Our focused awareness during Tai Chi practice - our Yi - is exercised, our body is flooded, our mind becomes more alert. The Tai Chi must grow in your body, the speed of growth depends on your abilities, your training hours and your accompanying and guiding teacher. You can learn the visible Tai Chi 1 form within 1-3 months.
After that, the main work can begin to activate your inner body alchemy, to open your meridians, your joints, your whole energy system. What your eyes can see is only, say the 20% visible externally. The main part of Tai Chi involves the internal processes. A calm mind, physical flexibility, coordinated interaction of movement and breath, and thus control of chi flow. The act of balancing, the highest goal of Classical Chinese Medicine.
The roots of Tai Chi lie more in martial arts, while Qigong is derived from Chinese Medicine. However, both use the same principles. A type of dynamic meditation, consciously linking breath with movement, and thus controlling the flow of chi in the body. Put simply, Tai Chi could be considered an organized sequence of Qigong exercises.
In order to develop these invisible inner alchemy qualities, each of us needs patience, correction and repeated practice. Previous knowledge from other schools, such as martial arts, yoga or all varieties of Qigong will facilitate the training and shorten the learning time.
The less frequently practiced Wu style Tai Chi originated from the Yang style. Its founder Wu Chuan-Yu (1834-1902) modified the Yang style forms learned from Yang Lu Chan's son Yang Pan-Hou (1837-1892). The advantages over the more commonly taught Yang style are its more natural postures and movements. Unlike Yang style, in Wu style the spine can be slightly bent forward and the stance higher. This allows for easier control and flow of chi (life energy) and jin (internal force). The Wu style allows students of all ages and abilities to learn and master this short form relatively quickly and still touch the essence of the principles and anchor them in the body over time of practice.
The techniques presented in this workshop have been passed down from generation to generation over hundreds of years and are practical methods to improve physical, emotional and mental health. Developed by Taoist Grand Master Mantak Chia, the Wu Tai Chi style is a simple method of cultivating both chi (life energy and jin (internal force) flowing throughout the body.
Dr. Andrew Jan is an emergency medicine physician and holds master's degrees in medicine and in philosophy, is a TCM physician and yoga teacher. As UHT Senior Instructor and co-author with Mantak Chia on currently 6 books on Martial Arts, Tai Chi and the higher Inner Alchemy practices Kan & Li, he has been instrumental in the development of the UHT Internal Martial Arts Branch.
Book Recommendation: Tai Chi Wu Style: Advanced Techniques for Internalizing Chi Energy by Mantak Chia and Andrew Jan (21-Feb-2013) Paperback
The course is in English with occasional German translation in the theory chapters.