Head Instructor
Warren D. Conner
has studied Tai Chi / Qi Gong since 1973
in the U. S., mainland China and Taiwan.

Warren's
Tai Chi biography and lineage.

"I feel very fortunate
that I get to do something
I care deeply about
and also get to share it with others."

Robert W. Smith

Dec. 27,  1926  - July 1,  2011

The third annual
Robert W. Smith Memorial Festival
will be Saturday, July 13, 2013,
at McLean Central Park,
McLean, Virginia.

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Tai Chi Study Center's
email address:

Warren@TaiChiCenter.com

Tai Chi Study Center's
office telephone number:

703-759-9141

Tai Chi Study Center's
office mailing address:

P O Box One One One
Great Falls, VA      22066-2914     USA

Why Tai Chi?

Harmony with nature is your birthright.

The essence of being human is exploration.
Seeking knowledge is as natural as breathing.

Tai Chi provides a well tested, beneficial practice,
a way of increasing our understanding
of the world around us and within us
and a proven mechanism for meaningful change.

Tai Chi literally embodies
the spirit and joy of life
while providing enhanced awareness
of the inexorable laws and rhythms of our universe.

Now is the time. Tai Chi is the way.

What is the art of Tai Chi? 

Centuries old, Tai Chi ("Tie Jee")
is a profound exercise that explores awareness
of the heartmind, the life force and the body and their harmonious interactions. Deeply rooted in Chinese medicine, meditation and martial arts, this intriguing and enjoyable practice consists of a series of precise, gentle, physical movements combined with energy awareness and mental concentration. The movements are always done in the same order as the early ones lay the foundation for later development.

Tai Chi is a sophisticated form
of the ancient practice of Qi Gong (aka: Ch'i Kung)
("chee gung," vital energy work),
in which students gradually gain awareness of and learn to concentrate on their physical, energetic and mental center which is called tan t'ien ("don tee in," energy cultivation field.)

Extremely well tested and proven, Tai Chi has long been prescribed by doctors to alleviate a wide range of conditions including stress, arthritis, hypertension, balance difficulties, lower back pain, etc., as well as for anyone needing the general revitalization that results from improved respiration and circulation.

Plus, it is fun to do!
Tai Chi practice is often called "playing" Tai Chi
to emphasize this lightheartedness.

The first steps involve learning the opening movements while increasing physical awareness and training yourself to be relaxed (i.e., not too tight and not too limp). Walk like a cat. Relaxation leads, with guidance, to energy awareness which is the first element of the very important meditative aspect. Reconnecting to your center is the first step towards rediscovering the harmony of body, heartmind (xin) and spirit (shen.)

Harmony with others is a major part of happiness. Once a certain level of movement, balance and energy awareness has been attained, those who are interested in interpersonal relationships and/or self-defense begin with T'ui-Shou (literally "push hands" but better described as "sensing centers") which emphasizes timing and sensitivity to another's energy in order to neutralize their force and lead them off balance. These skills are also directly applicable in less overtly physical situations such as discussions, negotiations and arguments. Your size, age and gender do not matter so much as your timing, awareness and understanding of your center. 

More on the Benefits of Tai Chi 

Tai Chi Principles 

The Tai Chi principles are even more important
than the movements for they are based on the laws of nature that shape our every moment and they provide us a way of self-correction. Moving in slow motion while listening internally promotes personal calmness and sensitivity to the eternal laws and rhythms of our universe which are articulated in the principles and manifested in the movements. Tai Chi starts out primarily physical with emphasis on learning the movements of the body, but it eventually becomes mostly mental and meditative. 

More on the Tai Chi Principles 

Tai Chi / Qi Gong
The Style

What style of tai chi / qi gong
does the Tai Chi Qi Gong Study Center teach and practice?

Tai chi / qi gong is like music in that,
having been around a while,
it has taken many forms of external expression.
The internal principles, however,
are eternal and essential
as they encourage us to open
to the real rhythms of our realm.

Most call it Cheng style 
after Prof. Cheng Man-ch'ing.

Cheng was the founding president
of the first Chinese Medical Association
on the mainland in 1946
(and he was a famous artist. His paintings are preserved in the National Palace Museum.)

Having earned a martial foundation
from his teacher, Yang Cheng-fu,
Cheng utilized his medical and meditative insights
to emphasize the essence of tai chi:
the spirit and the heartmind leading
the energy and the body, all returning.

This open energy flow
is ably illustrated by Cheng's emphasis
of "mei ren shou," beautiful lady's hand (and wrist,)
which symbolizes and, ideally, initiates the opening of all gates.

He also suggested moving as if "swimming in air."
Sensing the air as if it were water helps shape and support
our limbs while giving a feeling of surfing unseen currents.

The tai chi principles
and their application to daily life
are more important than the external, physical form,
which is not to say that the form is neglected in any way.

It was Prof. Cheng's perceptive leadership
that helped open
tai chi and its soft, "internal" training to all,
regardless of athletic prowess
or interest in physical self defense.

As a spirit / heartmind / energy / body
learning resource,
tai chi encourages and confirms our innate oneness.

More on our tai chi lineage

Tai Chi
The Name

Tai Chi ("Tie Jee")
is also known as
T'ai Chi, Tai-Chi, Taichi, Taiji,
Tai Chi Chuan ("Chwen"), T'ai Chi Ch'uan, Taijiquan, etc.

(And, yes, on this site,
there is some mixing of Wade-Giles and pinyin.)

It is sometimes translated as
Supreme Ultimate
and also as Great Polarity.

The name "tai chi chuan,"
loosely translated:

Tai chi
literally means
harmony of yin and yang,
and, hence, of earth and sky,
of your physical health
and of your mental contentment,
of your interplay with others and with oneness, etc.,

chuan:
literally fist or fighting art,
conveys the daily circus
of neutralizing misdirected energy
(whether physical, emotional or psychological.)

When yin and yang
are in harmony,
this is known as Tai Chi.

The Tai Chi Symbol 

The Tai Chi symbol,
also known as
the yin and yang symbol,
represents the harmony
of dynamic opposites
in our world of constant change.

Cheng Man-ch'ing insisted
that the rising light yang
be on the upper right
and made R. W. Smith
correct the symbol thus in their book.

A Few Tai Chi / Qi Gong Pictograph Words

Ch'i
(aka chi, qi, etc.)

"chee";

life force, vital energy, breath, etc.

(not the same
as the Chi in Tai Chi: "tie jee.")

Xin;

"shinn"

heartmind

Shen; 

"sheun"

spirit

"The spirit (shen)
resides in the heartmind (xin.)"

{when both are calm and all is unified...}

"The xin (heartmind)
leads the energy (ch'i),
the energy leads the body."

Medical Studies of Tai Chi Chuan

A summary of Western medical research
on Tai Chi Chuan is now available.

Numerous Western scientific studies have shown
the benefits of Tai Chi for arthritis, stress management,
hypertension, cardio rehab, immune system amelioration,
respiratory difficulties, increasing leg strength, balance improvement, etc.