Curriculum

The Taoist Studies Institute offers ongoing drop-in classes in Tai Chi Chuan (Taiji Quan), Qigong, and Bagua Zhang - for beginners through advanced practitioners. Classes are in-person in Seattle, Washington and/or available to stream virtually online.

New students are welcome to register and drop in for any beginning classes, you do not need to wait for a specific sequence to begin.

Ongoing practice classes involve silence to enable the cultivation of internal skill. Qi Gong classes typically have a small amount of time for questions at the end, while Tai Chi and Bagua Zhang classes have more space for questions.

Special series classes offer more verbal instruction. These sequences are designed to deepen understanding of Taoist practices, as well as to explore additional subjects in Taoist cultivation outside the ongoing class schedule. Series classes also involve additional space for student Q&A.

What is Tai Chi Chuan? (太極拳, Taiji Quan)

Taiji Quan (abbreviated 'Taiji' or ‘Tai Chi’) is a system of martial arts, health exercise and spiritual cultivation with its roots in Taoist principles. The basis of Tai Chi practice is to cultivate qi to nourish the body. It is only through nourishing in this way that the profound benefits and skills of Taiji may be developed.

While we prefer the pinyin spelling “taiji”, we often use “tai chi” on the website as it is more commonly known.

Why practice Tai Chi?

People practice Tai Chi for many reasons. Examples include practicing Tai Chi for health, out of curiosity, to participate with friends, for spiritual cultivation, and for martial ability. No matter the reason people begin their study of Tai Chi at the Taoist Studies Institute in Seattle or through our online classes, once the benefits begin to be realized, an inner sense of wellbeing arises. Those who continue to practice Tai Chi do so because it enhances and enriches their life.

What are the benefits of Tai Chi?

There are many benefits of proper practice of Tai Chi, as taught at the Taoist Studies Institute in Seattle, commonly including improved overall health, relaxation, increased vitality, inner strength, poise, and balance. Tai Chi is also very enjoyable to practice and beautiful to behold.

What is the relationship between Qi Gong and Tai Chi Chuan (Taiji Quan)?

Tai Chi is Qi Gong and martial art combined. A traditional proverb says: “Practice Taiji without practicing Qigong: practice to old age and your storehouse will be empty” (i.e., you still will have developed little skill.)

Tai Chi develops upon the foundation of Qi Gong practice, bringing the skills of Qi Gong (see below) into practical application. Tai Chi is also called chang quan or continuous boxing. This quality of continuous circulation of qi throughout the body for up to 40 minutes during Tai Chi form practice confers benefits different from Qi Gong sets, which involve more stillness.

Where should a student start with Tai Chi?

The Beginning Tai Chi Form (Hunyuan Taiji Simplified 24 Form) is the appropriate place to start Tai Chi at the Taoist Studies Institute in Seattle or through our online classes. This form trains fundamental energies of tai chi as well as postural principles, while introducing movement patterns used in future forms.

Once a student has learned the Beginning Tai Chi form (Simplified 24 Form), they can move on to Intermediate Tai Chi (the Regular 24 Form), which involves more circular movements and spirals (chansi or silk-reeling) energy.

Upcoming Beginning Tai Chi (Taiji Simplified 24 Form) drop-in classes:

What is Qi Gong 氣功 ?

Literally “qi skill,” Qi Gong is a term that, broadly speaking, encompasses the whole of the Hunyuan Taiji system taught at the Taoist Studies Institute in Seattle and virtually online. Our goal as practitioners of Hunyuan Taiji is to cultivate skill with qi (the body’s subtle energy, or life force) in order to promote robust health, martial prowess, and spiritual insight. Thus, when practiced properly, Tai Chi form and push-hands (two person tai chi drills) are qi gong practices.

More specifically, the term qi gong is also used to refer to certain types of exercises. We practice sets of these qi gong exercises to acquire the skill or “gong” required for proper practice of tai chi form and martial arts applications. The cultivation and use of this skill is what makes tai chi an internal martial art. Fundamentally, qi gong practice is the core of the health, martial, and spiritual benefits of the Hunyuan Tai Chi System.

The Hunyuan Tai Chi System includes four different qi gong sets – groups of movements that are practiced in repetition for specific purposes. Hunyuan Gong, Chansi Gong, Fang Song Gong, and Stick & Ruler Gong, all taught in ongoing classes at the Taoist Studies Institute in Seattle and available to stream virtually online. Each qi gong set takes an average of an hour to complete.

The foundation of all of these qi gong sets is meditation, or “wuji” sitting and standing practice. These qi gong methods are more important to practice than tai chi form or push-hands applications. Grandmaster Feng often said, “you can skip practicing quan (tai chi form or boxing) for a day, but not gong (internal qi skill).”

