goals of practice

Medical research supporting the health benefits of Taichi and Qigong has greatly fanned it’s popularity. A new generation of instructors, armed with both practical and professional skills, is needed to teach this art to an increasingly diverse population. High quality courses are required for new instructors wanting to develop their Taichi and Qigong teaching skills and for seasoned teachers wanting to deepen their craft. Mastering Taichi and Qigong takes many years of training, patience and effort, leading to profound wisdom and spiritual growth, and what the masters refer to as ‘Te’ – virtues attained by living in harmony with the Tao.

Goals of Practice

Sickness is the disruption in the flow of energy between humans and nature. As you strengthen your connection with the natural world, your sense of beauty, wonder, awe and curiosity is restored and your brain and nervous system are calmed. Stress levels are lowered and the immune system is boosted. The medicine of nature is the antidote to our modern stressful lifestyles.

Beginners usually do not have even the slightest concept of qi. Our courses gradually give you an understanding of qi through feeling and experience. This kind of knowledge is necessary for any kind of advancement in Qi Gong and Tai Chi Chuan. For this reason, beginners are usually taught some of the many simple Wai Dan forms.

Once you have grasped the idea of qi, you then start to learn to regulate your body. This includes how to relax the body from the skin to as deep as the internal organs and bone marrow. Through this relaxation you are able to feel and sense your center, balance, and root. You must also learn to regulate your breathing—normal abdominal breathing for relaxation and reverse abdominal breathing for qi expansion and condensation. Most important of all, you must learn to regulate your mind until it can be calm and concentrated without disturbance. All of these criteria are the critical keys to the correct practice of Qi Gong and Tai Chi Chuan. If you start learning the sequence without having already done this basic training, you will be preoccupied with the complicated movements and will only be able to perform them in a superficial way.

Once you have regulated your body, breathing, and mind, you will then be able to use your concentrated mind to lead the qi to circulate smoothly and effectively.

If you are able to use your mind to lead the qi efficiently, you have completed the basic training. This is then the time for forms or sequence training. In addition, you should continue your Qi Gong and Tai Chi Chuan training and learn to build up your concentration to a higher level and, consequently, build your qi to a higher level. In addition, you should also learn to increase the qi in the two main vessels—the yin conception vessel and the yang governing vessel. Still meditation is normally used for this.

When the body’s qi has been built to a higher level, you then start learning to lead the qi to the skin to increase the skin’s sensitivity and into the bones to nourish the marrow.

When you are able to lead the qi to the skin and condense it to the marrow efficiently, you can then use this qi to energize the muscles to a high level. This is the secret to internal jin. Internal jin is the foundation and root of external jin.

The ultimate goal of Qi Gong and Tai Chi Chuan practice is to lead you into the domain of emptiness, where your whole being is in the no-extremity (wuji) state. When you have reached this goal, the qi in your body and the qi in nature will unite and become one, and all human desires will gradually disappear.

FOUNDATION COURSE TTC1 is designed for everyone interested in developing a strong foundation in Taichi and Qigong in nature, including beginner & intermediate students, and not just those interested in becoming teachers. It is the most important course at Tai Chi Bali offering fundamental training in Taoist Healing Arts.

To teach beginner students to open their hearts and minds to the beauty and healing power of nature
To learn the basic concepts of Taoist healing Arts
To become sensitive to the 5 Regulators of the Energetic System: Body Breath Mind Qi Spirit
To neutralize dominance of their Emotional Mind and awaken the Wisdom Mind
To feel their real Qi without emotional attachment
To use their mind and body to lead the Qi efficiently for health and relaxation

CERTIFICATION COURSE TTC2 is for intermediate students who have already completed TTC1. Taking your basic training to the next level, this course develops a deeper understanding of Tao philosophy, going beyond the movements to in-depth Taichi and Qigong energy training, and also prepares you for instructor level by practicing your teaching skills.

To teach intermediate students internal energy meditations beyond the external movements of the Foundation Course
To regulate the 5 Regulators of the Energetic System without regulating (wuwei)
To circulate Qi in the twelve primary Qi channels and fill up the four main Qi vessels
To expand their Qi to the surface of the skin and to condense the Qi to the bone marrow
To use their Qi to energize the muscles for maximum Jin manifestation
To learn teaching skills

MASTER COURSE ATTC3 is for advanced students who have already completed TTC1 & TTC2. This is the highest level of training at Tai Chi Bali. The ultimate goal of Taichi and Qigong practice is to lead you into the domain of emptiness, where your whole being is in the no-extremity (wuji) state. When you have reached this goal, the qi in your body and the qi in nature will unite and become one, and all human desires will gradually disappear as you develop a deeper understanding and connection with the natural world.

To lead advanced students into the domain of spiritual cultivation
To explore profound levels of the Tao and oneness with Nature