The breath is used as an indicator for when you are going beyond the limit of strength. Part of tai chi is to recognize things as they are, or as such (Dao 道, or the nature of things).

I have strength, why can't I use it? We all have a certain amount of strength, this is our nature. The thing is when I try to go BEYOND the limit of my strength that my action turns into struggling, and I will lose the tai chi balance in my body, because everything has it's limits.

I Liq Chuan is called "The Martial Art of Awareness" for good reason. Zen philosophy is inextricably interwoven into it's training approach. It's simultaneously the most difficult and most rewarding part of practice.

Just a little taste of some what you can expect during the April 2011 martial art of Awareness workshop with Master Sam FS Chin in Tempe Arizona.

Tui Shou (push hands) or Chi Sao (sticky hands) are common practices in Chinese martial arts, meant to develop both structure, sensitivity, power, offense and defense. All too often though they become overly formalized practices that leave the original intent far behind, and as a result practitioners fail to develop any real, usable martial arts skill.

Students of Falling Leaves Kung Fu in Tempe, Arizona gathered early this morning, some as early as 7am, to participate in my Sifu's only regular class taught in New York, the monthly "Master's Class" for I Liq Chuan, The Martial Art of Awareness.

New students who register for classes with Falling Leaves Kung Fu before the end of August will receive Two Weeks at no cost and no obligation to continue.

Offer Valid Through 08/31/2010

More Sunday goodness...

Falling Leaves Kung Fu students of I Liq Chuan, Ashe (Cheif Instructor at FLKF), and Glenn work on some basic partner drills that incorporate our spinning and sticky hands training.

In these clips we work on I Liq Chuan principles like "guard center/ use center" "no landing" as well as "circle to center, center to center, center with cross" and the "five qualities of unification", "bridging" and more.

Is it a mystical ancient art?  Is it a health panacea?  Is it a black and white circular symbol?  How about an ultimate fighting system?  What about a philosophy or conceptual framework?  Depending on who you ask, tai chi could be any one of the above mentioned possibilities.  There is a joke that goes “How many tai chi practitioners does it take to screw in a light bulb?  100.  One to screw it in, and 99 to say ‘that’s not how I was taught to do that.’”  Similarly, if you ask 100 different people what tai chi is, you’re liable to get nearly as many different answers.

Growing up during the 80's, the movie The Karate Kid certainly helped influence my desire to learn martial arts. I always dreamed of finding a master as wise and kind as Mr. Miyagi. I was lucky enough to find my Mr. Miyagi, so in honor of the new Karate Kid movie we're offering one free week of lessons to anyone who brings in their ticket stub from the new movie!

Are you uncomfortable with the idea of just jumping right in to a trial class?

Not sure if our program is right for you? Let's talk about it over coffee.

Caught this simple kicking drill on youtube. I like a lot of the stuff from sunlivero. They make a lot of drills into games which is important. Everyone goes home feeling like they had fun!

One of the reasons I like to follow the Dragon Door crew is that, besides the fact that they know their stuff where sports performance is concerned, they also often provide some tantalizing food for thought about martial arts, especially the so called "internal martial arts".

During the Spring workshop here in Arizona, my Sifu, Master Sam F.S. Chin spent time covering the concept of "completing the loop" in some detail. The following clip is probably the clearest example of the concept of the loop and the interrelated concept of "every circle having a cross" we have on video.

Here's another short clip from the Spring 2009 workshop in Tempe, Arizona of my Sifu (Master Sam F.S. Chin) discussing using attention to manifest fullness to the point of contact.

Keep in mind that when he uses the term "peng" that I-Liq Chuan has it's own concepts regarding peng which in many cases vary drastically from some arts like tai chi chuan.