TAI CHI VILLAGE ISSUE 11 6TH JUNE 2020
DISCOVER TAI CHI
Welcome to the Tai Chi Village In this issue of the Tai Chi Village we begin to explore how we will re- open our classes and move for ward in a new world impacted by the ar r ival of Covid- 19. The bamboo you can see on the cover conveys a r ich vein of symbolism in Chinese culture. Bamboo has the title of "gentleman" among plants. As a symbol of vir tue, bamboo has a close association with people with a positive disposition. In tr aditional Chinese culture, bamboo stands as an example of beauty and elegance. It represents having a char acter of integr ity, resistance, modesty and loyalty.
Bamboo reminds us to bend when facing tough situations, to yield and not break. Something we all, no doubt, could heed r ight now.
If you enjoy reading this issue of Tai Chi Village, we hope you may like to suppor t our work by buying us a coffee. Helen likes an Amer icano with a little milk, Phil likes a Cappuccino in the mor ning and a Cor tado in the after noon : ) What do you like?
Collage of Face-m ask s by Elizabet h Ram sden We love this image sent by Elizabeth who comes to our class in Bingley.
village community shop.
You may have heard the news that we'll need to wear face-masks or a face covering when traveling on public transport.
"I?ve made 30 so far but the orders keep coming in and shall continue until my stocks of fabrics run dry. The profit I make is going to Manorlands and to the ATN Yorkshire choir."
Elizabeth says, she's making face masks for her
We think they look fab!
When are classe
Competition Time We thought we'd offer a fun little competition for you, a bit like the popular children's books, Wher e's Wally? If you look carefully In this famous ink painting you will find some tr aveler s with donkeys. For a bonus, hidden in the picture you will find some temple buildings too. To make the task easier if you view our newsletter/ magazine on a tablet, laptop or desktop computer you can zoom in and make the page bigger. Fir st per son to contact us (with the r ight answer) by email or message us via WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger with the cor rect answer s will get a mention in the next edition of Tai Chi Village and a little something nice from us in the post.
Travelers Among Mountains and Streams by Fan Kuan Ink and slight colour on silk hanging scroll in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan.
Tai Chi Pr inciples - ? Jìng Jìng has many meanings, such as serenity, motionless, silent, quiet, peaceful, calm and tr anquil.
another like the balance of yin yang. We have wr itten a suppor ting shor t booklet on the dynamic concept of yin yang that you can get from our website here.
When we think about Jìng in our pr actice of tai chi it descr ibes a sense of serenity or quietness.
With a little pur poseful pr actice of just a few tai chi movements we find the meaning behind the tai chi saying, movement with stillness.
An anonymous Tang Dynasty classic called the Qingjing Jìng ? The Classic on Clar ity and Tr anquility ? descr ibes the quality of jing as, a mind free from worries and naturally at ease with the world.
Research into tai chi for people living with anxiety descr ibe tai chi as a power ful moving meditation with the potential to prove more beneficial than sitting for ms of meditation or mindful pr actice, (Henning, et al).
We can also think about Jìng in the more moder n sense of mindfulness pr actice or being mindful.
We talk in our classes and workshops about how we can br ing the qualities of Jìng and S?ng into our day to day activities.
As a pr inciple or quality of tai chi we really can't talk about Jìng without the complimentar y quality ? - S?ng, meaning to relax, open, or let go. The qualities of Jìng and S?ng suppor t one
Image by brisbanechentaichi.weebly.com/skill-knowledge.html
We like the following illustr ation below. It shows the three for ms of pr actice that we explore breath awareness, pr actice of movements by our selves and with a par tner
Look in g For w ar d Since Covid-19's arrival we will all have to think differently about how we go about our lives for some time to come and much remains uncertain. We simply don't know what will happen in the future. In all likelihood we will have to change and adapt how we do things so we can offer our content and lessons safely as possible. When we talk with other business owners we hear a similar story to our own: We've all had to adapt and learn at breakneck speed how to adopt new ways of working. At the same time communicating to customers, clients and others what we're doing and why. From your very generous feedback many of you have told us how much you appreciate our efforts over the past three months - Thank you, it means a lot and really does keep us going. When venues begin to open and we can return to our classes. We know that we'll have to ask you to try new ways of doing things so that we can keep everyone as safe as possible.
We may have to make regular changes as best practice guidance appears to change frequently.
Looking after each other One major change is that will be encouraging everyone to avoid paying in cash. Instead, you'll have the option to pay via our contactless card machine in class, or with a bank transfer, or a standing order. Quite a few of you had already preferred doing this prior to us closing our face to face classes. Many of you use these forms of payment everyday for purchases from shops to making online bookings like going to the theater or cinema for example. In order to manage numbers and ensure we can maintain distancing measures we will ask people to book and pay in advance. We really appreciate your patience and bearing with us while we all get used to doing things differently. Do get in touch with your questions or if you have a suggestion.
Tai Ch i Fou n dat ion s You can click on the video link above to watch Phil run through our new evidence based tai chi program that we call Tai Chi Foundations. Those of you who have joined us on Patreon will already have practised the first part of this form. Some of you may remember some of the movements from our classes at the start of the year. We've chosen key movements from traditional Yang taijiquan (tai chi) as the base of our program. Yang tai chi remains the most popular and well researched tai chi form in the world. We've designed the program for easy adaptation to meet a diverse range of needs and abilities. Not only have we researched references for each movement., we've have also drawn on the
most recent evidence on coaching and teaching methods. Research also demonstrates participants gain more benefits in less time from short forms of tai chi than learning longer forms., (Wang et al., 2016). We will begin introducing this form in our online classes and in our face to face classes when they resume. We will focus on bite sized chunks of movement with more opportunities for active practice and discussion. It's our aim it to make a more engaging session for you to find some breathing space and much needed rest and relaxation. Teaching with a blended approach via classes, workshops and online we hope will support you in your enjoyment and practice of this elegant and ancient form of moving meditation.
Thanks for r eading Tai Chi Village. Especially to you who take time to get in touch, offer your feedback, and tell us your news and share images for inclusion in our little magazine. Keep them coming. We love to know how you're doing and hear what you like about our work. You may like to visit our blog/website for more blog posts
Thank you to all our member s who continue to subscr ibe to our online lear ning space at: www.patr eon.com/discover taichi Helen and I have engaged in a review of all our online content, including the Patreon platfor m. We do wonder if Patreon offer s the ease of use and or ganization that we would like for member s. Recently we invited ten par ticipants along with some of our professional contacts to tr ial an alter native online platfor m used by schools and higher education. Feedback so far has proved over whelmingly positive with some fab suggestions to help us improve how we present our online lear ning.
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We will keep you updated of any changes we plan to make over the coming weeks.
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Phil & Helen If you prefer not to receive this newsletter please do get in touch.
Instagram: @discovertaichi E: huntunwellbeing@gmail.com
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