9 Common Errors in Taiji

[@vildemirabellarittermark266]

As a lifelong sufferer from depression I must say I am routinely uplifted by your various rants, creative legal disclaimers and zesty digressions! This is your podcast, the information your offer is seriously high value and for people to go in and try to control or shape the direction of another persons podcast is just not very generous in my opinion. Keep up the good work, so very grateful for it, and you have certainly worked more than hard enough in your field of knowledge to have earned the right to present it however way you want! :)

[@mikequinn35]

Well said, well said!

[@StimParavane]

Hi, may I recommend the Medicine Buddha sadhana. I have found that this is the best remedy for depression.

[@someguy1887]

This is a helpful video. My favorite part starts around 9:52 through to 15:00 dealing with sung of tissues and release of point of contact. Really important five minutes that could save a person years of frustration and result in progress instead.

[@rechade]

Intro 0:00 1) Pushing into the ground with the feet 5:50 2) Relaxation does not mean collapse 15:00 3) Thinking 'age is irrelevant' 19:29 4) Making circles with your body 25:30 5) Thinking standing is not needed 29:43 6) fa-li vs fa-jing 34:51 7) Acupuncture channels and points 43:30 8) It's only Tai Chi 46:00 9) Cheekiness and tai chi gurus 49:30 Summary 52:28

[@ahmeddangor4490]

its my 15th year in Tai Chi and QiQong and gosh did I learn so valuable in this discussion of error. Thanks so so much I will put into function immediately tomorrow morning when I train You make sense in your 9 errors for me it resonates perfectly for me God Bless you and your family

[@robinbrowne6702]

Aha you do YOU Damo, always thoughtful, informative, evolving and grounded and you're raw and real. Thanks so much for your tenacity and wisdom!

[@TheMagiAlchemist]

These Solo Podcasts are amazing. Please carry these on after lockdown even if you go back to the dual podcast. These are life changingly informative (if thats even a word lol )

[@Mevlinous]

1:04 what I truly appreciate from you damo is your sincerity, your frankness, and ultimately the trust I have in your work comes from the knowledge that you are also a seeker of truth. I hope you continue to genuinely and without regard for what may or may not be deemed acceptable continue to broach these topics with the Integrity and frankness that you have brought so far. If certain topics might be deemed too sensitive or maybe irrelevant then that will be a barrier towards your ability to communicate these truths to us.

[@carlosroji4144]

THANKS DAMO, SO MUCH COMMON SENSE IN YOUR WORDS, REALLY ENLIGHTENNING & TIME SAVING

[@kevinchapman9235]

You will find as you get older your balls can still drag on floor when stretching but you will be in a higher stance. On a more serious note do you think taiji teachers should spend more time on standing qigong with their students before they move onto the taiji forms?

[@mikequinn35]

Thanks, I was hoping you would do a taiji podcast. I do the best I can by researching books. I have limited access to teachers. Any information helps. I do chen and apply principles I learn from yang writing being there seems to be more information written about yang. Thanks and please be yourself, some of us appreciate your sense of humor!

[@StephenJamesGoodWill]

This video has been really helpful for me. I'm so glad I found it at the beginning. Also "Aayyeee am the Tai Chi Master!" etc. is really cracking me up. Thanks!

[@LotusNeiGong]

Glad it was helpful!

[@peterpayne4819]

What a breath of fresh air! I have read your books but never seen a video, and I am very much enjoying your presentation and your humour! Also, I find your understanding to be deep and sophisticated, from my present deep and sophisticated point of view 😊, and your way of explaining to be clear and open. Good on yer, mate!

[@cliffordlyon]

Damo this was really great. And some really funny asides. Laughed out loud more than once. I really appreciated the points about releasing the foot and the importance of standing. Thanks!

[@DragonArtsAcademy]

Please don't change your demeanor! It's part of why it's so entertaining!

[@brianscott3622]

So refreshing … Intelligence, common sense and humanity applied to labour.🙏🏻⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[@pudpudp]

I love your sense of humor. And thanx for all the info you share

[@martynjames5963]

Great talk - listened to all of it. At 58, I have done Aikido all my life. 20 years in Asia doing this 'n that. Everything you said was spot on. I have tried various arts (black belt in 6 before I was 30). Like you said - 10,000 hours - it is just Taichi - nothing special. Spot on. Too many make a big deal out of nothing. I have trained with a few people who have done Taichi and always learn a lot from them. I was going to try a local Taichi class this morning but decided not to. I think the way I am going is kinda Taichi like anyway and fine. I train Aikido a lot by myself, along with the more external Wing Chun, if you know what I mean - and I like to think, it all has a Taichi 'bent' to it. I have never been interested in being some super fighter/master but am quite happy with where I am at. I am not even a teacher (I was before) - these days, I just go train. It's all just the life we live.

