Does tai chi involve physical contact?

Yes it does. Newcastle Tai Chi aims to provide an authentic tai chi experience.

Pushing hands (and other forms of partner work) requires you to touch other students.

 I have been a member of Newcastle Tai Chi for just over four years now. Prior to that I had spent a few years as a dedicated gym bunny with an assortment of personal trainers, but had started to find the whole endeavour a bit mindless and unnecessarily grueling. Having spent several years practising other martial arts in the past, I decided to look around for an alternative and, after some judicious Googling, spent several weeks revisiting Sifu's frankly encyclopaedic website. This sounded ideal.

I came along to my first class and got a warm welcome and a thorough induction from Rachel. None of the customary strutting or posturing from the more senior students either: everyone I met was friendly, approachable and obviously enthused by what they were learning regardless of their level of skill. Given my past experience and my aspiration to start the martial syllabus, I have to admit to feeling a bit bemused at times during those first few weeks. Why was I being asked to hold an apparently untaxing posture for ten minutes? How could such slow, soft movements possibly be of any benefit in defending myself? I persevered. As I gradually learned more of the sequence of movements called the Long Yang form and had more and more opportunities to see Sifu demonstrate the devastating significance behind even the most subtle of these movements, things began to make sense. Though I feel as though I have come a long way in my own journey with taijiquan, I realise I have scarcely taken the first step towards understanding the art and all that Sifu has to teach. The syllabus he has developed is comprehensive and staggering in its scale, but also tangible and achievable for anyone willing to shed their preconceptions and pursue it. Sifu's teaching is predicated entirely on biomechanics and efficiency of movement. It is also refreshingly devoid of the horses**t and hokum that so regrettably accompanies most supposed tai chi classes these days. Countless times I have found myself confounded by a particular application and convinced it couldn't possibly work, only to find myself exerting strength I couldn't have imagined thanks to one tiny adjustment or subtle shift of perspective from Sifu. I have no doubt that even those students who have only been able to attend the class for a relatively short period of time have emerged with a renewed understanding of their body and its potential.

Add to all this the variety of what's on offer (from girls' nights to tea clubs, workshops to weapons) and we are really very privileged to have such an exceptional class based in the North East.

If you are considering coming along for the first time, don't hesitate. We look forward to meeting you. (Paul Reynolds)

 This class is a rare opportunity to learn genuine Tai Chi from an experienced, professional teacher. I find the class to be friendly and enjoyable whilst still being disciplined, structured and safe. I would urge anyone interested in Tai Chi to give this class a try as the martial aspects of the teaching add a real focus to the training. The training itself is very different to anything I have seen before, so come with an open mind! All levels are catered for, from 'health only' to serious martial artist and the teaching is very professional and well organised. (Martin Isherwood)

Waiting list

Newcastle Tai Chi is a highly-rated school with a limited number of places available. Unfortunately, we have a waiting list.

If you want your name adding to the list, please send us an e-mail and we will contact you when the next induction course is scheduled.

Meditation in tai chi

An article from The Journal of Asian Martial Arts was talking about 'Learning how to learn'. This was most interesting.

It spoke of how students come to tai chi classes in the hope of improving balance, health, lowering stress etc, and usually desire to move with grace and power. The student is quickly faced with their own limitations: stiffness, poor attention span, coordination, etc and must come to terms with the actually reality of themselves. And most people don't like this, and so they quit.

Only a few people are prepared to acknowledge that they need to improve their minds, emotions and their bodies, and that tai chi offers a terrific vehicle to accomplish this goal.
 
The author said that tai chi's meditation lies in this process of growing self-awareness, of seeing what is really there, and learning to work with the body - rather than remain locked in the mind, engulfed by unhelpful thoughts.

The sheer physicality of tai chi grounds the individual in the here and now. There is no pretending to be something or someone that you are not, since everything is revealed in how you move and how your body operates.

