Applied Tai Chi Harrogate

Learn the martial art of Tai Chi Chuan in the natural surrounds of Harrogates Valley Gardens.

What is Applied Tai Chi

Applied Tai Chi classes are not your regular Tai Chi classes! Learn a short form, then explore the conditioning and partner practices to develop strength, structure, relaxation and deep awareness. Our classes blend authentic Tai Chi movements with dynamic push hands exercises, practical applications and a mixture of traditional and modern conditioning exercises. Tai Chi is a principle based martial art providing a great cross training opportunity. Especially valuable as time or injury gets in the way of your regular practice.

"Things have their roots and branches. Affairs have their beginnings and their ends. To know what is first and what is last will lead one near the Way."
Confucius The Great Learning

Understanding not just the form but also the function of Tai Chi Chuan as a martial art will lead any practitioner so much closer to a personal understanding of the art and greatly enhance not just the martial but also the health benefits received.

Cheng Man Ching Tai Chi Form

Pushing Hands & Application

Neigong & Conditioning

Malaysian Cheng Man Ching Tai Chi

Cheng Man Ching's art of Tai Chi as practiced by the Chinese diaspora in Malaysia is a wonderfully unique expression of Tai Chi Chuan and martial arts skills. Find out more about how this distinct branch of Tai Chi came into being and why it was so effective in this article on our parent Zhong Ding site. Explore more details of what we teach below!

The Tai Chi Form is a practice rooted in ancient Chinese philosophy and martial principles, Combining martial techniques with mindfulness, it emphasises structure, whole body power, soft rootedness and a keen awareness of the body and it's place in your surroundings. It is a fantastic method and core to most tai chi practitioner's art and daily practice. Does it teach you how to fight?

"Practice of the form does teach you most of the things that you need to know about Tai Chi Chuan fighting, but, and this is a big but, it does not teach you how to fight!" Nigel Sutton, Applied Tai Chi Chuan

To learn how to apply the skills we have been practicing we need to lean into the rest of the syllabus.

"If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles" Sun Tzu, The Art Of War

Tai Chi Pushing Hands is a fundamental practice within the discipline of Tai Chi Chuan. It is a two-person exercise designed to develop sensitivity, balance, and martial awareness of both your partner, but more importantly to beginners, of yourself. Push hands is a excellent tool for identifying and testing any problems with your tai chi form! Participants engage in soft but structured, patterns of movement, maintaining contact with their partner while maintaining Tai Chi principles taught through the form such as relaxation, structure and rootedness. Through Pushing Hands, practitioners learn to perceive and redirect the force of their partner. Difficulties dealing with a partners force usually point to something wrong in the practitioners form practice, and provides an excellent learning opportunity!

There are a number of patterns that we practice in Cheng Man Ching's Tai Chi Chuan.

Si Zheng Tui, or the four fixed methods, trains the critical grasp sparrows tail sequence, from the form, of ward off, roll back, press and push and can be done with both fixed steps and movement. It emphasises the more horizontal movement of Cheng Man Ching's art and teaches much about the use of the core skills of Tai Chi. Can you maintain your relaxation and root, while trying to find your partners?

Da Lu, or great rollback adds in the next four forces from the form pluck, split, elbow, and shoulder and a very useful footwork pattern. This is more obviously related to fighting skills and contains techniques and footwork to extricate you from problem situations.

The final stage is free pushing hands which does not follow fixed patterns and where many different contexts can be explored. In most Malaysian Cheng Man Ching schools there are patterns of movement designed to help students prepare for the types of movement found in pushing hands. We also teach these and find them valuable for exploring many of the lessons of the form!

Zhang Zhong or standing post is a key training method in most Chinese martial arts and is critical in Tai Chi. The practice involves standing in set postures that are fundamental to developing rootedness and whole body connection, this trains the practitioners structure, providing isometric training for the key stances angles and mechanics and an awareness of the precision of the postures.

"The unmoved is the source of all movement" Lao Tzu, Dao De Jing

Standing post is also a very effective method of meditation. The ability to keep the mind quiet and focused on the body, the breath or some visualisation as the discomfort of the practice sets in trains the stillness of the mind!

Master Lee Bian Lei was a very prominent teacher in Malaysian Cheng Man Ching Tai Chi, famous for his formidable fighting skills. He developed a comprehensive set of exercises that train the whole body to generate relaxed power. The exercises range from strengthening and loosening exercises for individual joints, to loosening the fascia, strengthen the core and generating whole body power.

"Power that is rooted in the feet, released by the legs, directed by the waist and emitted through the hands!"

Diligently practiced these exercises can shorten the time it takes to develop many of the physical properties Tai Chi promises and provide a valuable toolkit to explore, refine and maintain the skills and properties throughout your Tai Chi journey. Find out more about Master Lee at the Zhong Ding association website.

Conditioning training for Tai Chi that we practice includes both traditional and modern. Movement drills can be practiced for aerobic conditioning. Heavy push hands and wall training develops anaerobic stamina, strength and the ability to use the whole body power. Heavy staff training develops explosive relaxed power. The use of exercise bands or flexible tree branches can be used to develop pliable structure. We utilise these training methods and more to train both the yang and the yin of the tai chi symbol!

What is Applied Tai Chi

Principle based approach is valuable to cross train along side any martial arts system and though great for any age is especially useful if you find the wear and tear of time or injury are complicating your existing practice.

Tai Chi Pushing Hands is a fundamental practice within the discipline of Tai Chi Chuan, a Chinese martial art renowned for its slow, flowing movements and emphasis on internal energy cultivation. Pushing Hands, or Tui Shou in Chinese, is a two-person exercise designed to develop sensitivity, balance, and martial awareness.

Participants engage in gentle, choreographed movements, maintaining contact with their partner's arms while adhering to Tai Chi principles such as relaxation, rootedness, and yielding. Through Pushing Hands, practitioners learn to perceive and redirect the force of their partner, fostering a deeper understanding of energy dynamics and martial application within Tai Chi.

This practice offers both physical and mental benefits, promoting relaxation, coordination, and improved martial skills. Additionally, Pushing Hands serves as a platform for practitioners to explore Tai Chi principles in a cooperative yet dynamic setting, facilitating personal growth and deeper insights into the art.

Articles

LOCATION, TIME, PRICE

Valley Gardens
Lower Rotunda
Cornwall Road
Harrogate
North Yorkshire
HG1 2PL

Sunday, 11:15 - 12:15

Price, £8 per class *
*£4 if previous Tai Chi Form class attended!

Contact to book