[@paulmartin5525]

Thank you so much for your teachings. My new favorite saying (as a result of Covid and Zoom) 'if you don't like it, go home'.

[@pierrebridenne8870]

Thanks from France !

[@sinabehbahani7746]

More pls Damo! Yes, we all stand equal toward the lord, teacher of the art assume they are more that teacher of the art! And they do encourage it. Power hungry, control freak, egomanic prisoners of the mind! "Dont give yourself hernia over taichi!" Loved it!

[@djcudworth2355]

I am working through your comprehensive nei gong and have subscribed. Do you ever comment on the relationship between taoist cultivation and physical labour? Will constant physical labour slow development?

[@naturalman4185]

Important question. Interested for you to go deeper into your question

[@tranquil_dude]

Hmm, I think that most of these errors were derived from one root error: forgetting that power in Taiji generally comes from proper release rather than forcing/squeezing/pushing/etc things into place. This is applicable to various aspects of a Taiji practitioner's experience, not just when doing a particular practice. Of course, there are shades and subtleties to this issue. Anyways, thank you for this insightful sharing! :)

[@msgoldberg]

I appreciate your frank personal take. Very enjoyable. I am confused as to what the actual 'differences' are between 'fa li' versus 'fa jin' outside of those who simply use it to demonstrate some kind of power generation. Also, much appreciate your discussion as to the over emphasis as to what things are worth in this world, whether it be taiji or most everything we or anyone does- they do have limits. As to laughing at ourselves- a story. Once upon a time, I was at the museum of modern art in NYC. The doctors and others at the hospital were invited to see all the exhibits with phd types leading us around discussing all the various art wings and painters etc etc. It was magnificent to be allowed to see all these paintings from a millennium of the greatest such painters and overwhelming, where my mind could take in the lives and places and all of this art thru our worlds culture. Anyway- very satisfied at this treat, and a bit overwhelmed at the totality of it all, one of the doctors, a cardio thoracic surgeon, I think, from overseas, now practicing in the states asked a question of the phd art historian showing us all these riches. He asked her 'are dees for sale'? He asked as if he was buying a car or a necklace for his wife or I dunno, whatever- this 10 million dollar painting was worth way way more than he could imagine or afford, and the phd art historians eyes kind of rolled in her head and she couldn't quite figure out if he was kidding or just dumb as a rock. I personally found it delightfully pretentious on his part, and dumb as a rock. I smiled to myself at our human pretentions and how laughing at our human distortions of what we are worth, what things are worth in the scheme of things. Meaning, take things serously, but not too seriously. Which I think your presentation expressed quite well.

[@olivervandal8645]

I love your channel. I am always learning quite a lot. Thank you for your effort. It is highly appreciated.

[@jchem9267]

This information is so helpful. Thank you. Especially #9. It's gaining some perspective. The dogma of Tai Chi and teaching and what not. It is difficult for me to value myself for anything other than what I do so I can sometime base the outside perception of others in a sort of comparative thing and it gets all messy. Thank you for the added caution!

[@gravy_brain]

I've been following you for couple years on IG and FB and this is the first time ive heard you speak. Very pleasant voice and demeanor. Excellent teaching. Chuckled a few times. And I actually did have a brain surgeon that came to my classes lol. Subscribed. Cheers.

[@paulmucha4833]

Lot's of valuable points that are greatly appreciated and your colourful candor to!!! Some have validated area's of my own practice in Tai Chi. My old Master taught by "touch/feeling" and only spoke a few words of English which years later I finally began to understand. One of his most famous phrases was "Don't care - keep going" LOL Still on the journey and look forward to your next Podcast.

[@kenbaggs2075]

Nice one Damo, would love for you to go into the aspect of 'intent' on a future podcast because thats basically what allows you to re-model the the body into the way you describe; a square body with circular energy or spiralling jing. Actually isn't this the philosophy behind the bagua body type known as mao-dun or shield/spear. Also can you do a podcast on how the the 3 sister internal arts taichi, bagua, hsing-i modify the body or develop the specifically for that specific IMA, would be great to hear your views on this. Please dont leave out your nutty but witty conspiratorial humour, its all good and now much more needed than ever so we know we're not the only ones thinking this ...

