The Dragon's Head Blog
No Hurry at Brisbane International Workshop
The five-day International workshop held recently in Brisbane Queensland had the highest number of attendees so far at an Australian workshop. There were 191 participants doing Taoist Tai Chi® arts, creating an atmosphere of gentle, calming purpose…..No Hurry!! Our worldwide membership was evident with people attending from New Zealand, Canada, Costa Rica and most parts of Australia. […]
Edmonton Celebrates 35 Years
May 1st – 3rd 2015; the 35th anniversary of Fung Loy Kok Taoist Tai Chi® in Edmonton. We were honoured to have John Huang from Sarnia, Ontario lead us through the selection of Taoist Tai Chi® arts offered in celebration. The weekend started on Friday the 1st of May with a Seniors Day Tai […]
Mother’s Day Banquet on April 25, 2015 in Toronto
The Mother’s Day Banquet on April 25 in Toronto was a great success in bringing together 360 of our friends and family from all over Ontario and parts beyond. This annual event gives us the opportunity to come together to celebrate, socialize and strengthen our connections to each other and the organization. Guests were greeted […]
Longer step leading to the next level: IWS in Helmond, May, 2015
Tony took us on an adventurous journey letting us work on the moves of the set. He helped us to make our step longer and turn and stretch more. He showed us the next level of raise hands and we had great fun working on it ourselves. On the fourth day we worked on wave […]
Fun Day in Newport, Wales: April 25th, 2015
Over 50 members gathered together for a fun day at the Western Region Centre in Newport, Wales. The morning focus was in making the centre beautiful again with a good deal of cleaning. There was also a beginner’s class and a national board meeting at the same time. A delicious lunch of beef in black […]
A triple event: 3 Accelerated classes held in the Netherlands
This weekend we organized three accelerated weekend beginner classes in the Netherlands. In our centre in Helmond and in our clubhouses in Rijswijk and Haarlem we welcomed 126 participants of which 23 real beginners. What a good way to start the Taoist Tai Chi® arts.
International Program, Prague: the first European program in 2015
Traditionally, the first weekend after Xmas holiday has been devoted to IWS in Prague, Czech Republic. Considering previous few years we nearly have got a record this January as 197 members came from all over Europe and Canada to enjoy doing Taoist Tai Chi® with Marsha Eberhardt. What’s more, five of our friends from Ukraine […]
Note on Anatomy and Physiology: Suppleness of Focus
We’ve concentrated a lot lately on the upper limbs. We’ve emphasized that, because the hands form one end of a number of continuities running through the body, their proper use has a significant impact on all our movements. But the hands, although intimately connected to the centre, are situated out in the periphery. While they […]
Notes on Anatomy and Physiology: Slings at the Front, Slings at the Back
For awhile now, we’ve been delineating hand to foot continuities that run throughout the body, providing strength, flexibility and a more developed sense of one’s body in space as they unfold. These patterns of uninterrupted flow, created by sequences of muscle, tendon, fascia and bone, come and go with movement. We saw, last time, how motion […]
Notes on Anatomy and Physiology: The Hand and The Tiger’s Mouth
Last time, we looked at how the bones of the elbow-forearm complex are designed so that the elbow bends and the hand turns. To better understand the influence of the hand and elbow on the strength and balance of our entire structure, we need to consider the ties binding the components of the upper limb […]
Notes on Anatomy and Physiology: One Big Tendon
In an earlier article, it was mentioned that we are often asked in class to open Tiger’s Mouth, bring fingertips up, drop elbow, turn wrist or send out the hands. Why is that? What role do the upper limbs play in learning our art? How do they contribute to the balance and strength of our […]
Notes on Anatomy and Physiology: The Elbow-Forearm Complex
In practicing our art, one of the things we discover is the steady rhythm of the body as it turns up and then down. Surprisingly, we also learn that attending to the placement of the hand and elbow helps us acquire that rhythm. We will focus today on the elbow-forearm complex, its anatomy and its […]
Testimonial: Research Proves Experience with Fibromyalgia
As reported in the New York Times and US News & World Report, a small but significant new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine shows positive results in pain relief from regular practice of tai chi for people suffering from fibromyalgia. One of our members in Australia has personally experienced the positive […]
Notes on Anatomy and Physiology: Learning with the Hand and Elbow
Taoist Tai Chi® arts introduce a way of moving that is novel for all students. Because the focus is on balance in all its dimensions, we develop over time a newfound sense of comfort and ease as we practice the 108 moves of the set. It feels as if we are learning to move the […]
Testimonial: Full Range of Motion Regained in Spine
In celebration of our 40th anniversary, we asked members around the world to share how the Taoist Tai Chi® arts have affected their lives. “When I started practicing the Taoist Tai Chi® arts I had extremely restricted head movement due to calcification of my upper spine. Within four months I had regained full range of […]
Notes on Anatomy and Physiology: More On The Ties That Bind
In the tor yu, the hands draw out the spine – as the body sends out the hands. To better understand this interplay, let’s examine further the whole body continuities that tether the upper limbs to the rest of the body. You recall that last time we examined the lines of pull created by the […]
Notes on Anatomy and Physiology: The Intervertebral Discs
The intervertebral discs play a key role in the life of the healthy spine. Their degeneration is a frequent cause of pain and disability, and a herniated lumbar disc represents the most common reason adults end up with back surgery. And many students first come to the Taoist Tai Chi® arts because of persistent back pain. […]
Notes on Anatomy and Physiology: Slings at the Front, Slings at the Back
For awhile now, we’ve been delineating hand to foot continuities that run throughout the body, providing strength, flexibility and a more developed sense of one’s body in space as they unfold. These patterns of uninterrupted flow, created by sequences of muscle, tendon, fascia and bone, come and go with movement. We saw, last time, how motion […]
Notes on Anatomy and Physiology: Function of the Thoracolumbar Fascia, Part 2
In the last note, we learned that bending forward with the low back in Step Up and Punch or Push Needle to Sea Bottom reverses the normal lumbar lordosis, lengthens the thoracolumbar fascia, tautens its fibers and stores elastic energy. We saw that simply letting the weight settle in the don yu , tor yu and set causes […]
Notes on Anatomy and Physiology: Getting the Feel of Tensegrity
We’ve spoken recently of how the body makes use of tensegrity to help hold itself together. We stretch out our soft tissues and they resist further expansion and create a sea of continuous tension that tugs on and supports the bones suspended within it. Soft tissue and bone working together. Because the soft tissues resist […]
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