How much do you practice?

[gt3]

How often do you guys practice? Whats your taiji training schedule like. I know it doesn't matter but I thought it'd be a fun topic. Do any of you actually wake up at 5:30am to practice for a few hours, then do a few hours more in the evening.

Also, do you have any tips on making time to train more during your busy day. I'm just getting into Silk Reeling and was recommended to do it hundreds of times a day, on top of doing the ycf long form 3 times in the morning and 3 times at night, on top of standing qigong, on top of tryin to learn new things. while at the same time being a computer programmer. I'm considering giving up computer programming and getting some job that will allow me to practice taichi more, preferably while on the job, though i guess even dishwasher would allow that since you're standing up, but i dont want to be a dishwasher :)

[daftyman]

30 minutes of focussed practice is far more valuable than 3 hours of 'vague'/sloppy practice.

It is most definitely the quality that matters the most.

I don't get up at 5:30 'cos I'm not that 'daft'. :)

Don't try to practice everything every day.

If you try to, you'll find it becoming a chore, finding hours each and every day to practice. Once it becomes a chore, you'll avoid it now and again. once this starts, you stop.

Try to keep to a consistent level of practice. Gradually increase it or decrease it depending on your personal preference. Don't suddenly go from 20mins to 3 hours in the space of a day.

For extra practice, do some exercises/form at lunch time.

Don't make your taiji practice into a 'stick that you beat yourself with'.

Remember there is life outside taiji. :D

[Syd]

I'd agree with Vamp. I've been down the road of long hours of Taiji practise and found no huge gains over the way I practise now. Having said that, I practise with allot of passion still, and I make sure it's every day. I don't lock myself into a routine though and I make sure I mix it up for my own benefit. These days I do about an hour of practise a day whereas in the past I might do three hours. It is certainly the quality of your training and not the quantity.

[Shadowdh]

I get up at 0600 every morning and practice then... I usually do an hour or so then meditation for 15-20 mins... Practice consists of warm up, Silk reeling and then form (lao jia yi lu)... I practice every day (unless very ill) and twice on sundays as I go to my class then... I am with VR as well definitely quality over quantity... and if I dont get to practice in the morning then I make it in the early afternoon (I am lucky as I am a househusband)... but the main thing is do not stress over missing one session...

[gt3]

good advice about the quality vs quantity. thats a good way to always keep things in perspective.

Does anyone else find themselves standing in horse stances while brushin their teeth or shifting weight from one leg to the other, slowly, while standing in line, or things like this. I tend to do a lot of things with my legs/feet in public but not my arms so no one really notices

[daftyman]

all the time!

[Syd]

good advice about the quality vs quantity. thats a good way to always keep things in perspective.

Does anyone else find themselves standing in horse stances while brushin their teeth or shifting weight from one leg to the other, slowly, while standing in line, or things like this. I tend to do a lot of things with my legs/feet in public but not my arms so no one really notices

Not consciously, but I do practice forms sitting down sometimes doing the upper body and waist work when I am stuck somewhere and I can't stand up ... not the toilet though!

[jorvik]

I tend to work a lot with mirrors...if I'm by a mirror I always like to check my hand position, in say Grasp the Sparrow's tail, or another stance....this is where I go wrong, and I notice it in a lot of other people, you have to think of each position as a chi-kung stance ..and get it right.....i should work more on the stuff that helps the TC such as circling the waist..and really doing the form more expressively........but mostly I do it when and if I feel like it...it shouldn't be a chore...and I'm not going to have to get into a Kung-fu fight on the way to the supermarket.chill and be thrilled :cool: ......sometimnes if I'm somewhere really nice.......I'm a countryside freak.I just do the form over and over again, coz I enjoy the buzz :love: .it should be a part of your life .but not your life :D

[gt3]

Not consciously, but I do practice forms sitting down sometimes doing the upper body and waist work when I am stuck somewhere and I can't stand up ... not the toilet though!
Won't practicing the form sitting down with just your upper body ruin your form? Considering how important the feet/legs are? And are you in a swivel chair? Wouldn't it be better to just close your eyes and imagine yourself doin the form? I really don't know this thats why im asking

[Syd]

Won't practicing the form sitting down with just your upper body ruin your form? Considering how important the feet/legs are? And are you in a swivel chair? Wouldn't it be better to just close your eyes and imagine yourself doin the form? I really don't know this thats why im asking

Your not literally doing the form in it's correct sense but I find it an excellent form of isolation training to gain the correct waist jing for Fajing. Many people are very stiff in the waist and do much of their turning at the hips rather than the waist itself. This kind of thing keeps me focussed on isolating my waist and is just a gentle form of jing training.

[nzric]

Visualising the form without doing it is much harder than it appears!

I try to do some practice wherever I am but I stopped when a guy came up to me and asked why I was doing dim mak katas on the train platform!

Also, my wife has a sixth sense for forms nowadays cause she's caught me trying out little chin na movements on her so many times.

