What we’re about
NEW! A rough first take on an introduction to tai chi can be viewed by clicking on the preview image below. It covers everything from safety to finding a teacher, and gets you up and moving to discover the precision and principles of tai chi, which I like to call "the Philosopher's workout".
Our group meets to learn and practice tai chi and qi gong on the boardwalk overlooking the Atlantic. Current meetups are in Spring Lake, Belmar, and Asbury Park. All styles are welcome, but to begin we are learning Grandmaster William CC Chen's Yang-style short form, "60 Movements", a close derivative of his teacher Cheng Man Ch'ing's "37 Postures". Instruction is led by a senior student of CC Chen.
I am also starting to explore seated tai chi for those who need to build up to standing tai chi. This is a new one for me, but I have found a great starter lesson on YouTube. Research on this will continue!
Please check the "Events" tab for the official event times, and feel free to suggest new locations and/or times!
In the 17th century, according to legend, the Taoist monk Zhang Sanfeng created Tai Chi after witnessing a fight between a crane and a snake. He observed how the animals used softness to counter strength, inspiring the principles of yielding and flowing with one’s opponent’s energy.
AI offers a drier story: "However, modern historians often credit Chen Wangting (1580–1660) from the Chen family village in Henan province as the true originator of what we recognize as Tai Chi Chuan today. Chen Wangting was a retired military officer who developed a style incorporating both martial techniques and internal exercises, drawing from Taoist philosophy, breathing techniques, and traditional Chinese medicine."
In any case, the tai chi chuan form is a precisely choreographed exercise designed to cultivate leg strength, balance, coordination, flexibility, and general health. The form simulates a slow motion martial encounter with imagined assailants. Each movement has a martial purpose informing its execution, and motivating our internal rising and falling intensity. Combined, the movements constitute a moving meditation focused on what CC Chen called "Body Mechanics".
CC Chen emphasized relaxation above all, adopting a taller stance that is easier to maintain, and a more natural posture. Perform happily, he says. We keep the precision of Cheng's "37 Postures" but reduce stress, encouraging practice.
Free videos of the full form can be found on a YouTube playlist of mine.
An on-line scan of CC Chen's book "Body Mechanics" is available free, with a free archive.org sign-up here. That has some background history and discussion, as well as the full breakdown with photos of CC Chen's "Sixty Movements".
Paid content directly from Wm CC Chen is recommended for advanced students, and includes full videos of CC Chen doing his form.
CC Chen has a book that includes full details of each of the sixty movements we can buy for $25 or so. Amazon is one seller.
And I mentioned I take motivation to practice by doing the form, or parts of it, to music. My favorite is Tiffany Poon doing the first movement of "Moonlight Sonata" in a student recital at Juilliard. I also enjoy three songs from Annie Lennox's album Diva: "Why", "The Gift", and "Cold". Surprisingly, I also really like Neil Young's "Cortez the Killer", and "Stringman" from his MTV Unplugged album. Stretches are two songs from Enya's Shepherd Moons album, "Shepherd Moons" and "No Holly for Miss Quinn". And I have a bunch of shakuhachi music for a different kind of accompaniment.
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Our larger goal with the meet-up: a space many teachers and practitioners of different styles can enjoy together, like a park one might find in Chinatown in any city, so feel free to join us in the morning at the South Pavilion on the boardwalk, whatever your style.
See you on the boardwalk any time. Sign-up beforehand is appreciated but not required.
