Taiji and Qigong Workshops on the West Coast of Scotland
There’s this guy called Ronnie. He was the centre of the taiji world in Scotland – yes, I know that’s a big claim, but he edited and produced the tai chi union magazine and he founded and has run an amazing annual festival of taiji called Tai Chi Caledonia for 20 years. Through his contacts he has spread incalculable knowledge for which people all over the world are grateful.
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Following the recent death of one of my teachers, I’ve decided to make the next workshop on Shi Ba Shi. We’re looking at the 23rd of April at Stonefield Farm Holidays (An Tairbeart) and I’ll post a link to the bookings in due course.
Ronnie taught us this at Tai Chi Caledonia without speaking a word. We just stood in a circle and copied him. Although he appeared to be focused on the grass in front of him, if he repeated the moves more than six times, we knew one of us was not getting it right and he was waiting until we did. To this day I have no idea how he managed to see us all!
Ronnie loved the simplicity and versatility of shi ba shi and taught it at his classes in posh leisure centres, workplaces, cancer centres and prisons. In addition to the first set, which we will be doing, he taught the second set and was pursuing a version of a third set.
When he came to Samye Ling to teach it at the qigongtauk course he did use words, some of them not very p.c. at all. But he made us laugh and he looked after everyone in the class, those who found it easy and those who struggled.
I’m delighted to say that Helen Davison will be joining me for this workshop. Helen, from Carlisle, is also a mindfulness teacher, so she will be including some mindfulness experiences. We believe this will be a fascinating combination for those wishing to explore the spiritual side of qigong exercises and for those who enjoy the gentle movements. I hope you’ll join us!
The Ten Principles of taiji and qigong, were first mentioned in The Canon of Taiji Chuan.
I studied these with the inspiring Barry McGinlay of the Tai Chi Life School at Tai Chi Caledonia one year. Like most worthwhile exercises, they are easy to say, but not so easy to do. It’s all very well listing the ten principles and talking about them but how do you practise them in a workshop?
Since they are very much about linking upper and lower, inner and outer and so on, what we need are simple exercises that use the whole body. We want to be able to feel the way energy moves from the earth, through bubbling spring (yong quan) in the foot, up the legs, through the waist, up and through to the fingers. We repeat these exercises (as) many times (as you wish) so that you can explore the effect we are concentrating on.
If you already practise taiji, you already know a number of suitable exercises, such as brush knee twist step and fair lady works the shuttle. In the workshop, I’ll be offering silk reeling exercises.
Silk was and still is an important product in the Chinese economy. The silkworm larva wraps itself in a cocoon. To obtain silk from the cocoon, it has to be drawn out or reeled out extremely carefully. The action must be smooth and consistent without jerking or changing direction sharply. If you go too fast, the silk thread becomes too thin and breaks. If you pull too slowly, it sticks to itself and becomes tangled and lumpy. Thus, silk reeling is a highly skilled art. The movements are continuous, cyclic, spiralling and performed at constant speed – exactly what we are looking for in a taiji exercise.
Silk reeling can be practised single or double handed, solo and with a partner. The movements trace a taijitu (yinyang symbol) pattern using the waist while shifting the weight from leg to leg.
It’s a very popular exercise in Chen style taiji and I also spent a week at Caledonia with Master Wang Hai Jun, who makes them look wonderfully elegant and effortless – here’s a link.
