The Rising Sun School of
T'ai Chi Ch'uan

General Information
General Information
The Rising Sun School
The Art of T'ai Chi Ch'uan
History of T'ai Chi Ch'uan
Influential Philosphers
Taoist Principles (BBC)
Health Benefits
Master Lee's Handout
Finding a good instructor

Toronto T'ai Chi Classes at

The
Rising Sun School of T'ai Chi Ch'uan

We have no more than 8 students per instructor and you progress at your own rate. If you miss a class, you pick up where you left off the last time. We specialize in personal coaching!

Beginners' promotion:

Come to a free introductory class and find out about how to get one month of free classes!

Plan through a study of T'ai Chi for your lifelong wellness. T'ai Chi preserves a quality of life from Youth to Eldering.

What you invest now will come back in a quality of life later! Sign on and learn the Long Form, a self contained exercise routine, which is performed daily in China by many in their nineties.

The Rising Sun School Weekly Schedule (Toronto, Canada)

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A Favourite Quote:

"Open your thinking
and you can be larger..."

Master Lee Shiu-pak

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T'ai Chi Classics

"Beginners must maintain both the mind and the Ch'i (Qi) in the Tan-t'ien. They must neither forget this nor force it. This is what is known as 'seeking to relax the mind' or 'the master being at home'.

Master Cheng's Thirteen Chapters on T'ai Chi Ch'uan

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Commentary

When you breath in, try to focus your mind and the air (Qi) sinking to your Tantien. This is best practice in the Wu Chi posture until it becomes familiar, as the arms of T'ai Chi postures tend to pull the air away from the Tantien. To do this one must be relaxed in the chest and sacrum, otherwise the air cannot sink.

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You will find this book and others
at the

T'ai Chi Bookstore

If you have comments or suggestions email
Paul McCaughey at: taichitoronto@rogers.com

Soft...
Slow...
Smooth...

~ finis ~

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The Health Benefits of T'ai Chi Ch'uan

Native American Medicine Teachers view the Eagle
as a symbol of the highest spiritual accomplishment
The Taoists of China also looked to nature for their inspiration
naming movements like
"White Crane Cools its Wings"
T'ai Chi Ch'uan was the result

T'ai Chi Ch'uan, better known to most people as 'T'ai Chi', is a daily exercise routine, a movement meditation, a martial art and a self-healing art. T'ai Chi originates in China and is now practiced throughout the world. The traditional T'ai Chi exercise is called the Long Form, which is composed of 108 movements in total. It is sometimes referred to as 86 or 88 movements when the repeated movements are not counted. The Long Form takes about a half hour to perform and requires no special time, place, costume or equipment.

In the last 25 years T'ai Chi has gained a reputation around the world for it's health benefits. Most T'ai Chi students will attest to the positive changes in their health after only a few months of practise. In China, T'ai Chi is taught as a part of regular school curriculums and used as a recuperative exercise in hospitals throughout China. T'ai Chi's gentle yet thorough approach to exercise makes it accessible to people of all ages and conditions. While T'ai Chi limbers and tones the muscles, it also deepens one's breathing and opens the circulation of Blood and Qi (energy) in the body. In Chinese medicine, many disease processes are believed to be caused by a stagnation in the flow of Qi and or Blood, which T'ai Chi both alleviates and prevents.

More than an exercise, T'ai Chi teaches a natural way of living where the body and mind can both find harmony. As a student recognizes the benefits of letting go into a more natural flow, a way of effortless power becomes more apparent. In this way the lessons one learns from the practise of T'ai Chi positively impacts others areas of life and movement.

An Overview of the Benefits You Will Experience

Physical Exercise: When you sink your weight and slowly shift from one leg to the next (in a motion reminiscent of slow motion running), with time of practise you will find that your cardio-vascular system and general muscle tone will improve. When you learn to align your spine in an open and relaxed manner you will prevent or alleviate most lower back problems.

