Today I did:
- two tai chi forms, concentrating on breathwork
- 20 push-ups
- two tai chi forms, concentrating on the outward push
- Five Golden Coins, a qi gong form.
- two tai chi forms, concentrating on footwork
- Eight Pieces of Silk, the other qi gong form
Six iterations of the form, and two qi gong forms. Not bad. A little sweaty, not too much, and feeling good.
I want to remind readers of the importance of the three breaths. I’ve been finding that those three breaths, a full intake and release of breath each, at the start of each tai chi form, is really critical. Without it, I tend to rush into the form, and give an overly-rushed performance that doesn’t take more than 1-2 minutes to do. Not enough time. With that extra care, I can give a 7-to-ten minute tai chi form. Of course, this means that this morning’s tai chi took about 45 minutes.
And that means that, for a Wednesday schedule, I’m running late. See you tomorrow!
[…] about how to call up energy first. In tai chi I frequently do this with breathwork, typically the three breaths which begin each iteration of the tai chi form. They’re officially part of the practice, […]
[…] as a result of focusing on the breathwork for a period of time before beginning. I maintain that three breaths before each tai chi form is proving more and more critical to setting the right speed for the exercise. Ironically, […]
[…] by twenty-five push-ups, followed by two more tai chi forms, followed by Eight Pieces of Silk. I forgot my own advice about breathwork. This is pretty important advice, to remember to breathe deeply before beginning. I had pretty […]