[@bokenovskyjones]

I second that request, I’d be especially interested to hear Damo describe how the internal martial arts modify the body in the vein of his description of the nei gong process in the book “Daoist Neigong” and how that applies to the mechanics of each martial art.

[@LotusNeiGong]

@@bokenovskyjones Okay sure :)

[@LotusNeiGong]

Taken note of :)

[@iflotaichi]

I knew a guy that went to chen village, maybe a decade or two before you did, and he said the same thing. They were taught a few things but no one was getting any better after a a month or so. Instead of leaving he complained about it, i can’t remember exactly what happened, if he had to pay more money or something, but he was taught properly after that. He came back quite good.

[@ShawnaInk]

Thank you for your teachings.

[@QuentinKLEau]

Talking about the Qi. Chinese culture does not really care if it is correct or not (scientifically demonstrated), they just care about it is working. Themselves they don't really know what it is, but they can feel it whatever it might be. Therefore you might read lots of stories where the master is just saying that they don't know how to explain but once you feel it, you know it is there.

[@taominatr]

Hi Damo, just putting it out there that I just joined your academy because of your “demeanor “. Perhaps it is true that you are not very P.C at times, however, I am grateful for someone finally cutting through the B.S of these topics and I don’t think I’m alone here. Keep up the rants! Cheers.

[@phongsanm]

That's very clear and educational indeed. Thank you very much.

[@SebastianChow]

Such clear explanation, very refreshing.

[@robertknisel533]

So good to hear truth about this stuff.Thank you!

[@richarddeerflame]

Very nice. Indeed Venomous stuff online ... People get ridiculous about it its bizarre. Keyboard warriors lol in their rooms oh boy. Lovely podcast and thank you .

[@manusaxena6691]

Thanks so much, wonderful talk. I’m very interested in what you had to say about standing practice; would you consider doing a podcast on standing?

[@bigbigreturn]

Thanks Damo......good video and advice. Insightful description of sung. Your comments on Standing stirred my interest. Indeed a powerful but little understood subject. Possible to talk a bit about the process you mentioned which sounds like sinking to align the skeletal structure and release the tissues - what u said earlier part on releasing the tension at the bottom of the feet via point of contact. Any writeups you might have on this? Thanks

[@ArminHirmer]

just great, thank you

[@lanakk6159]

Interesting observation and very valuable opinion that I definitely can resonate with after 5 years plus of continuous TaiChi Yang Shi 85 form practice. Would love to share your knowledge in my group if there were no swearing language you use ( not that I have never used it myself, but don’t want to pass it on others). Anyway, grateful for your shared knowledge, thank you very much.

[@josephgrubbs6588]

What if I liked your demeanor and use of "sentence enhancers"?

[@LotusNeiGong]

'sentence enhancers'....thats brilliant :)

[@josephgrubbs6588]

@@LotusNeiGong Maybe I just respond to that better because of the military. But I just seem to learn better when I'm being cursed at. Just be Damo. If others don't like that stuff then I wonder, are they there to learn or to be entertained?

[@cprovencio9]

May all beings benefit, inspirational

[@robertmelia3780]

Think this is going to have lots of empirical information ...I'm off to make a cuppa. Thank you Sir. ☯

[@kingofaikido]

Hey Damo, I loved this so much I snoozed halfway through and woke up near the end. I couldn't agree with you more though, especially your last point about the sanctimonious..! Crikey...there are so many types of people in the world aren't there. Above all, I much prefer the Tao of Pooh over any of those guru types. It is extraordinary though why people would even go for them, no?

[@MairtinMcNamara]

love the love at the start :D

[@LotusNeiGong]

🦄

[@KingoftheJiangl]

The stretch originating in the bottom of the foot and rippling upwards the body to create a jin... I had a question about this. When would a student be ready for this practice? As in what phase of the development would one be ready to integrate this kind of movement?

[@MarioDRossy]

Nice video and very well exposed. I may kinda disagree in the Fajin/Fali issue but it's probably because my experience have been different from yours (or because since my English is not excellent I didn't understood everything well 😅). I really enjoy your work. Thanks a lot for sharing it🙏

[@KingoftheJiangl]

I think taichi goes with logic, just that the logic is so complex and conditional on a cascading list of dependencies that it is difficult to describe in one sentence. And there's always a more high resolution way to describe it just like in science we have more and more accurate ways to describe natural phenomenon in general over time... What are your thoughts?

