Plan now to take part in the 7th Open Competition organised by TCAA, which will be at this exciting venue, the first time in Sydney University, with full canteen and hall facilities. Look out for the entry forms and the full information on the website early in 2012. There will also be a special mail-out in early 2012 re the Competition.  Put this on your calendar.

Prepare !   To be There !

     Ken Goh,  NSW 

In normal breathing when you inhale the abdomen (or Tan Tien) expands, and when you exhale the abdomen withdraws. However in reverse abdominal breathing the abdomen (or Tan Tien) withdraws when you inhale, and expands when you exhale.

It is easier to keep your body relaxed and feeling comfortable with normal abdominal breathing and that is the method normally used for those who practice Tai Chi only for health.

As for reverse abdominal breathing, some Tai CHi practitioners today falsely believe that reverse breathing technique is against the way of the Tao. However this is not the case-- it is simply used for different purposes.

Try this simple experiment: place one hand on your abdomen and hold the other in front of you as if you are pushing something. Inhale deeply and as you exhale, imagine that you are pushing a heavy object. You will easily see that when you try to push as strongly as possible, you automatically use reverse breathing.

The rationale for reverse breathing is quite simple. You can lead a much stronger flow of chi to the limbs and manifest more power if you also simultaneously direct another flow of chi to the Tan Tien. This is in accordance with the basic law of physics which states that for every action there must be an equal and opposite reaction. Try another experiment:  blow up a balloon and hold a hand on your abdomen and see how it moves.

Reserve breathing should be used whenever you need to lead chi to the limbs to efficiently manifest power, as when in defence. Because it expands the chi and energises the body, it is considered yang in comparison to normal breathing.

In normal breathing, inhalation is classified as yin because the chi is led from the limbs to the Tan Tien and exhalation is yang, because the chi is led to the limbs.

Sound simple enough? I hope that explains in a brief summary the object of our breathing technique. The thing is to not ponder the technique too much, just try to breath normally and relax.

Once you become more familiar with Tai Chi principles etc, your breathing will follow a normal progression. For example, in a punch outward, you are using reverse breathing as you extend your energy forward. However in a qigong move such as "Scooping the sea" in Shibashi, you are using normal breathing as you scoop forward to gather the energy (abdomen expands).

     Brian Gregson, Tamworth

Once again, we are at a crossroad, at the gates of 2012.

So it is true that it isn't generating the hype of the year 2000, but 12 years later, and I feel as though we are at the gates of a new energetic era.

Personally, I will turn 50 this year, and celebrating 30 years of practicing and teaching Tai Chi and Chi Gong.

Rather than summarising 30 years of Qi energy, I would like to share with you some of my strategies for the coming year and list my energetic goals for 2012:

First, I would like to complete the new Chen Style form that I have started learning during 2011.

Second, I would like to participate in more seminars and workshops, especially those of Shing Yi Chuan, Pushing Hands and Yi Chuan.

Third, I would like to reach out and increase the number of students in my classes, spreading the word about the great benefits of Tai Chi and Chi Gong.

Last but not least, I would like to distribute my book, The Key to Qi, throughout UK and Europe.

Setting goals and strategies is an essential tool to ensure results, not only for businesses and corporations but for all of us as individuals and as TCAA members.

From my years of learning and teaching the soft internal energy arts, I have developed an action-oriented strategy which may help you.

First to find and reconnect, and then to harness these resources - so you can experience life more fully, feel healthier and have a purpose. Use your practice to empower yourself to blossom and be successful at achieving your goals, whatever they may be. Invite your Inner Master to take the lead, as I believe it is significantly beneficial to live according to your intention and to be guided by your Inner Master through life.

Any Inner Master knows that the secret to success lies with the 'task well-processed' formula: Think well, act well, speak well and know it well (see Chapter 17 - The Task Well-Processed, The Key to Qi).  'Know it well' comes last chronologically, but of course it's the pivotal peak of everything in which we all specialise. To achieve really well, you need to walk the journey of educating yourself, of trialling and making the inevitable errors in order to know what works best. My practising of Tai Chi Gong is like dancing in a constant meditative bliss as I explore the Inner World. Teaching Tai Chi Gong is even more special, as it requires me to continue the journey of learning and it gives me the pleasure of sharing it with others, guiding them to seek and know their own Inner Worlds. And the encounter between these constellations of Inner Worlds produces a mass of harmony, tranquillity and bliss. For me, this is a blessing beyond all words and I am grateful.

Wishing you all a blissful 2012, full of positive Qi flow, and cultivation of Health and Energy for you and your loved ones.

Gadi Levy-Golan

Editor