I am not a lineage fanatic, so purists, please don’t hate me

OK, I teach what works for me.

Opening and closing joints,  soft relaxed movements, balance, timing, coordination, breathing, “zen” focused concentration all done in some type of sequence or form.

Sounds a lot like Tai Chi and Qigong principles in action right?  Well, they are, and that is my focus.

I get a lot of folk with background and training in Yang, Chen and some Sun style Tai Chi who ask what lineage I teach.  They have studied a Yang 24 or some other 40, or 100 move form and want to compare.

When I tell them I don’t teach a style or lineage I can see them cringe and hear a silent gasp.

“What do you teach then?” they ask.  I tell them I teach principles of movement using Tai Chi and Qigong techniques.

I teach some traditional Qigong forms however the Tai Chi and most of the movements are an eclectic mixed bag.

My sensei trained me this way for years and I have continued down that path. I see and learn a movement and add it to the mix.  Do I care what style or form it came from?  Not really.  Does it make it less effective to learn?  Nope.

Not for the purpose I learn and teach for.

Students who come to my classes want to move better, feel better and want to be able to relate to the movement.  They, like myself don’t want to dedicate their life to perfecting a single form.  It is not their goal or need.

We all want to move, build energy,  work on internal health and external mobility.

I feel dedicating to a single style  would hamper me, and my students in this process.

Am I wrong?  Not from the feedback I get and the benefits I see in my students.

Is there a benefit of being lineage specific and learning a particular style?  Memory work perhaps.  Some consistency of that style of movement and that pursuit of perfection I would guess.  And then there is the martial art aspect. I can see the benefit for that line of training.

Some say I am dissing the history and dishonoring the traditions.  I ask, “so who was it that took the old style  Yang style and created the new style Yang?.  Which family / lineage is right in how Tai Chi should be done.

Some say they were geniuses and developed all this Tai Chi and Qigong through their brilliance.

I happen to think I have an affinity myself.  A genius?  Perhaps not.  A  good teacher.  I believe so.

The bottom line is goals and results.

No matter what yours are, find a class, a group and a teacher that you resonate with. When find a match, you will get results.

To y our health, wellness and training!

Stan