Classes at Heart-Mind Tai Chi

New students learn the first half of the form and start exploring standing meditation in the Beginning Class. With the Intermediate Class, a student learns the rest of the form, more about the benefits of standing meditation, and work on internal organization of their postures and movement. After learning the form, Ongoing students refine these ideas and explore tuī shǒu ('push hands'; also known as sensing hands), a two-person exercise offering a chance to practice the principles of Tai Chi with another person.

Attending class once per week offers students a chance to learn more of the form or refine their understanding of that portion. Once a student knows the choreography of the first portion of the form, they may choose to take two or more classes each week, giving them the opportunity to more quickly develop a deeper and more embodied practice.

Beginning

In this class, students are introduced to the core principles of Tai Chi and how to approach learning and practicing the first half of the form, including an introduction to standing meditation. Each week adds to what has already been learned, focusing on both the transitions and postures and guiding students as they explore and deepen their awareness of how they move, organize, and align their body. This introduces concepts of internal organization such as relaxing and keeping joints open and aligned.

Intermediate

The intermediate class continues from where the Beginning class left off, teaching students the remainder of the form while providing more detail around core principles, standing mediation, and organizing and refining movement. We invest more in understanding & improving internal organization, meditation & mind/body integration, and also explore the importance of developing one’s personal practice in executing the form for flow, slow posturing, and holding postures. As in the Beginning class, each week of the Intermediate class adds to what has already been learned, until students have learned the entire form.

Ongoing

The ongoing class is for students who know the complete choreography of the form, when they can focus on incorporating the principles of Tai Chi into their practice and their daily lives. Form practice includes review and exploration of details of the form, working through sections of the form slowly and consciously, and doing the form for flow. Standing meditation helps develop full body awareness in a way that can be incorporated into doing the form as a moving meditation, and tuī shǒu ('push hands'; also known as sensing hands) exercises are introduced to give students the opportunity to discover deeper aspects of the art while working with a partner.

Class Progression

Unlike most other forms of exercise or qì gōng practice, the form is a sequence of movements that connect from one to the next. As such, it is important to commit to attending class. Similar to other skills such as studying a musical instrument, class is where new information is presented; progress occurs through consistent personal practice.

New students start off in the beginning class, perhaps taking it more than once, until they know the basic choreography of the first half of the form. At that point they are ready for the intermediate class, to learn the remainder of the form. Once they know the choreography of the entire form, they join the ongoing class to continue their study.

It is not uncommon for students to take more than one class concurrently, to continue working on aspects taught in one class while learning new things in a more advanced class. Since the principles and ideas are consistent across all classes, this is a valuable way to more quickly develop a deeper understanding and fluency in Tai Chi.

Private Classes

Individual instruction may be arranged by appointment. Classes can include form correction, tuī shǒu (push/sensing hands), and other advanced work. Please email to inquire.

Class Offerings

Learning More

If you want to dig deeper into the art, you may find "Thoughts on Tai Chi" and other contemplations of interest. There are also links to useful resources on the Resources page, and links to related Tai Chi individuals and organizations on the Community page.

Questions?

To learn about Tai Chi, start with our introduction to Tai Chi. To learn more about our style, you can read about the lineage of the school. You may find answers to other questions in the Frequently Asked Questions. Or you can email us.