Relaxation: As you breathe more deeply and learn to allow your body to let go of tension you will find that T'ai Chi relaxes your tension while enhancing your alertness. Both healing and digestive functions work optimally when the body is in a relaxed state.

Balance: From scientific studies, we now know that T'ai Chi improves balance twice as well as other exercises. T'ai Chi immerses you in a deep study of coordination and muscle engagement, which greatly increases your sense of centredness.

Mental: Breathing and eye exercises within the T'ai Chi form teach you how to combine a calm mind with superior focus. Your mind learns to keep many distinct parts coordinated as a whole. The mental capacity to maintain split intentions has many uses beyond T'ai Chi, such as parenting, multi-tasking, etc.

Recuperative: When recovering from illness or surgery, T'ai Chi is ideal because you can do as little or as much as is appropriate. T'ai Chi's slow gentle approach builds strength while respecting limits.

Emotional/Spiritual: T'ai Chi is a meditation on finding the still point within change. The experience of such a meditation is synonymous with a sense of renewal. The positivity of the learning experience coupled with the philosophy of soft power teaches one how to avoid conflict and turn any challenge into an opportunity.

Social: Although this is not necessarily your goal, your classes and practice afford an opportunity to connect with people of like affinities.

Confidence: You can look forward to maintaining your health through a discipline that can be continued through your elder years. Many elders have a natural fear of falling. T'ai Chi practice can replace fear with self-confidence.

Self-Defense: The philosophical and practical ways in which the exercise converts into martial application is impressive and delightful to most people. You do not have to want to be a martial artist to benefit from this aspect of the work. The partnered exercises are all safe and they teach you invaluable lessons about your fluidity and balance. T'ai Chi enables gentle-natured people to embrace their self-protective strengths in ways which are philosophically acceptable to them.

Try to learn T'ai Chi from natural inspiration

The tree stands upright because of the health of its roots which in turn depend upon the ground in which they anchor and the water that penetrates that ground. The leaves take nourishment from the sun and change colour when the cold air comes. Each tree has its own unique balance and expression of its potential, yet in the diversity of its growth, development, fertility, and eldering, it remains true to its essence and never strays from its purpose within a larger whole. Similarly T'ai Chi cultivates the expression of our diversity within unity. Our whole mind-body state is always more than the sum of the individual parts.

A Native teacher told me once that of all the plant realm, trees are most in spirit like people. "Sometimes an older person when they passed on", he said, "they'd dream themselves into a tree, that sometimes when the light was just right, you could see them there looking back from the shadows and light that the leaves and branches make. Sometimes an ancestor would be there in a tree and you could go sit with them, finding peace and understanding."

In all ancient indigenous cultures, people were inspired by the natural elements of their surroundings. As a movement form, T'ai Chi carries this ancient inspiration and so it is able to cross a cultural divide with universal appeal. The flowing movements allow us to experience the grace of our own bodies and remind us of our place within the natural world.

More Detailed Information on Benefits

Cardiovascular

Lawrence Galante conducted a study on the cardiovascular benefits of T'ai Chi at theApplied Physiology Laboratory at Long Island University, in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1978. The study was published in 1981 in his book, T'ai Chi The Supreme Ultimate. The American Heart Association has determined that an exercise is valid for cardiovascular development if it stimulates the heart to beat at a rate between 60-80% of the maximum heart rate and maintain that rate for a minimum of twenty minutes per day, three times per week. The A.H.A states that rates above 85% can be harmful and dangerous due too much strain on the heart. Exercise producing less than 60% does not stimulate the heart enough to produce cardiovascular development. Twenty-five students from the age of 25-60 were selected, who had been practicing T'ai Chi from 1-7 years. The study concluded that when students practiced in low stances with the weight sunk more, there was a 60-80% maximum heart rate When they practiced in the higher stances the maximum heart rate was below 60%. Galante suggests that the higher position would be suitable for heart patients or post-operative heart surgery when non-strenuous exercise is an important part of recovery. For those of normal health, the practice of deeper stances can provide excellent cardiovascular benefits.

