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Partner work in Tai Chi practice, the why, the how, and the what am I going to get out of it?
We speak of the three pillars of Tai Chi practice:
Chi Kung: A stationary standing practice that sets the initial conditions for us ongoing. A practice that stills the mind, strengthens the body and develops focus. I once heard someone describe the need for Chi Kung practice thus, ‘no standing, no understanding’. That’s not bad.
Form: What we all think about when we imagine Tai Chi practitioners doing their thing. A slow, balanced, graceful movement. Embodying and nurturing all the stillness, strength and focus we germinated in our Chi Kung practice. Be still like the mountain but move like the great river.
Partner work: if you talk to five teachers, read five books and watch five videos, you’ll see Tai Chi practiced at least sixteen different ways. Partner work helps us cut through the noise by asking a simple question, ‘does it work?’ If it doesn’t work, the help of a good training partner allows us to examine the root cause and together find a solution. Partner work isn’t fighting, it’s not competition, it’s collaboration through challenge.
It’s Partner work, not Opponent work. Partners work together to get to the destination, opponents…
Think of partner work as Google Maps, giving you regular timely course corrections so that you can get to your destination. Without it we may accidentally stumble upon where we want to go, but a mapped-out route will get us there quickly, reliably.
For those new to partner work and interested in accessing it’s benefits, we’ll be running a one day workshop on Sunday August 18th. We’ll be taking the movements and postures we’ve already learned in classes and build depth into them through partner work exercises. Each exercise will be clearly explained and demonstrated and there will be lots of opportunity for questions throughout the session.
For those familiar with partner work exercises, we know the story, we deepen our skill through polishing, polishing, polishing.
The workshop will run from 10am – 4pm in the Malahide Lawn Tennis club, (across from the Grand Hotel).
It’s not a big space, so numbers will be limited to 15 maximum. If you’re interested, let me know and we can arrange. You book your place by paying the workshop fee in full.
As usual there is an early bird rate and an MDA membership discount.
Earlybird rate: (payment received in full by August 9th)
MDA members: €80
Non members: €95
Standard rate: (payment received on or after August 10th)
Members: €95
Non members: €110
Contact [email protected] for booking details.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Malahide Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club, James' Terrace, Malahide,Malahide, Dublin, Ireland