[@briansprock2248]

Saving kittens from burning houses is noble indeed.

[@LotusNeiGong]

What could be more noble? 😁

[@dennisbledea2082]

thank you for sharing your mind! wow

[@TaiChiInternational]

Very interesting,! Do you have a podcast also? Thank you

[@thomassegrue8783]

Brilliant, i look for this depth and degree of insight, in all my learning and i couldn’t agree more👍🏻 Why are there so many, Tai Chi “Love n Light” luvvies , who promote so much rubbish and so many others, who promote Tai Chi’s martial application, as “Supreme” 😱 and so many so willing to accept drivel .

[@doubleBbooks]

Please ignore those complaining

[@admiralbillom7559]

no 9 - very good.

[@cerealboy7]

Can fajin be overlayed onto fali? I've recently learned some shaolin fajin methods, but I'm not sure quite yet what the internal mechanics should be. I'm wondering if the fajin you talk about could still be incorporated regardless of style.

[@ciarablazingheart]

Hi Damo, this was an amazing video, thank you so much. I am attempting to learn Tai Chi and/or Qi Gong from books and online because there are no good teachers within reach of me, I have a couple of your books and I'm wondering where I should start to try to master this concept of floating the bones. My actual skeleton feels so tense, I've always assumed it's because I'm holding it up when I shouldn't be, but what you're describing here gives a different nuance on that. Regardless, I know that learning these arts is the answer for me. Is there some way to be able to learn from you properly online? Thank you for all that you do.

[@ericfroshnider3524]

"Very difficult to sink when your moving" is what you said when on the topic of (IN YOUR OPINION) needing a standing practice. In Yang style Tai Chi you dont move anything but your ankle.This is so that your foot can lift off the floor so that you can step.The leg will swing out by itself. You move because gravity will move your limbs (or hip like sitting into a chair on one side of your body) down which will turn your waist through it being connected.You can relax just enough so that gravity can move your arms down slowly.Your built on circular hinges examples are shoulder elbow wrist.When gravity brings the limb down in an arc then momentum will bring the limb back up completing the the circle of that arc which will also turn your waist ( back the other way) through its connection.The arms move only because the waist turns or the weight shifts.You also move through the body's flexibility found in its elasticity.Compress and relax you will expand.Expand and relax you will compress.This is found in the legs when the weight shifts. The bodies weight entering a leg will make that leg expand. When you move this way then you dont need to have a standing practice.When people don't move themselves and move through natural principals, this is the Taoism found in Tai Chi.

[@LotusNeiGong]

Thanks for the input :) I dont agree with this as I think you are missing a few things. But we are each entitled to our opinions :)

[@ericfroshnider3524]

@@LotusNeiGong I think your missing saying what you think I'm missing so in that case I'm wondering what Tai Chi teacher you have who teaches you to be antagonistic

[@LotusNeiGong]

@@ericfroshnider3524 I have shared plenty of information on how I believe Taiji works. You can find what I think with just a little research. I am not being antagonistic. I just get the feeling that you are very certain of how you have the one way that Taiji truly functions and so I am just stating that there may be more to it. The level you are discussing is a stage that we move through in Taiji but there are further levels. I dont mean this disparagingly, keep going and good luck to you :)

[@ericfroshnider3524]

@@LotusNeiGong You got me wrong bro. I am all for people doing what they enjoy. If people enjoy standing meditation then more power to them.What I'm not into is having someone tell people what they need to do when they don't need to do it. I have done standing meditation and found it enjoyable however I would rather spend my time doing forms even though I know I don't need more than one form. It is still an enjoyable thing for me to explore.For Tai Chi to work we both agree that relaxation is key. When you force someone into practices that they don't enjoy then your not going to get them to be relaxed which is the way your operating when you tell people that they need standing practice.If your wondering about my level, Here is my KZbin video - "Shoulder duckouts most advanced level found here." This was accomplished through Tai Chi form practice with no standing practice while I was learning this and when you have this ability I will be happy to hear any criticism you may have of me.Because if your so high and mighty and as you state well beyond me then you should be able to do this simple sensitivity exercise easily but I ain't gonna hold my breath waitin Oh and I don't mean that disparagingly ,to coin a phrase All Hail Eagle Fang !!!!! ( I follow Sensei Lawrence )

[@schwajj]

@@ericfroshnider3524 I don’t think Damo was being antagonistic. More likely he didn’t have the time/motivation to write the lengthy response required to answer your post in detail.