  Health is defined as a state of complete physical, mental, social, and spiritual wellbeing, and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity. 

(World Health Organisation)

What is commonly being taught in a tai chi class

According to The Journal of Asian Martial Arts, most tai chi classes in the world offer solo form (a sequence of moves), and a bit of qigong. Not many classes actually do pushing hands.

Some do sword form. Occasionally, teachers speak of self defence applications. Things like 'san sau' are very, very rare, and rarer still are classes that teach anything approaching an actual martial art. 

Does tai chi involve physical contact?

Yes it does. Newcastle Tai Chi aims to provide an authentic tai chi experience.

Pushing hands (and other forms of partner work) requires you to touch other students.

 Metabolism slows down 90 percent after 30 minutes of sitting. The enzymes that move the bad fat from your arteries to your muscles, where it can get burned off, slow down. The muscles in your lower body are turned off.
And after two hours, good cholesterol drops 20 percent. Just getting up for five minutes is going to get things going again.

These things are so simple they’re almost stupid.

(Gavin Bradley)

 One of my first teachers told me something that I didn't really understand until I got a little older - that there's a human need to have contact with with other humans. It's a human bonding type of thing. Guys like to box around with each other, kids like to wrestle around - you don't get that with a lot of other activities. Even if you found something that was mentally challenging and physically challenging, would it involve another person, or contact with another person? Even if you played tennis there's not that physical contact. A lot of people, boys especially, like contact sports. It's a primal urge. Martial arts give you an outlet where you get that kind of contact without actually having to hurt anybody.

I've heard thousands of people say this over the years. They come to work out, they train hard and they spar and even if they've been banged up a little bit, when they leave they always say, "I feel better than I did when I came in." Whereas a person who didn't understand that would go, "You just got your ass kicked, what do mean you feel better?" You've gotten that contact and it's a good outlet. Martial arts always has that.

(Tim Cartmell)

Re-opening meal

 

Nervous system

Taijiquan refines your sense of touch considerably. You become acutely sensitive to pressure, warmth, vibration and texture. This helps to attune your nervous system.

It makes you less clumsy, more graceful and ultimately far more relaxed. Not only do your fingers become more alert and sensing, your feet do too. 

Waiting list

Newcastle Tai Chi is a highly-rated school with a limited number of places available. Unfortunately, we have a waiting list.

If you want your name adding to the list, please send us an e-mail and we will contact you when the next induction course is scheduled.

Uncomfortable

A person cannot very well learn combat if they are uncomfortable touching other people.

Even if you are learning tai chi for health, it is necessary to work with other people through partnered exercise. Working alone offers no feedback.

Only through working with another person can you really begin to feel what is happening. Without a partner you will never know if your connection is complete or your jing apparent.

The yin/yang symbol expresses partnership; the harmonious joining and intermingling of two apparent opposites. This principle lies at the root of all taijiquan practice.

 Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.

  (Leo F. Buscaglia)

Fear

There is a modern phobia of physical contact. People quite often do not like to be touched. Yet, touch is one of our senses and if we ignore it, our world becomes far lonelier.

In taijiquan we consider touch to be very important; by working with somebody else we can help them to feel how their own body operates and help ourselves as well.

We encourage people to become accustomed to physical proximity from the start of their training, to relax, soften and be receptive to other people.

Touch

The sense of touch is actually quite complex. Within the sense category of touch we may include: pressure, pain, temperature, shape, softness, texture and vibration.

Taijiquan aims to improve our brain's capacity to interpret and respond to the data it receives.

Sitting

People tend to sit a lot these days. In the car, on the sofa, at a table. Whilst watching TV. When eating. Sitting for short periods of time is fine but lengthy sitting has an adverse effect on circulation.

 

 The risk of heart failure was more than double for men who sat for at least five hours a day outside of work and didn't exercise very much, compared with men who were physically active and sat for less than two hours a day.

 (Dr. Deborah Rohm)