TAICHIDO.COM
Embracing martial art etiquette and traditional values and
at the same time exploiting modern technology to the full
and living in today's world.
The taichido team:
Mark Allen. I.T. and Media, co-founder and webmaster of taichido.com,
editor taichido newsletter: Mark has studied Tai Chi since
1996. By day he is the IT & Media manager for one of the
Schools of the University of Southampton, his fields of art
& design applications, web and multimedia authoring relating
directly to the technical 'specialist' areas of taichido.com.
Gary Robinson. Co founder of taichido.com, Tai Chi Instructor
(Yang Long Specialist) - ten years teacher training/study
- "my practice is teaching, my teaching is practice".
Taichido newsletter author, webmaster home dojo and pages
@wheelswithinwheels.net.
Matthew Backhouse. Ruler Instructor. Tai Chi student with
Gary for the last 8/9 years. Matt is one of a pair of twins.
His brother Gordon was Gary's original practice partner.
Raymond Wood, 8th Dan Hanshi. Contributor/Consultant: Still
active as Gary's teacher/teacher trainer and primary author
of general martial art articles @ 'within' @ wheelswithinwheels.net.
Some of Ray other pieces on more specific tai chi subjects
can be found @ taichido.com.
At some point or another (at separate times) Mark, Gary and
Gordon (twin of Ruler Instructor Matt) were all under the
tutelage of Ray. Ray stopped teaching Tai Chi in about 1998/9.
It was then that Mark who was by then an ex student of Ray
met Gary who, under Ray's guidance, had begun teaching Tai
Chi the year before. Matt took up Tai Chi with Gary at about
the same time, just as his twin brother Gordon was preparing
to leave town. Gordon was Gary's original practice partner.
Their paths had crossed before as students in different groups
with. They teamed up when Ray withdrew from the Tai Chi scene.
But this did not last long. All to soon he was off to another
part of the country with his family.
At practice sessions with Mark and a little later Matt, Gary
spoke of his wish for a way of continuing to practice 'in
person' with Gordon - and Mark suggested the next best thing,
a web site.
It was this idea, this response to conditions and the skillful
use of what was free and at hand (or produce-able 'in house')
that launched www.taichido.com. Last count: Newsletter Subscribers
3,000 plus. Two thousand or so Monthly 'Unique' visitors to
taichido.com. The principles of the website are the instruction,
intellectual and philosophcal discussion of tai chi and the
wider arena. A feature of the taichido.com website is: THE
NETGUIDE. Free video animation's of every posture in the Yang
Long Form. This resource is used frequently used as a common
source reference by several Tai Chi Dojo's and similar organisations
across Europe as well as various odd individuals and Tai Chi
enthusiasts all around the world who for one reason or another
(location: Australian outback, Arizona desert!) are unable
to join a group.
Thus, whilst maintaining embracing tradition and traditional
values and at the same time exploiting technology to the full,
taichido grew through the world wide web and began to diversify
into other Interactive Distant Learning Media including DVD's,
DVD-roms and CD-roms on various aspects of Tai Chi and Chi
Kung.
Tai Chi Primer - available in CD-ROM or DVD-ROM
Part One of the Form as a beginner's guide to tai chi
Designed specifically for the PC, this interactive multimedia
disk is available in cd-rom or dvd-rom.
Combining the qualities of a book, the movement advantages
of a video, and the extra dimensions of computer technology.
The Tai Chi primer contains console-based interactive guides
for each move of Part One of the Form from start to finish,
taking you through the entire experience.
How to do the Complete Yang Long Form - SET TOP DVD format
For many people, attempting to learn tai chi from in front
of a computer may not be appropriate - size of screen, practice
space in the 'den' or office of the home, etc. So we have
provided these DVDs that can plug straight into set-top dvd
players instead. the DVD contains step by step video of each
move from various abgles, plus extra material and an accompanying
instruction book. Enjoy learning the Form from your living
room, on a bigger screen!
How To Do The Complete Long Yang Form - interactive CD-ROM
or DVD-ROM
For PCs, In putting together the content for these disks,
we looked all the different aspects from our tai chi classes
that help the students learn and understand the form - just
seeing a move from the front is often not enough, in fact
we were specifically asked to include views from behind the
model! Hands and feet are important, so we felt it useful
to include them here, and other tools such as aids to foot
movement and head directions. We learnt to use programs and
teaching techniques most suitable for the medium. We even
include a 'breathometer' which graphically illustrates in
and out breaths on the same screen as the instructor!
So it gives us great pleasure to present to you our 'easiest
to do' tai chi related exercise and 'easiest yet to use' Distant
Learning Package:
Tai Chi Ruler with Matt Backhouse of taichido/wheelswithinwheels.
"A Journey of a Thousand Miles begins with
A Single Step".
Tai Chi Ruler - A Step in the Right Direction! Ruler deconstructed,
notes by Gary Robinson.
The where? when ? and why? of Tai Ruler is steeped in mystery,
but never mind that right now. It is what it is; a simple and
logical set of exercises that more or less any human being would
come up with if they were given a ten and a half inch rod of
wood and asked then to invent a head to toe workout using that
single item of equipment. No, in this case, there is no real
need to get bogged down in dates and details of origination
right now. Take it from me. It was in China and it was a long
long time ago!
Essentially, Tai Chi Ruler is like the pure forms of Tai Chi
and Chi Kung, simply Tradition Chinese Medicine. When seen then
in that light and as a free, painless and tasteless medicine
that can help us 'unwind' now just as it did all of those thousands
of years ago; the practice of Tai Chi Ruler must be seen as
a 'step in the right direction'.
