Calvin Chin discusses traditional training and stages of learning. Training in Tai Chi takes patience and an understanding that it is an exercise of body and mind through repetition over time. Learning Tai Chi is a vehicle to master movement. The training process is a way to get there and at the same time have the benefits of health and cultivating the mind. There is a long-term benefit in the long-term effort to perfect each movement.  For credit card order or this issue call Wayfarer's Publication 1-800-888-9119 toll free. Or visit their website at www.tai-chi.com

Calvin Chin discusses the relationship of the slow form and explosive power. When your movement has structural integrity during transitions, you can find power points everywhere, throughout your transition. The final point is obviously most explosive, but it is not the only point. Anywhere in your movement, you have the potential to fa-jin. For credit card order or this issue call Wayfarer's Publication 1-800-888-9119 toll free. Or visit their website at www.tai-chi.com

Calvin Chin offers his story on training to be a traditionalist. As a student progresses in skill level, layers of interpretation begin to unfold. It is a process that takes time, time enough for the body to process what the mind tells it to do. This is consciousness. This mind-body connection is what leads to higher skill levels. For subscription service or this issue call Journal of Chinese Martial Arts (formerly Wu Gong Journal) 727-738-4649 or email:kungfu@usa.com 

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Calvin Chin reveals the soft inner core of this "external" system. At the higher levels where hard and soft meet, the distinction between external and internal cannot be detected. Hardness and softness are not what appear on the surface. However, hardness works even when it is not generated from natural strength. But softness is ineffective without a deeper understanding of the movement and the body's understanding of the principles that guide it. For subscription service or this back issue call Inside Kung-Fu 1-800-877-5528 toll free. Outside US call 619-738-5917 or 619-738-5571. Or visit their website at www.insidekungfumagazine.com

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Calvin Chin offers his reflections on the past and future of tai chi. The most important development of T'ai Chi is that we now know through modern scientific evidence that T'ai Chi is beneficial for health. While the Chinese have known this all along, without the support of the Western scientific community, it remained an obscure form of exercise for the elderly in China. There is still much to research, and more will be told of the virtues of T'ai Chi.  For credit card order on this back issue call Wayfarer's Publication 1-800-888-9119 toll free. Or visit their website at www.tai-chi.com

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Beyond the tai chi form, there is the function.  A conversation with Calvin Chin on the levels of tai chi practice. At the first level, one learns the sequence of movements and identifies the 37 postures...At the second level, you begin to understand that movements have meaning...At the third level begins the martial arts aspects of T'ai Chi...At the fourth level you begin to fill the empty spaces in each of the 108 transitions... Beyond the fourth level one begins to develop fa-jing, explosive power. For credit card order on this back issue call Wayfarer's Publication 1-800-888-9119 toll free. Or visit their website at www.tai-chi.com

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