A Journey of Exploration
The Taoist internal arts are famous for many reasons, for their martial prowess, their health benefits and as a pathway to a greater understanding of ourselves and of the world around us.
Physically the systems of Tai Chi, Neijia and Qigong we practice give us a structure within which we can explore and refine the motions of the body.
These practices form a roadmap to the potential of movement, and through the experience of the generations gone before, point us towards the most efficient methods of propulsion and motion.
By becoming more familiar with, and clearly feeling, the parts of our body less neurologically connected (the interoception) we can begin to see the range of motion possible and work on the clarity of our movements in space (the proprioception).
Knowing the limits of motion, we can work to free the articulations, create a relaxed linkage throughout the body and look to connect and generate our motions through our relationship to the ground.
The development of these elements is a process of exploration and it's part of the reason that the power and qualities which result through practice are cumulative and not readily reversible (unlike building muscle with weights for example).
The practices inform the way we see and understand motion, changing the way we move and experience movement, both in and out of our practice time.
