Success in Your Tai Chi Chuan Training Program

How Can You Be Successful in Your Taijiquan Training

By Michael P. Garofalo, Valley Spirit Taijiquan, Red Bluff, California

June of 2014

1.  Get stronger in your legs and waist.  I recommend walking for 1.5 hours four days a week at a brisk pace to condition the legs and waist.   Taijiquan requires you to stand and move for 60 to 90 minutes during a typical Taijiquan practice session or class.  "Tai Chi" (Taijiquan) could also be called "Thigh Chi" because of the demands it makes on the legs and waist.  You need some cardio-vascular (aerobic) training, like long walks, to condition the heart and lungs and legs to better prepare for the demands of Taijiquan training.

2.  Practice, Learn, Practice, Learn, Practice, Learn, Practice, Learn ....  The daily practice of the Taijiquan Forms and Sets is required for "success" (i.e., achievement, skill, adeptness, facility, superior performance, excellence, advancement, fluency, etc.) in Taijiquan training.  You must challenge yourself to learn more each month.  Hard work and dedication (Kung Fu) are necessary for integrating the practice of Taijiquan in your life.  

3.  Listen, observe, imitate, and learn from your Taijiquan teachers.  Use the many fine instructional DVDs now available to learn more about the Taijiquan forms you are practicing.  Read books and magazine articles and web pages, and study UTube demonstrations, to learn more about the Taijiquan forms you are practicing.  Learn more about the history and styles of Taijiquan.  If you are among the few persons fortunate enough to learn directly from a Taijiquan master or grandmaster, then treasure this unique learning opportunity, and advance accordingly under their tutelage.  Give respect to teachers who have earned and deserve respect.  Be humble and open-minded so as to properly absorb new information, ideas, and techniques.  Don't be overly judgmental of others, but don't be a fawning fool or credulous.  

4.  Taijiquan has "Principles" that should be embodied and exemplified in your mind-body practice of this ancient Chinese art.  Some time must be spent learning these key ideas, concepts and principles so as to integrate them into your practice.  For examples, concepts like relaxed, sinking, centering, weighted, balanced, energized, focused, intentions, opponent, forms, styles, heart-mind, spirit, etc., must be learned.  Some understanding and appreciation for the Taoist outlook is valuable and useful for advancement in Taijiquan.   

5.  Find the Taijiquan style suitable to your physique, age, temperament, attitude, limitations, and physical condition.  Select an intensity of practice suitable to your energy level for the day or week, and any physical limitations of a temporary or permanent nature.  Be flexible, explore, adapt, and experiment to find appropriate solutions to your specific individual circumstances.  Cultivate good self-awareness and realistic views of your personal skill sets.  Avoid too many comparisons with other more advanced Taijiquan players.   

6.  Be detailed orientated.  Be precise in your movements, postures, and sequences.  Appreciate the beauty and function of the movements in the tradition of Taijiquan that you practice.  Learn the sequence and names (English and Chinese) for all the parts and postures of the Taijiquan forms you are studying. 

7.  Fight against your real opponents: inactivity, laziness, inflexibility, weakness, inertia, fear, worry, depression, confusion, and sloth.  You are training to become stronger, more agile, more balanced, more enlightened, more conditioned.  You serious efforts in your Taijiquan training will help to ward of disease, improve your immunity, strengthen you muscles, improve your cardio-vascular functioning, ameliorate existing health problems, brighten your attitude, uplift your spirits, calm your emotions, and boost your confidence.  Taijiquan is a self-defense system against poor health habits and sloppy living.  Your final opponents are illness and dying.  Fight on, brothers and sisters!!  

8.  Be patient.  Think and act in terms of months, seasons, and years.  Persevere through the inevitable stale, boring, plateau periods when progress seems stuck.  Consistent practice cultivates will power.  Don't give up.  Have confidence that your self-discipline will bear fruit in due season, and create the seeds leading to a new and rewarding self-appreciation and self-respect. 

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