Day 1 of the 10-day Tai Chi – Meditation Course

September 1st, 2003 at 12:00am

And so far it is going well. I arrived in Chiang Mai yesterday morning from the overnight train and went straight to the Tai Chi place. Must admit that I was a bit skeptical when I first saw the place, which is a big dormitory-style building in the middle of a residential area, but it is turning out to be ok. I briefly met the instructor, Keith, an American who has been living in Thailand for the past 9 years, and then dropped my stuff off before going into to town for a wander.

At 7 am this morning I went up to the roof garden to start the course. There are only three of us signed up for it this time (run twice monthly). And so it is myself, Stewart (UK), and Harrry (UK). Stewart seems to have a lot of martial arts experience, but none of us have any real Tai Chi experience so essentially we are all beginners. What I like about the course so far is that we are getting equal time in theory and practice, and that really helps you understand what you are doing when you get up to practice the movements.

Fot those of you who knowing nothing about Tai Chi, I can attempt to explain it with my limited knowledge from one day of this course. The ‘Chi’ is the energy, or natural force, which fills the universe. There is heaven Chi, which is made up of things like sunshine, moonlight, and the moon’s effects on tides. Then there is earth Chi which absorbs the heaven Chi, and finally there is human Chi. ‘Chi Kung’ is considered to be any training or study dealing with Chi that takes a lot of time and effort. ‘Tai Chi Chuan’ is a type of internal martial style of Chi Kung, and is considered to be a soft style of Chi Kung. Acupuncture and martial arts all have to do with this ‘Chi’ in the body. Pretty interesting stuff, and it is really amazing to think that this theory of ‘Chi’ has been around for thousands of years.

Today we mainly discussed Chi and the Yin/Yang elements which represent the duality of Chinese medicine. We learned the first principal of Tai Chi Chuan, which is how to distinguish between full and empty. We learned this while standing by resting the weight on the right foot making it full (left leg empty), and then reversing the weight and feeling left foot full (right foot empty). Then we learned the first 2 postures in the 13-posture sequence, Ward-Off and Roll-Back. We also practiced walking meditation and sitting meditation. I think I will really learn a lot in these ten days.

Learning theory Keith Harry Tim Stuart from left

Entry Filed under: Chiang Mai,North,Thailand