Navel gazing and chirping birdies

Just spent a wonderful weekend in Telford doing the 88 step form with the Deyin Taijiquan Institute. As always I've come away feeling I've learned a lot about tai chi and there is still always a lot more to learn.

One thing I came away with was a reminder about how central the waist is. As Master Tary Yip said, "Nothing moves until you see the waist." Of course this doesn't mean bending your head down to stare at your belly button. It's in the mind that you see the waist. The waist moves and everything else follows. We've talked about this a lot in relation to White Crane Spreads Its Wings, but it is true in every move.

I also learned that the bird in lǎnquèwěi, grasping the bird's tail, is què (pronounced "chir"), which I think is a lovely bit of onomatopoeia.

Pictures from Monday class and updates on other classes

Here are the pictures from Monday's class - looking good everyone!

We have decided to wind down the Tuesday morning seated class for the Christmas season. This will hopefully start up again in January so I look forward to seeing you all again then.

I will be putting on another taster class for Age UK Wigan Borough Bright Days. This will be a 3 week course at Hallgate House in Wigan on Monday mornings starting next Monday 30 November at 10.30am. This is a normal standing class rather than a seated one.

As before the class is free (I believe) but you do have to be age 55+ and you need to register in advance. To do so contact Debra Shufflebottom on 01942 615883 or Debra.Shufflebottom@ageukwiganborough.org.uk.

For tomorrow's Wednesday classes don't forget to bring payment for the next block of four weeks to be sure of having a place as class size is limited. That takes us right up to Wednesday 23 December and Christmas.

 I will be taking a week's break from all classes at Christmas and will start again Monday 4 January.

That's all for now. As I said in class yesterday, if anyone wants anything from Tai Chi Link without having to pay postage, let me know and I will get it over the weekend.