Do we really need to practise the Tai Chi form? Could simpler, more focused exercises be a more effective way to develop specific internal qualities?

In this episode, I explore the role of the form as a comprehensive vocabulary of movement, the value of isolated exercises, and what practices such as standing meditation, Cloud Hands and Bagua circle walking can teach us. Ultimately, stepping outside the form may be precisely what allows us to understand it more deeply.

Everyone who has spent time online over the past few years has probably come across some kind of advertisement promoting the magic of Tai Chi walking. The promise? A seven-minute-a-day program that, in just a few sessions, will supposedly help you get fit, lose weight, and build muscle for a sexier body.

Unsurprisingly, though, it’s all a hoax.

In the East Asian Internal Arts, the concept of Center appears to play a particularly important role, both in the physical development of these practices and in the way they subsequently unfold on a more spiritual level. Both Mind and Body seem to require a specific relationship with concepts such as Center and Equilibrium.

Nothing quite similar appears to occur in Western traditions. Let’s delve into this question and explore how the search for Center relates to our Identity—and ultimately to the quest for a shared Consciousness.