[Wu_W3i]

Well as its winter now and I have nowhere to practice indoors really I do more form in my mind than in reality! But I find it really nice to just visualize the form aswell, not just the movments, but how the body feels in each move, where the weight is, how I breath, the surroundings where I always practice my form in summer, the sound of the birds and so on.

I am trying to get a place indoors to rpactice tho, need to do more real practice... in summer I can do hours/day tho.

[gurugeorge]

Great thread!

I'm ashamed to say I don't practice enough formally (half an hour a day when I'm being good). But one thing I am obsessed with is putting the principles into practice in daily movement.

Since there are loads of "fallow" periods during a normal day, when I'm travelling through town, or just standing around, I like to fill those periods with discreet attention to shen fa (body requirements).

At any moment, whenever I remember to, I'll do a "scan" from head to feet, making sure everything's ship-shape. Standing in queues is particularly good for this.

Another thing that's good, if you use a form of public transport, trains, buses, or trams, the shakier the better, it's fun to try and keep a discreet standing posture, keeping it stead against the movement of the vehicle - also, to hold onto pillars and feel the connection between grasp and feet as the bus accelerates and decelerates.

Also, lifting things, opening/closing doors, opening jars, trying to do all these sorts of things with proper alignment, neijin (i.e. as above, trying to feel a line of connection from any point of contact through my body to the ground, pushing from the back leg, pulling from the front, etc., etc.), opening and closing, "reeling", 6 harmonies, whole body connection (as I understand these terms - and this is always developing).

I've seen that both Chen Xiaowang and Chen Zhenglei have talked about this in interviews. Chen Zenglei says somewhere, that even when they were working in the fields in Chenjiagou, lads who were enthusiastic about their practice like him would be constantly paying attention to their movement as they worked, making it Taiji movement.

It's surprising how often one can catch oneself in the day and make use of the moment - and, amusingly enough, it's also noticeable how often one forgets. It's a sort of meditative practice in itself trying to keep a focus of contunuity throughout the day with this sort of everyday practice.

In the 2 years I've been practicing like this, it's done wonders for my posture for one thing. I'm 45 and was starting to develop a bit of a hunched back, but paying attention to body requirements like this has really straightened out my posture and relaxed the way I move normally. That's one health benefit I'm grateful to Taiji for, even to the meagre extent I practice it.

[gt3]

Great thread!

I'm ashamed to say I don't practice enough formally (half an hour a day when I'm being good). But one thing I am obsessed with is putting the principles into practice in daily movement.

Since there are loads of "fallow" periods during a normal day, when I'm travelling through town, or just standing around, I like to fill those periods with discreet attention to shen fa (body requirements).

At any moment, whenever I remember to, I'll do a "scan" from head to feet, making sure everything's ship-shape. Standing in queues is particularly good for this.

Another thing that's good, if you use a form of public transport, trains, buses, or trams, the shakier the better, it's fun to try and keep a discreet standing posture, keeping it stead against the movement of the vehicle - also, to hold onto pillars and feel the connection between grasp and feet as the bus accelerates and decelerates.

Also, lifting things, opening/closing doors, opening jars, trying to do all these sorts of things with proper alignment, neijin (i.e. as above, trying to feel a line of connection from any point of contact through my body to the ground, pushing from the back leg, pulling from the front, etc., etc.), opening and closing, "reeling", 6 harmonies, whole body connection (as I understand these terms - and this is always developing).

I've seen that both Chen Xiaowang and Chen Zhenglei have talked about this in interviews. Chen Zenglei says somewhere, that even when they were working in the fields in Chenjiagou, lads who were enthusiastic about their practice like him would be constantly paying attention to their movement as they worked, making it Taiji movement.

It's surprising how often one can catch oneself in the day and make use of the moment - and, amusingly enough, it's also noticeable how often one forgets. It's a sort of meditative practice in itself trying to keep a focus of contunuity throughout the day with this sort of everyday practice.

In the 2 years I've been practicing like this, it's done wonders for my posture for one thing. I'm 45 and was starting to develop a bit of a hunched back, but paying attention to body requirements like this has really straightened out my posture and relaxed the way I move normally. That's one health benefit I'm grateful to Taiji for, even to the meagre extent I practice it.


Exactly! This is the main use taiji has had in my life. I love movement and learning about proper movement and i find i can do taiji's movement principles in any movement i'm making. Even if i'm just sitting down i try to remember to have my head raised and moving my arms without any tension in them and just the appropriate muscles required. I'm only in my 20's right now so i'm glad i'm training like this now so when i'm older i'm less likely to hurt my back, slip and fall, or be clumsy in general!

After i started my taiji training i find i love doing any movement/standing, be it taking out the trash, doing the dishes, and any labor type jobs (a good reason to enroll your kids in taiji classes ;)). Stuff i'd normally hate. Now i hate sitting down at my desk or anywhere too long. Movement is a sign of life.