Osteoporosis

Medical science has determined that osteoporosis, which is the loss of calcium in the bones, is more common in elderly people and post-menopausal women who lead a sedentary life. The main prevention for this disease of aging is regular exercise. T'ai Chi is ideally suited to this condition as it offers exercise benefits while respecting the limits of an aging or compromised practitioner.

Stress

T'ai Chi produces a benefit in the body which is now referred to as the 'Relaxation Response'. Human physiology has two ways in which the Autonomic Nervous System works. One way is via the Sympathetic response, better known as the 'fight or flight' response. This is an ancient self-protective physiological response to stress, where adrenaline is released into the blood, providing the means to either fight or take flight. Blood therefore shunts away from non-essential functions (such as digestion) to the brain and muscular system, providing the subject with superior power and alertness in a survival response. The Parasympathetic response is better known as the 'rest and digest' response, or the Relaxation Response. After a meal, or when we rest, meditate, pray, or sleep, it is the parasympathetic nervous system that enables the functions of digestion and healing to take place. In our culture, where value is placed on production quotas and deadlines, the workplace has become a battleground where the stress or flight-fight response is engaged far more than is natural or healthy. The resulting 'adrenal exhaustion' or "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome" may be more or less the result of an over-stimulated hormonal system, and lack of adequate rest and digestion time. T'ai Chi is ideally suited to the deleterious effects of chronic stress by providing the two-fold benefit of Exercise and Relaxation Response.

Balance

A significant study has shown that T'ai Chi is twice as effective as other exercises in improving balance and radically reducing the incidence of falling injuries and broken bones in the elderly. For more information see the article: Tai Chi for Older People Reduces Falls, May Help Maintain Strength

Eliminating Stagnation

In China, T'ai Chi is considered excellent for promoting the free flow of energy or 'Qi' and Blood. In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the elimination of stagnating influences is considered fundamental to the maintenance of health. The free flow of Qi and Blood reflects the health of the internal organs and vice versa. In Acupuncture, the Interior is affected via the Exterior using Acupuncture points, and this is equally true in the practice of T'ai Chi. Through the use of precise alignments, and the flexion and extension of muscles and joints, the postures affect the meridians and points used in Acupuncture, creating internal benefits. The deep breathing also increases the acquisition of 'Air Qi', which combines with 'Food or Grain Qi' to give us our vital force or 'Pure Qi'. The Mind is considered the seat of the Spirit or 'Shen'. Where the mind focuses, there too goes the Qi and the Blood. In T'ai Chi practice, the Mind is deeply engaged and pervades all dimensions of the complex movements, and so the flow of Qi and Blood becomes equally pervasive.

Posture or Body-use

Physiologically, we are able to stand freely because of a muscular state called 'tonic contraction' or muscle tone. Our muscle tone, or the relative shortness or length of the muscles to each other, not only holds us up but also shapes how we stand, and more importantly how we move. Once a particular muscular disposition has been held for long enough, either due to repetitious activities or psycho-physical attitudes, the corresponding muscles shorten and lengthen to accommodate that shape. This muscle conditioning becomes deeply entrenched and may eventually be referred to as our posture. The good news is that T'ai Chi trains the tonic contractions of the muscles to a more optimal state of functional efficiency. Indeed, a person's capacity to be both supple and strong is greatly increased and their body-use rendered more natural. This efficiency can eventually become a permanent feature of every activity as the relative state of tonic contraction will produce movement which is always T'ai Chi-like in nature. In other words, more than just an exercise, T'ai Chi becomes a healthful way of moving that can permeate all of one's physical actions on a permanent basis.

Practitioners Corner

Biographical Information

General Interest

A Favourite Quote:

"Open your thinking and you can be larger..."

"Open your thinking
and you can be larger..."