Members’ Resource

Please scroll down to see a wide range of resources.

School Video Classes

Over the course of the Coronavirus Pandemic the School has been running weekly online video sessions.  Below are three edited classes that have been offered by our founder, Tew Bunnag.

Should you wish to follow the videos,  please make sure you are medically fit to practise Qi Gong and Tai Chi. It is also your own responsibility to take all appropriate Health and Safety measures to ensure your well being and safety in the space in which you are practising.

 

Click HERE to view a wide range of classes offered by other teachers and senior members of our School.

Tew Bunnag

Tew discusses means and processes involved in communication – including channeling compassion – at a distance.  He demonstrates three practices which may help open us to such communication.

The video will automatically repeat; to stop the video, click on the pause button or close the page.

Tew Bunnag

During this session Tew reflects on the meaning and significance of Metta (compassion) for our practice and our wider lives, and revisits practices which help us connect with the source of Universal Compassion.

The video will automatically repeat; to stop the video, click on the pause button or close the page.

Tew Bunnag

Tew shares various sequences and associated mudras  that have resonated most deeply with him from his practice of the Form and Chi Gong during lockdown.  A theme running through this is ‘Connection to Source’.

The video will automatically repeat; to stop the video, click on the pause button or close the page.

Wei Chi

– a sequence of Qi Gong movements –

 

 

Tian Xiao

 

Below Tew demonstrates distilled versions of both Tian Xiao and Wei Chi.  The notes that follow each video also apply to the full forms.

Wei Chi – Distilled Version

 

This form is to do with protection; it draws on fire-energy. The protection generated comes from an inner heat which protects us from damp and from cold; and also by strengthening the energy body that surrounds us. Breathing is through the nose, and involves us breathing in – rather than out – during outward pushing and stretching movements. Breathing in as we push outwards draws the energy generated by the movement into ourselves to circulate and create the inner warmth. There are three different movements in this form: the energy of the first movement (to the front) comes from the kidneys; the energy of the second movement (to the sides) comes from the lungs; these movements build up our inner heat. The energy of the third movement – a circular movement at the end of the form – serves to nourish the external energy body. Again, intention, breathing and movement all need to be combined.

Tian Xiao – Distilled Version

 

This form draws on the earth energy and strengthens the whole body. It is also about renewing Chi. The way we breathe is very important: with the in-breath we open the chest and with the out-breath we sink down. The action is like a bellows, and this serves to rid our bodies of the ‘old energy’ thereby making room for ‘renewed’ energy. The renewed energy comes in when there is no breath (between the out-breath and the next in-breath). As with all forms, it is important to combine intention with breath (and no-breath) and movement. As a spiritual practice, it is about nurturing the quality of equanimity/openness/ courage – one of the qualities of a spiritual warrior.

Short Form – Earth

 

 

Short Form – Water

 

 

Reflections

 

 

This painting and poem are by the Japanese Zen Buddhist monk, Hakuin (1685-1769).

A wonderful reminder of the nature of mind!

The monkey is reaching

For the moon in the water.

Until death overtakes him

He’ll never give up.

If he’d let go the branch and

Disappear in the deep pool,

The whole world would shine.

With dazzling pureness.

Articles

 

Unless otherwise stated, all articles have been written by members or friends of the ESTCC. The thoughts and information offered do not necessarily reflect a consensus of opinion within the School.
Click on the titles to view/download pdf of the article.

 

“Mindfulness of the Body – The Satipatthana Sutta through the lens of t’ai chi  By Jos Hadfield.  Jos finds much common ground between Buddhist and T’ai Chi understandings and practices in relation to present-moment awareness; and draws particular attention to the role of balance as a central dimension of both.

 

“Li”   By Louanne Richards.  Louanne writes: ‘We can think of Li as the inborn nature of everything that surrounds us – the feathers on a bird’s wing, a leopard’s spots, the spirals of a snail’s shell or the individual network of veins that make up a particular leaf.  This is a beautiful and vital way of perceiving the myriad aspects of Nature’.

 

“The Way of Water” by Sue McAlpine.  Sue’s article supplements her video of the same name.  It includes a translation of Chapter 8 of the Tao Te Ching, the seven identified characteristics of water, and the script from the guided meditation which which she closed the class.

