TAI CHI CLASS CURRICULUM
LEVEL ONE
You will learn the long Yang family style, Tai Chi form. Done with correct understanding, the form takes between 30 to 60 minutes to perform. Before starting the form, you will be taught a walking exercise that will give you a better understanding of how to move in a soft Tai Chi manner. You will also learn some Yi Chuan exercises. You will progress at your own pace and not as a group. You will be introduced to push hands. This is the yin aspect of your training.
LEVEL TWO
Having completed level one Tai Chi, you will learn some basic Shing-i and Ba Gua. Shing-i and Ba Gua are also internal systems but are done with more speed and work on connecting and strengthening the body. After learning the basic Shing-i and Ba Gua, you will integrate some of the Shing-i and Ba Gua with the Tai Chi. The end result is a dynamic fast form that takes about 10 minutes to perform. You will also be doing more Yi Chuan and intermediate level push hands. This is the yang aspect of your training.
LEVEL THREE
In level three you will learn several variations of level one and two. You will learn the ‘weighted set’, the ‘extended set’, the ‘bubbling well set’, and finally the ‘pulsing set’. You will also be exploring more mysterious aspects of energy and more advanced levels of push hands. This is the blending of the yin and yang aspect of your training
PUSH HANDS FOR AWARENESS
Push hands can manifest in many ways. It is a two-person exercise in which people touch wrist to wrist or hand to wrist or forearm, and shift their weight back and forward as they circle their hands. The intent of this exercise will determine how it looks. Some do it for developing sensitivity. As you come forward, I yield and go back. Some do it to develop strength and rooting. As you come forward I don’t yield and resist you and ‘root’ into the ground so you can’t push me. And the variations go on and on.
At Moving Together we use many ways of practicing push hands but our reasons for doing push hands is to further develop our energy or chi. Arthur calls push hands ‘interactive chi kung’. When doing tai chi, ba gua, chi kung etc, it is like a river flowing and learning how to get rid of any obstacles in the river that inhibits its flow. This getting rid of the obstacles makes the flow of the river more powerful. In doing push hands as an interactive chi kung exercise, it is like two rivers coming together, merging and sharing their flow. This coming together, this ‘moving together’ creates even more energy and power for each of the players than just ‘flowing’ alone. So sometimes we yield together, and some times we resist together, but all in a listening, aware attentive way so that each of us is benefiting from the exchange.
Arthur's ongoing Push Hands Awareness class meets every Saturday and explores Arthur’s system of Push Hands as an Interactive Chi Kung Awareness activity. The class for beginners as well as advanced practitioners. The class covers in detail what Arthur calls the Hidden Techniques in push hands as well as exploring posture, balance, sensitivity, emotions, habits and many other ideas that will help the student better understand and manifest advanced performance.
Moving Together Mind Body Center Class Schedule
Tai Chi Chuan Level One & Level Two
Monday & Saturday, 10 -11:30am
Push Hands Awareness
Saturdays 11:30am-1:30pm
All Classes are held at:
147 High St. (2 Block W. of Medford Center)
Medford, Ma. 02155
(Parking Lot and entrance off Powder House Rd)
CLASS PRICES:
Monthly Tuition:
Level One or Level Two: $120
* Push Hands Class: $160
* Both Tai Chi & Push Hands: $190
REGISTRATION:
Come anytime to try out a class
To register in advance or to get additional information about Moving Together and class offerings, contact:
Arthur Goodridge
(781) 866-1900
Private Classes and Private Healing Sessions are available
What People Say
I began Tai Chi and then Qigong classes with Arthur about two years ago. I was suffering from a painful rotator cuff tear in my left shoulder that one surgeon said needed surgical repair, as well as significant job and personal stress. The gentle, meditative practice of tai chi and especially qi gong has proved healing to body and soul. Recently, I did 22 push-ups (from the knees with crossed ankles) in three minutes; I was "off the charts" for a person of my age they said.
As I contemplate retirement and the life changes that entails, friends who are not practitioners, but know that I am warned me, "just don't give up your qi gong". And I won't.
--Sharon Dombeck
