physics which states that for every action there must be an equal and opposite reaction. Try another experiment:  blow up a balloon and hold a hand on your abdomen and see how it moves.

 

Reserve breathing should be used whenever you need to lead chi to the limbs to efficiently manifest power, as when in defence. Because it expands the chi and energises the body, it is considered yang in comparison to normal breathing.

In normal breathing, inhalation is classified as yin because the chi is led from the limbs to the Tan Tien and exhalation is yang, because the chi is led to the limbs.

Sound simple enough? I hope that explains in a brief summary the object of our breathing technique. The thing is to not ponder the technique too much, just try to breath normally and relax.

Once you become more familiar with Tai Chi principles etc, your breathing will follow a normal progression. For example, in a punch outward, you are using reverse breathing as you extend your energy forward. However in a qigong move such as "Scooping the sea" in Shibashi, you are using normal breathing as you scoop forward to gather the energy (abdomen expands).

 

     Brian Gregson, Tamworth

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From the Editor

 

GadiDear TCAA members,

 

Once again, we are at a crossroad, at the gates of 2012.

So it is true that it isn't generating the hype of the year 2000, but 12 years later, and I feel as though we are at the gates of a new energetic era.

Personally, I will turn 50 this year, and celebrating 30 years of practicing and teaching Tai Chi and Chi Gong.

 

Rather than summarising 30 years of Qi energy, I would like to share with you some of my strategies for the coming year and list my energetic goals for 2012:

 

First, I would like to complete the new Chen Style form that I have started learning during 2011.

Second, I would like to participate in more seminars and workshops, especially those of Shing Yi Chuan, Pushing Hands and Yi Chuan.

Third, I would like to reach out and increase the number of students in my classes, spreading the word about the great benefits of Tai Chi and Chi Gong.

Last but not least, I would like to distribute my book, The Key to Qi, throughout UK and Europe.

 

Setting goals and strategies is an essential tool to ensure results, not only for businesses and corporations but for all of us as individuals and as TCAA members.

From my years of learning and teaching the soft internal energy arts, I have developed an action-oriented strategy which may help you.

First to find and reconnect, and then to harness these resources - so you can experience life more fully, feel healthier and have a purpose. Use your practice to empower yourself to blossom and be successful at achieving your goals, whatever they may be. Invite your Inner Master to take the lead, as I believe it is significantly beneficial to live according to your intention and to be guided by your Inner Master through life.

 

Any Inner Master knows that the secret to success lies with the 'task well-processed' formula: Think well, act well, speak well and know it well (see Chapter 17 - The Task Well-Processed, The Key to Qi).  'Know it well' comes last chronologically, but of course it's the pivotal peak of everything in which we all specialise. To achieve really well, you need to walk the journey of educating yourself, of trialling and making the inevitable errors in order to know what works best. My practising of Tai Chi Gong is like dancing in a constant meditative bliss as I explore the Inner World. Teaching Tai Chi Gong is even more special, as it requires me to continue the journey of learning and it gives me the pleasure of sharing it with others, guiding them to seek and know their own Inner Worlds. And the encounter between these constellations of Inner Worlds produces a mass of harmony, tranquillity and bliss. For me, this is a blessing beyond all words and I am grateful.

 

Wishing you all a blissful 2012, full of positive Qi flow, and cultivation of Health and Energy for you and your loved ones.

 

Gadi Levy-Golan

Editor

 

Gadi Sunset

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Disclaimer 

The views and information supplied by the contributors of this newsletter, whether expressed or implied, are not necessarily the view of the TCAA inc. All material has been published by the Editor and the TCAA in good faith.