Tai Chi Tips

To get you started with Yan-Style Tai Chi Chuan, you can following instructions in the following articles:

• Yang-Style Tai Chi Chuan 24 Forms
• Tai Chi Chuan—Directional Instructions
• Tai Chi Chuan Step-by-Step Instructions (1/8)
• Tai Chi Chuan Step-by-Step Instructions (2/8)
• Tai Chi Chuan Step-by-Step Instructions (3/8)

In addition, we have provided more helpful tips in this article.

Tips

1. Exercise with empty stomach
2. Warm-up first
• Easy motions, such as shoulder circles, turning the head from side to side, or rocking back and forth, help you to loosen your muscles and joints and focus on your breath and body.
3. Coordinate your breathing with your movements
• There is a pattern in healthy breathing that relates to the timing of the inhale, exhale and pause
• Pauses are the time at the bottom of the exhale where no in breath or exhale is occurring
• Consider Tai Chi a repeated 1, 2 pattern in breathing and movements
• 1, 2 breathing involves the inhale and exhale (considering pause a part of exhale phase)
• Ideally, the whole session last as long as 7 minutes (hint: don't rush)
4. Different from Chen-style, Yang-style has slow, steady, expansive and soft movements suitable for general practitioners
5. Listen to slow-paced music like the ones used for meditation during your exercise
6. Pay special attention to small movements in the video to see how arms and legs are positioned to balance the body
7. Wear loose clothes to allow free movements of all joints during exercise
8. Always start at the same location and orientation everyday
• From relative positions of furnitures in the area, it could remind you what forms to follow next
9. Eyes normally follow your leading hand
10. Choose appropriate footwears
• For sneakers, choose light, soft, flexible, and flat-bottomed ones.
• At home, I find the following flip-flop a good choice:
• Teva Mush II Flip-Flops - Men's (at REI)

Challenging Yourself

• If you don't have balance disorder, 
• Try to hold it longer in some forms (e.g., jīn jī dúlì, 金鸡独立)
• Try Yang Style 108 Form Tai Chi (read this if you know the Chinese)