 

“The Quality of Yielding”    by Sue McAlpine.  Sue reflects on how we can build this quality into our practice and how we deal with the challenges of life.

 

“Open Space” by Paul Underhill. Paul describes key Daoist prinicples of Undifferentialed Qi, Yang Qi and Yin Qi. From these, he draws out the importance of openness (at all levels of our being) and awareness of space.

 

“What’s in a Breath” by Paul Underhill. This article supplements Paul’s video class of the same name. In the article, Paul considers breathing during tai chi and qi gong and then describes a less obvious aspect of breathing: that of ‘the transference of Undifferentiated Qi from the emptiness of the Wu in the Universe to the emptiness of the Wu inside us’.

 

More articles by Paul Underhill can be found HERE

Fan Form by Paul Underhill

 

 

Paul has been a teacher of Tai Chi for many years. He has now retired from running classes, so we are lucky to have this video of him demonstrating the Fan Form, of which he has been a leading exponent within the School.

The 6 Healing Sounds

The practice of The 6 Healing Sounds has its roots in Qi Gong. It involves six different vocalisations each accompanied by a simple intention and movement.

In his booklet on the subject, Tew Bunnag outlines the origins of the practice and how each sound serves to promote energetic and emotional balance, and tonify the organs of the body. Guidance is also given on how the practice is undertaken.

More recently, Tew has produced a dvd (The Series of 5) explaining and demonstrating the use of the 6 Healing sounds as part of a daily practice.

The sounds are thought to bring benefit to the mind and body through their vibrational qualities, but the vibrations that affect us are likely to vary from one person to another. This being so, in vocalising the sounds, we can allow our ourselves the space in which to find the pitch and tone that feels appropriate to us at any particular time.

In other ways too, within bounds, the practice seems open to individual adaptation, and many who are drawn to the 6 Healing Sounds find adaptations and applications which they experience as particularly helpful. Some of these are shared in this section.

 

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Rodney Adams made this recording of the Six Healing Sounds whilst visiting the Alcobaça monastery complex in Portugal. The reverberation of the Healing Sounds is mesmerising!

 

Last February while on holiday in Portugal my partner and I visited the enormous 14th century monastery complex in Alcobaça.

On entering this beautiful place we came to wonderful vaulted chamber. Looking up I thought “wow bet the ‘Healing Sounds ‘ would sound good in here!”. We only had the phone to record it on but I thought let’s give it a try. Luckily it was early and there weren’t many people about.

The resonance was truly amazing, even my partner- not normally one for this kind of thing – was blown away as the sounds filled, echoed and vibrated throughout the whole chamber much as they would do within the corporal church that is our bodies.

Chants, Hymns ,and Songs have been used for millennia to generate energy in and around the body; and hearing them amplified by the acoustics really bought this home.

I have been practising the Healing sounds as taught to us by Tew Bunnag regularly for about five years now and find them calming, relaxing and invigorating. Their benefits are multiple, vibrating to tone the organs , allowing the unbalanced emotions to breath and come to the light, while stimulating the positive emotions and simultaneously expelling that which is old or unwanted.

Sometimes they flow more easily than others, some days a particular sound may sing less easily,maybe because that element is wanting , but with regular practice in a relaxed Sung posture all the main organs of the body can be stimulated and gain strength and quality.

I thought afterwards how wonderful it would be if we could return there as a group one day to sing the sounds together. Universe willing.

Metta Rodney x

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The 6 Healing Sounds in Meditation, Sue McAlpine, June 2018.

Download pdf file HERE.

Echoes From Our Past

In this section (introduced in the Public Resource Centre), we are posting ESTCC News Letters that have managed to survive the passage of time!

Reflections on workshops; thoughts and insights on the principles of T’ai Chi; accounts of how members are bringing T’ai Chi to various aspects of their lives; updates from our charity, The Mercy Centre in Bankok; book reviews: just some of what you will find in these writings.

Ten editions are currently available; more will be posted over the following months.

-May 2021

-Autumn 2020

-Autumn 2008

-Spring 2008

-Autumn 2007

-Spring 2006

-Autumn 2005

-Spring 2004

-Autumn 2003

Discount code for Yang Style T’ai Chi Ch’an DVD:  Rck67BG