Where should a student start with Qi Gong?

Hunyuan Gong and Chansi Gong are best suited for beginners, as they are the most foundational.

Hunyuan Gong is the most important Qi Gong method, designed to accumulate qi from the environment and use it to augment our prenatal qi (our genetic inheritance). This opens the qi-meridians of the body, forms the middle dantian (where qi is stored in the body), and thus promotes health, prolongs life, deepens stillness, and increases power.

Chansi Gong develops silk reeling energy, a kind of spiral movement connecting through the entire body, unique to the Chen-style Tai Chi system. This set also includes joint opening exercises. When the dantian is full of qi and the joints are open, the spiraling movements of silk-reeling convey qi throughout the channels to connect all eighteen pivots of the body together as one. This generates tremendous power and fluidity of movement, a the hallmark of Chen-style tai chi.

Fang Song Gong, literally “releasing into suppleness” gong builds on a foundation of Hunyuan Gong to increase “sōng” 鬆, the body’s soft, supple, connected throughness. A more advanced practice, from which beginners can still gain benefits.

Stick and Ruler Gong is actually two sets of qi gong exercises practiced with different devices. The tai chi stick is used to train the twisting movements employed in qinna (joint-locking) using internal skill – another hallmark of Chen-style Tai Chi. The tai chi ruler is used to intensify qi harvesting and circulation and to deepen stillness practice. These exercises are auxiliary and not considered as essential for frequent practice as the others, although they yield great results.

(Stick & ruler sets are available to borrow during in-person class in Seattle or for purchase from the Bookstore.)

Upcoming Qi Gong classes:

What is Bagua Zhang 八卦掌 ?

Bagua Zhang is an internal system of martial arts similar to Tai Chi Chuan (Taiji Quan), taught at the Taoist Studies Institute in Seattle, WA and virtually online. The hallmarks of Bagua Zhang are its circular stepping and its marvelous development and utilization of special awareness both within and outside of the body. Bagua Zhang, like Tai Chi Chuan, is comprised of a comprehensive system of internal martial arts and meditative practices. Bagua Zhang is philosophically related to the Yijing, or “Book of Changes”.

In its basic practice, special stepping techniques are used to walk a circle, while various coiling methods are used to change direction around the circle. Bagua Zhang is as challenging to learn as it is beautiful.

Bagua Zhang is a challenging place to start practice. Qi Gong and the Beginning Tai Chi Form (Hunyuan Tai Chi Simplified 24 Form) are recommended for beginners at the Taoist Studies Institute in Seattle, WA or through our online, virtual classes.

Upcoming Bagua classes:

Additional Elements of the Hunyuan Taiji System

The Taoist Studies Institute in Seattle, Washington teaches the Chen-style Xinyi Hunyuan Taijiquan system 陳式心意混元太極拳 (abbrev. Hunyuan Taiji or Tai Chi), developed by grandmaster Feng Zhiqiang 馮志強, which integrates Taoist internal training, qi gong, Chen-style Taijiquan, and Xinyi quan (mind-intent boxing) into a comprehensive system.

Beyond the open-handed tai chi forms and qi gong sets, additional elements include push hands (two-person tai chi drills), tai chi weapons, Bagua Zhang, Ba Duan Jin (Eight Sections of Brocade), the Five Animal Frolics (Wu Qin Xi, 五禽戲), Taoist meditation practices, and more. Some of these have ongoing classes, others are taught periodically through special seminars or during retreats.

Push Hands

Push hands is a system of two person tai chi exercises that develop “listening” ability and continue to develop the internal energies cultivated in the Tai Chi Chuan (Taiji Quan) form. These skills, developed in the solo tai chi forms, are expanded in push hands to include another person.

Push hands is the basic training for martial application in Taijiquan. Practice of push hands at the Taoist Studies Institute in Seattle requires completion of the Intermediate Tai Chi Form (Taiji Regular 24 Form).

Tai Chi Weapons

Prerequisites for weapons classes at the Taoist Studies Institute in Seattle are: completion of the Advanced Tai Chi Form (Taiji 48 Form) or instructor permission.

Jian 劍 (Double-Edged Sword)

The most refined and elegant of the tai chi weapons.

Dao 刀 (Saber)

When using the saber, the silk reeling energies, and storing and issuing qualities characteristic of the Chen-style tai chi system are readily apparent.

Spear 槍

The spear is learned during advanced levels of training.

Qin Guniang Gun 棍

This rare staff method comes out of a branch of the mian quan 棉拳, cotton fist system. It contains components related to Chen-style taiji quan and Bagua Zhang.