Watch short videos of our teachers Nathan and Mia talk about the Who?, What?, Where?, When?, Why?, and How? of our taiji practice on the Media page.

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A complete, 85 minute class is composed of 5 loosening exercises, a 37 posture short form or 108 posture long form, 8 fixed Tuisho (push hands / partner work), and meditation.

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The practice is broken up into 4 distinct phases, each building on the next and creating a cycle for progressive growth and learning on the different levels of training.

1. Five loosening exercises:  from Huang Sheng Shyan - These five exercises are for coordinating the body, mobilizing and loosening the hip joints, spine and shoulder girdle. They introduce students to the fundamental Taiji principles of smooth and continuous movements, waves of movement through the body, and generating pressure from the feet through the body.

2. Short form (Chen Man-Ching) / Long form (Yang Chen Fu): Students first learn 37 posture short form, followed by 108 posture long form. We teach the forms as refined by master Huang and further refined by Patrick Kelly. Emphasis is on smooth, accurate movements, listening to and producing intention on waves of pressure moving through the body.

3. Tuisho: Tuisho patterns are also known as 'pushing hands,' though this can give the wrong idea, as it is mainly about deep listening and connection with a partner. We teach 8 fixed pattern partner exercises and applications. The focus is on soft, accurate refined movement, combined with deep listening of the subtle energizing and activation of the nervous system, first through your own body, then into a partners. When done well, true 'Fa Jin,' or elastic wave force that moves through your body and into the partners. 

4. Meditation: Meditation is practiced at the end of each class. We teach shutting down the superficial mind, listening into deep body sensations and energy circulation related to the lower dantien; then, energy is raised and expanded from chest, and some exercises are practiced from middle dantien. For more experienced students, 2 years or more, we bring energy into upper dantien as well.

Practice at least 2 times a week. We ask that students practice a minimum of 2 times / week.  Your deeper part wants to grow. In the beginning it is a delicate connection that needs to be nurtured. This happens through sincere effort both on the part of the student and the teacher. Practicing a minimum of 2 times a week gives a chance for the deeper part to grow in a balanced and strong way.