Blogs

Participate in tai chi, chi gung and ba gua practice groups and raise money for Brookline Tai Chi and Water Way Arts. People are familiar with the concept of donations made to support friends and family to walk, run, swim and bike for a cause… why not do the same for our energy arts practices? From now until the day of the event you can ask friends, family, and co-workers to support your efforts and help provide financial support for Brookline Tai Chi.

You’ve seen the first BTC YouTube video —an engaging way to introduce newcomers to the practice of Chinese movement arts. Now tune in to our new aid for BTC practitioners, a ten-minute follow-along session guided by teachers Dan Kleiman and Katie Keane. Ongoing videos in this series will be posted monthly, following the new, once-a-month “community practice” Saturdays that started up in March. “We’re launching a lot of new efforts to make outside-of-class, solo practice easier for students to integrate in their daily lives,” says BTC director Dan Kleiman.

"This won’t be abstract anymore,” says Visiting Senior Energy Arts instructor Susan Kansky of the unique form of energy-healing bodywork —chi gung tui na—that she will be teaching four evenings during Immersion Week, April 20-23.

“It’s actually a natural extension of the solo practice of pulsing (or opening and closing) joints that BTC students already do,” says director Dan Kleiman, “only applied to another person.”

It really does take practice to stay present inside your own skin, says Kate Komidar, especially in the midst of distractions, confusion, pain, or other internal or external pressures. This is a pursuit Kate facilitates, both in her professional practice (Spirit Gate Mindful Bodywork) as a chi gung tui na and acupressure bodyworker and now in a special course at BTC this session only. It has been three years since she taught here, after a nine-year stretch.

Paradoxically, says Jess O’Brien, the practice of fighting arts can lead to a peaceful individual. Jess arrived at his martial arts enthusiasm after focusing on philosophy and religious studies in school and has been studying with Bruce Frantzis for ten years in California’s Bay area. “Sometimes it still amazes me how this system fits all the pieces together in such an elegant way,” he says of the unusual efficiency with which the Frantzis teachings that BTC follows combine martial, meditative, and healing qualities.

Take a moment to settle in’ is the way most BTC classes start. Another way to ground your practice—outside of class—is to try a practice group. BTC’s longest standing one, at the five year mark, is a Saturday morning meditation from 8 to 8:50 am in the third room (off Beacon Street). “Meditation helps you keep your awareness directed where you want it to be,” says Mary Harris, one of three core members who consistently meet.

When you put in more practice time, you access things that are virtually impossible to get if you don’t. The thought seems obvious, but Robert Tangora —teaching this February in a new extended format—is talking about something a bit less so, the Chinese concept of ‘sung,’ or being deeply relaxed. If you’re not ‘sung’ (he tells those who ask him to compress a complicated course into two days), your energy flows in the outer body but can’t progressively work down to where it moves through your bones.

If you’re a musician (whether professional or amateur), here is something to add to your repertoire. Our “Tai Chi for Musicians” course debuts winter session, with a chance on Sunday, November 16, 7–8pm, to try it out free before- hand. Instruments are welcome. Pianists may use the school piano.

Researchers from Harvard Medical School's Osher Institute are seeking experienced BTC students to volunteer for a study that assesses how these Chinese movement arts we’re learning can affect the brain. The study will use a simple, harmless finger sensitivity test to measure tactile acuity in a specialized area of the brain. Osher is Harvard’s center for research and education in complementary and integrative medical therapies.

People always tells us after taking one of Craig Barnes’ classes that his effortlessness with these energy arts rubs off on them, making the material easier to integrate. Here is someone who has decades of experience studying all aspects of tai chi and chi gung with Bruce Frantzis.Usually our students benefit from Craig’s special style only at weekend workshops. For the first time, he will be taking up short-term residence at BTC for the entire late fall session. Expect great things.