[@markallanneuhaus]

thank you for sharing your wisdom with us :)

[@lizgrundy902]

Great - thanks!

[@andrewsilverstein6186]

Interesting...and funny...great

[@ehwafs]

Very entertaining Damo

[@Capetowncoverband]

Your a funny guy. I like it. Good advice TX.

[@iansjackson]

Thankyou Damo.

[@magalig9026]

Thank you. This is clear, as usual.

[@stevemarshallfunny5981]

“People go through stages of development” - excellent

[@blazink50]

Dude I would’ve paid 200$ for this video

[@theoutlawwhitecrow4483]

Excellent.

[@snowissj]

Great start, I’ll miss your “rudeness “.

[@privacyghost]

Thanks for sharing ✌️

[@kiwiresponse]

30:19 It should be pronounced "Song Shen Wu Fa" - 松身五法 - The five loosening exercises. Combine with a little standing, highly recommended daily practice

[@mattbugg4568]

The power is more of a alignment like one line structure. Jing is more like releasing the three bows. Your legs would actually move to not straight not bent making the first bow on the back of the legs you move your force by going into the half bent half straight posture from a straight posture. The second bow is the kua or tucking of the hips what naturally happens when you lower your posture. The third bow is the armpit when you drop your elbow. Now everyone is going to say these are different than the classical rear of leg hip and back but they are the same the joint just makes the same shape with all three of these. Setting the heals developed somewhere along the way probably because if you do side forward other side forward first side pivot step in place or tai chi walking without a step forward or back the heal is the pivot point but in actuality the used to bind people's feet so they were like a calf hoof and put them into block shoes so this stepping is odd because toe to heal stepping was used after this practice was outlawed for many years and is evident in mud stepping of pa kua.

[@mattbugg4568]

Long life and eternal springtime!

[@mattbugg4568]

After you get older you realize you have a yin yang in your life. When you are young, you are immortal physically with little intelligence, when you are old you are very weary physically and very intelligent.

[@bareawareness]

Great podcast - I like the stuff on Fa Li and relaxing the soft tissues not the skeleton. Makes a lot of sense (even though it makes no sense!!) The importance of intention in standing practice is a fascinating concept but I’m finding it takes quite a leap of faith. I wonder when you first started did you ever stand there thinking “They’re having me on - this is never gonna work trying to use my mind to physically restructure my soft tissues”?! Did you ever doubt the validity of the practice, and if not what convinced you? Peace, light and love right back atcha!! ;)

[@Chautauqua163]

😆 loved the intro

[@potrebitel3]

All great. Love it.

[@thedoubtfuls]

he says out what a lot of chinese culture wont and for this reluctance, have perhaps forgotten how to say it. excellent explanations.

[@Tashio240]

Train smarter, not harder!

[@SnakeAndTurtleQigong]

🙏

[@earthsmoke9450]

Regarding the type of precious arsehole who would complain about your language and/or demeanour, as Nietzsche famously said, “Verily, I have often laughed at the weaklings who thought themselves good because they had no claws”.

[@mirrorinsideout]

"the constellations don't have much to do with taiji... wellll... or do they...?" 😂😂

[@SteveMe21685]

Your language and demeanor?! Lmfao I mean everybody is offended nowadays

[@lokanoda]

You said 'f'! Go wash your mouth!

[@gdf5487]

I beacon of loving light, I like it

[@hansoo]

Yes to all this.

[@RocheBrazil]

49:31!!!! This!

[@davidleemoveforlife6332]

Don't ever change brother. These idiots are so invested in what they think they know, who gives a f**k what any of them think about you. Let them have their own opinions. When people don't agree with me, I just tell them that they're right. Can't argue with idiots dude.

[@jeremywatson276]

I knew you would get some stick for that last podcast lol

[@LotusNeiGong]

Of course! I kind of had a feeling I might too!!! Now I am in 'peace and love' mode!

[@yourtaichiguy]

approves this video.

[@rumsbums3113]

Down vote g Hasn't been here yet. Good stuff

[@LotusNeiGong]

Oh yes he has! :)

[@rumsbums3113]

😂😂😍😍 Even if they give a thumbs down they can't keep away from what you share

[@fishballs8764]

So, how to hold the skeletal shape without using muscles?

[@LotusNeiGong]

intent :)

[@back-seat-driver1355]

sorry, but watching your theatrically gestures and behaviors makes me nervous instead of calming down!

[@LotusNeiGong]

No need to be sorry, but you should probably seek help with your illogical nervous condition 😂