Whenever I start teaching any new student Tai Chi I always begin
with a Foundation course which consists of first, Chi Kung standing
and breathing exercises and then, always, some Ruler exercises.
I try to explain that Tai Chi is a way of moving or directing
Chi ("Chi" as it is understood/identified and described
within T.C.M.). But where does this Chi come from? One source
for the development and accumulation of Chi is the practice
of Chi Kung, and that is why my Tai Chi Foundation course includes
plenty of Chi Kung. With Chi Kung we stand stationary, breathe
- and concentrate on our 'dan tien' or centre (just above the
navel and a third of the way in) for it is there (according
to T.C.M.) that developed Chi may accumulate. Ruler 'overlaps'
or bridges Chi Kung and Tai Chi. With Chi Kung we may learn
to 'feel' Chi and with Ruler we may learn to 'sweep' or direct
it. Furthermore, the basic "Empty Stepping" footwork,
weight shift and breath pattern Ruler exercise is, with then
'empty' hands relocated, the bedrock of The Yang Style Tai Chi
Form.
Physical benefits are not derived from becoming a theoretical
expert.
The primary purpose of the Ruler is to maintain a comfortable
and constant distance between the player's hands. The rest is
theory, i.e.: The Ruler is held between the hands - on the pericardium
meridian point in the centre of the palms. The player focuses
movement, breathing, visual and mental concentration along the
central meridians flowing through the body; aligning movement
with the three energy dan tiens.
The first 'centre' or major junction is: 1. Above the navel
- about a third of the way in.
It is of interest to note here that today's sports scientist
are, with the aid of all kinds of advanced technical and electronic
exploration and measuring instruments, able to locate and indeed
pinpoint "the centre of mass" in an individual athlete
or gymnast and thus advise that individual on balance and weight
distribution and maintain peak performance. That spot is ...
more or less ... an inch or two above the navel and about a
third of the way in!
The second dan tien is around the sternum (bottom centre of
the rib cage).
The third dan tien is located in the middle (and some distance
in) of the forehead - where our third eye would be ... if we
had one.
The regular practice of Tai Chi Ruler focuses, cultivates and
balances Chi. Much of T.C.M. is on western standards theoretical.
There are machines that can 'show us' tiny blood vessels and
even nerves cells but as yet no one has seen a meridian or surgically
extracted any chi from any part of any human being. Technically
... its all just "theoretical" but nonetheless time
alone and then more recent clinical studies have shown that
certain aspects of T.C.M. (like acupuncture) certainly 'works'.
As it adheres entirely to all of the theoretical principles
of T.C.M. there is no reason to suppose that Tai Chi Ruler would
not, theoretically, also work in the same way or bring about
similar benefits to mind, body and spirit.
Tai Chi Ruler serves as an excellent supplement to Form practice
and is particularly suitable for the beginner because it is
not at all complicated and focuses attention upon the basics.
Gary Robinson. Matts friend and Tai Chi teacher.
The taichido Ruler Distance Learning Package comes complete
with Ruler hand crafted by Mr. Robin Lacey.
Robin works in The Bere Forest in Hampshire U.K. He helps care
for that environment and also lectures on Wood Craft and Forestry.
You would be hard pressed to find a man more enthusiastic than
he as far as wood and wood related subjects is concerned. And
with a great eye for detail, he is the best man for the job
and now a part of the team as Ruler Turner Extraordinaire!
So that it may allow the flow of Chi through it, a Tai Chi Ruler
should always be made from wood.
We consulted with Robin Lacey at length on this issue and he
explained that 'hard woods' are those that allow more nutrients
to pass through the grain of the tree. We therefore chose to
use only Mahogany as our raw material.
Not a single tree was felled to obtain our Mahogany for these
Rulers. The raw material is taken only from naturally fallen
trees. This means that there is a slight variation in the colour
of the Rulers. The darker the wood, the older the tree was when
it (naturally) fell. All of the trees used (and we don't use
them all!) gracefully reached the end of a natural life span
and just fell or were blown down. The end product is a beautifully
and elegantly hand turned Mahogany rod approximately 10 and
a half inches long.
Specifically designed to nestle comfortably between the palms,
its form tapers in towards the middle where the eye is attracted
to a tooled and 'pyrotonicaly' i.e. burnt in with a hot wire,
finial detail.
A subtly blend of the ancient and the modern, the eastern and
the western, the traditional and the contemporary, the taichido
ruler is a thing of beauty to behold and a pleasure and inspiration
to hold.
Taichido Ruler may be ordered online @ taichidoshop soon
Going the Extra Mile
The small team @taichido.com prides itself in the maintaining
of high standards throughout all its endeavor's, 'going that
extra mile' or even giving it all they've got. This is no less
so for this Ruler Package. Electronically and technically it
of the highest standard with a simplicity of use that belies
its complex construction. The onscreen instructor is personable
as well as clear and concise; benefiting from diligent teacher
training from a teacher who is himself still learning from his
own (8th Dan Hanshi "Grand Master") teacher. Taichido
follows traditions that are ancient and perhaps somewhat exotic,
esoteric or far flung but at the same time they are forward
thinking or at least down-to-earth realists living ordinary
lives in today's world - and this Ruler package continues to
say what they have said all along, since they launched their
website in 1998 ... "Anyone can do it".
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